Graduate Diploma of Information Technology (Faculty of Sciences) (GDTI) - GradDipTI

This program is offered only to continuing students. No new admissions will be accepted. Students who are interested in this study area should contact us.

Contact us

Current students

Contact the Administration Officer (Mathematics and Computing), telephone +61 7 4631 1490, email sciences.enrolment@usq.edu.au or submit a question via USQAssist.

Program focus

The Graduate Diploma of Information Technology provides professional qualifications in computing for graduates from disciplines other than computing or information systems. The program includes basic studies in data and system analysis, together with more specialised areas of study within the chosen major.

Professional accreditation

This program is accredited by the Australian Computer Society.

Program aims

The Graduate Diploma of Information Technology will provide additional professional qualifications in computing for graduates from disciplines other than Computing. It is a vocationally and academically oriented program emphasising the resolution of technological problems leading to the effective management and analysis of information in both private and public sectors. Graduates should have a strong understanding of relevant major academic disciplines and possess knowledge and skills in problem resolution that will enable them to work effectively in their chosen area or specialisation.

Achievement of the objectives of the student's area of specialisation will result in a graduate of high academic standard who is capable of competing for employment in a chosen professional area and pursuing career development in that or other related areas.

Program objectives

The objectives of the Graduate Diploma of Information Technology are to enable graduates to:

• work as a professional in the Information Technology industry

• acquire specific knowledge and skills in information technology which are relevant to their disciplines and careers

• become better problem-solvers and innovative thinkers, who are able to learn new skills independently and efficiently and consequently to succeed in a competitive professional environment

• identify information needs appropriate to their area of specialisation, and apply the techniques required to gather and interpret such information

• demonstrate skills in the analysis and determination of technological issues at management level

• identify, analyse and solve problems in one or more areas of technology by selecting and using either quantitative or qualitative techniques appropriate to the resolution of technological problems

• satisfy academic admission requirements for membership of relevant professional bodies

• understand and act within the ethics of their profession and the need for a commitment to that profession.

Admission requirements

Entrants to the Graduate Diploma of Information Technology must either:

• hold a Bachelor's degree from an Australian university in a non-computing discipline

• hold a degree of a recognised university in a non-computing discipline, or

• have an approved qualification at least equivalent to the above.

International Applicants

International applicants must have met the University's English language requirements or have completed the University's ELICOS/UNIPREP programs .

Program fees

Tuition fee

Domestic fee-paying places are funded entirely through the tuition/direct fees paid by the student. Tuition/direct fees vary depending on the courses that are taken. For more information about Tuition Fees, including the calculation of fees for a particular program of study, refer to USQ Fees.

International fees

International students pay tuition fees. For details about international student fees, refer to the International Fee Schedule provided by USQ International.

Program structure

The program includes basic studies in data and systems analysis, together with more specialised areas of study in six majors. The Mathematics and Computing major and the Applied Computer Science major are offered by the Faculty of Sciences.

The Graduate Diploma consists of eight courses each of one unit. Students will select, with the approval of the Undergraduate Coordinator, Mathematics and Computing, a coherent combination of courses primarily from the Second and Third Levels of the Applied Computer Science, Creative Games Technologies, Multimedia Technology, Networking and Security, Software Engineering and Web Services and Applications majors of the Bachelor of Information Technology (Faculty of Sciences) program. These courses are given in the following table. At least two courses must be from Level Three.

Enrolment requirements should be taken as a guide to the assumed knowledge required for the course. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that they have the assumed knowledge for a course before enrolling in that course.

Required time limits

Students have a maximum of 4 years to complete this program.

In this section:

• Applied computer science major
• Mathematics and computing major

Applied computer science major

In general terms, the objectives of the Applied Computer Science major are to enable graduates to:

• demonstrate abilities in the fundamentals of structured programming techniques

• display detailed knowledge and be competent in the application of basic algorithms and data structures

• demonstrate sound knowledge of operating systems principles and display familiarity with the most frequently used operating systems

• understand the principles which underlie the design of programming languages and demonstrate highly developed programming skills in procedural, logic, and object-oriented languages

• demonstrate a knowledge of user interface design and be competent in developing graphical user interfaces in windowing environments

• understand and apply methods for planning and managing large software projects, including design, development and maintenance aspects

• display a detailed knowledge of the fundamental principles of data base systems and be able to apply these using data base software.

Mathematics and computing major

In general terms, the objectives of the Mathematics and Computing major are to enable graduates to:

• demonstrate abilities in the fundamentals of structured programming techniques

• demonstrate ability in the fundamentals and applications of discrete mathematics, numerical computing, statistics, calculus and algebra, and computational mathematics

• demonstrate highly developed programming skills in procedural, logic and object-oriented languages

• use operations research strategies and techniques in providing decision support at all levels of management

• demonstrate a knowledge of user interface design and be competent in developing graphical user interfaces in windowing environments

• display a detailed knowledge of the fundamental principles of data base systems simulation models to assist decision making at all levels of management

• research, design and develop people-oriented information systems using appropriate strategies for data management, statistical analysis and graphical reporting

• systematically analyse problems, formulate and evaluate potential solutions with reference to current literature and design, develop and report feasible solutions.

IT requirements

Students should visit the USQ Recommended Hardware and Recommended Software sites to check that their computers are capable of running the appropriate software and versions of Internet web browsers and to check the minimum and recommended standards for software.

Enrolment

Enrolment patterns will need to be determined for individual students. On acceptance into the program, students must submit an enrolment pattern for approval by the Undergraduate Coordinator, Mathematics and Computing. Following are two possible enrolment patterns.

In this section:

• Recommended enrolment pattern - Applied computer science
• Recommended enrolment pattern - Mathematics and computing

Recommended enrolment pattern - Applied computer science

Recommended enrolment pattern - Mathematics and computing