Get an IT qualification in one year

Want to get university qualifications in IT, but don’t have a relevant undergraduate degree? Macquarie’s new Graduate Diploma in Information Technology is aimed at graduates from other disciplines who want to get into the IT industry or who’d like to formalise their existing computing expertise.

About the GDIT

“Next year we introduce the new Graduate Diploma that will allow a non-computing graduate to obtain a computing qualification in one year,” says Dr Paul Watters of the Postgraduate Professional Development Program (PPDP) in the Division of Information and Computing Sciences at Macquarie.

“Through one year of fairly intensive work, we’ll give these people a background in things like software engineering, networking, data communications, basic system design, data management, database systems, software engineering and IT management. After that year they’re qualified to enter our existing Master of Information Technology program if they wish, either straight away or after going and working in industry for a while.”

Watters says the Graduate Diploma is targeted at people who have worked their way up through the IT ranks without formal qualifications, as well as those changing careers into IT, for example those with generic MBA qualifications who find themselves now managing IT staff. He expects a high demand, as employment statistics, such as the quarterly salary growth, suggest that interest in the IT industry is picking up again.

“The only options for these people at the moment would be to either go back and do something like a Bachelor of Computer Science degree, which would take three years, or to go off to one of these training colleges that offer ‘computing career in two weeks, guaranteed jobs’-type things that you see advertised in the paper, and which obviously have no currency in industry,” he says.

The program features online and after-hours classes. To find out more, come along to the GDIT Information Evening in Building E6A, Macquarie University, at 5:30pm on Tuesday, December 7. RSVP by 2nd December to Susan Bruck on (02) 9850 9501 or at sbruck@ics.mq.edu.au. At the event you can also enter the draw for a chance to win a Palm Pilot. If you can’t make it to the Information Evening, contact Susan for an information pack. If you’re one of the first 30 approved applicants to receive an offer, and then enrol, you’ll also receive a free online learning toolkit.

The Master of Information Technology

Currently, the PPDP offers a Master of Information Technology degree, which allows for specialisation in four streams: Software Engineering, Information Systems, Web Technologies and Internetworking. However, from next year students will be given even more choice as two new streams are introduced - System Security and ICT Management.

The System Security stream aims to provide candidates with a leading edge in securing their organisation’s data and information. Topics include applications security, ICT security infrastructures, security architectures, cryptography, authentication, key management and access control.

The ICT Management stream is designed to provide an insight into the complexities and rigours of ICT Management. Topics include risk management, strategic planning, project management, capital budgeting, security management, project sponsorship, quality systems, business process management and intellectual property management.

For more information about postgraduate degrees in IT at Macquarie University, visit http://www.ics.mq.edu.au/ppdp

December 2004

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