Changes to Postgraduate Programs in 2013 and Transitional Arrangements for Continuing Students

Please note that not all changes are listed below. See these pages for the most up to date information on courses, specialisations and units of study.

• Download a PDF version of these changes

New Courses

In Semester 1, 2013 the Business School will introduce a one year/48 credit point Graduate Diploma in Professional Accounting comprising five core and three elective units. Further information on the new program can be found in the Business School (Postgraduate) Handbook 2013.

Changes to Courses

Master of Commerce(and embedded/combined programs)

In Semester 2, 2013 the Business School will introduce a two year/16 unit version of the Master of Commerce to replace the current 1.5 year/12 unit program. Further information on the new program can be found in the Business School (Postgraduate) Handbook 2013.

If you are currently enrolled in the Master of Commerce (or a Commerce combined degree program) please note that you can continue to complete your course requirements as outlined in the Handbook of the year in which you commenced your course. If you wish, however, you may elect to transfer to the new 16 unit Master of Commerce when it is introduced in Semester 2, 2013 with full credit for units completed under your current program.

If you are enrolled in the Graduate Certificate or Graduate Diploma in Commerce you have the option to either upgrade to the 1.5 year Master of Commerce and complete your studies under the current course rules or upgrade to the new 16 unit Master of Commerce. The choice is yours, as long as you complete all requirements for the Master of Commerce within six years of your commencement.

If you are enrolled in a program other than Commerce and wish to upgrade or transfer to the 1.5 year Master of Commerce (as outlined in the Business School (Postgraduate) Handbook 2013), you must apply to do so by February 1, 2013 as Semester 1, 2013 is the last semester the 1.5 year program will be available. The Upgrade/Transfer Application Form can be found on the Forms page of the Business School website.

Research/Dissertation option

From 2013, outstanding students in the Commerce program will have the opportunity to develop and complete a supervised research dissertation (12,000 to 15,000 words) on an approved topic within the domain of business/commerce/management on either a full-time or part-time basis. To be eligible to apply, students must achieve a WAM of 80%+ in a minimum of four units of study (24 credit points) in the 12 unit program and in a minimum of eight units (48 credit points) of study in the 16 unit program. The research dissertation comprises three units of study: BUSS6998 Business Research Methods (six credit points), BUSS6999 Business Research Presentation (six credit points), and BUSS7000 Dissertation (12 credit points). Access to these units will be subject to the availability of suitable supervisors, WAM performance and interview by the Program Director.

Changes to foundational units

Three new foundational units are on offer in 2013 as follows:

• BUSS5001 Firms, Markets and Business Management satisfies the accreditation requirements of CPA Australia and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia in the area of Economics (replacing ECON5003 Economics for Accountants).
• IBUS5002 Strategy, Innovation & Entrepreneurship replacesIBUS5001 Strategy, Innovation and Global Business for students seeking to specialise in Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
• IBUS5003 Global Business replaces IBUS5001 Strategy, Innovation and Global Business for students seeking to specialise in International Business.

Changes to specialisations

1. Business Information Systems specialisation
   A new elective unit, INFS6021 Information Governance is available. INFS6012 Business Process Integration is now titled Enterprise Systems Management.
2. International Business specialisation
   IBUS5003 Global Business replaces IBUS5001 Strategy, Innovation and Global Business as the foundational unit for the specialisation. Students who wish to undertake this specialisation and have not yet completed IBUS5001 must complete IBUS5003.
3. Logistics and Supply Chain Management specialisation
   A new elective unit, TPTM6400 Strategic and Operational Procurement is on offer.
4. Management and Organisations specialisation
   From 2013, the title of this specialisation will be 'People, Management and Organisations'. In addition, WORK6130 Leadership in Organisations is no longer compulsory but can be completed as an elective. Additional elective units on offer in 2013 include: WORK6001 Organisational Analysis and Behaviour, WORK6002 Strategic Management, WORK6012 Industrial Relations Policy, WORK6108 International Dimensions of HRM, WORK6111 Management Consulting, WORK6116 Employment and the Law, WORK6117 Managing HR and Knowledge Systems, WORK6119 The Innovative Firm and WORK6120 Research Essay.
5. Marketing specialisation
   A new elective unit, MKTG6015 Digital and Social Media Marketing is on offer.
6. Project Management specialisation
   Students commencing in 2013 must complete INFS6030 Project Management in Practice. Although not compulsory for current students, it is highly recommended.
7. Strategy and Innovation specialisation
   From 2013, the title of this specialisation will be 'Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship'. IBUS5002 Strategy, Innovation & Entrepreneurship replaces IBUS5001 Strategy, Innovation and Global Business as the foundational unit for the specialisation for students commencing the specialisation from 2013. WORK6002 Strategic Management is also compulsory for students who commence in 2013 (but not for current students).

Other elective units

A new unit, BUSS6001 Energy and Environmental Security is also available to students in their final semester of study. The unit will be taught intensively over four weeks at the University of Geneva, from mid-June to mid-July, as part of a learning and teaching collaboration between The University of Sydney Business School, Geneva's European Institute, and the Monk School of Global Affairs at The University of Toronto. Places are limited and entrance will be highly competitive.

Master of Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations

From 2013, students commencing the Master of Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations will need to complete a further two core units (WORK6017 Human Resource Strategies and WORK6034 Talent Management) in addition to WORK5002 People, Work and Employment and WORK6033 Organisational Sustainability. Students commencing the Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma will need to complete an additional two core units also (WORK6017 Human Resource Strategies and WORK6033 Organisational Sustainability).

Table A and Table B have been combined to form a single list of elective units of study. If you are currently enrolled in a Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations program, you may elect to either complete your program under the structure in place when you commenced or under the new structure. If you are enrolled in the Graduate Certificate or Graduate Diploma, you may elect to upgrade to the Master of Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations under either the current or revised course structure.

