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Industry Placement (SCIT)

Industry Placement Information for Students

General Information

Information for Bachelor of Information Technology & Bachelor of Business Information Systems students.

  • BIT students who commenced their degree in 2016, the Faculty encourages the development of computing, information technology, information systems skills and knowledge in the workplace through industry placement. Completion of ISIT200 Industry Placement, which is a minimum of a single 8-week period of approved industry placement, assessed in the form of written reports is highly recommended to all students to complete this placement.

  • BIT students who commenced prior to 2016 must satisfactorily complete one 8-week period of approved Industry Placement before they can graduate. You must work a minimum of 17.5 hours per week. This registration must be submitted before the commencement of the placement session (see below).

  • The Industry Placement is assessed in the form of a written assignment and is normally undertaken in the summer sessions at the end of the second year.

  • Students are responsible for any health or police checks required for the placement.

Industry Placement Registration Procedure

  1. You must enrol in the subject ISIT200 through SOLS to be given access to ISIT200 Moodle eLearning site.
  2. Information on how to submit registration and insurance forms are available in the ISIT200 Moodle site. Ensure that all information is completed accurately before submission.
  3. You will receive an email confirming your form has been processed and you MUST keep this email to be included for report submission. Any report without the inclusion of this email will not be marked.
  4. Submit your report before the due date (Week 11 of the session) to ISIT200 eLearning website.
  5. Please note that you must follow the above procedure, no email submission of registration and insurance forms will be accepted.

Report Submission Procedure

  • If your report is not submitted in the same session as your registration then you must enrol again in ISIT200 in the session in which you want to submit your report (because ISIT200 is a zero credit point subject this is permitted).
  • Industry Placement Report Requirements are available in the ISIT200 Moodle site.

Contact

If you have any queries regarding the above procedure, please contact the subject coordinator.

Professional Work Experience Information for Employers

The School of Computing and Information Technology (SCIT) is an academic school within the Faculty of Engineering and Information Systems at the University of Wollongong. The School offers the Bachelor of Business Information Systems (BBIS), the Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) and the Bachelor of Computer Science (BCompSc) courses as well as Masters and a Doctoral (PhD) program. Students are responsible for organising their own industry placements and quite frequently they enquire about the availability of information for the prospective employer. This document is to serve the purpose of providing you with relevant information about the degree and, in particular, the Industry Placement component.

Industry Placement

The Faculty encourages the development of ICT skills and knowledge in the workplace through an industry placement. Completion of ISIT200 Industry Placement, which is a minimum of a single 8-week period of approved industry placement is highly recommended to all new enrolling students.

Students are required to organise placements and usually undertake the work over the Christmas vacation period (for students), i.e. November through to February. Typically they will need to find a placement at the end of their second and third years of study depending on the degree.

Students choosing to undertake a placement will submit an assessment of each work placement. You will need to specify to the student any areas that may be regarded as being ‘sensitive’ so that they do not inadvertently include these areas in their report. The assessment (including coordination of topics) is the responsibility of the Industry Placement Coordinator.

Industry Placement is one of the aspects that differentiates our degree from those offered in other places. Due to the high success rates we have had with our students to date, the degree continues to grow in popularity and the pressure for places in the degree, and therefore for Industry Placement, continues to rise.

We need your assistance to continue the trend of producing graduates who are already attuned to the employment situation so that they can be productive from the start of their careers.

Given the cost of recruitment, this program has also highlighted the benefits, to both employer and student, of being able to work together during the degree. Frequently students find work with employers who have employed them during their Industry Placement.

The Employee's Role

Students negotiate placement directly with the employer. Neither the School nor the University is involved in this process. Employers will need to treat the students as employees, (they will require minimum supervision in regard to completion of their assessment components) providing the usual conditions of employment such as Work Cover and so on. Should the student 'volunteer' to work for an organisation without remuneration then they are covered by the University's own insurance scheme. It will be in the interests of both employer and students for the role(s) and responsibilities of both parties to be clearly stated during the period of Industry Placement.

Reference

You will be asked to provide a reference:

  • that indicates the period of the placement;
  • that details the activities undertaken by the student, and
  • which optionally includes a comment on their performance in your organisation.

Reports from employers providing placements in the past have been very positive about the work performed and the quality of the students. As the purpose of these industry placements is to allow the students to start to apply their skill and knowledge and to experience the reality of the workplace, it is encouraging to receive this positive feedback. Should you require further information or advice in regard to any issues raised on this web page please contact the Industry Placement Coordinator.