The MBC information booklet - RMIT University

INFORMATION BOOKLET
For Local and International students within any of the following programs:
Graduate Certificate in Information Technology
Program Code: GC038
Graduate Diploma in Information Technology
Program Code: GD057
Master of Applied Science (Information Technology)
Program Code: MC061
Master of Applied Science (Information Systems)
061 Stream
Program Code: MC060

Copyright 1994-2006 by RMIT University
All rights reserved.
February 28, 2006
School of Computer Science and Information Technology
City Campus
GPO Box 2476V
Melbourne VIC 3001
Australia
Telephone: +61 3 9925 2348
Fax: +61 3 9662 1617
www.rmit.edu.au/csit

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Terminology ...........................................................................................................................1
1.1.1 Programs and Courses........................................................................................................ 1
1.1.2 Portfolios.............................................................................................................................. 1
1.1.3 Semesters ........................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Program Purpose...................................................................................................................1
1.3 Prior Learning and Advanced Standing .................................................................................2
1.3.1 Honours Degrees ................................................................................................................ 2
1.3.2 Graduate Diplomas.............................................................................................................. 2
1.3.3 How to apply for Advanced Standing .................................................................................. 2
1.4 Intermediate Awards ..............................................................................................................3
1.5 Satisfactory Progress.............................................................................................................3
1.6 Masters Program Structure....................................................................................................3
1.6.1 Full-time and part-time......................................................................................................... 3
1.6.2 Duration ............................................................................................................................... 3
1.6.3 Delivery Modes.................................................................................................................... 3
1.6.4 Summer Classes ................................................................................................................. 4
1.6.5 Work Load ........................................................................................................................... 4
1.7 Graduate Diploma in IT (GD057) Program Structure.............................................................4
1.8 Graduate Certificate in IT (GC038) Program Structure..........................................................4
1.9 Fees .......................................................................................................................................4
1.9.1 Local Students..................................................................................................................... 4
1.9.2 International Students.......................................................................................................... 4
1.10 Study Methods .......................................................................................................................5
1.11 Part-time work in the School ..................................................................................................5
1.12 Technical Services Group / Duty Programmers.....................................................................5
1.13 School Administration ............................................................................................................5
1.13.1 General Office ..................................................................................................................... 5
1.13.2 Timetabling Staff.................................................................................................................. 5
1.13.3 Teaching and Learning Advisors ......................................................................................... 5
1.14 Academic Staff.......................................................................................................................6
1.14.1 Program Advisor.................................................................................................................. 6
1.14.2 Minor Theses and Projects Coordinator .............................................................................. 7
1.14.3 Postgraduate Programs Leader .......................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER 2 MASTERS PROGRAM FORMAT AND TIMETABLES
2.1 Terminology and Definitions...................................................................................................9
2.1.1 Specialist Cluster................................................................................................................. 9
2.1.2 Elective Cluster.................................................................................................................. 10
2.1.3 Minor Thesis/Project.......................................................................................................... 10
2.1.4 Vocational Cluster ............................................................................................................. 10
2.2 Steps to Complete the Program...........................................................................................10
2.2.1 Full Time Student .............................................................................................................. 10
2.2.2 Part Time Student.............................................................................................................. 11
2.3 Timetables ...........................................................................................................................11
2.3.1 Timetable by Semester...................................................................................................... 12
2.3.2 February Semester 2006................................................................................................... 13
2.3.3 July Semester 2006........................................................................................................... 15
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CHAPTER 3 ADVANCED DATABASES
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3.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................17
3.2 Courses................................................................................................................................18
3.2.1 COSC2306—Algorithms for Efficient Data Engineering.................................................... 18
3.2.2 COSC2111—Data Warehousing and Data Mining............................................................ 18
3.2.3 ISYS1072—Deductive and Object-Relational Databases ................................................. 19
3.2.4 ISYS1065—File Structures and Database Systems.......................................................... 20
3.2.5 COSC1168—Internet and Intranet Document Engineering............................................... 20
3.2.6 ISYS1078—Multimedia Information Retrieval ................................................................... 20
CHAPTER 4 BIOINFORMATICS
4.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................21
4.2 Courses................................................................................................................................21
4.2.1 COSC2308—Advanced Topics in Bioinformatics.............................................................. 21
4.2.2 MATH1300—Analysis of Medical Data.............................................................................. 22
4.2.3 BIOL2034— Bioinformatics ............................................................................................... 22
4.2.4 COSC2151—Introduction to Computational Biology......................................................... 22
CHAPTER 5 COMPUTER SECURITY
5.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................25
5.2 Courses................................................................................................................................25
5.2.1 COSC2302—Computer and Internet Forensics ................................................................ 25
5.2.2 INTE1125—Cryptography and Security ............................................................................ 26
5.2.3 COSC2304—Mobile and Wireless Computing.................................................................. 26
5.2.4 COSC2107—Network Security.......................................................................................... 26
5.2.5 INTE1070—Secure Electronic Commerce ........................................................................ 26
5.2.6 INTE2401—Secure Programming Environments.............................................................. 27
CHAPTER 6 INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS
6.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................29
6.2 Courses................................................................................................................................30
6.2.1 COSC2048—Agent-Oriented Programming and Design................................................... 30
6.2.2 ISYS1072—Deductive and Object-Relational Databases ................................................. 30
6.2.3 COSC2033—Evolutionary Computing............................................................................... 31
6.2.4 COSC1163—Intelligent Agents and Agent-Oriented Systems.......................................... 31
6.2.5 COSC1165—Intelligent Web Systems .............................................................................. 31
CHAPTER 7 NETWORKED & DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
7.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................33
7.2 Courses................................................................................................................................34
7.2.1 COSC1174—Advanced Client/Server Architectures......................................................... 34
7.2.2 ISYS1095—Distributed Databases ................................................................................... 35
7.2.3 COSC1170—Foundations Distributed Computing ............................................................ 35
7.2.4 COSC2304—Mobile and Wireless Computing.................................................................. 35
7.2.5 COSC1176—Network Programming................................................................................. 35
7.2.6 COSC2107—Network Security.......................................................................................... 36
7.2.7 INTE2401—Secure Programming Environments.............................................................. 36

