Chapter 4 – Academic and research focus

Faculty of Information Technology

This information is current as at January 2008. The latest information is available from the Faculty of Information Technology.

UTS:IT offers courses with a mix of technical knowledge and theory plus practical experience. The practical nature of the Faculty's courses means that graduates are in high demand — work-ready, career focused and willing to keep abreast of new technologies and learn new skills.

The Faculty's undergraduate courses are unique in their mix of technical computer science knowledge, business awareness in information systems and industry experience. Courses address the IT industry's demand for a mix of business and technical skills while also providing students with teamwork and problem-solving skills. Project subjects that simulate the IT work environment consolidate the real-world knowledge that students gain through their industrial training.

The dynamic nature of the IT industry means it is essential for IT professionals to update their skills in line with current trends and the latest technological advances. UTS:IT postgraduate courses allow students to acquire selected advanced skills in a number of unique specialisations to meet their career needs.

UTS:IT graduates find work almost anywhere in the world in all areas of the IT industry and receive excellent starting salaries. The National Graduate Destination Survey shows that UTS:IT graduates consistently enjoy among the highest employment rates and starting salaries of the professions.

The Faculty maintains the practice orientation of its courses through collaborative links with industry, business, the professions and government. Industry partners play a key role in helping to shape and advise on many of the programs offered. Some programs are developed to provide leading-edge expertise in areas of emerging IT importance, while others are developed in direct response to expressed industry needs. UTS:IT has been a leader in practice-based IT education, offering a year of industrial experience as part of its undergraduate courses, for many years. The Faculty has one of the most developed programs of its kind, giving students a professional head start through practical experience with leading companies.

UTS:IT also continues to develop its capability and capacity to deliver high-quality teaching and learning, and has been awarded four Carrick Institute Grants, to a total over $1 million, to aid cross-institutional projects that support effective teaching and learning. A member of academic staff has received a Carrick Institute citation for outstanding teaching and another has received a Carrick Institute Associate Fellowship.

A strategic priority at UTS:IT has been to significantly boost its research profile. The Faculty has attracted increased research funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and record numbers of enrolled PhD students. In 2006, the Faculty had the most ARC projects of any similar faculty across Australian universities. UTS:IT has a strong research profile in a number of fields, including distributed knowledge and intelligence, human–computer systems, IT education research, networking and mobility, software engineering and visual information processing.

Inquiries

Office of the Dean
Faculty of Information Technology
CB10.3.573, City campus
telephone +61 2 9514 1800
fax +61 2 9514 4699
http://www.it.uts.edu.au

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