Information for students

UTS: Communication offers degrees by coursework and degrees by research – these two study areas have separate information and administration services available to students.

The UTS Student Centre, Foyer, Building 1 provides student administration services to coursework students. It coordinates a wide range of activities including enrolment, identification of potential graduands, processing of student leave applications, special consideration applications and variation of programs via e-requests.

The Research Degrees Administrator provides similar assistance to postgraduate research students.

Location, contacts and inquiries

UTS Student Centre

Research Degrees Administrator

Statement on scholarly work and its presentation

Scholarly work involves working with texts by authors in different fields. These authors have intellectual property rights to their work, so in the scholarly process of quotation, commentary, paraphrase and interpretation, specific rules or protocols must be observed. These apply to audiovisual texts as well as to writing.

In the production of work by students in UTS: Communication, the protocol to be observed is the acknowledgment of the work of other authors, whether this work takes the form of an idea, a section of text, sounds or images. Unacknowledged copying, paraphrasing or summarising can be considered plagiarism, if it is 'passed off as one's own' (The Macquarie Dictionary, 1997). Work involving plagiarism is not accepted for assessment and may be the subject of disciplinary action.

Conventions for acknowledgment are well established but take different forms. It is the responsibility of students to familiarise themselves with these conventions and to use them. The following resource is useful:

• Snooks and Co., Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers, 6th edn (revised), Wiley, 2002

Useful sites that outline issues in using information appropriately can be found at:

The UTS: Bell program provides an extensive and continually updated range of resources, classes and tutorials to enhance your skills as a learner.

Faculty centres and associations

The following centres and research initiatives are associated with UTS: Communication.

Australian Centre for Independent Journalism

Established in 1990, the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ) supports and develops independent, critical and investigative journalism; scholarly research in journalism studies; educational and professional development; and educational and professional development for journalists.

The ACIJ supports and administers:

• regular publications, including community newspapers The Point and Southside News, and online magazine Reportage, all of which welcome student contributions
• an active volunteer program for students interested in participating in the centre's activities
• short courses in journalism, writing for the web, print production and research skills, including regular shorthand courses for journalism students and members of the public
• conferences, seminars, guest lectures and forums
• the annual George Munster Award for Independent Journalism, and the Wanda Jamrozik Prize
• the annual Public Right to Know (PR2K) Conference
• research grants for investigative journalism and journalism studies projects
• submissions to government inquiries, to protect and extend the rights of journalists and freedom of the press
• production of journalism training manuals, resources and reporting guides, and publication and sales of critical and investigative books and articles.

The ACIJ has a strong interest in investigative journalism, undertaking investigative journalism projects on a regular basis. These appear in both the mainstream media and the centre's online publication, Reportage, as well as in special reports. The ACIJ also conducts research briefs on commission from media and other organisations in the community.

Websites

Australian Centre for Public Communication

Public Communication is a dynamic and challenging field addressing communication issues and practices in the public domain. The Australian Centre for Public Communication (ACPC) was founded in 2002 as an initiative of the highly regarded Public Communication Program Area at UTS, to provide a focus for debate and research about ideas, issues and events in the field, both in Australia and internationally. Activities carried out by the ACPC include:

• developing links with overseas scholars and institutions
• developing industry liaison and partnerships, particularly work experience, internship programs and job opportunities for students and graduates
• undertaking research projects for the extension of knowledge in public communication and the development of professional ethical practice, and
• seminars, publications, short courses, organisational training and Continuing Professional Education (CPE).

Australian Centre for Public History

Public history in Australia has been defined as the practice of history by academically trained historians working for public agencies or as freelancers. Public historians may work in heritage conservation, commissioned history, museums, the media, education, radio, film, interactive multimedia and other areas. They are concerned with addressing the relationship between audience, practice and social context.

The Australian Centre for Public History (ACPH) promotes the practice and understanding of public history in both the academy and the community. It is linked to the postgraduate coursework Public History Program in UTS: Communication and supports the growth of research degrees in the public history area.

Established in 1998, the centre's objectives are to:

• provide a variety of bodies in educational, community and professional sectors with a gateway to public history expertise and resources at UTS
• facilitate innovative and flexible teaching
• facilitate communication between Australian and international historians working in public and applied history, including staff and student exchanges, in the Asia-Pacific region as well as in Europe and North America
• facilitate international curriculum development
• seek local, state and federal support for public history and related endeavours, and
• foster and undertake research in the area of public history and carry out appropriate consultancies to support these objectives.