CHAPTER 8 SEARCH ENGINES
8.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................37
8.2 Courses................................................................................................................................37
8.2.1 COSC2306—Algorithms for Efficient Data Engineering.................................................... 37
8.2.2 COSC1165—Intelligent Web Systems .............................................................................. 37
8.2.3 COSC1168—Internet and Intranet Document Engineering............................................... 38
8.2.4 ISYS1078—Multimedia Information Retrieval ................................................................... 38
CHAPTER 9 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
9.1 Courses................................................................................................................................39
9.1.1 ISYS2377—Enterprise Architecture .................................................................................. 39
9.1.2 ISYS1083—Object-Oriented Software Design .................................................................. 39
9.1.3 COSC2275—Software Requirements Engineering........................................................... 40
9.1.4 ISYS1081—Software Reuse ............................................................................................. 40
9.1.5 ISYS1085—Software Testing............................................................................................ 40
9.1.6 ISYS1088—Systems Architecture..................................................................................... 41
9.1.7 COSC1182—Usability Engineering................................................................................... 41
CHAPTER 10 WEB-BASED COMPUTING
10.1 Courses................................................................................................................................43
10.1.1 COSC2032—Computer and Internet Forensics ................................................................ 43
10.1.2 COSC1165—Intelligent Web Systems .............................................................................. 44
10.1.3 COSC1168—Internet and Intranet Document Engineering............................................... 44
10.1.4 COSC2304—Mobile & Wireless Computing...................................................................... 44
10.1.5 ISYS1078—Multimedia Information Retrieval ................................................................... 44
10.1.6 INTE1070—Secure Electronic Commerce ........................................................................ 44
10.1.7 COSC1182—Usability Engineering................................................................................... 44
10.1.8 COSC2279—Web Services .............................................................................................. 44
CHAPTER 11 MINOR THESIS/PROJECT
11.1 Eligibility ...............................................................................................................................45
11.1.1 COSC2149 - Research Methods....................................................................................... 45
11.2 COSC2179 (or COSC2180 + COSC2181) Minor Thesis/Project ........................................46
11.2.1 Minor Thesis ...................................................................................................................... 46
11.2.2 Minor Project ..................................................................................................................... 46
11.3 Minor Thesis/Project Guidelines ..........................................................................................46
11.3.1 Thesis Types ..................................................................................................................... 47
11.3.2 The Minor Project .............................................................................................................. 49
11.3.3 Examination of the minor project ....................................................................................... 49
11.3.4 Progress Reports............................................................................................................... 49
11.3.5 Choosing a Topic and Supervisor ..................................................................................... 50
11.3.6 What Should I Expect From My Supervisor?..................................................................... 50
11.3.7 What Should My Supervisor Expect From Me?................................................................. 50
11.3.8 What Happens if There is a Conflict? ................................................................................ 50
11.3.9 Ethics................................................................................................................................. 50
11.3.10 Summarising...................................................................................................................... 50
11.3.11 What Should My Minor Thesis/Project Look Like? ............................................................ 51
11.3.12 Things To Avoid................................................................................................................. 52
11.3.13 Content of Minor Thesis .................................................................................................... 52
11.3.14 Identifying your supervisor................................................................................................. 53
11.3.15 Content of Minor Project.................................................................................................... 53
11.3.16 What do I do when my Thesis/Project Is Ready?.............................................................. 55
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11.3.17 Intellectual Property........................................................................................................... 57
11.3.18 Guidelines to Examiners of a Minor Thesis ....................................................................... 57
11.3.19 Guidelines to Examiners of a Minor Project....................................................................... 57
CHAPTER 12 VOCATIONAL ELECTIVES
12.0.1 Computer Science electives .............................................................................................. 59
12.0.2 Business electives ............................................................................................................. 59
12.1 Computer Science electives.................................................................................................59
12.1.1 COSC1233—Broadcast Network Engineering .................................................................. 59
12.1.2 COSC2401—Client Server Architectures.......................................................................... 60
12.1.3 COSC2106—Document Markup Languages..................................................................... 60
12.1.4 COSC2354—Electronic Commerce & Enterprise Systems............................................... 61
12.1.5 ISYS1106—Engineering Software Projects ...................................................................... 61
12.1.6 COSC1125—Introduction to Artificial Intelligence ............................................................. 61
12.1.7 COSC2347—Mobile Application Development ................................................................. 61
12.1.8 COSC1092—Scripting Language Programming ............................................................... 62
12.1.9 COSC1131—Unix Systems Administration and Programming (Linux) ............................. 62
12.1.10 COSC1219—User Interface Programming........................................................................ 62
12.1.11 ISYS1124—Web Database Applications........................................................................... 63
12.1.12 COSC2277—Web Development Technologies................................................................. 63
12.1.13 COSC1213—Web Media Technologies ............................................................................ 63
12.1.14 COSC1300—Web Servers and Web Technology............................................................. 64
12.2 Business electives ...............................................................................................................64
12.2.1 ACCT2127—Accounting for Management Decisions........................................................ 64
12.2.2 ECON1113—Economic Analysis for Business.................................................................. 64
12.2.3 BAFI1070—Financial Statement Analysis......................................................................... 65
12.2.4 BUSM1174—Leading and Managing Change .................................................................. 65
12.2.5 BAFI1059—Managerial Finance ....................................................................................... 65
12.2.6 MKTG1100—Marketing Management and Implementation .............................................. 65
12.2.7 OMGT1021—Supply Chain Principles .............................................................................. 66
12.2.8 JUST1055—E-Business Law A......................................................................................... 66
12.2.9 ACCT2108—Performance Measurement.......................................................................... 66
12.2.10 JUST1063—Corporate Governance ................................................................................. 66
12.2.11 OMGT1236—E-Business Supply Chains.......................................................................... 66
12.2.12 BUSM1734—Risk Analysis and Assessment.................................................................... 67
12.2.13 ACCT1118—Risk Management ........................................................................................ 67
CHAPTER 13 MASTER OF APPLIED SCIENCE (INFORMATION SYSTEMS) MC060
13.1 Semester 4, MC060 .............................................................................................................69
13.2 Intermediate Awards ............................................................................................................69
13.3 Can I receive two Masters?..................................................................................................69
13.4 What happens if I want to stop after 1.5 years?...................................................................69
13.5 Is MC060 accredited at the professional level by the ACS? ................................................70
CHAPTER 14 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
14.1 Absence ...............................................................................................................................71
14.1.1 I need to be absent from the University. What do I do? .................................................... 71
14.2 ACS (Australian Computer Society).....................................................................................71
14.3 Adding Courses ...................................................................................................................72
14.3.1 How late can I add a course? ............................................................................................ 72

