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The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, established as the Working Men's College in 1887, became a college of advanced education in 1965. Phillip Institute was formed in 1982 from an amalgamation of Preston Institute of Technology and the State College of Victoria, Coburg. RMIT merged with Phillip Institute and was accorded university status on 12 July 1992.
RMIT is now a large, multi-level university of 40,000 students with a strongly practical approach and close links with industry. Courses range from apprenticeship training, certificate and diploma courses in the vocational education and training sector through to undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral studies in the higher education sector, across nine faculties - Applied Science, Art and Design, Biomedical and Health Sciences, Business, Education, Engineering, Environmental Design and Construction, Nursing and Social Science and Communications.
There were 26,000 students in higher education at RMIT in 1995. International higher education students numbered 4,579, making up 17.8% of all higher education students.
The traditional and historic campus is located on two city blocks in the Central Business District of Melbourne, capital city of the state of Victoria. The Coburg and Bundoora campuses are located in suburban Melbourne.
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology is selected as an example of good practice in its strategies for internationalisation of teaching through links and exchanges. RMIT is also selected as an example of good practice in its offshore education strategy.
The two strategies are related. First, and indirectly, both strategies are under the umbrella of RMIT's overall Internationalisation Strategy. Second, and directly, staff who teach overseas enthuse Australian students with the wish to study overseas
RMIT
RMIT sees itself as a different university with the characteristics of practicability, excellence, enterprise, quality service, responsiveness, relevance, flexibility, cooperativeness and performance orientation. Its working class ethos, inner city location and multiculturalism result in an egalitarian and equitable university. Every student has the same opportunity to spend a semester at an overseas university
RMIT, in training for the vocations and professions, is strongly oriented to the needs of industry. It is responsive to its structure of course advisory committees. Universities in Asia, seeking universities in Australia for links and partnerships, are attracted by RMIT's closeness to industry.
Internationalisation Strategy
In its mission, RMIT has set for itself an internationalisation goal
To internationalise the curriculum and educational experience of RMIT students through development of a culture which values the globalisation of education with all its implications and effective action in the areas of:
- international student program;
- education abroad;
- offshore programs and projects; and
- internationalisation of the curriculum.
Before 1987 there was little internationalisation. RMIT was a small part of the subsidised student programs, had only a handful of international agreements with little activity and had only begun to develop a culture in which staff were expected to develop an international perspective.
From 1987 to 1991, RMIT made a strong commitment in response to Australian Government initiatives. Entrepreneurial activity on the part of Faculties and by the university's commercial arm Technisearch saw RMIT positioning itself as a leader in the international student program and the offshore education program. This period saw the beginning of a culture of international exchange, the development of specialist student services and the consideration of new curriculum.
The second phase commenced in 1991 and built on the earlier work. This second phase saw corporate strategic development to establish long term planning backed up by resource and administrative policies and processes. The Faculties and the centre of the university returned to balance.
From 1994, RMIT has been a significant player in all aspects of internationalisation in Australia. It has an overall Internationalisation Strategy, covering its international student program, education abroad program, offshore programs and projects and internationalisation of the curriculum. RMIT has developed action plans for eight countries or regions and has identified a further seven countries or regions where action plans are yet to be developed.
Education Abroad Strategy
RMIT has several advantages in the development of its education abroad programs.
First, RMIT has a context curriculum policy, where students are required to complete subjects aimed at providing an understanding of the issues and problems of the larger society (context) in which their professional field is located. Subjects in the program explore contemporary and future issues, promote awareness of wider contexts, promote internationalisation and cross cultural understanding and focus on values, ethics and critical thinking as well as constructive action.
Second, several Faculties at RMIT, including Business, have a cooperative education year, a period of supervised professional practice usually of twelve months. The program is designed to produce graduates who add a practical orientation to problems encountered in industry to a sound theoretical background in their specialist fields,.
The context curriculum policy and the cooperative education year program introduce a culture to the university that students may gain worthwhile learning experiences off the RMIT campus or outside their specialist areas of study. The cooperative education year program encourages students to undertake an approved international study exchange program as their cooperative education experience.
Study Tours
Student exchange programs make up only one half of RMIT's activity in education abroad.
The University is also active in Study Abroad Programs, Study Tours, Conferences and Visits, and International Clinical Placement and Work Experience.
The Faculty of Business has issued a prospectus for a Study Tour to Thailand for students in International Marketing subjects in November and December 1996. The Study Tour consists of lectures at RMIT prior to departure, field visits, lectures and cross-cultural encounters in Thailand, and assignment work. Students successfully completing the Study Tour receive credit in a number of International Marketing subjects.
At the same time, students in the Faculty of Environmental Design and Construction opting for a Moorish Study Tour will spend five weeks investigating the influence of Islam Architecture in Southern Spain and Morocco through the medium of drawing.
Against these factors, RMIT lacks the arts/languages context that facilitates the spontaneous movement of students overseas.
RMIT needed a program to facilitate student exchange and set up such a program as part of its education abroad strategy.
In March 1992 RMIT identified that its Faculty of Environmental Design and Construction had the best education abroad culture and strategy within the university. The University adopted the Faculty's culture, strategy and infrastructure as the basis for education abroad across the university.
The University adopted this culture and strategy with senior executive and academic support, set up central infrastructure, developed ,documented and promulgated administrative procedures, set up a Resources Centre dedicated to education abroad and put in place support services.
RMIT was a pioneer in the field of offshore award programs in the late 1980s. Its programs, developed in Malaysia and Singapore, were in areas of high student demand in business.
These programs have been based on one or more twinning models:
| RMIT's Adorna College, Penang, Malaysia In January 1996, RMIT opened its most ambitious offshore venture, the first offshore campus of an Australian post-secondary institution. In a joint venture with a Malaysian group, RMIT is offering a foundation program plus a number of advanced diplomas in Business, Engineering, Tourism, and Building and Construction. The advanced diplomas provide a vocationally relevant qualification for graduates as well as articulation into the third year of relevant degrees in Melbourne. RMIT Penang is a ground-breaking initiative for Australian higher education offshore. |
With twinning programs, RMIT takes a curriculum which is already internationalised, repackages the curriculum for use offshore, selects an educational partner, plays a role in selection of local staff, visits and supervises local staff and teaches much of the curriculum itself through block teaching by staff from RMIT Melbourne.
Planning and Evaluation
RMIT's overall international strategy covers, among others, its education abroad and offshore education programs.
Targets in education abroad include:
In 1995, RMIT had:
In aggregate, 5.3% of RMIT's higher education students in any year of study undertook education abroad in 1995. This compares with 6% in 1994 and 5.7% in 1993.
RMIT believes it has the opportunity to develop as an Australian leader in education abroad.
In offshore education, RMIT sees itself as an experienced provider of offshore education with professionally and vocationally relevant programs, with sound, documented administrative procedures, able to develop programs for niche markets.
RMIT aims to maintain a leadership role in the delivery of offshore education, with a spread of countries and a spread of faculties, and with some development of its own campuses.
At the end of 1995, RMIT had 3,010 students offshore in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong and Nauru. Of the 3,010 students, 53% were in Singapore and 34% in Malaysia, with 93% studying in the Faculty of Business.
In its first intake, RMIT's Adorna College in Penang enrolled 150 students.
Benefits of the Strategy
Beneficiaries of RMIT's education abroad and offshore education programs include:
RMIT's education abroad and offshore education strategies have the potential to act as model strategies for other Australian universities.