Global graduates
April
was a time of celebration for UniSA students from all disciplines as they came from
near and far to attend their graduations.
The Master of Business Administration program was no exception with students travelling from interstate and even overseas to be part of the local graduation festivities, including 130 Chinese graduands who flew into Adelaide (pictured right).
TheGraduate was able to catch up with some of the different students on their special day.
Partners in life and study
Recent
research by UniSA has clearly shown that students undertaking doctoral research
require strong support from family and friends. But what happens when a couple decides
to undertake doctorates at the same time?
Meet Lawrence and Mee Moi Chu, recent graduates of UniSA’s International School of Business (IGSB) each with a Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA).
Since starting their degree in 2001, the married couple has shared almost every aspect of their lives, from studying for their doctorate, to looking after their two children (their second was six months old when they started the DBA) – all while juggling their busy careers. Mee Moi works as a retail manager and Lawrence runs his family’s business systems consultancy.
“We were very busy and made a lot of sacrifices,”says Lawrence. “For the first two years we were up until 2am five days a week. In the last year, we were up until 2am seven days a week! But it was worth it – no regrets. Higher learning is important for personal growth and the family.”
They both said it was the tight structure of the course that meant they stayed
firmly on track throughout their doctorates.
A news hound in the making
April
was a busy month for Andrew Liberts.
As well as graduating with a journalism degree, he was also awarded best student journalist at the 2005 South Australian Media Awards.
Liberts was nominated for his work on The Wire – a nightly current affairs program on Radio Adelaide 101.5FM that is syndicated on the national community radio network.
While journalism wasn’t Liberts’ first attempt at a degree, he says the lessons learnt from his previous tertiary education (he started both arts and teaching degrees) combined with the excellent journalistic grounding at UniSA has put him in good stead for his future career.
“I found that with journalism, having those extra years experience in the world
and knowing how things operate gave me a slight advantage,” he said. “The UniSA degree has given me a great understanding of the basics of journalism. It’s now up to me to go and get as much experience as I can to make use of my
journalistic training.”
Online learning in business
Ken Rich (MBA), Walter Schwalbe (Graduate Diploma in Management – left in picture) and Peter Cory (MBA – right in picture) were amongst 36 IGSB students who studied entirely online. With professional backgrounds in accounting, IT and communications, and consultancy respectively, they all applauded the structure, flexibility and convenience of being able to study at UniSA online from their homes interstate.
“I was impressed by the broad structure of the course and its strong reputation within the business management community,” Cory said.
“What attracted me to the MBA was the online delivery and the fact that UniSA had a focused and targeted postgraduate degree,” Rich said.
“When you have a full-time job you need a course that can be adapted around your other commitments. UniSA was able to provide that online,” Schwalbe said.