14.4 After-Hours Access ..............................................................................................................72
14.4.1 How do I get into RMIT out of hours?................................................................................ 72
14.5 Articulation, Exemptions and Advanced Standing ...............................................................72
14.5.1 Can I obtain an exemption?............................................................................................... 72
14.5.2 How do I go about getting an exemption? ......................................................................... 72
14.5.3 I have completed a Graduate Diploma. Can I get credit into the Masters? ....................... 73
14.5.4 Can I take out a Certificate or Diploma before I complete the Masters Degree? .............. 73
14.5.5 Can I articulate into a PhD program? ................................................................................ 74
14.6 Assignments ........................................................................................................................74
14.6.1 Where do I submit assignments? ...................................................................................... 74
14.6.2 How should I prepare documents for assignments?.......................................................... 74
14.6.3 What is the reject box? ...................................................................................................... 74
14.6.4 What happens if my assignment is late? ........................................................................... 74
14.6.5 Why are the labs so packed when assignments are due? ................................................ 75
14.6.6 Should I keep a copy of any assignment I submit? ........................................................... 75
14.7 At Risk..................................................................................................................................75
14.7.1 What does it mean to be “at risk”?..................................................................................... 75
14.7.2 What is an “at risk” letter?.................................................................................................. 75
14.8 Awards .................................................................................................................................75
14.8.1 What awards can I obtain as part of my program?............................................................ 75
14.8.2 How do I obtain a degree/award with ‘Distinction’? ........................................................... 75
14.9 Background..........................................................................................................................76
14.9.1 How should I study? What should I expect?...................................................................... 76
14.9.2 International Background................................................................................................... 76
14.9.3 Some aspects of my computing education are either patchy, or were done so long ago
that I have forgotten them. What shall I do?76
14.10 Careers ................................................................................................................................76
14.10.1 Can the School provide me with career information?........................................................ 76
14.11 Challenge Tests ...................................................................................................................77
14.12 Common Room....................................................................................................................77
14.12.1 What is available? ............................................................................................................. 77
14.13 Complaints ...........................................................................................................................77
14.13.1 First Contact ...................................................................................................................... 77
14.13.2 What is the Staff Student Consultative Committee (SSCC)? ............................................ 78
14.14 Computer Accounts and System Issues ..............................................................................78
14.15 Computer Languages ..........................................................................................................78
14.15.1 What Computer Languages do I need to know? ............................................................... 78
14.16 Computer Purchase .............................................................................................................79
14.16.1 Should I buy one?.............................................................................................................. 79
14.16.2 What about Software? ....................................................................................................... 79
14.17 Contact.................................................................................................................................79
14.17.1 When can I see my lecturer or tutor or the Program Advisor?........................................... 79
14.17.2 How up to date is your contact information? ..................................................................... 79
14.17.3 What are the methods of communication between the program advisor and students in the
program?79
14.17.4 What sources of electronic information should I look at on (at least) a twice-weekly basis?.
80
14.17.5 What is the primary method of communication between students and lecturers?............. 80
14.18 Course Guides .....................................................................................................................80
14.18.1 The descriptions of the courses in this booklet do not list text books. They do not tell us how
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we will be examined, nor how much practical work there is. How do I find out?80
14.19 Deferment ............................................................................................................................80
14.20 Deferred Exam.....................................................................................................................80
14.21 Dial-up access .....................................................................................................................80
14.21.1 Can I access RMIT from home via TCP/IP?...................................................................... 80
14.21.2 What is PPP? .................................................................................................................... 81
14.22 Dissertation (and Minor Thesis) ...........................................................................................81
14.23 Duty Programmers...............................................................................................................81
14.23.1 Where do I find the CSIT Duty Programmers?.................................................................. 81
14.23.2 What is the role of the Duty Programmers?....................................................................... 81
14.24 Email ....................................................................................................................................81
14.24.1 Should we use our hotmail or yahoo or other external public / bulk email systems? ........ 81
14.24.2 What is the email tool then? .............................................................................................. 81
14.24.3 How much mail can I accumulate?.................................................................................... 81
14.24.4 Should I forward my EMS email? ...................................................................................... 81
14.25 Enrolment.............................................................................................................................82
14.25.1 Do I enrol for both semesters? .......................................................................................... 82
14.25.2 There is a mistake on my enrolment form or my fees statement. I did not even enrol in this
course.82
14.25.3 I would like to change the courses that I am enrolled in. How do I do this? ...................... 82
14.25.4 How do I know that I am enrolled in the correct courses?................................................. 82
14.25.5 I would like to reduce my load—will I be allowed to do so?............................................... 82
14.25.6 Can I take on more than the required number of courses i.e. overload?........................... 83
14.25.7 Re-enrolment..................................................................................................................... 83
14.26 Exams ..................................................................................................................................83
14.26.1 Where and when is the exam timetable published? .......................................................... 83
14.26.2 What happens if I am sick before or on an exam date? .................................................... 83
14.26.3 Will I get a deferred examination? ..................................................................................... 83
14.26.4 What paperwork do I need? .............................................................................................. 83
14.26.5 What are supplementary exams?...................................................................................... 83
14.26.6 When are deferred / supplementary exams held?............................................................. 83
14.26.7 What about re-taking exams?............................................................................................ 83
14.27 Exemptions ..........................................................................................................................84
14.28 Fees .....................................................................................................................................84
14.28.1 When do I have to pay?..................................................................................................... 84
14.28.2 What is the cost of postgraduate courses (subjects)?....................................................... 84
14.28.3 Can I claim the fees as a deduction against my tax? ........................................................ 84
14.28.4 My fees are wrong! What do I do?..................................................................................... 84
14.28.5 What other costs can I expect to pay? .............................................................................. 85
14.28.6 International Students Summer School Fees .................................................................... 85
14.28.7 Where can I get more detailed information regarding fees and charges?......................... 85
14.28.8 Are there any student loans available? ............................................................................. 85
14.29 Finding My Way ...................................................................................................................85
14.29.1 How do I find a particular building? ................................................................................... 85
14.29.2 How are rooms and lecture theatres identified? ................................................................ 85
14.30 Graduation ...........................................................................................................................86
14.30.1 Is there only one graduation ceremony? ........................................................................... 86
14.30.2 Can I choose to graduate in absentia?.............................................................................. 86

