USQ joins SAP University Alliance Program

USQ has this month (September) joined the SAP University Alliance Program (UAP).

As a signatory to the program, USQ will teach SAP skills to undergraduate and postgraduate students, providing them with the opportunity to experience SAP software firsthand with a focus on integrated business processes and strategic thinking.

Information Systems Head of School, Professor Mark Toleman, said SAP was very well known and widely used in business.

'There was a demand for SAP to be included in our coursework from students,' Professor Toleman said.

'We will be offering SAP subjects across two degrees, the undergraduate Bachelor of Information Technology and the postgraduate Master degree in Information Technology (Professional), which is soon to be renamed Master of Information Systems.'

Available as a pilot to students from July 2009, the full roll-out to all students will commence in July 2010.

The SAP curriculum will be offered to students enrolled in both on-campus and distance learning courses. Students will be trained using SAP’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Business Performance Management (BPM) software suites as part of their University degrees.

Using tailored content developed with SAP, the courses are aimed at providing students with greater strategic grounding and practical knowledge of SAP software. Subjects such as Enterprise Resource Systems will supplement theoretical content traditionally taught at University, providing students with practical experience and a better understanding of SAP software.

Professor Toleman said there was high industry demand for graduates with SAP knowledge and this alliance would give students the best possible chance in the employment market.

'This decision was the result of careful consideration and I think both the industry and students will welcome the SAP skills that we’re offering,' he said.

The total number of students enrolled in SAP subjects for 2009 is approximately 155, with 15 students on-campus and a further 140 distance education students undertaking the SAP subjects. Students from other universities that are studying cross-institutionally have also enrolled in the new subjects.

'From next year, as part of the Bachelor of Commerce degree, the School of Accounting, Economics and Finance will also be using SAP software as the basis for subjects that focus on general ledger, creating sales and purchasing orders, supply chain and human resources process modeling, where they previously used MYOB.'

The SAP software will be hosted at the Queensland University of Technology, which is the UAP service centre for the Asia-Pacific region. USQ will offer students 20 hours of SAP practical experience in class plus more than 20 hours of theory on SAP as part of the new course subjects.

USQ plans to offer a SAP Business Objects Business Intelligence module as part of the IT program to students from next year.

Launched in 2007, SAP UAP is a global endeavour that provides University faculty members with the tools and resources necessary to teach students about integrated business processes and strategic thinking. USQ is the 19th university in Australia to become part of the program.