Faculty of Education

Bachelor of Social Science (Info. Mgt.)

The Bachelor of Social Science (Information Management) is a four-year full-time course (or equivalent part time) in which you spend three years in academic studies and one year in paid supervised professional practice, undertaken after satisfactory completion of the second year of the full time course. The course aims to produce graduates with a high level of general education and specific vocational skills. The new graduates will utilise these skills to act as facilitators in matching the information requirements of an organisation with the available information technology.

The course is designed to heighten and enhance students' communication and analytical abilities; for instance: to coherently and effectively express ideas, to draw proper inferences from information, to analyse situations, draw conclusions and develop strategies. In conjunction with developing these skills, you will undertake core studies in information management which aim to produce managers who will see the new technology systems in the context of either private or public sector organisation.

The academic component of the course consists of:

• a compulsory core comprising studies in information management, accounting and economics; and

• elective discipline studies selected from a wide range of subjects.

You are required to complete at least a second major study sequence in addition to the compulsory major in information management. The second major study may either extend or complement the compulsory core and would reflect your vocational intentions.

This course is in the process of being phased out. The last intake into this course was in 1994. All currently enrolled students will be able to complete the requirements of the course if normal academic progress is maintained.

On completion of the Bachelor of Social Science (Information Management) course graduates should be able to:

• understand the discipline-base and interpersonal contexts of information;

• liaise between general management and computer professionals to meet the information requirements of an organisation;

• communicate effectively with computer professionals and use computers as a personal tool;

• develop and advise on information-based solutions to changing organisational requirements;

• monitor the availability of new information-handling approaches and technology and their applicability to specific employment environments;

• understand the personal, professional and specialist skills of people working in organisational contexts and apply this knowledge to the development of effective communication, information systems and resource management; and

• implement an ongoing program of self education appropriate to their personal and professional needs.

The course is designed to provide a balance of professional studies, discipline studies and practical experience. The compulsory core subjects provide the vocational base in information management skills and foundation studies in accounting, economics, information management law and business communication skills. The elective discipline study provides you with the flexibility to extend the core into a second major sequence in either accounting or economics, to directly complement the core, by choosing legal studies or computer studies subjects, or to assist your vocational development through specialised studies in a chosen discipline area not necessarily directly related to the core.

The subjects themselves are divided into various groups or categories. The groups are:

Group 1:

First-year studies;

Group 2:

Studies requiring the completion of appropriate Group 1 subjects in the same or specified related area; and

Group 3:

Studies requiring the completion of appropriate Group 2 subjects, or other studies in Group 3, in the same or specified related area.

To qualify for the Bachelor of Social Science (Information Management) you must satisfy the following requirements:

• accumulate a total of at least 400 points including:

• completion of the following subjects or approved equivalent studies: Information Management A1, B1, B4, B6, B7, B8, C1, C3, C5, C6, C7, C11, C12, C13, C14; Accounting A1 and A2; Economics A;

• completion of at least 75 points but not more than 125 points in Group 1 subjects, including the subjects listed above; and

• completion of at least 133 points from Groups 2 and 3 subjects of which at least 77 points must be from Group 3, including at least 33 points in a subject specialisation other than Information Management.

Students enrolled before 1994 should refer to the Handbook of their year of first enrolment, as the compulsory subjects have changed over the years.

The first year of Information Management introduces you to organisations, their information needs, their operating environments and how computer systems can contribute to information management.

In the second year, you will build on the concepts and skills developed in first year to become more competent in understanding organisational information needs and in studying the use of alternative systems and solutions for those needs. This second year of the Information Management major study comprises five compulsory subjects which focus on the structure and implementation of information systems, aiding business decision-making and strategic planning processes and records management.

In the third year of the Information Management major (after the year of Supervised Professional Practice) you will consolidate concepts and skills already introduced and develop expertise in a range of relevant information management fields.

Of the other two subjects in the compulsory core, first-year Accounting will contribute to your understanding of the effective use of information resources by highlighting the financial perspective of organisations, and Economics will contribute to your understanding of the broader economic environment in which all organisations operate.

A feature of the course is its combination of an information management core with an elective discipline study. Selections will be subject to special approval to ensure that the elective studies are appropriately related to the compulsory core and your vocational intentions and to eliminate any potential overlap of subjects.

Electives may be used to develop a discipline major outside the compulsory core or, alternatively, to complete major studies in accounting or economics. Total of points in elective units may vary depending on mix selected.

This year of professional practice is an integral part of the total course program, and enables you to observe, in an organisation, many of the concepts and techniques studied in the first two years of the course. You have an opportunity to practise the skills gained in the first two years and to participate in organisational applications to information systems. This experience will in turn assist final-year subject selection, vocational orientation and general awareness of actual settings and problems as a basis for final-year studies.

Students are assisted by Faculty of Education staff in applying for suitable placements. Placements are generally of about 10-12 months.

Status:                   OFFICIAL 1997
Last Modified:            Wednesday March 12 3:36 pm
SGML to HTML Conversion:  Information Technology Services
Authorised by:            Academic Registrar
Email Enquiries:          Course_Information@registrar.unimelb.edu.au