14.31 Homepage ...........................................................................................................................86
14.32 The Hub ...............................................................................................................................86
14.32.1 What is the Student Hub?.................................................................................................. 86
14.33 International Students ..........................................................................................................87
14.33.1 I am having some settling in problems. I need advice on various facets of Australian life and
studying at RMIT. Who can help me?87
14.33.2 It’s an emergency. Who can I contact out of hours? ......................................................... 87
14.33.3 What are the English requirements to get into the Program?............................................ 87
14.33.4 English is not my first language and I would like some assistance in the proof reading of
assignments that I have done. Where can I get help for this?87
14.33.5 I am an international student and I am having some problems paying fees...................... 87
14.33.6 Are there any scholarships for international students?...................................................... 88
14.33.7 Are there any prizes available for international students?................................................. 88
14.33.8 Is there any part time work in the School? ........................................................................ 88
14.34 Laboratories .........................................................................................................................88
14.34.1 Where are they? ................................................................................................................ 88
14.34.2 Are there any restrictions on use of the laboratory?.......................................................... 88
14.34.3 Is there a phone students can use? .................................................................................. 88
14.35 Leave of Absence ................................................................................................................88
14.36 Letter of Completion.............................................................................................................88
14.37 Lockers ................................................................................................................................89
14.37.1 I am a full time student and need to have a place to put my books and things. ................ 89
14.38 Orientation ...........................................................................................................................89
14.38.1 When does orientation occur?........................................................................................... 89
14.38.2 What activites are run for Newly Commencing Students?................................................. 89
14.38.3 What activities are run for Continuing Students................................................................. 90
14.39 Parking.................................................................................................................................90
14.39.1 Can I get a parking space at RMIT?.................................................................................. 90
14.40 Passwords ...........................................................................................................................90
14.40.1 What is the password for access to web information?....................................................... 90
14.40.2 I have forgotten my Unix or PC password. ........................................................................ 90
14.40.3 Which Password to use for accessing what? .................................................................... 91
14.40.4 What is my NDS password?.............................................................................................. 92
14.41 Photocopiers ........................................................................................................................93
14.41.1 I need to use a photocopier. Can I get access to one? ..................................................... 93
14.42 Plagiarism ............................................................................................................................93
14.42.1 Academic Integrity Workshop available............................................................................. 93
14.42.2 What is Plagiarism?........................................................................................................... 93
14.43 Portable Documents ............................................................................................................94
14.43.1 How do I prepare documents electronically so that anyone can read them on any platform?
94
14.43.2 How do I prepare documents for which I want to retain exact formatting (such as my thesis/
project) in electronic form?94
14.44 Prerequisites ........................................................................................................................94
14.44.1 How important are the pre-requisites listed for each course? ........................................... 94
14.45 Prizes ...................................................................................................................................95
14.45.1 Are there any prizes for outstanding academic achievement?.......................................... 95
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14.46 Printers.................................................................................................................................95
14.47 Program Advisors.................................................................................................................95
14.47.1 Postgrad Admin ................................................................................................................. 95
14.47.2 Associate Professor Isaac Balbin ...................................................................................... 95
14.47.3 Mr. Ibrahim Khalil............................................................................................................... 95
14.47.4 Mr. Ivan Sun ...................................................................................................................... 96
14.47.5 Dr. Audrey Tam ................................................................................................................. 96
14.47.6 Dr. Michael Winikoff........................................................................................................... 96
14.48 Quotas .................................................................................................................................96
14.48.1 What is my disc quota? ..................................................................................................... 96
14.48.2 What is my print quota?..................................................................................................... 96
14.49 Rules for Computer Use.......................................................................................................96
14.49.1 What can I not do on RMIT Computer Systems? .............................................................. 96
14.49.2 What happens if I breach the rules?.................................................................................. 98
14.50 School Office........................................................................................................................98
14.50.1 Where is the general Computer Science Office?............................................................... 98
14.50.2 What are the office hours? ................................................................................................ 98
14.51 Seminar Style Courses ........................................................................................................98
14.51.1 What is a Seminar Style Course?...................................................................................... 98
14.52 Special Consideration ..........................................................................................................98
14.53 Staffing.................................................................................................................................98
14.53.1 Who are the Academic Staff?............................................................................................ 98
14.54 Student Services..................................................................................................................99
14.55 Study Methods—Ten Commandments................................................................................99
14.55.1 I have not studied in Australia, is the system different?..................................................... 99
14.56 Summer courses..................................................................................................................99
14.56.1 Are there any summer courses? ....................................................................................... 99
14.56.2 What are the summer fees? .............................................................................................. 99
14.56.3 How do international students pay? ................................................................................ 100
14.56.4 When should a commencing international student arrive?.............................................. 100
14.57 System Help.......................................................................................................................100
14.57.1 Are there any user information sheets?........................................................................... 100
14.57.2 Is there any other RMIT documentation on the use of email or electronic news?........... 100
14.57.3 Is there a tutorial on the use of electronic mail? .............................................................. 100
14.57.4 Where is the Duty Programmers office?.......................................................................... 101
14.57.5 What computers do I have an account on? ..................................................................... 101
14.57.6 I can’t remember my password, or it doesn’t seem to work. Who shall I see?................ 101
14.57.7 How do I obtain a computer account? ............................................................................. 101
14.57.8 Is there an alternative to the Unix vi editor? .................................................................... 101
14.57.9 I have a PC at home and I would like to use it for Unix. What can I do?......................... 101
14.57.10 How do I transfer files from/to my PC?............................................................................ 101
14.57.11 How do I use the modems at RMIT? ............................................................................... 102
14.58 Teaching and Learning Advisors........................................................................................102
14.59 Technical Services (TSG) and IT Help...............................................................................102
14.60 Text Books .........................................................................................................................102
14.61 Timetables .........................................................................................................................102
14.61.1 Where do I access my timetable? ................................................................................... 102
14.61.2 How do I allocate myself to tutes and labs? .................................................................... 102

14.62 Transfer..............................................................................................................................102
14.62.1 How do I transfer from a Graduate Diploma to a Masters? ............................................. 102
14.62.2 How do I transfer from one Masters program to another?............................................... 102
14.63 Unix....................................................................................................................................103
14.64 Withdrawal .........................................................................................................................103
14.64.1 I want to withdraw from a course..................................................................................... 103
14.64.2 I need to withdraw from all courses, but just for a semester............................................ 103
14.64.3 The company is sending me away and I have to miss a few lectures; what shall I do?.. 103
14.64.4 I have just started the program and I need to take leave of absence.............................. 104
14.64.5 For various reasons, I feel compelled to take one semester off. Can I?.......................... 104
14.65 Work (sessional/part time) in the School............................................................................104
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CHAPTER 1 Introduction
1.1 Terminology
1.1.1 Programs and
Courses
‘Courses’ = ‘Subjects’
‘Programs’ = ‘Courses’
Chapter 1: Introduction
Australian Universities offer courses (such as Graduate Diploma or Masters degrees),
which in turn are made up of individual subjects. At RMIT, in line with administrative
changes introduced in 2001, the terminology has changed. A 'course' (e.g. Graduate
Diploma in Software Development) is now known as a 'program'. A 'subject' (e.g.
Programming Techniques) is referred to as a 'course'.
1.1.2 Portfolios ‘Portfolios’ replace the previous concept of ‘Faculties’. There are three academic Portfolios
at RMIT - Business; Design and Social Context (DST); and Science, Engineering and
Technology (SET). The School of Computer Science and Information Technology comes
under the umbrella of the SET Portfolio.
1.1.3 Semesters Semesters are also refered to as terms. They will be written as follows:
1.2 Program Purpose
Semester Year Code
February 2006 0610
July 2006 0650
January (summer) 2007 0700
February 2007 0710
July 2007 0750
Table 1: Semesters / Terms
This program is designed for graduates of Computer Science (major) and Computing
Professionals who:
• are concerned about their job security and future, and who
• understand that they cannot rely on their existing set of IT skills, and who
• understand the need to undertake a Masters level program to ensure that they gain
exposure to International level technologies that are not just at the crest of the “IT
mountain”, but offer a view of the “other side” of the mountain, and who
• are prepared to invest in their future.
The program offers groups of courses (clusters) in specialist areas of computer science
that are linked to the research strengths of the School. Students choose courses from a
range of these areas and go on to specialise in one. Students who complete the degree by
completing a good minor thesis and having a CGPA of at least 3.2 are likely to gain direct
entry to a PhD program.
Students who are looking for a two year program see Master of Applied Science
(Information Systems) MC060 (see page 69)
1

