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Postgraduate Handbook 2009 - Faculty of Information Technology

Information Technology

Faculty information

Course information

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Structure and organisation of the faculty - Faculty of Information Technology

The Faculty of Information Technology refers, in the wider sense, to all students enrolled for coursework and research programs offered by the faculty, and all staff (academic, administrative, technical and clerical). The schools in the faculty are campus-based and include the:

  • Clayton School of Information Technology
  • Caulfield School of Information Technology
  • Gippsland School of Information Technology
  • Berwick School of Information Technology
  • School of Information Technology at Sunway campus, Malaysia
  • School of Information Technology at Monash South Africa.

Monash Professional, a business unit of Monash College, works in close association with the faculty to offer industry-focused studies.

The faculty home page address is http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au and includes a directory of each school and its home page.

Legally, the faculty is a statutory body comprising all full-time members of the teaching staff. The main business of the faculty is delegated to the faculty board, a smaller body of about 52 members including all heads of schools, other school-based representatives, representatives of other faculties, and the library, and representatives of graduates and students of the faculty. The faculty board normally meets five times each year.

The board has standing committees that have the power to act on behalf of the board when an immediate decision is required. These committees include the Education Committee, which advises the board on matters relating to the coursework degrees and diplomas offered by the faculty, including student workload and assessment, admission and selection, and new course and unit offerings; the Research Committee, which advises the board on matters relating to the graduate research programs of the faculty, including admission, selection and maintenance of appropriate academic standards; and the Student Progress and Exclusions Committee, which considers cases of students who become liable for exclusion because of unsatisfactory academic performance.

The senior officers of the faculty are the dean, academic manager and business manager (who are located on the Caulfield campus), heads of each campus school and three associate deans. The dean chairs meetings of the faculty, the faculty board and its committees. Any student wishing to see the dean, an associate dean, or the faculty registrar is normally able to make an appointment on request. Inquiries should be directed to the relevant faculty office.

Students wishing to bring any relevant matters to the attention of the student members of the faculty board should contact the faculty office at Caulfield.

Faculty administration locations - Faculty of Information Technology

Faculty offices are located in Victoria, Australia, and in Malaysia and South Africa. At the Caulfield campus, all new student inquiries should be directed to the Caulfield Service Centre. If you are a current student, please lodge queries via the web at http://ask.monash.edu.au/. Specific contact details for each school are available below and from the faculty website: http://www.infotech.monash.edu.

Berwick

Berwick School of Information Technology

Location: Level 1, building 903

Telephone: +61 3 9904 7127

Fax: +61 3 9904 7125

Office hours: 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Thursday; 9 am to 4.30 pm, Friday

Postal address

Faculty of Information Technology

Monash University

Clyde Road

Berwick Victoria 3806

Australia

Caulfield

Caulfield School of Information Technology

Location: Level 6, building H, 900 Dandenong Road

Telephone: +61 3 9903 2535

Fax: +61 3 9903 1077

Office hours: 8.45 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday (closed 1-2 pm Friday)

Postal address

Faculty of Information Technology

Monash University

PO Box 197

Caulfield East Victoria 3145

Australia

Caulfield Service Centre

Location: Ground floor, building A, 900 Dandenong Road

Telephone: +61 3 9902 6011

Office hours: 8.30 am to 6 pm Monday to Thursday, 8.30 am to 5 pm Friday

Clayton

Clayton School of Information Technology

Location: Ground floor, building 63, Clayton campus

Telephone: +61 3 9905 9986

Fax: +61 3 9905 5159

Office hours: 8.45 am to 5 pm Mon-Wed and Friday, 10 am to 5 pm Thursday (closed 1-2 pm Friday)

