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The Impact of Australian Legislation Upon an IT Degree: Considerations and Response

The Impact of Australian Legislation Upon an IT Degree: Considerations and Response
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Author(s): Grace Tan (Victoria University, Australia)and Anne Venables (Victoria University, Australia)
Copyright: 2007
Pages: 4
Source title: Managing Worldwide Operations and Communications with Information Technology
Source Editor(s): Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, D.B.A. (Information Resources Management Association, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-929-8.ch017
ISBN13: 9781599049298
EISBN13: 9781466665378

Abstract

In Australia, all recent higher education reforms have been driven by new legislation detailed in The Higher Education Support Act (HESA) 2003 that mandates and regulates the conditions under which tertiary institutions are able to be run and funded. In anticipation of the HESA enactment, XXX University in Melbourne, Australia, conducted an institutional wide assessment of the University’s position regarding HESA compliance and found that the University needed to rationalise course structures and progression rules, including standardization of subject sizes (Lister Review, 2003). The adoption of a uniform system of subject size and associated credit points has necessitated a major course review of our Information Technology undergraduate program. This paper describes the framework for the review and reports on the process of arriving at a credit point system which meets the statutory requirements and educational merits. The needs of the various stakeholders informed the implementation of the new credit point system which posed a number of challenges at both School and inter-faculty levels. An insight into issues of importance on the core curriculum is discussed before arrival at a HESA compliance program.

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