Chapter 1: Introduction
2
Students who have not had an undergraduate computing background or have not done
a complete computer science degree with a strong, hands-on practical orientation are
advised to consider the Master of Technology (IT) (MC062) program. Similarly,
students who have completed a computing qualification which is not also practically
software development focused should consider an advanced version of the Master of
Technology (IT) program.
1.3 Prior Learning and Advanced Standing
1.3.1 Honours
Degrees
1.3.2 Graduate
Diplomas
1.3.3 How to apply
for Advanced
Standing
Applicants are expected to have completed
• an undergraduate Computer Science degree, or
• a Computer Science and Engineering degree, or
• a software-oriented graduate diploma.
Courses assume an excellent practical knowledge of C / Java programming in a Unix
environment and familiarity with Object Oriented Principles. Students must achieve
proficiency in these before commencing. Students may wish to undertake short courses
or single courses from the Graduate Diploma in Software Development program prior to
enrolling in the MAppSci (IT) program if they need a refresher/bridging program. See
http://www.rmit.edu.au/csit/gd055.
Advanced Standing is available for:
1 students who have completed a recognised four year honours degree and
2 some post-graduate diplomas.
Advanced standing excludes Stage A and Stage B courses from the Graduate Diploma
in Software Development program. See “Articulation, Exemptions and Advanced
Standing” on page 72 for further details.
Students will be credited for approved postgraduate level courses undertaken in the
honours program.
No credit for the Honours thesis is available. Students must undertake a new thesis and
topic.
In general, students who wish to complete their Masters degree in 1.5 years full time, or
3 years part time would be advised to enrol in the Masters program directly rather than
undertaking honours and then switching to Masters. Students who switch from honours
to the Masters program will take at least 6 months full time longer to complete the
Masters program.
Advanced standing depends on the individual courses taken in the Graduate Diploma.
Many Graduate Diplomas offer undergraduate level courses, and these will not be
credited towards this Masters program. However, if the courses taken are at
postgraduate level then students may see the Program Advisor for advanced standing.
(See “Articulation, Exemptions and Advanced Standing” on page 72.)
Students are advised that it is educationally and vocationally preferable to study a full
complement of courses rather than seek exemptions, where possible.
Students should make an appointment to see the program-coordinator after enrolment.
Students should attend the appointment with:
• an official transcript from the previous program, including syllabi and exams if
possible, and
• a single course exemption form, which is available from the Faculty Administration
office on level 9 of Building 10.
See “Articulation, Exemptions and Advanced Standing” on page 72.
Advanced Standing will not be processed during enrolment. There is no rush to process
advanced standing, and this process can be completed in week 1 of a semester.

1.4 Intermediate Awards
1.5 Satisfactory Progress
1.6 Masters Program Structure
1.6.1 Full-time and
part-time
Chapter 1: Introduction
Students who complete four approved courses in one specialist cluster may take out a
Graduate Certificate in IT (GC038). Under RMIT regulations, students remain enrolled
in the Masters program even though they take out this certificate.
Students who complete a further four approved (stage C, postgraduate) courses (a total
of eight courses) are eligible to take out a Graduate Diploma in Information Technology
(GD057). Students remain enrolled in the Masters program even though they take out
this certificate.
Satisfactory progress for the Masters is deemed as obtaining a Cumulative Grade Point
Average (CGPA) of at least 2.0 in the first eight courses that comprise their approved
non-thesis/project courses.
Note:
Students who do not obtain at least 3.0 will not be able to enrol in the minor thesis or
project. They will be able to complete their Masters by doing coursework instead of the
minor thesis.
If a student obtains less than a 2.0 after completing eight approved non-thesis/project
courses, then the student can leave the program and graduate with a Graduate Diploma
in Information Technology.
Satisfactory progress for the Graduate Diploma means that the student is passing their
courses in normal time.
The programs are offered in either full-time or part -time mode and commence in the last
week of February ; and mid-July.
A full-time load constitutes 3 or 4 courses in a semester (where each course is 12 credit
points). A part-time load constitutes 1 or 2 courses in a semester.
Local students can transfer between part and full-time status at any time. International
students must be enrolled full-time in 4 courses as per Immigration regulations
introduced on 1 July 2001. Part-time studies mode for international students is only
available for those who are on a Business or Working Visa.
1.6.2 Duration The ordinary duration of the MC061 Masters program is:
• 1.5 years full-time (at the rate of 4 courses per semester) OR
• 3 years part-time (at the rate of 2 courses per semester).
Students from overseas who are not on a student visa are deemed as international
students in respect of fees; however, they may study part-time.
In some cases full-time international students may need to extend their study by one
semester. This may occur if a student fails a course. The Teaching and Learning
Advisors (see page 5) will advise on the procedures involved in applying for a visa
extension.
International students who wish to take a 2 year program should refer to the Master of
Applied Science (Information Systems) MC060 (see page 69).
1.6.3 Delivery Modes Classes are typically held in the evening from 5:30pm until 9:30pm. Part-time students
are normally expected to attend the University on two evenings each week. Full-time
students are expected to be in attendance on four days per week. Full-time students may
also have day-time tutorials and/or lectures.
3

Chapter 1: Introduction
1.6.4 Summer
Classes
4
Some courses are delivered over a series of weekends. All courses are delivered on the
City Campus of RMIT. A small number of courses are offered in seminar style. See
“What is a Seminar Style Course?” on page 98.
A limited number of summer classes (January - February) are offered at this level for
students who do not undertake the thesis option. Students should consult the web at
http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/timetables/ to see if anything appropriate is available and then
discuss this with the coordinator.
1.6.5 Work Load Apart from attending classes, students are expected to devote an average of eight hours
per week of study for every 12 credit points. The implication is that full-time Master of
Applied Science (IT) students will need to study at least 32 hours per week outside of
attendance at lectures and tutorials.
International students who need outside work of up to 20 hours per week for living costs
should carefully bear this in mind.
Students who are employed should carefully consider and plan their studies to ensure
that they are not affected by the demands of the workplace. Students are encouraged to
discuss their program with their employer and seek a letter of support from their
employer.
1.7 Graduate Diploma in IT (GD057) Program Structure
The graduate diploma comprises of courses drawn from Stages A and B of the Masters
program. That is, eight approved courses which include a specialisation cluster. Details
of all courses and the Stages are described in this booklet, and are common to the
Masters program.
1.8 Graduate Certificate in IT (GC038) Program Structure
1.9 Fees
The Graduate Certificate in IT program structure is drawn from Stage A of the Masters
program. That is, four approved courses from a specialist area. Details of all courses and
the Stages are described in this booklet, and are common to the Masters program.
1.9.1 Local Students For students commencing in 2006, the cost is AUD$1,560 for each 12-credit point
course; however, fees may vary in later years. From 2006 that is a total of AUD$6,240
for a Graduate Certificate, AUD$12,480 for a Graduate Diploma or AUD$18,720 for the
Masters program. Students pay on a semester basis and are invoiced for the appropriate
amount.
1.9.2 International
Students
On 1 January 2005 the Australian Government introduced a new loan scheme to assist
fee-paying local students. This new scheme is called FEE-HELP and it is a loan given
to eligible fee-paying students to help pay part or all of their tuition fees.
FEE-HELP replaces the Postgraduate Education Loan Scheme (PELS) that was
previously available to local postgraduate by coursework students.
To be eligible for a FEE-HELP loan a student must be an Australian citizen. For more
eligibility requirements, see:
http://www.goingtouni.gov.au/Main/FeesLoansAndScholarships/Postgraduate/
FullFeesAndFEE-HELP/EligibilityRequirements.htm
Students should refer to the RMIT International website for up to date fees information:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/international/programs
Also see “Fees” on page 84.