Postal address

Faculty of Information Technology

Building 63

Monash University

Clayton Victoria 3800

Australia

Gippsland

Gippsland School of Information Technology

Location: Level 2, building 4N

Telephone: +61 3 9902 6835

Fax: +61 3 9902 6842

Office hours: 9 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday

Postal address

Faculty of Information Technology

Monash University

Northways Road

Churchill, Victoria 3842

Australia

Sunway

School of Information Technology

Location: Building 2, Level 4

Telephone: +60 3 5514 6000

Fax: +60 3 5514 6129

Office hours: 8.30 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday

Postal address

School of Information Technology

Monash University

Sunway Campus

Building 2, Level 4

Jalan Lagoon Selatan

46150 Bandar Sunway

Selangor Darul Ehsan

Malaysia

Monash South Africa

School of Information Technology

Location: Level 2, Seminar building

Telephone: +27 11 950 4030

Fax: +27 11 950 4033

http://sit.monash.ac.za/

Office hours: 8.45 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday

Postal address

School of Information Technology

Monash South Africa

Private Bag X60

Roodepoort 1725, South Africa

Monash Professional

Office location: Level 10, 190 Queen Street, Melbourne

Telephone: +61 3 8622 8900

Fax: +61 3 8622 8999

Postal address

PO Box 13206

Melbourne, Victoria 8010

http://www.professional.monash.edu.au

Schools and research programs - Faculty of Information Technology

Berwick School of Information Technology

The Berwick School of Information Technology is the newest of the six schools within the Faculty of Information Technology. The school, which was created at the beginning of 2001, is the result of a strategic initiative by the faculty to focus its multimedia teaching and research at the Berwick campus.

The school offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs in the multimedia area and attracts significant numbers of international and Australian full-fee students.

For further information on the school, visit http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/berwick or email multimedia@infotech.monash.edu.au.

Caulfield School of Information Technology

The Caulfield School of Information Technology occupies a unique position within the Faculty of Information Technology. The school encompasses a wide range of disciplines, from the technical and applied, through to the social science end of the information technology spectrum. This diversity is reflected in the range of options available for postgraduate study. The school has a clear focus on the real world application of information technology in meeting the demands of today's dynamic and global business environments.

The Caulfield School of Information Technology offers in particular to prospective students the ability to either build on their existing knowledge of IT or gain a first qualification at postgraduate level. A key factor in the postgraduate degrees offered at Caulfield is flexibility of course structure. Students have the ability to generalise across areas of the IT spectrum from business IT through to technical IT, specialise through a professional track (which is formally recognised via a Faculty certificate) or create their own customised program by tailoring the course to suit their needs and those of prospective employers. Many classes are offered in the evening, increasing accessibility for those students currently in the workforce.

For further information on the school, visit http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/caulfield or email frontdesk@infotech.monash.edu.au.

Clayton School of Information Technology

The school is an internationally recognised centre of information technology, software engineering, and the application of IT in business, attracting high-quality students and world-class staff. The school covers a broad range of specialisations from the technical and scientific end of the computing spectrum to business intelligence. The undergraduate degree programs target both applied industry needs and formal computer science.

For further information on the school, visit http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/clayton.

Gippsland School of Information Technology

The Gippsland School of Information Technology is one of the schools within the Faculty of Information Technology and hosts one of the research centres within the faculty: the Centre for Multimedia Computing, Communications and Applications (MCCA). This centre conducts and leads quality multidisciplinary research and offers excellent research training opportunities for the most talented research students to be at the forefront of National Research Priority in Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries.

The school serves both the Gippsland region of the state of Victoria and the wider national and international community through the use of off-campus learning and innovative teaching technologies.

For further information on the school, visit http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/gippsland or email gsit@infotech.monash.edu.au.

School of Information Technology at Sunway campus

The School of Information Technology is located at the Monash University Sunway campus in Malaysia and is the university's first full campus outside Australia. The campus is about 20 km south-west of Kuala Lumpur at Bandar Sunway.

