Newcastle teams up with Sydney business school

Newcastle bachelor of business students will spend their first year at a college of management campus. Research collaboration and industry exposure will be among the benefits business students and staff will get from a new combined degree program being run by the University of Newcastle and The International College of Management Sydney. Newcastle’s deputy vice-chancellor Kevin McKonkey said the program would allow students studying for a bachelor of business to spend their first year at the ICMS Manly campus. McKonkey said the exposure to different staff and different institutions would also be a benefit for students. International and domestic students will both be able to take part in the program, which will also provide opportunities for research collaboration between staff. “That’s part of the agreement, that our academic staff who will be located in Sydney will be working with the academic staff of ICMS, although the exact nature of the research will emerge from discussions. We haven’t preset particular activities,” he said. ICMS managing director Frank Prestipino said the institute was looking forward to working with the university. “Newcastle has a strong academic reputation and this is a great opportunity to collaborate with the university to offer a business program that is in the interests of a diverse range of students,” he said. “Under the partnership, Newcastle academic staff located at the ICMS campus will also take a mentoring role with our staff, particularly in the area of research.” McKonkey said they were recruiting overseas and in Australia for the first intake of students, expected to be about 40 or 50, to start next year. Students were expected to be attracted by the opportunities for work experience in companies operating out of Sydney as well as the cross-institution learning experience, and he said the university hoped to build on the existing business relationships of ICMS. “Certainly we’ll be looking at those internship opportunities,” McKonkey said. “ICMS has close contacts with the business community in Sydney. We are really looking to provide the opportunity to study in a couple of locations and with a broad array of experiences. We’re hoping we’ll attract students, particularly internationals, who want to experience both a capital city like Sydney and another smaller city like Newcastle.”