Part-time/distance
Most of the course is conducted online, however, at the beginning of each semester students attend a short residential period of field trips and workshops together with other part-time and full-time students.
This face-to-face component helps to reduce the overall workload of the course and allows students to meet other students and lecturers. The rest of the course is conducted online.
Program structure
The MIWM part-time/distance program normally requires students to undertake two modules per semester due to the importance of integrating material between modules. The final year is devoted to an individual research project where students can specialise in a field of water management of their choice.
Download the part-time/distance study structure diagram
(*Note: Part-time/distance study option is not available to international students at this stage)
Program options
Graduate Certificate
2 semesters
Graduate Certificate of Integrated Water Management - UQ website.
Graduate Diploma
4 semesters
Graduate Diploma of Integrated Water Management - UQ website.
Masters
6 semesters
Master of Integrated Water Management - UQ website.
Field trips
Semester 1
- Three-day field trip to North Stradbroke Island (cost of trip from Brisbane covered in course fees)
- Two-day workshop at The University of Queensland, Brisbane
Semester 2
- 14-day field trip to Western Australia, covering most of one Semester 2 module (cost of trip from within Australia covered in course fees)
Semesters 3 & 4
- Five-day workshop at The University of Queensland, Brisbane
- Five-day workshop at Griffith University, Brisbane
Optional Thailand field trip
10-day field trip to Thailand for elective module Capacity building and community development
Part-time/distance delivery mode
Study/exam loading
There are no exams – all assessment is via assignments. For study loading, you should plan for about 10 hours per week per module during each semester. (Each semester runs for approximately four months.)
Most of the course work is self-paced, but we usually have one session per week when all students can have a joint on-line discussion over a 1-2 hour period if they choose. The time and day of the week is done in consultation with the students, so as to organise the most suitable time for all. This would most likely be one weeknight per week.
Modules
Students study two modules (subjects) per semester (Modules are studied in a predetermined order, so you cannot choose the order of modules that you study. This is because the modules build on each other in an integrative fashion.) In addition to the two modules, students undertake one problem-based case study or project per semester.
Face-to-face contact
At the beginning of each semester, for the first four semesters, students are required to attend a face-to-face session for workshops and field trips. In the first semester students are required to spend five days undertaking face-to-face intensive work.
In the second semester students are required to spend 14 days doing face to face intensive work. This approach helps to reduce the overall workload of the course, allows the students to meet each other and interact with the lecturers and provides opportunities for interaction with the full-time students of the program.
Semester 1
In semester 1, the five-day face to face component consists of two days of workshops at UQ St Lucia campus and a three-day field trip to North Stradbroke Island. IWC pays for the costs of the field trip from Brisbane (transport from Brisbane to the island, accommodation and food), but you must pay for your travel to UQ and accommodation during the two-day workshop period.
Semester 2
In semester 2 the students attend a 14 day field trip to Albany in Western Australia. All of the cost of this trip within Australia is paid for by IWC.
We travel to Albany on a Sunday and return two weeks later on a Saturday. One of the two subjects that you study in semester 2 will be mostly delivered during that period, so that there will be less workload for the remainder of the semester.
Semesters 3 and 4
The semester 3 intensive is held at The University of Queensland in Brisbane over a period of five days, and the semester 4 face to face program is held at Griffith University in Brisbane over a period of five days. All costs for these intensives are the student's responsibility.
Semesters 5 and 6
In semesters 5 and 6, you will undertake your own specialisation project and you will not be required to attend any face-to-face sessions. We will assist you to identify a relevant specialisation project and you will have two academic supervisors who will help you to complete this project.
Course delivery
The remainder of the course will be run as a distance education program. You receive written learning guides and course readers for each module, along with other resources on CDs and DVDs. You do not need to purchase any text books for the course.
We use email for most communications, but you will also use the UQ Blackboard system where you will be expected to contribute to on-line discussions and attend a weekly live on-line session (day and time is decided in conjunction with the students, so as to select the most suitable time. This would normally be outside work hours.)
Assignments are submitted electronically. Each module has approximately three assignments that are due at regular intervals throughout the semester, with the problem based case study/project due at the end of the semester.
Problem-based assignments
The problem based assignments are designed to integrate the material that you are learning in each of the modules.
In semester 1, the problem based case study is a group assignment (generally groups of three to four students), where students must work together via email, Blackboard etc to complete their assignment.
In semester 2, the problem based assignment is largely completed during the two-week field trip to WA.
In semester 3 most of the problem based assignment will be completed during the face to face workshops, while the problem based activity for semester 4 will be an individual assignment.
Other information
- Questions
- Future employment
- Program level: Postgraduate coursework
- Campus: You will enrol at The University of Queensland and upon graduation you will receive a co-badged qualification from all four universities.
- Faculty: Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology Faculty, University of Queensland
- Program codes: 5408, 5409, 5410
- CRICOS codes: 059263A; 059262B; 059261C