The school currently offers undergraduate courses - the Bachelor of Computer Science, and the Bachelor of Information Technology and Systems - as well as postgraduate courses - the Master of Philosophy and the Doctor of Philosophy. Students enrol in courses commencing in March and July each year and the semester dates are identical to those in Australia. The campus is equipped with the required teaching and learning resources for the courses it offers. Computers, software, laboratory equipment, a multimedia resource centre, library and reference materials are available to students.

Further information can be obtained from the website at http://www.infotech.monash.edu.my or email research@infotech.monash.edu.my.

School of Information Technology (Monash South Africa campus)

The School of Information Technology (SIT) is located at Monash South Africa. The campus was opened in February 2001 in Roodepoort, 20 kilometres north-west of central Johannesburg. Currently, the campus has facilities for 1500 students and offers small classes and a multicultural community with more than 70% of students from other African countries.

Further information can be obtained from the website at http://sit.monash.ac.za/ or email sit@monash.ac.za.

Research centres - Faculty of Information Technology


The Faculty of Information Technology covers the whole IT spectrum from engineering to social science. Our leading researchers' specific strengths are in:

  • computing science
  • software engineering
  • information systems
  • information and knowledge management.

IT research has a multi-disciplinary, multi-campus and multi-national approach, providing Monash with a unique capacity to reach out further and deeper than any other institution in Australia. Our five research centres provide the focus for our internationally recognised research strengths in intelligent systems, distributed systems and software engineering, organisational and social informatics, business intelligence and multimedia computing, and are the hubs of our research networks. Visit the research centres website at http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/research/centres. Faculty of Information Technology research centres are detailed below.

Centre for Decision Support and Enterprise Systems Research (CDSESR)

Improving strategic and operational decision-making using information technology. For details visit http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/research/centres/cdsesr/index.html.

Centre for Organisational and Social Informatics (COSI)

Innovative and effective use of IT in government, business and civil society. For details visit http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/research/centres/cosi/index.html.

Centre for Research in Intelligent Systems (CRIS)

Synergy in research to improve the intelligence of computational systems. For details visit http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/research/centres/cris/index.html.

Centre for Distributed Systems and Software Engineering (DSSE)

From theoretical foundations to practical tools, solutions, services, applications, platforms and systems. For details visit http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/research/centres/dsse/index.html.

Centre for Multimedia Computing, Communications and Applications (MCCA)

Developing innovative multimedia concepts, technologies and applications. For details visit http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/research/centres/mccar/index.html.

Graduate studies - Faculty of Information Technology

Introduction

The Faculty of Information Technology offers a wide range of graduate programs, from graduate certificates to higher degrees in all areas of computing and information technology.

A certificate entails one semester of full-time study, a diploma consists of two semesters of full-time study, and a masters degree includes three or four semesters of full-time study.

Certificates or diplomas may be offered at graduate or postgraduate level.

Graduate awards require a degree, but not generally in IT. Postgraduate-level awards require an IT degree. These programs differ in their objectives, prerequisites and content. They can be regarded as falling into one of two groups - programs that extend knowledge in a particular discipline area and programs that have a professional orientation, providing cross-disciplinary access and training to develop professional expertise.

Domestic students who do not hold an Australian equivalent degree but have extensive work experience should consider the Executive or Professional Certificate, which can be used as pathways to graduate/postgraduate study.

Programs

Courses that extend knowledge

These courses build on a degree that is equivalent to an Australian bachelors degree with a major in the particular discipline or a fourth-year level course in the same discipline (honours, graduate diploma or masters preliminary). The focus is on extending the knowledge of the discipline methodology and its application.

Relevant course types

  • Postgraduate Certificates
  • Postgraduate Diplomas
  • Masters degrees by research / minor thesis (honours) / coursework
  • Doctor of Philosophy.

Doctor of Philosophy

A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is a research degree course and requires a prerequisite of an honours degree at first or upper second class honours level, a masters preliminary qualification at the same level or a masters degree by research in the discipline or equivalent. PhD studies are offered at Berwick, Caulfield, Clayton, Gippsland and Sunway.

