This one-year part-time offering at the Gippsland school enables professional engineers to complete a specialist selection of subjects at final year or postgraduate level and, on completion, to obtain the formal award of the Graduate Certificate of Engineering. The program is designed to allow engineers in full-time employment to refresh some aspect of their academic training, or to embark on a new aspect of training related to changed employment expectations. Coursework will generally be offered by distance education. Areas of study which may be available in 1994 include structural computations, engineering management, maintenance management and reliability engineering.
The normal entry requirement is a degree or diploma in an appropriate discipline from an approved Australian tertiary institution. In many cases this will be an engineering degree, but applicants working in an engineering environment with degrees in areas such as science, business and architecture would be considered. Equivalent overseas qualifications will be acceptable for candidates competent in the use of English written language. Such other academic or industry-based training that may be judged by the head of school to give the candidate a good chance of success in the course may also be taken into account. In such cases, specific documentation of industrial experience must be supplied.
In some circumstances, candidates may be required to undertake preliminary studies before embarking on a graduate certificate program. There will normally be a restriction on the maximum number of non-graduate enrolments in any year.
Due to quota restrictions applying to students admitted under the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS), new students will only be admitted to this course as fee paying students. Under the Training Guarantee Act 1990, companies can sponsor students and ensure their professional development. Alternatively students paying their own fees may be eligible for a tax deduction under Section 51(i) of the Income Tax Assessment Act. Students who have already commenced this course as HECS students have the option of continuing on this basis or as a fee paying student.