Cutting edge leadership skills
A delegation from Deakin University speaks about its new management programme and a course in health economics
Australia’s Deakin University is a multi-award winning university with an international focus and a student population of 52,000. The university has received a five-star rating from the prestigious British university ranking organisation Quacquarelli Symonds. On a recent visit to India, Deakin University’s MBA programme director Collin Higgins, head of department of information systems and business analytics Rens Scheepers, and associate professor of epidemiology Jo Williams spoke about the new global MBA programme and career prospects of the health economics course.Excerpts from the interview:
What makes Australia a preferred
educational destination for Indian
students?
Australia provides a dynamic and exciting experience for students, as the country boasts varied landscapes, a vibrant cultural and arts scene, and friendly people. Australia is home to some of the world’s finest universities and produces graduates who have degrees and educations that are respected and valued across the world.
Deakin’s four campuses in Melbourne, Geelong and Warrnambool span the Australian State of Victoria, giving students access to great studying opportunities and the full spectrum of the Australian experience. Deakin University offers the perfect balance between high-quality studies and a high-quality lifestyle.
What is India’s share in the number
of Indian students you receive?
There are currently over 8,000 international students at Deakin, of which about 1,300 are Indians.
Deakin regularly celebrates its diversity through cultural events. For example, Diwali is celebrated on campus by students and staff and involves traditional Indian food, dance and interactive activities.
Please give us an insight into
the new global MBA programme.
In what could be one of the most significant innovations to MBA programmes, Deakin will offer the Master of Leadership along with an MBA to graduates as a combined degree. This new programme will bring together the sound foundational skills of an MBA with the cutting-edge skills offered by the Master of Leadership. The new leadership programme was born from Deakin’s commitment to respond to the needs of industry wherein today’s employers consistently raise concerns around lack of soft skills, people skills and the ability to influence others. Our new MBA programme will help students become proficient in analysing business problems and formulating solutions; they will also learn how to capture people’s imaginations in order to support new and emerging initiatives. Also, the students will graduate with two master's degrees: an MBA and a Master of Leadership.
What are the career opportunities
that can be explored after studying
business analytics? How lucrative
is it for Indian students?
The career opportunity would be business analyst or data analyst. However, depending on where such a position would be located in an organisation, that might be called by different names. For example, if someone works in a marketing area, that would be called customer analytics. In Australia, many employment opportunities by profession and location are listed on sources such as seek.com.au. Here, one can see typical salary benchmarks. Also see a recent analysis of salaries of business /data analysts in the upper range in Australia.
Give us an insight into the health
analytics course. What are the
career opportunities Indian
students can explore after
taking up this course?
The new two-year fulltime Master of Health Economics course will provide higher-level training in health technology assessment (HTA), economic evaluation of health interventions, priority setting, healthcare financing, health systems research and the health economics/health policy interface.
The course will be taught by the Deakin Health Economics, which is a centre of excellence in economic appraisal with 30 health economists actively engaged in applied research. Deakin Health Economics is one of the largest teams of health economists in Australia.
The course has been designed to meet the needs of government, non-government and community health organisations. The specialised training available in economic modelling and HTA will appeal especially to those interested in working in the pharmaceutical, health insurance and health technology industries. It is suitable for students with an undergraduate degree in a health discipline or economics/commerce.
Do you have any tie-ups/
collaborations for Indian students?
Deakin has made a considerable investment in India for nearly two decades and thus its brand reputation is very high. One of Deakin’s strategic initiatives in India is the Deakin India Research Initiative (DIRI). DIRI was launched on October 1, 2009, by Victorian Minister Jacinta Allan. Under this model, research projects are identified with the Indian partner and PhD candidates are enrolled with Deakin University. The programme is hosted in the labs of the partner company/institute. The projects are in varied areas including health, engineering, nanotechnology, biotechnology, social science, management, political sciences, advanced material, manufacturing and sports.
At present, Deakin has more than 80 such projects with approximately 20 organisations, academic and industry across India and include premier institutions such as Reliance Life Sciences, IIT Madras, Bharat Forge, Biocon, Amrita University and Rajasthan Royals.
Some of Deakin’s premier teaching and learning partners are VIT University, University of Mumbai, Ansal University, Symbiosis International University and CEPT University and NID in areas including engineering, IT, management, business, architecture and design programme.
Do you have any special
scholarship schemes for
Indian students?
Deakin offers Indian students a wide range of scholarships and bursaries to financially assist them with their university fees. The scholarships range from 10 to 25 per cent tuition fee waivers based on academic merit and other conditions. Also, as natural partners towards a common cause, of ‘Changing Lives’, Deakin has partnered with NDTV Network to offer four 100 per cent tuition fee scholarship to deserving candidates for enrolment for onshore studies at Deakin University.
The objective of the NDTV Deakin Scholarship Programme is to identify meritorious students with holistic achievements for studies on-shore at Deakin University, with the view of giving back to India the skills and experience which would make an impact to the society.
==================================