Professionally-oriented and cross-disciplinary courses that develop information technology knowledge

These courses provide an opportunity for people with a qualification in another discipline area to gain a first qualification in IT, and to develop expertise in computing and information technologies. They require a degree that is equivalent to an Australian bachelors degree in any discipline.

Relevant course types

  • Graduate Certificates
  • Graduate Diplomas
  • Masters degrees by coursework.

Special pathways to graduate studies

The faculty offers special programs for those with extensive work experience and no undergraduate degree, who wish to progress directly to postgraduate studies by coursework. These courses require four to six years experience at or above a project or executive management or technical / senior technical level.

Relevant course types

  • Professional Certificate
  • Executive Certificate.

Professional recognition

The Faculty of Information Technology has designed its coursework programs to prepare graduates for entry to the information technology industry as professionals. Our courses are submitted to appropriate professional bodies to meet the requirements for entry to the Australian Computer Society (ACS), the society for information and communications technology professionals in Australia. In order to achieve that professional knowledge level, students need to complete courses of one year (or more) duration. The Graduate Diploma in Information and Knowledge Management is separately accredited by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), the Australian Society of Archivists (ASA), and the Records Management Association of Australasia (RMAA).

CISCO Certification Credits

Cisco is an industry-sponsored program that helps prepare students for industry. The course consists of 4 Cisco Certified Network Associate modules (CCNA1, CCNA2, CCNA3, and CCNA4), each of 40 hours in duration. Credit is available for Monash University students who complete at least two of their Cisco modules at the Monash University Cisco Academy. This can be in the form of direct credit that has been arranged in a number of degree programs at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Details of credit arrangements can be obtained from the Monash Professional website: http://www.professional.monash.edu.au. Alternatively, many courses will accept completion of Cisco units to be credited as electives. Please discuss this with your course leader prior to undertaking the Monash Cisco study.

Part-time, off-campus learning and off-shore studies

Part-time

Part-time students are expected to proceed through their course at half the rate of full-time students. Some units are available in the evening from 6pm on the Caulfield campus.

Off-campus learning

All courses offered by the Gippsland School of Information Technology are available to students for part-time study by off-campus learning*. These courses are designed so that it is possible to complete all requirements without any on-campus attendance. Off-campus PhD candidates are required to meet the on-campus residency requirements of the university. Some units offered by the Caulfield School of Information Technology are also available by off-campus learning (see the entry for the Master of Business Information Systems).

All off-campus students in computing courses must have an IBM-compatible personal computer with a printer, modem, and internet access in order to complete and electronically submit assignment work and to communicate with lecturers and other students.

*Visit http://www.monash.edu.au/offcampus for more information

Off-shore students

The faculty has students based in Hong Kong who are completing their degrees through off-campus learning offered in collaboration with a partner organisation. Off-shore students are subject to the same university, faculty and course regulations as students based in Australia. Email gsit@infotech.monash.edu.au for details.

Non-award studies

The Faculty of Information Technology offers a range of units for non-award study. These units offer practical experience in computing areas for students of all levels acquiring new or additional skills. For detailed information about non-award studies visit http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au.

Duration

Normally, all units are conducted over a 13-week period (one semester). Summer-semester units are usually conducted on an intensive basis over a much shorter time period. Each unit may have an average of four hours contact time per week.

Some units may be available in the evening or late afternoon. Study via off-campus learning is available from the Gippsland campus. Units may be taken as either assessable, ie complete assignments and exams etc, or non-assessable where no formal work requirements are done. Students choosing this non-assessable enrolment form of study are not able to obtain credit towards awards of the faculty.

Applying for a course

For information about applying for a course visit http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au.

Research programs

Masters and PhD by research

Students enrolled in a masters degree by research or PhD undertake research into a topic of interest within a school of the faculty, under the supervision of two academic staff members. The thesis or research component comprises more than 66% of the course and must show evidence of wide reading.