Centre projects include an Australian Research Council funded project on Australian memorials in the second half of the 20th century, a history of the Sutherland Shire and an oral history project on some of Sydney's northern beachside suburbs in the 1930s.

Research Initiative in International Activism

The field of social movement research is exceptionally fertile. Founded in 2002, the UTS Research Initiative in International Activism explores and analyses activism, social movements, social change, the politics of globalisation, and their interactions.

It seeks to enable comparative and other avenues of collaboration through focus on three areas:

• grounded international analysis of social activism and social movement mobilisation
• analysis of Australian social activism and movements within this framework, and
• engagement with debates about social activism, social change and social movements in a number of disciplines and in a range of cultural and linguistic traditions.

The Initiative also hosts seminars, forums and conferences.

Trans/forming Cultures Centre

Trans/forming Cultures is a Key University Research Centre in Communication and Culture. It supports project-based research on 'narratives of the local' in Australia, and in the regions of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The centre investigates social and cultural change in cultural history, cultural interaction and new media, international activism, place and environment, and transnational cultures. The centre endorses a research culture that supports an ethic of transformation and intervention, relevance and respect.

Details of the centre's aims, projects, publications, seminars, workshops and conference program can be found at:

2SER-FM (107.3FM)

2SER-FM is an educational public radio station which welcomes the participation of all students and the wider community. The majority of its diverse programs are produced by volunteers who work in and contribute to all areas of the station. 2SER-FM provides valuable experience and skills in broadcasting.

UTS Centre for New Writing

The UTS Centre for New Writing was established in 2004 to promote and support research into new forms of writing and to enhance the growing national and international reputation of the UTS Creative Writing Program by developing external relationships with overseas writers and institutions.

The centre's objectives are to:

• develop and promote research in the areas of new writing and Australia's literary culture
• provide a focus for research students
• act as an incubator of ideas for creative writing practices and research
• disseminate knowledge through seminars, publications and quality continuing professional education, and
• create new relationships with corporate, government and community organisations in the specific areas of creative writing, editing and publishing.

International exchange and study abroad

Local students

Students at UTS can study overseas as part of their degree through either the International Exchange Program or by Study Abroad.

Students accepted into the International Exchange Program can study at an institution with which UTS has a student exchange agreement or memorandum of understanding and the student pays through HECS-HELP.

More information about the International Exchange Program is available at:

www.uts.edu.au/international/exchange/going/apply

Students undertaking Study Abroad at an overseas institution enrol at that university and pay full fees to that institution.

International students

UTS: Communication welcomes students from around the world. Our courses reflect Australia's multicultural character and its cultural, commercial, media and technological links to other countries and communities. UTS is committed to the internationalisation of all its courses, which prepare students for fulfilling lives and productive careers in a globalised world. A number of staff in UTS: Communication have lived and studied overseas and maintain international connections in the arts, media, business and research.

UTS: International provides information and assistance for prospective international students. Further details are available at:

www.uts.edu.au/international

Exchange and study abroad

Students who are already enrolled in an overseas university course and who wish to study in Australia for one or two semesters can enrol in subjects through International Exchange or Study Abroad arrangements. Exchange students come from institutions with which UTS has a Student Exchange Agreement and pay fees through their home institution. Study Abroad students apply directly and pay fees to UTS as their university does not have a formal exchange agreement.

Subject selection

Undergraduate students can apply to enrol in subjects listed in the individual undergraduate programs. Note that access to subjects in Journalism and Media Arts and Production is restricted to students who have already completed introductory subjects in these areas at their home institution.

UTS: Communication is unable to offer first-year Journalism or Media Arts and Production subjects to Exchange and Study Abroad students. Postgraduate students can select from the range of subjects listed in individual postgraduate programs. Study Abroad students will be charged an additional fee for Media Arts and Production subjects

Students must meet the subject prerequisite requirements indicated in the subject descriptions. Students are also advised to ensure that the subjects they select satisfy course requirements at their home institution.

Undergraduate and postgraduate courses

International students can apply for any of the full-time courses offered by UTS: Communication that appear in this handbook.

Short courses and continuing professional education (CPE)

UTS: Communication regularly offers in-house short courses, seminars, workshops, organisational training and other professional development programs.

Short Course programs are available in:

• Advertising (UTS/AFA AdSchool)
• Journalism and Writing (Australian Centre for Independent Journalism)
• Creative Writing (UTS Centre for New Writing)
• Pro Tools Sound Design (UTS Pro School), and
• Media Presentation Skills (Australian Centre for Public Communication).

New programs are constantly in development. For details on programs running at any given time, visit the short courses website: