Bachelor of Engineering Technology and Bachelor of Vocational Education & Training (BTBV) - BETC BVET

QTAC code (Australian and New Zealand applicants): Toowoomba campus: 907702; Distance education: 907705

CRICOS code (International applicants): This program is pending CRICOS registration. Offers will not be issued to International Students for these programs until CRICOS endorsement is granted.

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In this section:

• Program focus
• Civil Engineering Major
• Electrical and Electronic Major
• Mechanical Engineering Major

Program focus

This combined program provides students with the problem-solving, analytical and discipline specific skills required as an engineering technologist; and prepares students for employment in vocational education and training-related roles.

Career opportunities

Graduates will be able to operate as effective educators and trainers within a range of post-compulsory education and training settings such as TAFE, technical colleges, industry and community education settings. Graduates are also qualified for the role of training manager in relevant settings, although further postgraduate studies would be well-regarded.

Civil Engineering Major

This major provides students with the skills to plan, design, construct and maintain infrastructure, such as roads, railways, airfields, irrigation works, buildings, harbour facilities and disposal works. Students have the opportunity to specialise in the areas of project design and construction, and research and development. Graduates will be involved in the building and development of infrastructure, such as roads, railways , airfields, irrigation works, buildings, harbour facilities, dams, pipelines, sewers, tunnels, canals and disposal works.

Electrical and Electronic Major

This major provides students with skills in energy systems and power electronics, computers and microprocessors, communications, and control. Graduates will be involved in analogue and digital electronics, computer engineering, microprocessors and applications, measurement, instrumentation and control, robotics, telecommunications, microwaves, fibre optics, biomedical engineering, power stations, distribution and machines, defence services, electricity boards and government departments.

Mechanical Engineering Major

This major provides students with skills in energy generation, dynamic mechanisms, simulation, manufacturing and fluid flow control, to design new machines and devices and improve manufacturing systems. Graduates will be involved in manufacturing systems. Graduates will be involved in manufacturing refineries, mining, transportation, computing, energy and education industries, including consultancy, research, project planning and management design, development, supervision and commissioning of new systems, computer-aided design and manufacture of consumer products, machines and equipment, and specialist technical sales.

Professional accreditation

Professional accreditation for this program will be sought from Engineers Australia in 2013. Graduates from this program are eligible to apply for graduate membership of Engineers Australia as an Engineering Technologist. After further professional development, a graduate member with a Bachelor or Engineering Technology may apply for chartered status as an Engineering Technologist, and when granted, may use the post-nominal TMIEAust CEngT.

Graduates who choose to extend EDV3500 Competency Based Training and Assessment to meet the requirements for the VET qualification course TAE40110 - Certificate IV in Training and Assessment will have met the industry standard for training delivery in Australia's VET system. The program is not accredited with the Queensland College of Teachers.

Program aims

• To equip graduates with the academic, personal, professional and technical knowledge, skills and understanding required to commence practice as a Graduate Engineering Technologist in Australia or overseas with appropriate social, cultural, industrial and environmental contexts.

• To graduate students who can demonstrate the knowledge, skills, practices and values inherent in contemporary understandings of best practice in vocational education and training, particularly as these understandings are reflected in the expectations of industry and key training organisations.

• To equip graduates with knowledge and understanding appropriate to working as educators with learners in the post-compulsory years and in a range of adult education and training settings.

Admission requirements

Applicants shall normally:

• have studied four semester units and achieved an exit assessment of 'Sound Achievement' or better in the Queensland Senior Secondary School subject: English and Mathematics B; or

• be able to demonstrate that they have achieved an equivalent standard in these subjects at another institution and;

• Australian applicants: have achieved a Queensland Overall Position (OP) band, or an equivalent Rank based on qualifications and previous work experience, at or above the specified cut-off level

• International applicants: must have met the University's English languagerequirements or have completed the University's ELICOS/EAP programs .

• have access to an approved instructional setting in the post-compulsory education and training sector. Such access must enable the applicant to plan, implement and evaluate actual instructional programs as required by specified courses within the program. Written verification of such access will be required before enrolment can be confirmed.

