The Birth of Information Systems - History of Computing: Learning from the Past - page 209

The New school, the Department of Computing (later renamed the Department of
Business Information Systems) and undergraduate degree and postgraduate diplomas
(a one year full-time or two-year part-time for graduates with a three-year university
(or equivalent) degree were built on the funding allocated to the secretarial under-
graduate four year degree (including the full-time year of work in industry). .
At that time there was no data processing undergraduate degree. So the school was
built on the secretarial studies government funding. The funding was split 50/50 be-
tween two streams: office systems and business information systems (each stream
consisting of 8 full semester units).
1.6 New School Built on Large Compulsory Core Subject Enrolment
Equally important, the school was also built on the large compulsory enrolment of all
Faculty of Business students into the computing foundation subject “Computer Appli-
cations in Business”. At that time over 1,300 students were enrolled in this subject.
The whole school taught into this subject, including the Head of School and the Prin-
cipal Lecturer both on campus and overseas, and every staff member contributed
content, direction and teaching, including lectures and laboratory sessions. It was also
at this time that the Faculty of Business started to experience a leap in Faculty of
Business enrolments. Demand was burgeoning across all business programs.
1.7 Computer Applications in Business Subject - Importance
This subject (course) was always considered very important to the school, as it was
the portal to other information systems and business computing subjects offered by
the school, also it was an important source of university funding, It was a core subject
of all Faculty of Business degrees. Incidentally the content and style of the subject
was built on industry consultancies delivered by RMIT's Australian Microcomputers
Industry Clearing House (AMIC) - a consulting arm of the University staffed by
department academics and other computer specialists.
Although generally the software and other concepts have changed with develop-
ments and projected developments in computing in business, the framework is
essentially the same as it was 24 years ago. Like the London underground map, the
introductory computing subject map put together by the data processing and office
systems groups has stood the test of time.
1.8 1988 - The First Bachelor of Business (Business Information Systems)
Degree and Growth in Postgraduate Diploma Enrolments
By 1988 the new Bachelor of Business (Business Information Systems) consisted of
two major streams: Business Information Systems and Office Systems. The new
program extended over four years (of which there was a one year work placement
component).
Each stream also offered a one year full-time, or two-year part-time, graduate di-
ploma (a postgraduate qualification) consisting of eight subjects. The jobs the office
systems postgraduate course targeted for their graduates were Systems Training
Officer, Market Planning Manager, Personnel Officer, Information Manager, Personnel
Officer, Projects Coordinator, Change Management Consultant, Office Technology