"New areas of study for the university include information security which the federal government identified as an area where there's a lack in skills," Whymark said.
Central Queensland University regularly runs focus groups in Sydney and Melbourne with industry and recruitment firms to get feedback on its programs. "We also take note of international curriculum designs. The program was restructured three years ago and has boomed ever since. It is designed to meet certification requirements where applicable which means it is skills-oriented. We will be introducing a research component in the near future -- the program is continually evolving and never stands still."
Central Queensland University is currently going through the accreditation process with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). "We are going to open a NZ campus in November this year and MIS/MITs in business and IT are on the schedule to be delivered."
Professor Ian Robinson, head of La Trobe University's School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, its strength lies in the range of offerings in which it specializes.
From mid-year La Trobe is planning a new Masters of Mobile and Pervasive Computing. "The new course combines our strengths of computer networks, software engineering and intelligent systems; you need smart ways of doing these things," Robinson said.
"This area is ambiguous in nature and the course will teach how to use these devices and how they communicate with other devices. There are sequences of applications in this area, and we will train students to understand the networks and software engineering."
La Trobe also offers a combined Masters of Telecommunications and Network Engineering.
"It is more about convergence of these areas -- the boundaries are getting a bit blurred and people need to know about both the software side, protocols and designing them and the hardware," he said.
The combined Masters attracts people with an engineering background and some with computer science, whereas the other courses are designed for people with a computer science background.
All of the La Trobe's courses are Web assisted; all the material is online but each unit has a couple of hours of face-to-face teaching each week. "We try to put them late in the afternoon which makes it possible for students to do them after work," he said.
MIT is offered at Bendigo as well as the university's Bundoora campus.
La Trobe has also negotiated a number of HECs placements for its postgrad courses. "Due to the downturn in student numbers for undergraduate courses we have been able to swap some full fee places for HECs places," he said.
In South Australia, Flinders University associate professor and head of School of Informatics and Engineering, Janet Verbyla said its Masters course is flexible. "We try to suit the course structure to what the student is trying to achieve."
Flinders main intake is mid-year. "It is better for the overseas market, because the academic year runs on a different cycle and getting a visa can take longer. We have a lot of undergrads who would like to go onto a Masters so there is already a lot of demand there.
"We are looking at adding another Masters, which will be in a specific area and will draw on the strength of our research groups to be leading edge. We also have strength in the area of robotics and imbedded systems and we have a Masters in Engineering in smart instrumentation. The computers that are hidden in things from cars to washing machines are becoming ever increasingly important."
Verbyla says Flinders is a smart alternative to larger universities. "Adelaide has a growing reputation; it has the same or better quality than Sydney universities and is 10 to 15 percent cheaper for the basics."
Angela Tuffley, senior lecturer at the School of Information and Communication Technology School said Griffith University (Qld) offers a variety of IT postgrad courses. Students who undertake the Master of Software Engineering are taught by internationally recognized experts in software engineering from the Software Quality Institute (SQI), a not-for-profit center within Griffith University.
"At SQI we have a mission to transition world-class technology to Australian industry and the courses we deliver to the students are designed to meet industry demands.
"There is more to engineering software than cutting code, and our students learn to understand this, that is why Defence, telecommunications, finance and aerospace and other sectors snap them up." The Master of Software Engineering is three semesters, or one and a half years full time; students can also study part time. Griffith was the first partner of the Software Engineering Institute at US based Carnegie Mellon University.
Meanwhile, Deakin University specializes in online education. "Everything is online," said Professor Wanlei Zhou head of the School of Engineering and Information Technology.
"I think our program is unique. We have a strong industry links -- most of the students can be placed for four days a week for up to half a year. The experience is very attractive to international students who want a feeling of Australian industry or the local student who is looking at a change in industry. There are different types of students, including some with no IT degree.
The course also offers a great deal of flexibility due to its online structure. "Students can study without coming to the university. About half of the 20 units are online and we are going to try to put all online from mid-year. It is state of the art and a balance of Microsoft .Net and open source. Students can listen to voice lectures and have the same feeling as in a face-to-face environment."
Deakin offers three different specializations plus a combined Masters degree. There is also the option to gain a graduate diploma of IT after one year of full-time study.
All the enrolments are online as well as assignments and study materials. Lectures can be downloaded onto MP3 players while some have synchronized Microsoft PowerPoint presentations.
From next semester Deakin will integrate the Cisco Certified network associate certificate with the MIT.
Sam Latz, manager of IT at the Alice Springs Town Council is currently undertaking a combined Master of Information Technology and Master of Commerce through Deakin.
"I chose Deakin's degree because of the off-campus option. I wanted an IT postgrad with some finance subjects and Deakin was recommended to me by colleagues and friends.