How to apply

Domestic students

Application for undergraduate programs may be made through the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC). The same procedure applies whether you plan to study on-campus or by distance education.

If you completed Year 12 at a Queensland secondary school you will be assessed for entry on the basis of your Overall Position (OP) or equivalent score. Year 12 students from other states or territories are considered for entry on the basis of their UAI, ENTER or TER and the subject prerequisites indicated. Other applicants will be based on their overall Rank.

International students

This program is offered to international students. An international student is a person who is not an Australian or New Zealand citizen and not an Australian permanent resident. Please refer to USQ International for information about entry requirements, visa arrangements and how to apply.

Program fees

Commonwealth supported place

A Commonwealth supported place is where the Australian Government makes a contribution towards the cost of your higher education and you as a student pay a student contribution amount, which varies depending on the courses undertaken. You are able to calculate the fees for a particular course via the Course Fee Finder.
Commonwealth Supported students may be eligible to defer their fees through a Government loan called HECS-HELP.

Domestic full fee paying place

Domestic full fee paying places are funded entirely through the full fees paid by the student. Full fees vary depending on the courses that are taken. You are able to calculate the fees for a particular course via the Course Fee Finder.
Permanent Humanitarian Visa holders, Permanent Resident visa holders and New Zealand citizens who reside outside Australia pay full tuition fees.
Domestic full fee paying students may be eligible to defer their fees through a Government loan called FEE-HELP.

International full fee paying place

International students pay full fees. Full fees vary depending on the courses that are taken and whether they are studied on-campus, via distance education/online. You are able to calculate the fees for a particular course via the Course Fee Finder.

Program structure

The combined Bachelor of Engineering Technology and Bachelor of Vocational Education & Training program comprises 32 academic units and involves four years of full-time study or eight years of part-time study. The program is available in both on-campus and external mode of study. In order to be eligible for the award, students must complete the combined program within a maximum of six years of full-time study, or 10 years of part-time study, from the date of their initial enrolment.

The combined program consists of 19 core, 13 major study and six practical courses. Students enrolled in the program may undertake a professional specialisation in one of three major discipline areas:

• Civil Engineering

• Electrical and Electronic Engineering; or

• Mechanical Engineering

To satisfy the requirements of the program students must complete all the Academic and Practice courses in the following tables that show the recommended enrolment patterns for on-campus and external students. Students following a non-standard enrolment pattern should consult the course synopses to ascertain if a course is offered in another term.

Required time limits

Full-time students have a maximum of six years to complete this program. Part-time students have a maximum of 10 years to complete this program. A pro-rata adjustment of the maximum time period will apply for those students who transfer from one mode of study to another. A pro-rata reduction in the maximum time period will apply to students who are admitted to a program with advanced standing.

Practical experience

To be eligible to graduate from the Bachelor of Engineering Technology, students must obtain an aggregate of at least 45 days of suitable Engineering practical experience during their program. This experience may be in an engineering office or laboratory where the student would be working principally with professional engineers and engineering associates. It may, however, be preferable for students to spend some time in field or factory activities to gain insight into industrial practice and to see what is involved in converting designs into finished products. Students are required to enrol in ENG3909 Work Experience - Technologist in the latter part of their program and keep a record of appropriate experience as outlined in the Course Specification. The work experience is to be endorsed by an appropriate person in the organisation providing the experience and submitted to the examiner. The student must meet all costs associated with the acquisition of practical experience to satisfy this requirement. The record of work experience must be made available for perusal by the Head of Discipline upon request. The acceptability or otherwise of employment experience, and the period of that type of experience that may be credited towards the 45 days, will be determined by the Examiner of ENG3909 Work Experience - Technologist .