1.10 Study Methods
1.11 Part-time work in the School
Chapter 1: Introduction
Students will find that at RMIT, many of the Masters courses will not simply test recall
capabilities. Students will need to solve problems in an exam. Furthermore, whilst doing
past papers is a way to test your skills, it does not ensure a pass. The exam in a given
year may bear very little resemblance to the exams of previous years. Finally, and most
importantly, students cannot afford to “cram” and study before the last exam. Students
must study consistently throughout the year, in each course. For more on this topic, see
“Study Methods—Ten Commandments” on page 99.
Students should visit the following web site to apply for work:
http://wombat.cs.rmit.edu.au:5025/webtute/
If there are any issues about your work, please contact the School’s HR Manager:
Phone: 9925 9583
Building 14, Level 10, Room 12 (next to the Duty Programmers)
Email: hr@cs.rmit.edu.au
1.12 Technical Services Group / Duty Programmers
1.13 School Administration
The School have Duty Programmers to answer student queries related to the use of all
computer systems and programs. The Duty Programmers office (previously known as
the Help Desk) is located on Level 10 of Building 10.
Students who are experiencing problems with technical services or who have a
computer-related problem are encouraged to visit the Duty Programmers or email
helpdesk@cs.rmit.edu.au for assistance.
If a problem is not resolved contact your lecturer.
1.13.1 General Office The School Office is on Level 10 of Building 10 and is the port of call if students are
having problems with their after-hours access card, or locker, or require a Special
Consideration form. The office can also assist with signing off pre-approved enrolment
variations (approval should be gained from your advisor prior to visiting the office - bring
a copy of the email).
1.13.2 Timetabling
Staff
1.13.3 Teaching and
Learning
Advisors
Contact details are:
Office: Building 10, Level 10, Room 7
Telephone: 9925 2348
Fax: 9662 1617
Email: office@cs.rmit.edu.au
Academic administration also includes timetabling and other important tasks. Ms
Natasha Ooi (email: natasha@cs.rmit.edu.au) is responsible for the postgraduate
timetabling, especially as these relate to students also employed in the School. All other
timetabling issues should be relayed to your lecturer or Program Advisor.
The School employs a number of full-time teaching and learning advisors available to all
students. They are there to assist students for a wide range of problems - learning,
housing, stress, health, transport, settling in problems, orientation, problems with a
course, etc. Students are expected to visit a T&L advisor before seeing their academic
advisor.
5

Chapter 1: Introduction
1.14 Academic Staff
1.14.1 Program
Advisor
6
The T&L advisors’ contact details are:
Kathleen Lynch
Office: Building 10, Level 9, Room 1
Telephone: 9925 5251; Fax: 9662 1617
Appointments: https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/staffbooking/
Email: koto@cs.rmit.edu.au
Cecily Walker
Office: Building 10, Level 10, Room 1
Telephone: 9925 5088; Fax: 9662 1617
Appointments: https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/staffbooking/
Email: cwalker@cs.rmit.edu.au
Jeanette Holkner
Office: Building 14, Level 10, Room 08
Telephone: 9925 9809; Fax: 9662 1617
Appointments: https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/staffbooking/
Email: jeanette@cs.rmit.edu.au
An after-hours emergency number for students is 9925 3999.
Staff in the School are an eclectic mixture of academics with PhDs from respected
universities to academics with professional experience in industry and sessional
academics who currently work in industry. In keeping with Australia’s multicultural
dimension, staff come from all corners of the globe.
Staff contact information can be seen at:
http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/general/contact/phone.shtml
Associate Professor Isaac Balbin
Email: isaac@cs.rmit.edu.au
Telephone: 9925 2803; Fax: 9662 1617
Office: Building 12, Level 10, Room 41
See http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/~isaac/ for consultation times/appointments.

1.14.2 Minor Theses
and Projects
Coordinator
1.14.3 Postgraduate
Programs
Leader
Dr. Michael Winikoff
Email: winikoff@cs.rmit.edu.au
Telephone: 9925 9651; Fax: 9662 1617
Office: Building 10, Level 11, Room 12
Home page: http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/~winikoff
Chapter 1: Introduction
Dr. Audrey Tam is the Program Leader for all postgraduate coursework programs in the
School.
Should students wish to discuss matters that affect the whole program, or about all
postgraduate coursework programs, they may contact Dr. Tam.
Contact details:
Email: amt@cs.rmit.edu.au
Telephone: 9925 3202; Fax: 9662 1617
Office: Building 14, Level 9, Room 17
Home page: http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/~amt
7

Chapter 1: Introduction
8

Chapter 2: Masters Program Format and Timetables
CHAPTER 2 Masters Program Format
and Timetables
2.1 Terminology and Definitions
2.1.1 Specialist
Cluster
The program can be undertaken in two modes—full-time and part-time. Each course in the
program is valued by a number of credit points. All non thesis/project courses are valued
at 12 credit points. To complete the program each student must undertake 144 Credit
Points and achieve a CGPA of at least 2.0. To undertake the thesis option, students
must achieve a CGPA of at least 3.0.
The normal duration of a full-time program is one and half years, and the normal duration
of a part-time program is three years. Credit will not ordinarily be given for courses
completed in a 3-year undergraduate program or as part of a Graduate Diploma (as
distinct from a Postgraduate level Diploma or Postgraduate level Certificate).
The program cannot be completed in 12 calendar months.
Students need to complete:
• 1 specialist cluster
• 1 elective cluster
Plus either:
• 1 vocational cluster; OR
• COSC2149 Research Methods and a Minor Thesis/Project
A specialist cluster is a group of four thematically-linked courses. Part-time students
undertake two courses in each semester. Each course in the cluster is valued at 12 credit
points. The themes or specialist course areas offered in the program are:
• Advanced Databases (see page 17)
• Bioinformatics (see page 21)
• Computer Security (see page 25)
• Intelligent Systems (see page 29)
• Networked & Distributed Systems (see page 33)
• Search Engines (see page 37)
• Software Engineering (see page 39)
• Web-based Computing (see page 43)
Students must pass a minimum of four courses to complete a specialist cluster. The
specialist cluster is undertaken across the first two semesters in general.
In some clusters, there may be more than four courses to choose from. Students still need
to choose only four courses to obtain their specialisation, although they may do extras as
part of their elective or vocational cluster. In general the courses offered will be as listed in
this information booklet.
The School reserves the right to rearrange course offerings based on student demand and
lecturer availability.
The specialist cluster chosen usually determines the area of a minor thesis (if the student
is eligible and wishes to undertake the thesis).
9

Chapter 2: Masters Program Format and Timetables
2.1.2 Elective Cluster An elective cluster consists of any four individual courses, across any of the specialist
clusters, that a student has not yet passed. The courses in the elective cluster need not
be thematically linked.
2.1.3 Minor Thesis/
Project
2.1.4 Vocational
Cluster
2.2 Steps to Complete the Program
2.2.1 Full Time
Student
10
Year
There is one over-riding condition: Students cannot take more than one foundational
course in the elective cluster.
For example, a student may decide to specialise in Networked and Distributed Systems
(4 courses=specialist cluster) and undertake an elective cluster of two database courses
from the database cluster, one software engineering courses from the Software
Engineering cluster, and one more course from the Networked and Distributed Systems
Cluster. Students can mix and match from any cluster provided it fits into their study plan
and they have the necessary pre-requisites.
At this point, the foundational courses are:
• COSC1125—Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (see page 61)
• COSC1186—Interactive 3D Graphics and Animation
• COSC1170—Foundations Distributed Computing (see page 35)
The Minor Thesis or Minor Project (see page 45) consists of one year (part-time) or half
a year (full-time) of directed study/project culminating in a formal publication. The thesis/
project is the equivalent of 36 Credit Points. Students must also take COSC2149 -
Research Methods (see page 45) in the semester before they undertake the Minor
Thesis/Project. Students must have a CGPA of 3.0 to undertake this option.
Students who do not undertake the Research Methods and Minor Thesis/Project option
must complete four approved courses, the vocational cluster. See Chapter 12 -
"Vocational Electives" on page 59 for a list of courses.
Students may also undertake any courses from the specialist / elective clusters to
complete the vocational cluster. A maximum of 3 courses can be drawn from the courses
described in the abovementioned chapter.
What you would do
Thesis option Vocational electives option
1 • Four courses from one specialist cluster
• Three elective courses
• COSC2149 Research Methods
2 • Minor Thesis/Project
• One elective course
• Four courses from one specialist cluster
• Four elective courses
• Vocational Cluster
Table 1: Full-Time Student Study Plan