"I am studying remotely and I can download lectures. I also find the chat groups useful because I can read about problems other students are having.
"It is really important for remote students to know there are other people in the course and you know you aren't alone and that everyone is having the same problems. You also get a Deakin e-mail address which makes you feel apart of the uni. I checked a few different courses and settled on Deakin, because it had the combined Masters. Some universities didn't offer pure remote options. I was also able to modify my enrolment online and remove subjects without talking to anyone."
Latz admits he underestimated the workload, but has been able to continue the program with the support of his workplace. "They understand the commitment -- hours per week and number of years. I have already applied what I am studying to my job. I wanted a course that would give current best practice and skills for real life - I wasn't looking for a doctorate."
The University of NSW takes the opposite view by having a strong policy that everything must be held on campus. But like other universities, its program is consistently changing.
"We are always looking at improving our offers," said Eric Martin UNSW senior lecturer and postgrad coursework academic advisor.
"We are preparing to introduce the latest trends in technology and developments in emerging technology based on the promising field of wireless and security," he said.
"We are trying to update our majors on wireless and security -- our aim is to make sure that we not only use technology, but create the technology of the future. We are research-intensive and try to convey our passion for research to our students.
"We are considering distance education, but don't think it is the best option as we want to stick to classical-intensive classes. To foster the sprit of team work and cooperation [students] must work on very substantial projects and problem solving skills; and that requires working in groups," Martin said.
Ron Weber, Dean of IT at Monash University, said "Monash is one of only a few universities with an IT faculty. "We have all the disciplines that underpin IT within the one faculty, which means we can work together more effectively.
"It is very difficult to get all disciplines to work together when they are dispersed throughout other faculties. Together, we can cooperate and provide a broad based access to all the IT disciplines.
"We believe that someone graduating with IT today has to have a fundamental knowledge of the technical size of the organization as well as the social side of it. You can't be a competent professional without understanding all sides and we are well prepared to [teach] this."
Monash has campuses in Malaysia and South Africa and the courses are designed by the international teams as well as academic staff within Australia. "This gives us an international flavor within our degree structure. Africa is very important for the future and an Asian perspective is important also, because it is a critical market. The IT student is a global student -- for someone to have an international perspective is an important aspect and aren't restricted to only to work in Australia -- to have an understanding of international [IT] means they are well placed in these markets.
"We have an ongoing review; we address needs of industry and current technologies and are currently reviewing the Masters programs. There will be no major changes mid-year but there will be minor changes. We are trying to emphasize a few things; improve multi disciplinary areas, which is a critical aspect of IT.
"We will work with other areas, business science and medicine, reviewing subject offerings to provide a broad base of knowledge and common set of subjects that lay the foundations and promote student flexibility within their degree and crossing their degrees."
University of Tasmania Honors coordinator Jacky Hartnett said it offers a one-on-one research component with students and staff members. Members of staff work with their 'expert' areas and offer students the opportunity to bid for their choice, Hartnett said. "Research topics are primarily computing but with an application area like marine science or in conjunction with the center for spacial information systems or our collaborating partner in Switzerland.
"We try to adapt to what is coming in the future and always had an interest in mobile computing. Because of the [level of ] interest, we are running courses on imbedded systems in clothing, computing in context and the environment. We do have subjects on multimedia, data mining," Hartnett said.
"All Honors and masters students get their own computers, desk and workspace."
Uni offers software-specific courses
The University of NSW in conjunction with SAS Australia offers a second-year undergraduate course focusing on the management of large volumes of data using SAS software tools.
The course provides students with the skills required to manage large data sets using SAS and gives them the opportunity to participate in a work experience program and also sit for the SAS Base certification exam.
Melissa Cassar, SAS academic program manager, said, "Offering work experience is extremely important and we hope to place 50 students with customers across banking, manufacturing, telecommunications and government departments this year. We also provide an after-course service in helping the students find employment."
Sandeep Mane, 31, was one of many students to benefit from the course, said: "Not only did the SAS course give me the work experience I needed to get full-time employment they went the extra step and found me a job after I completed the course."
Abhijit Horem, who also secured a job - with Citibank - following his course, agreed. "The course and the SAS Institute give you ample assistance to make sure you have an excellent knowledge of SAS Base, providing a very solid platform to develop even further when entering the work force. It also gives a good grounding in the basic principles of programming, which has enabled me to learn other languages quickly on the job.
"You can also see how versatile SAS is in the workplace, such as linking some operations of other programs with SAS, or even when connecting to remote databases. The course gives you the skills to work effectively with other programs and is the back bone of understanding while the work experience gives you real life examples which are much more complex."
SAS courses were first offered at Queensland University of Technology and the program is expected to be launched in Melbourne mid-year.