Master of International Business

Additional elective units on offer include: IBUS6004 International Business Alliances, TPTM6260 International Logistics Management, WORK6108 International Dimensions of HRM, WORK6111 Management Consulting, and WORK6130 Leadership in Organisations.

Master of International Business & Law

IBUS5003 Global Business replaces IBUS5001 Strategy, Innovation and Global Business as the foundational unit for the degree for students who have not yet completed IBUS5001. An additional core unit, BUSS6000 Succeeding in Business has also been introduced; however existing students are not required to complete this unit. Additional elective units in Law include: LAWS6135 Law and Society in Indonesia, LAWS6138 International Financial Transactions: Law and Practice, LAWS6149 Legal Pluralism in Southeast Asia , LAWS6200 Tax Law in Asia and the Pacific , LAWS6271 Microfinance: Law and Policy , LAWS6823 Tax and Development , LAWS6857 Introduction to Chinese Law . A complete list of units can be found in the Business School (Postgraduate) Handbook 2013.

Master of Logistics Management

A new elective unit, TPTM6400 Strategic and Operational Procurement is available.

Master of Professional Accounting

In Semester 2, 2013 the Business School will introduce a two year/16 unit version of the Master of Professional Accounting to replace the current 1.5 year/12 unit program. Further information on the new program can be found in the Business School (Postgraduate) Handbook 2013.

If you are currently enrolled in the Master of Professional Accounting please note that you can continue to complete your course requirements as outlined in the Handbook of the year in which you commenced your course. If you wish, however, you may elect to transfer to the new 16 unit Master of Professional Accounting from Semester 2, 2013. Students who wish to transfer should restrict their elective options to the compulsory or elective units listed for the new program to ensure full credit will be granted upon transfer. Credit will be granted for all CPA units completed under the existing program.

If you are enrolled in the Graduate Certificate or Graduate Diploma in Commerce and intend to upgrade to the Master of Professional Accounting you have the option to either upgrade to the 1.5 year Master of Professional Accounting and complete your studies under the Semester 1, 2013 course rules or upgrade to the new 16 unit Master of Professional Accounting from Semester 2, 2013. The choice is yours, as long as you complete all requirements for the Master of Professional Accounting within six years of your commencement.

If you are enrolled in a program other than the Master of Professional Accounting, or the Graduate Certificate/Graduate Diploma in Commerce and wish to upgrade/transfer to the 1.5 year Master of Professional Accounting (as outlined in the Business School (Postgraduate) Handbook 2013), you must apply to do so by February 1, 2013 as Semester 1, 2013 is the last semester the 1.5 year program will be available. The Upgrade/Transfer Application Form can be found on the Forms page of the Business School website.

Changes to core units

To ensure all students satisfy the revised accreditation requirements of CPA Australia and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, the 16 unit program comprises a total of 13 core units. Additional core units (previously elective options) are as follows:

• BUSS5001 Firms, Markets and Business Management replaces ECON5003 Economics for Accountants in 2013. Students who have not yet completed ECON5003 should complete BUSS5001. Students who have completed ECON5003 and wish to transfer to the new 16 unit program will receive credit for BUSS5001.
• QBUS5002 Quantitative Methods for Accounting replaces QBUS5001 Quantitative Methods for Business and ECMT5001 Principles of Econometrics. Students who have not yet completed QBUS5001 or ECMT5001 should complete QBUS5002. Students who have completed QBUS5001 or ECMT5001 and wish to transfer to the new 16 unit program will receive credit for QBUS5002.
• BUSS5000 Critical Thinking in Business is a compulsory core unit for the 16 unit program in 2013 and must be completed by existing students who wish to transfer to this program.
• INFS5000 Accounting Information Systems (previously Business Information Systems).
• CLAW6026 Taxation Law and Practice

Changes to elective units

Elective units for the new 16 unit program are listed below. Students considering transfer to this program should ensure they select either additional core or elective units listed for the 16 unit program to ensure full credit will be offered for units completed.

• ACCT6002 International Accounting
• ACCT6003 Financial Statement Analysis
• ACCT6005 Management Control Systems
• ACCT6006 Advanced Managerial Accounting
• ACCT6014 Designing Accounting Systems
• ACCT6015 Extended Performance Reporting
• ACCT6116 Corporate Collapse*
• ACCT6118 Public Sector Accounting*
• ACCT6120 Corporate Governance and Accountability
• BUSS6500 Industry Placement
• CLAW6005 Regulation of Capital Markets
• CLAW6030 China's Legal Environment for Business
• CLAW6031 International Financial Crime
• FINC6001 Intermediate Corporate Finance
• FINC6013 International Business Finance
• FINC6016 Financial Instruments and Markets
• INFS6012 Enterprise Systems Management
• INFS6031 Project Management and Accounting (new unit for 2013)
• IBUS5003 Global Business (new unit for 2013)
• QBUS6310 Business Operations Analysis
• WORK5003 Management and Organisations
• WORK6030 Performance and Rewards

* Not offered for 2013.

Upgrades and Transfers

Upgrade/Transfer applications for Semester 2, 2013 must be submitted to the Student Information Office by Friday, 5 July. In order to upgrade from an embedded graduate certificate or graduate diploma to the master's degree, you must have completed at least four units of study with a minimum Credit (65%) average. If you have completed more units of study at the time of application, your average will be calculated over all units completed at that time (minimum of 65% required). In order to transfer between programs at the same level (e.g. 1.5 year Master of Commerce or Master of Professional Accounting to the 2 year Master of Commerce or Master of Professional Accounting), a Pass (50%) average is required.