Faculty information

• Structure and organisation of the faculty
• Schools
• Research centres
• Graduate studies
  • Programs
  • Professional recognition
  • Research programs

Course information

• Outline of postgraduate studies
  • Courses offered in 2013

Course-related policies and rules

• Government and University legislation

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

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

The faculty home page address is http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au.

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, whose members include all heads of schools, other school-based representatives, representatives of other faculties, 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 Faculty 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, education quality and 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 Academic Progress 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, faculty manager, heads of each campus school and three associate deans.

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

Faculty administration locations

The faculty has administrative offices on the Caulfield, Clayton, Gippsland, Sunway and South Africa campuses. Contact details are available at http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/about/contact.html.

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 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 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 courses 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 or specialisation 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 Clayton School of Information technology 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 located at Churchill and hosts the Centre for Multimedia Computing, Communications and Applications Research (MCCAR). 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 about 20 km south-west of Kuala Lumpur at Bandar Sunway.

The school currently offers the Master of Philosophy and the Doctor of Philosophy.
 
For further information on the school, visit  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  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 per cent of students from other African countries.

For further information on the school visit http://www.monash.ac.za/schools/it or email sit@monash.ac.za.

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 three research centres provide the focus for our internationally recognised research strengths in intelligent systems, organisational and social informatics, 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 Organisational and Social Informatics (COSI)

Research that helps the development of individuals, organisations, and society through human-centred design and deployment of information and communication technologies. For details visit http://infotech.monash.edu/research/about/centres/cosi/.

Centre for Research in Intelligent Systems (CRIS)

Research focused on improving the intelligence of artificial and natural computational processes.For details visit http://infotech.monash.edu/research/about/centres/cris/.

Centre for Multimedia Computing, Communications and Applications Research (MCCAR)

Research on multimedia signal processing and management, multimedia communication and sensor networks, and multimedia applications. For details visit http://infotech.monash.edu/research/about/centres/mccar/.

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 master’s 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 bachelor’s degree with a major in the particular discipline or a fourth-year level course in the same discipline (honours, graduate diploma or masters). The focus is on extending the knowledge of the discipline methodology and its application.

Relevant course types

• Postgraduate certificates
• Postgraduate diplomas
• Master’s degrees by research/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 master’s degree by research in the discipline or equivalent. PhD studies are offered at 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 bachelor’s degree in any discipline.

Relevant course types

• Graduate certificates
• Graduate diplomas
• Master's 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. . Students completing relevant units within the Graduate Diploma in Information and Knowledge Management, Master of Business Information Systems, Master of Business Information Systems Professional and the Master of Business Information Systems (Honours) can also gain accreditation from the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), the Australian Society of Archivists (ASA), and Records and Information Management Professionals Australasia (RIM Professionals Australasia).

Research programs

Masters and PhD by research

Students enrolled in a master’s 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 master’s 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 http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/research/ or contact the faculty office at fit-research@monash.edu.

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.

NOTE: The course details provided in in the entries below are for those students who began their studies in 2013 - students who commenced their studies prior to this date should consult the Handbook edition for the year in which they started their course. Archived Handbooks are available at http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks.

Research

• 3337 Master of Philosophy – Sunway
• 0190 Doctor of Philosophy – Caulfield, Clayton, Gippsland, Sunway

Special pathways to graduate studies

Executive and professional certificates

• 2794 Executive Certificate in Information Technology – Caulfield, Gippsland (via off-campus learning)
• 3315 Professional Certificate in Information Technology – Caulfield, Gippsland (via 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
• 3341 Master of Business Information Systems – Caulfield, Gippsland, Sunway (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
• 3348 Master of Information Technology Professional – Caulfield
• 3349 Master of Information Technology (Honours) – Caulfield