Queensland-based university becomes 19th Australian university in SAP global education initiative
Sydney, Australia — SAP Australia today announced that the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) has joined the SAP University Alliances 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.
“SAP is very well known and widely used in business and there was a demand for SAP to be included in our coursework from students,” said Professor Mark Toleman, Head of School, Information Systems, USQ. “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.
Noting the high industry demand for graduates with SAP knowledge, Professor Toleman said, “The idea is to 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.”
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 hosting 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 endeavor 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.
About the SAP University Alliances Program
The SAP University Alliances program is a global initiative with nearly 900 member campuses in more than 40 countries. SAP provides free licenses to its business software suite to member universities and technical institutes for use in disciplines such as management, operations research, accounting, finance, marketing, information technology and computer science. The program enables students at participating campuses to experience how organisations operate more productively and profitably through advanced academic curriculum that includes hands-on exercises using SAP’s current business software. Peer hosting is provided at low cost by five independent non-profit University Competence Centers located across the world. More than 175,000 students gain first-hand experience with SAP software each year through the SAP UAP.
