Articulating from New South Wales TAFE to the University of Southern Queensland and professional registration as a mine surveyor

Abstract

[Introduction]: The shortage of trained professionals and tradesmen continues across a wide range of occupations in Australia. University of Southern Queensland (USQ) enrolments have grown consistently and have close to tripled in the surveying program for the period 2003 to 2010. Year on year, commencing enrolments in the distance education external mode of study increased, peaking in 2009. Many of these new enrolments were New South Wales TAFE surveying diploma students seeking to upgrade their TAFE diploma to a tertiary degree. Despite, the financial uncertainty generated by the global financial crisis and more recently by the minerals and resource rent tax debate, the impact upon enrolments has been muted with a further increase in enrolments in 2009, against the expected trend. The expected drop in enrolments based upon fallout from the global financial crisis and other factors occurred in 2010, but it only resulted in approximately a 10% reduction in enrolments, thus continuing the strong trend in demand for surveying and spatial science personnel.