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Historical overview

The Business Information Systems (BIS) Program began through an Industry initiative rather than an academic one. The main reason for the development of such a practical and intensive program was the shortage of quality graduates who had both IT and business knowledge.

South Australia needed – and still needs – good IT professionals to attract business for the State. Following the example of four pilot programs in the eastern states, Industry approached a number of South Australian Universities and eventually chose the University of South Australia (formerly the South Australian Institute of Technology – SAIT), as the ideal place to offer a program which produced a high quality mixture of the above-mentioned knowledge and skills.

The inaugural Industry Partners were the State Bank of South Australia (now Bank SA), ETSA, IBM Australia Ltd., Mutual Community Ltd., the South Australian Housing Trust, and three other departments of the State Government: Children’s Services; Department of Education; and State Computing with a number of these Partners sponsoring multiple students. From the SAIT, the Program was a joint venture of the Elton Mayo School of Management and the School of Accountancy (who were both responsible for the Program) and the School of Mathematics & Computer Studies. The main initiators of the program were:

  • Professor David Lee – Deputy Director SAIT (Senior Management Representative)
  • Professor Robert Northcote – Head of School (Mathematics & Computer Studies)
  • Mr. Kevin O’Brien – Head of School (Accountancy); and
  • Mr. Bill Wood – Elton Mayo School of Management.

Approval for the program was granted in October 1988 with the first intake of students – direct from Year 12 – in 1989. An interview process was essential to ensure that students had good business and presentation skills. In addition, only 13 placement positions were available and 100 applications were received. Applicants were ranked on their Matriculation scores, in addition to their interview score and well-rounded applicants, with extra-curricular interests, were highly sought. Those selected received a scholarship of $9,000 per year, for three years, which was also an incentive to attract high quality students away from other degrees (e.g. law or medicine).

Evolution of the BIS program

In 1989, the program was conducted as a three-year, undergraduate degree, with industry placements in the first semester of second year and in the second semester of third year, and as already mentioned, entry into the program was direct from secondary school. A Summer semester was also held at the end of third year. The program was run in this fashion until 1994, and in 1995, no students were taken. This was to allow the transition between the purely undergraduate version of the Program and the new Honours degree. The Honours version saw students accepted after at least second year, from 1996 to 1998 where the program now ran for two years. The reasoning behind the change follows.

Early in the 1990’s there was an economic recession which brought about the massive downsizing which affected every business and institution. The $9,000 per annum scholarship was also becoming too expensive for a three-year sponsorship. It was at about this time, that the School of Information Systems was formed along with the introduction of the Bachelor of Business – Management Information Systems (MIS) which was similar to, and competed with the BIS Program.

Thus, to capitalise on the good reputation of the Program, reduce the financial burden for industry sponsors and reduce competition with MIS, the Honours format was introduced. This created a premium program for high quality students from business degrees – in particular, MIS. The new $6,000 scholarship figure came from students who were asked how much money they could "survive on" in a year. This translated to a cost for industry, reducing from $27,000 over three years to $12,000 over two years and thus, enabled more organisations to be involved.

The inaugural intake of post-graduate, Masters students occurred in 1999. This change to the Program was drafted in 1997 and formally designed in 1998. This further upgrade of the Program was a decision of former Head of School, Terry Robbins-Jones and Industry Partners. The two major reasons were firstly, the Honours qualification was not recognised overseas, with the Masters title being recognised internationally. The second reason was the conflict of goals between a challenging and extensive business project, and the research demands of a thesis. Some Honours graduates of the Program took the opportunity to upgrade to the new Masters degree.

Program management via committees

The BIS Board was made up of affiliated Industry Representatives – so the program was (and still is) run by Industry. The Board met monthly (now quarterly) and made all decisions which affected the management of the Program, while the School of Accountancy administered the Program.

Not until 1994, did the Board appoint three sub-committees which now report to an Executive Committee which meets monthly:

  • The Program Development Committee – a committee which has since been heavily involved in the design and development of the Program – has been responsible for the courses and direction of the Program, including the two recent transitions to Honours and Masters.

  • The Marketing Committee is responsible for the marketing of the Program to potential Partners and the organising of a number of annual and ad hoc events, such as the BIS Business Breakfast and the BIS Awards Night.

  • The Student Selection and Support Committee is a seasonal committee which handles the process of attracting and securing new students. Through information evenings, lecture visits and mail-outs, potential students are informed and encouraged to apply. As mentioned, these three sub-committees all meet regularly and report to the Executive Committee – the committee with most of the decision-making power – but which also filters and forwards relevant matters to the Board.

All the Industry Partners, Academics, support staff and Student Representatives are members of the BIS Board of Studies. A chairperson is appointed biannually and these have been:

  • Professor David Lee – SAIT
  • Mr. Paul Astley – Fauldings (4 years)
  • Mr. Allan Baird – Digital Equipment Corporation
  • Mr. David Raffen – Matcom, Prion Technologies and Microarts (4 years)
  • Dr. Chris Nettle – Telstra
  • Mr Bill Monks – Adelaide Central Mission
  • Mr Ted Budas - SA Water Corporation

Student support mechanisms

Originally, individual staff members acted as Academic Mentors on an informal basis. This was problematic, as it was an unofficial responsibility. Therefore, some staff were more conscientious than others, which led to inconsistency for students. Bill Wood was in charge of between four and five students in any one year, and it was in 1997 that a decision was made to make the role of "Academic Mentor" the responsibility of one staff member and incorporate it into their list of job responsibilities.

Malcolm Pattinson, lecturer in the School of Accounting and Information Systems held this position up until 1999, with Alan Hodgett (also a lecturer in the School of Accounting and Information Systems) taking on the role as of Summer 2000 (and yes, he has proven to be Y2K compliant)!

Also, a number of Industry and Training Mentors are assigned to each student while they are on placement.

The philosophy of the BIS program

The philosophy of the program has remained consistent since its inception. That is:

  • to ensure that students have a solid knowledge of business and IT
  • to encourage excellent communication and presentation skills
  • to have a program designed and controlled by industry, in conjunction with the University of South Australia
  • to have professional, business-like entry processes such as panel interviews made up of academic and industry representatives
  • to encourage and foster team-work among students
  • to produce confident, innovative, dedicated and highly regarded graduates

Industry and Academia work together to create something well-rounded and fruitful to prepare students for a future in IT and business. It is a difficult Program, but the fact that students are handpicked for not only their academic achievement, but also their attitude, character, values and other interests, equates to the production of quality leaders.

Small, highly-filtered groups of quality individuals, generally leads to good group dynamics. The aim of the Program has always been to produce graduates with expertise and practical knowledge in management, particularly with an emphasis on information systems and communication skills.

The Program aims to prepare students for careers in business through action-learning placements which deliver outcomes that are at the level required by Industry. Having graduates ready for their business career with relevant skills and experiences gained at university allows them to make a smooth transition to the workforce and quickly become a valued part of their employer’s team. Employers comment on the graduates’ motivation, pragmatic approach to work, superior interpersonal skills, technical knowledge and analytical abilities.

Today the BIS Program, in its current Masters format, is one of the top co-operative programs of its type in Australia. With its heavy industry involvement and support, and renowned industry placements, the future of the BIS Program and its impact on the IT skills of this State, continues to be strong. The influence and drive of committed Industry organisations and representatives can not be overstated.

 

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