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UWA’s new course structure – hailed as the biggest  academic change in the hundred year history of the University – will come into effect from 2012.

The implementation phase of the course restructure began after the decision of the Senate in December 2008 to approve the recommendations of the Review of Course Structures report: Education for Tomorrow’s World.

The decision to proceed with a 2012 start date was agreed last month by Executive after considering the full operational ramifications of the implementation. The current course structure, which includes a myriad of course options with hundreds of different majors and compulsory core units, will be replaced with four three-year Bachelor degrees, and a four-year Bachelor of Philosophy (including Honours). This reduction of courses, coupled with simpler names, is aimed at reducing confusion over course requirements for staff and students.

Professional degrees, such as Medicine, Law and Architecture, will be studied at postgraduate level. The new course structures will not decrease the range of disciplines available for study, but they will run in a simpler way that will best serve students and the community into the future.

The four three-year undergraduate degrees will be Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Design and Bachelor of Commerce. Each undergraduate degree will include breadth as well as depth, enabling students to sample a range of areas of study and keep their options open for future study and/or work.

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Bill Louden, who is leading the implementation, said the changes would bring the University into line with many of the top universities in the world. Importantly, it would also provide much greater flexibility for students coming to UWA to reach their full potential. “First degrees have become so restricted with compulsory units that a student headed towards being a medical practitioner would hardly be able to take a music unit. The new course structure will change this. We will require students to take some units from outside their main degree course,” Professor Louden said.

Undergraduate courses will have several other features. “Research will be embedded in the new curriculum. All students will take units in communication skills. We will increase the number of students who study abroad – and this will be made easier by more flexible degrees. And we will actively encourage students to take part in voluntary community service, providing the opportunities for them to do so,” Professor Louden said. “We are undertaking this change carefully, over a fairly long time-frame. We want to allow time for high school students to understand the new structure and choose their final subjects accordingly.

“The current step for University staff is to think about what majors we want to offer. Some of the faculties are already well advanced with this.”