2.2.2 Part Time
Student
Year
2.3 Timetables
What you would do
Chapter 2: Masters Program Format and Timetables
Thesis option Vocational electives option
1 • One specialist cluster (two courses in
each semester)
2 • Three elective courses
• COSC2149 Research Methods a
3 • Minor Thesis/Project
• One elective course
• One specialist cluster (two courses in
each semester)
• Four elective courses
• Vocational Cluster
Table 2: Part-Time Student Study Plan
a. Part-time students are advised to undertake COSC2149 Research Methods in the July
semester of year 2, if they wish to take the thesis option.
The best place to see the timetables is via the CS web site at http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/
timetables/. These timetables are updated regularly. For general timetabling queries,
students should email natasha@cs.rmit.edu.au.
To see the formal course guides for the courses, go to the RMIT home page at
http://www.rmit.edu.au and enter the course number (e.g ISYS1055) in the 'Search' box.
The following tables display all courses that are run each semester. Note: These
timetables are only drafts and are correct at the time of publication. However, there may
be changes to the timetables. Students are advised to refer to the timetable web page for
the most accurate and up-to-date information.
11

Chapter 2: Masters Program Format and Timetables
2.3.1 Timetable by
Semester
12
Advanced
Databases
Bioinformatics
Computer
Security
Intelligent
Systems
Networked &
Distributed
Systems
Search
Engines
Software
Engineering
Web-based
Computing
Vocational
Electives
(Computer
Science)
Vocational
Electives
(Business)
The following table shows Specialist Cluster courses offered according to each semester
in 2006.
February Semester 2006 July Semester 2006
• COSC2149—Research Methods
• COSC2179—Minor Thesis/Project
• COSC2389—Minor Thesis/Project Part A
• COSC2390—Minor Thesis/Project Part B
• COSC2306—Algorithms for Efficient Data Engineering
• COSC2111—Data Warehousing and Data Mining
• ISYS1065—File Structures & Database Systems
• MATH1300— Analysis Of Medical Data (D)
• BIOL2034—Bioinformatics
• INTE1125—Cryptography and Security
• COSC2304—Mobile & Wireless Computing
• INTE1070—Secure Electronic Commerce
• INTE2401—Secure Programming Environments
• COSC1163—Intelligent Agents and Agent-Oriented Systems
• COSC1165—Intelligent Web Systems
• ISYS1095—Distributed Databases
• COSC1170—Foundations Distributed Computing
• COSC2304—Mobile & Wireless Computing
• INTE2401—Secure Programming Environments
• COSC2306—Algorithms for Efficient Data Engineering
• COSC1165—Intelligent Web Systems
• ISYS2377—Enterprise Architecture
• ISYS1083—Object-Oriented Software Design
• ISYS1088—Systems Architecture
• COSC1165—Intelligent Web Systems
• COSC2304—Mobile & Wireless Computing
• INTE1070—Secure Electronic Commerce
• COSC2279—Web Services
• COSC2401—Client Server Architectures
• COSC2106—Document Markup Languages
• COSC2354—Electronic Commerce and Enterprise Systems
• ISYS1106—Engineering Software Projects
• COSC1125—Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
• COSC1092—Scripting Language Programming
• COSC1131—Unix Systems Administration and Programming
(Linux)
• COSC1219—User Interface Programming
• COSC1213—Web Media Technologies
• COSC1300—Web Servers and Web Technology
• ACCT2127—Accounting for Management Decisions
• JUST1055—E-Business Law A (Online)
• ECON1113—Economic Analysis for Business
• BAFI1070—Financial Statement Analysis
• BUSM1174—Leading and Managing Change (intensive workshop:
March 14-16, 9am-5pm; May 18, 9am-5pm)
• BAFI1059—Managerial Finance
• MKTG1100—Marketing Management and Implementation
• ACCT2108—Performance Measurement
• OMGT1021—Supply Chain Principles (intensive workshop:
March 28-30, 9am-5pm + tutorial: May 6, 9am-5pm)
• COSC2149—Research Methods
• COSC2179—Minor Thesis/Project
• COSC2389—Minor Thesis/Project Part A
• COSC2390—Minor Thesis/Project Part B
• ISYS1072—Deductive and Object-Relational Databases
• ISYS2359—File Structures and Database Systems (Bundoora)
• COSC1168—Internet and Intranet Document Engineering
• ISYS1078—Multimedia Information Retrieval
• COSC2308—Advanced Topics in Bioinformatics
• MATH1300—Analysis of Medical Data
• COSC2151—Introduction to Computational Biology
• COSC2302—Computer & Internet Forensics
• INTE1125—Cryptography and Security
• COSC2107—Network Security
• COSC2048—Agent Oriented Programming and Design
• ISYS1072—Deductive and Object-Relational Databases
• COSC2033—Evolutionary Computing
• COSC1174—Advanced Client Server Architectures
• COSC1176—Network Programming
• COSC2107—Network Security
• COSC1168—Internet and Intranet Document Engineering
• ISYS1078—Multimedia Information Retrieval
• COSC2275—Software Requirements Engineering
• ISYS1081—Software Reuse
• ISYS1085—Software Testing
• COSC1182—Usability Engineering
• COSC2302—Computer & Internet Forensics
• COSC1168—Internet and Intranet Document Engineering
• ISYS1078—Multimedia Information Retrieval
• COSC1182—Usability Engineering
• COSC1233—Broadcast Network Engineering
• COSC2229—Electronic Commerce and Enterprise Systems
(Bundoora)
• COSC2347—Mobile Application Development
• COSC1131—Unix Systems Administration and Programming
(Linux)
• ISYS1124—Web Database Applications
• COSC2277—Web Development Technologies
• COSC1494—Web Media Technologies (Bundoora)
• COSC1300—Web Servers and Web Technology
• ACCT2127—Accounting for Management Decisions
• JUST1063—Corporate Governance
• OMGT1236—E-Business Supply Chains
• ECON1113—Economic Analysis for Business
• BAFI1070—Financial Statement Analysis
• BUSM1174—Leading and Managing Change (intensive workshop:
Aug 2-4, 9am-5pm; Oct 5, 9am-5pm)
• BAFI1059—Managerial Finance
• MKTG1100—Marketing Management and Implementation
• BUSM1734—Risk Analysis and Assessment (timetable TBA)
• ACCT1118—Risk Management
• OMGT1021—Supply Chain Principles
Table 3: Specialist Cluster courses according to Semester offered

