School of Information Systems
Faculty of Business and Law
Bachelor of Business Information Systems and Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) advantage
Paul Mead was the joint winner for the 2003 School of Information Systems prize for the most outstanding third year computing student. In the same year, he and his team mates were awarded the Rodney Fountain Memorial Prize for the most outstanding group project for 2003 for their A1 Admin P/L Database Development for TI International Australia project in MSC303 Information Systems Project.
Paul, pictured left with lecturer Richard Braithwaite (right) at the School Prizes for outstanding academic achievements in 2003 presentation, is a 2003 Bachelor of Information Systems graduate. He has always had a passion for IS/IT. 'I wanted to do something in IT, but I didn't want it to be purely programming.'
'I came to one of the open days and got some information there and I also got the handbook and pamphlets that go out to all the year 12 students. I was looking at the IT, commerce and sort of IT based courses and this one stuck out.' Paul really enjoyed his university life at Deakin. The BIS degree suited Paul's needs, it allowed him the freedom to learn various aspects of the IS/IT industry. 'The beauty of the degree is you get to do a lot of stuff in a whole lot of different areas, like you get to do networking, database, a little bit of programming, analysis and design and all that kind of stuff. So I really enjoyed the course in terms of the broad knowledge that it has given us.'
MSC303 Information Systems Project is a well-liked unit. Paul was no exception; MSC303 is one of his favourite units in the BIS course. 'The information systems project that you do in your final semester in your final year. That was really good, it sort of gave you a chance to put all the subjects that you have been working on and all the knowledge that you gained over the 3 years and you got to actually use it in one subject by going out and developing an information system for an organisation out in the real world. That was really rewarding to be able to know that you have learnt something and put them to use and see it out there.'
Paul decided to further his studies in 2004 and an Honours degree was his answer to differentiate himself in the IS industry. 'It's very hard work but it's very rewarding. I'm glad I've done it.' He is currently working hard on completing his Honours thesis on the topic of "Open Source in Australia", which focuses on 'the factors affecting open source software up taking in large Australian organisations and focusing on desktop software'.
In 2005, Paul will be working in a graduate position in Insurance Australia Group (IAG) Link opens in a new window. He's looking forward to joining the IAG's Information Technology Services department and experience various aspects of the IS industry. Paul strongly believes that his experience in the BIS and Honours degree were advantages he had over other graduates applying for the job. He believes that MSC303 'was one of the biggest advantages to get the job'. 'Any question that they were able to fire at me [at the job interview] I was able to give them an answer based on my experiences from project whether it would be in terms of analysis design, paper work or working in teams and dealing with conflicts.'
'This year has been much harder than any other year.' Paul still manages to find time to socialise with his friend and have a well deserved break from his studies. 'When things are due I mean fair enough you have to put in to get it in on time. When you do have a little bit more time to spare and you do have the opportunity to sort of break it up and then you can work on some one day and then do you can go for a run or go for a swim. I play in a basketball team with some of my mates and cricket during the summer so I really have to allow yourself to do these things to sort of break the monotony.'
Paul believes the main reason to his success is hard work. 'When the hard work needs to be done I'll put my head down and I'll do it. I get a lot of support from family and friends and all the staff up here as well.' However, family support and encouragement from friends and the SIS staff also contributed to his success today. 'I'm sure that it would have been much harder or I wouldn't have got to this far. Especially with the support of the staff up here they are really encouraging me to keep going to do an honours year. I'm really grateful that they did.'
by Mandy Chung.