Students enrolled in a masters degree by major thesis must submit a major thesis which shows independence of thought and demonstrates the student's ability to carry out research in the field concerned.

Students enrolled in a PhD submit a thesis which makes a significant contribution to knowledge and understanding in the field of study.

A wide range of research interests are pursued within the schools of the faculty. For information about research interests in a specific discipline, refer to the `Schools and research programs' section or contact the faculty office at research@infotech.monash.edu.au.

Supervision

Students undertaking a thesis pursue a course of research in a school of the faculty under the main supervision of a member of academic staff from that school. The school must appoint both a main supervisor and an associate supervisor. An associate supervisor need not be a full-time member of staff, but should be recognised in the field of research.

Attendance requirements

While specific requirements may vary among the different courses, graduate research students are expected to meet with their supervisor and attend the university on a regular basis, and to participate in seminar and other programs specified by the school. The rules applying to attendance are laid out in the PhD regulations and in the faculty's information on research courses. However, full-time PhD candidates should note that as well as meeting the attendance requirements laid down in chapter three of the Monash University Doctoral Handbook, the faculty requires PhD candidates to pursue their research on-campus unless they negotiate other arrangements with their supervisor. In the case of overseas study, permission must also be obtained from the Research Graduate School Committee.

Part-time PhD candidates are also required to meet the on-campus residency requirements of the university.

For more detailed information about major and minor theses, students should contact the faculty office.

Courses offered in 2009 - Faculty of Information Technology

Research

  • 0175 Master of Business Systems (Research) - Clayton
  • 2617 Master of Information Management and Systems (Research) - Caulfield
  • 1895 Master of Information Technology (Research) - Berwick, Caulfield, Clayton, Gippsland
  • 3337 Master of Philosophy - Sunway
  • 0190 Doctor of Philosophy - Berwick, Caulfield, Clayton, Gippsland, Sunway

Special pathways to graduate studies

Executive and professional certificates

  • 2794 Executive Certificate in Information Technology - Caulfield, Clayton, Gippsland (via on- and off-campus learning)
  • 3315 Professional Certificate in Information Technology - Caulfield, Clayton, Gippsland (via on- and off-campus learning)

Coursework

Graduate certificates

  • 3347 Graduate Certificate in Business Information Systems – Caulfield, Gippsland (via off-campus learning)
  • 0539 Graduate Certificate in Information Technology - Caulfield

Postgraduate certificates

  • 3346 Postgraduate Certificate in Business Information Systems – Caulfield
  • 2423 Postgraduate Certificate in Information Technology – Caulfield

Graduate diplomas

  • 3345 Graduate Diploma in Business Information Systems – Caulfield, Gippsland (via off-campus learning)
  • 3340 Graduate Diploma in Information and Knowledge Management - Caulfield
  • 0366 Graduate Diploma in Information Technology - Caulfield

Postgraduate diplomas

  • 2411 Postgraduate Diploma in Information Technology - Caulfield
  • 3344 Postgraduate Diploma in Business Information Systems – Caulfield

Masters

Single degrees

  • 3309 Master of Applied Information Technology - Caulfield, Gippsland (via on- and off-campus learning)
  • 3341 Master of Business Information Systems – Caulfield, Gippsland (via off-campus learning)
  • 3342 Master of Business Information Systems Professional – Caulfield
  • 3343 Master of Business Information Systems (Honours) – Caulfield
  • 2402 Master of Information Technology - Caulfield, Gippsland (via off-campus learning)
  • 3348 Master of Information Technology Professional – Caulfield
  • 3349 Master of Information Technology (Honours) – Caulfield

Courses with no further intake

The course information provided for the following degrees is for those students completing their studies in these programs. For details of these courses refer to previous handbook entries as indicated. Note: many units are being replaced in 2009 by FIT-coded units and continuing students should check with the faculty or their course leader when re-enrolling.

Caulfield

Clayton

Gippsland (via off-campus learning)

Double degrees

* Managed by the Faculty of Business and Economics.

 

 

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