KEY POINTS:
The qualification
What: Bachelor of International Communication
Where: Mt Albert Campus, Unitec
Phone: 09 815 2945, 0800 10 95 10
Email: courses@unitec.ac.nz
Web: (see link below)
Yearly fees: $4101
Starting salary: $42,000-$45,000 including performance bonus for on target earnings
The course
Unitec's Bachelor of International Communication differs from the eight other New Zealand communication degrees on offer because of its strong emphasis on international communications, optional language learning, and study of intercultural diversity and communication management in organisational settings.
Currently the degree has four pathways; global and intercultural communication, technology and multimedia communication, communication management and PR and media communication.
Subject to NZQA approval, the degree will be restructured into a Bachelor of Communication in 2008. International communication will become a major within the degree, along with public relations, management communications and media studies. The international communications major will highlight the Asia Pacific Rim, preparing students for specific media roles in the Asia Pacific region and New Zealand where Asia Pacific communities are growing rapidly.
Currently subjects include cultural anthropology, international communication management, communication principles, research practice, and leisure and event communication. Also offered are business papers, such as economic principles and human resource management strategy. Specialist and technical writing is learned; a diploma in professional writing and a certificate in technical writing are incorporated into the degree curriculum.
A significant part of the programme is the 180 hour industry internship. Students work at least 120 hours within an organisation with another 60 hours spent on their internship proposal, journal, report and presentation. This optional internship will become compulsory in 2008.
Applicants need NCEA university entrance or equivalent. There are specific English language requirements for international students.
All applicants must provide a personal statement explaining their interest in communications. Some applicants may be interviewed for their suitability.
The graduate
Anna Ingleton
Conference manager at Conferenz
Graduated June 2006
I really enjoy the variety in this role which involves putting conferences together for a range of industries. I research to find out what people want from a conference, then put an agenda together. I do a lot of writing which I really enjoy. I also have to invite speakers and liaise with them about the session briefs. There are specific time frames for finalising speakers and getting the agenda written, and bonuses are tied into meeting those deadlines.
My Unitec degree prepared me really well. I took a broad approach, including business papers in HR and organizational behaviour which have been beneficial in this role. Classes were small which provided lots of opportunity for discussions in lectures and a more interactive learning format.
It was compulsory to take a language when I started - it isn't now. I did Spanish.
A really interesting paper was intercultural communications, which looked at the differences people bring to communication due to different view points and backgrounds.
Appropriate writing was emphasized in core papers. There was also a news writing paper that taught us the newspaper approach to writing. I have found that very useful background knowledge when trying to get journalists interested in conferences.
The internship is a particularly strong part of the degree because it gives you work experience and shows you what it is really like in the workplace which is important. I worked in a PR consultancy for three weeks full time for my internship and then they gave me part time paid work. It was an invaluable experience.
THE EMPLOYER
Steve Scott
Managing director
Conferenz
Conferenz does not organize events but conducts research into the latest business, government, legal and policy trends in New Zealand to create business-oriented conferences for the private and public sectors.
Our team of conference managers assesses an event's commercial viability, researches content and themes and organises the event by creating a focused agenda, securing speakers and running the event on the day. Anna impressed in the interview. She had a clear focus, quick mind and good grasp of business issues. An advantage of Anna's degree was that she completed some business papers alongside the more traditional communications papers.
The other thing that I really value about graduates from institutions that were formerly polytechs is the high importance placed on practical knowledge gained through internships. This provides comfort to us about their ability to hack it in the real world, gives the student something to really sell themselves on, and allows the employer opportunity to reference check.
