Three Australian universities sign up taking the total number to 12
Sydney, Australia — SYDNEY, Australia – 12 April, 2007 – SAP Australia today announced an expansion of its local University Alliance Program (UAP). Three institutions have signed up as new members of the program, taking the total number to 12. The new signatories are The University of Wollongong, The University of Tasmania and Macquarie University.
The 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.
The program, which was launched in Australia in 1997, applies to business, accounting, information technology, and information systems undergraduate and post-graduate courses. The objective of the program is to incorporate SAP software into undergraduate and post graduate courses of study so that students may be exposed to the latest SAP knowledge and skills. It provides up to three thousand students every year with hands-on SAP software experience as part of their degree.
“We had a lot of students in the logistics information systems course continuously asking about how they can get trained on SAP,” said Tim Coltman, Senior Research Fellow in Information Systems, University of Wollongong (UOW). “Our university offers students practical SAP tutorial sessions, which allows them to experience things like assimilation on change management and SAP integration. These are great real-life examples that students can use in later employment.”
The University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) has been involved with the UAP since 1998 and is currently offering eight SAP-related subjects to postgraduate students within the university’s Master of Business in Accounting, Accounting and Finance and MBA courses.
“With SAP dominating the market, many of the roles that our students come to work in after graduating desire, if not require SAP skills. In fact, many of our students exclusively join UTS because we offer SAP education,” said Bernhard Wieder, Associate Professor in Accounting Information Systems, UTS.
“Our students work with SAP software from day one of each subject. The course has a very hands-on component, allowing students to experience real-life issues in accounting using SAP software. Students also need to complete virtual SAP projects in order to complete their subjects. UTS has teamed up with SAP’s education department to provide special bridging courses to help students become SAP certified, with two groups of 15 students that have already graduated with SAP consultant certification in Business Intelligence (BI).”
In a study conducted with employers in 2005, UTS identified that the two top common problems that employers face with entry level employees are a lack of understanding of integrated business processes and lack of training. Informal research conducted by UTS also indicates high demand for SAP skills in the market.
“The feedback we have had from students over the years has been fantastic. The students that decide to enrol in SAP subjects are very motivated and know exactly what they want to get out of the course,” said Mr Wieder.
“The teaching approach is very well received and helps students work their way through the sophisticated software.”
SAP components are offered to students as part of their course, with no additional fees incurred by students. University academics are offered online and in-person seminars through SAP Education to enhance their understanding of the software and keep them updated about new components and product announcements. Guest lecturers from SAP also attend university classes to talk to students about new technology and trends in the industry.
SAP is working to further expand the Australian program, which currently includes the following institutions:
• Victoria University
• The University of Technology, Sydney
• University of Melbourne
• Monash University
• Swinburne University of Technology
• University of Sydney
• Queensland University of Technology
• The University of South Australia
• The University of Western Sydney
• University of Wollongong
• University of Tasmania
• Macquarie University