To be eligible to graduate from the Bachelor of Vocational Education & Training students must obtain an aggregate of 100 hours of professional Vocational Education & Training experience. Professional experience placements may be scheduled outside usual University teaching weeks. Travel to locations away from the areas local to the student’s home campus may be necessary to complete the professional experience requirements. The professional experience components of the Bachelor of Vocational Education and Training program are all tied to four identified courses. In order to undertake courses to which professional experience placements are attached at any stage in the program it is a requirement that students will have satisfactorily completed all Vocational Education & Training professional experience courses in previous years in the program enrolment pattern. Students may complete their professional experience in approved placements. As students are studying wholly at a distance from USQ campus, special requirements will need to be met in relation to completion of professional experience, including submission of two digital video recordings of teaching sessions. For further information see Professional ExperienceIt is required that Queensland-based students hold a current positive notice indicating that they are deemed suitable for working with children and young people. Further information about the “Blue Card” suitability process is available from the commission for Children and Young People.

IT requirements

Students should refer to the section entitled Access to Information Technology Facilities in the General Faculty and Program Information section of this Handbook.

Residential schools

External students are required to attend a number of residential schools during their program. These are associated with Practice Courses and are normally conducted at the end of Semester 3 (February), or during the mid-semester recess in Semester 2 (September/October).

The practical and professional experience requirements for the program are shown within the recommended enrolment patterns in the following tables. Practice Courses are a compulsory part of the program. However, Practice Courses are zero credit point and they do not attract a student contribution charge for Australian Residents or a tuition fee for international students.

Students enrolled in the external offer of a Practice Course must attend the residential school for that course. In some cases students enrolled in the on-campus mode may also be required to attend the residential school. Students should only enrol in a Practice Course when they are able to attend the residential school for that course. Practice Courses may not be taken earlier than shown except with the permission of the Program Coordinator responsible for the program. In some cases students may enrol in two Practice Courses in one term so they can complete the two residential schools in a two-week period. The actual dates for each residential school are shown in the Residential School Schedule in this Handbook.

Safety boots are compulsory in engineering laboratories for several of the Practice courses and are strongly recommended for all other Practice courses.

Articulation

Students who have completed an Associate Degree program in Engineering at a Queensland university within the last five years, may be able to claim up to a maximum of 16 units of advanced standing in this program if studying in the same discipline area. Students who have completed an Advanced Diploma program in engineering at a TAFE college within the last five years are eligible to claim up to a maximum of 12 units of advanced standing if studying in the same discipline area provided appropriate modules from the national curriculum have been completed.

Exit points

Students who, for whatever reason, are unable to complete this program and who satisfy all of the requirements of either the Bachelor of Engineering Technology, Associate Degree in Engineering or the Diploma of Engineering Studies may be permitted to exit with that award.

Students who, for whatever reason, are unable to complete The Bachelor of Vocational Education & Training degree and who satisfy all of the requirements of either the Associate Degree in Education Studies (DAES) and the Diploma of Education Studies (DPES) may be permitted to exit with that award.

In this section:

• Civil Engineering Major recommended enrolment pattern
• Electrical and Electronic Engineering Major recommended enrolment pattern
• Mechanical Engineering Major recommended enrolment pattern

Civil Engineering Major recommended enrolment pattern

To satisfy the requirements of the program, students must complete all of the Academic and Practice Courses in the following tables that show the recommended enrolment patterns for on-campus and external students for our Toowoomba campus. Students following a non-standard enrolment pattern should consult thecourse synopses to ascertain if a course is offered in another term.

Electrical and Electronic Engineering Major recommended enrolment pattern

To satisfy the requirements of the program, students must complete all of the Academic and Practice Courses in the following tables that show the recommended enrolment patterns for on-campus and external students for our Toowoomba campus. Students following a non-standard enrolment pattern should consult thecourse synopses to ascertain if a course is offered in another term.

Mechanical Engineering Major recommended enrolment pattern

To satisfy the requirements of the program, students must complete all of the Academic and Practice Courses in the following tables that show the recommended enrolment patterns for on-campus and external students for our Toowoomba campus. Students following a non-standard enrolment pattern should consult thecourse synopses to ascertain if a course is offered in another term.