2.3.2 February
Semester 2006
Advanced
Databases
Bioinformatics
Computer
Security
Intelligent
Systems
Networked
&
Distributed
Systems
Search
Engines
Software
Engineering
Web-based
Computing
Vocational
electives
(Computer
Science)
Chapter 2: Masters Program Format and Timetables
The following table displays the courses that are run each week for February Semester
2006. (Note: Courses usually run from 5.30pm to 9.30pm. Daytime classes are indicated
by a D.)
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
• MATH1300—
Analysis Of
Medical Data (D)
• COSC2304—
Mobile &
Wireless
Computing
• COSC1165—
Intelligent Web
Systems
• COSC2304—
Mobile &
Wireless
Computing
• COSC1165—
Intelligent Web
Systems
• COSC1165—
Intelligent Web
Systems
• COSC2304—
Mobile &
Wireless
Computing
• ISYS1106—
Engineering
Software Projects
• COSC1131—
Unix Systems
Admin. and
Programming
(Linux)
• COSC2306—
Algorithms for
Efficient Data
Engineering
• INTE1125—
Cryptography and
Security
• ISYS1095—
Distributed
Databases
• COSC2306—
Algorithms for
Efficient Data
Engineering
• ISYS1088—
Systems
Architecture
• COSC2354—
Electronic
Commerce and
Enterprise
Systems (D)
• COSC2111—
Data
Warehousing and
Data Mining
• COSC1170—
Foundations
Distributed
Computing
• ISYS1083—
Object Oriented
Software Design
• COSC1125—
Introduction to
Artificial
Intelligence (D)
• BIOL2034—
Bioinformatics
• INTE2401—
Secure
Programming
Environments
• COSC1163—
Intelligent Agents
and Agent-
Oriented Systems
(D; seminar)
• INTE2401—
Secure
Programming
Environments
• ISYS2377—
Enterprise
Architecture
• COSC2279—
Web Services
• COSC2401—
Client Server
Architectures
• COSC1092—
Scripting
Language
Programming
• COSC1219—
User Interface
Programming
• COSC2149—
Research
Methods (D)
• ISYS1065—File
Structures and
Database Systems
(D)
Table 4: Specialist Cluster courses according to weekly timetable, February Semester 2006
• INTE1070—
Secure Electronic
Commerce
• INTE1070—
Secure Electronic
Commerce
• COSC2106—
Document
Markup
Languages
• COSC1213—
Web Media
Technologies
• COSC1300—
Web Servers and
Web Technology
13

Chapter 2: Masters Program Format and Timetables
14
Vocational
electives
(Business)
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
• BAFI1070—
Financial
Statement
Analysis (1
daytime class for
full-time students;
1 evening class
for part-time
students)
• ACCT2108—
Performance
Measurement
• ACCT2127—
Accounting for
Management
Decisions
• ECON1113—
Economic
Analysis for
Business
• BUSM1174—
Leading and
Managing Change
(14 March, 9am-
5pm)
• MKTG1100—
Marketing
Management and
Implementation
(1 daytime class
for full-time
students; 1
evening class for
part-time
students)
• OMGT1021—
Supply Chain
Principles
(Workshop:
March 28, 9am-
5pm)
• ACCT2127—
Accounting for
Management
Decisions (1
daytime class for
full-time students;
1 evening class
for part-time
students)
• ECON1113—
Economic
Analysis for
Business (D)
• BUSM1174—
Leading and
Managing Change
(15 March, 9am-
5pm)
• BAFI1059—
Managerial
Finance
• OMGT1021—
Supply Chain
Principles
(Workshop:
March 29, 9am-
5pm)
• ECON1113—
Economic
Analysis for
Business (D)
• BUSM1174—
Leading and
Managing Change
(16 March, 9am-
5pm; 18 May,
9am-5pm)
• BAFI1059—
Managerial
Finance (D)
• OMGT1021—
Supply Chain
Principles
(Workshop:
March 30, 9am-
1pm)
• ACCT2127—
Accounting for
Management
Decisions
(Intensive, D)
Table 4: Specialist Cluster courses according to weekly timetable, February Semester 2006
• ACCT2127—
Accounting for
Management
Decisions
(intensive;
9.30am-4.30pm)
- 17 & 18 March
- 7 & 8 April
- 12 & 13 May
• OMGT1021—
Supply Chain
Principles
(Tutorial: May 6,
9am-5pm)

2.3.3 July Semester
2006
Advanced
Databases
Bioinformatics
Computer
Security
Intelligent
Systems
Networked
&
Distributed
Systems
Search
Engines
Software
Engineering
Web-based
Computing
Chapter 2: Masters Program Format and Timetables
The following table displays the courses that are run each week for July Semester 2006.
(Note: Courses usually run from 5.30pm to 9.30pm. Daytime classes are indicated by a
D.)
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
• ISYS2359—File
Structures and
Database Systems
(D, Bundoora)
• MATH1300—
Analysis of
Medical Data (D)
• COSC2033—
Evolutionary
Computing (D;
seminar)
• COSC1176—
Network
Programming
• ISYS1085—
Software Testing
• INTE1125—
Cryptography and
Security
• COSC2107—
Network Security
• COSC2107—
Network Security
• COSC2275—
Software
Requirements
Engineering
• ISYS1078—
Multimedia
Information
Retrieval
• COSC2308—
Advanced Topics
in Bioinformatics
(D, seminar)
• COSC1174—
Advanced Client
Server
Architectures
• ISYS1078—
Multimedia
Information
Retrieval
• ISYS1081—
Software Reuse
(seminar)
• ISYS1078—
Multimedia
Information
Retrieval
• ISYS1072—
Deductive and
Object-Relational
Databases
• COSC2151—
Intro to
Computational
Biology (seminar)
• COSC2048—
Agent Oriented
Programming and
Design (D;
seminar)
• ISYS1072—
Deductive and
Object-Relational
Databases
• COSC1182—
Usability
Engineering
• COSC1182—
Usability
Engineering
• COSC2149—
Research
Methods (D)
Table 5: Specialist Cluster courses according to weekly timetable, July Semester 2006
• COSC1168—
Internet and
Intranet
Document
Engineering
• COSC2302—
Computer &
Internet Forensics
• COSC1168—
Internet and
Intranet
Document
Engineerings
• COSC2302—
Computer &
Internet Forensics
• COSC1168—
Internet and
Intranet
Document
Engineering
15

Chapter 2: Masters Program Format and Timetables
16
Vocational
electives
(Computer
Science)
Vocational
electives
(Business)
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
• COSC2229—
Electronic
Commerce and
Enterprise
Systems (D,
Bundoora)
• ACCT2127—
Accounting for
Management
Decisions
• JUST1063—
Corporate
Governance
• BAFI1059—
Managerial
Finance (D)
• ACCT2127—
Accounting for
Management
Decisions
• OMGT1236—
E-Business
Supply Chains
(Workshop: July
18, 9am-5pm)
• ECON1113—
Economic
Analysis for
Business (D)
• BAFI1070—
Financial
Statement
Analysis (D)
• MKTG1100—
Marketing
Management and
Implementation
(1 daytime class
for full-time
students; 1
evening class for
part-time
students)
• COSC1494—
Web Media
Technologies (D,
Bundoora)
• ACCT2127—
Accounting for
Management
Decisions (D)
• OMGT1236—
E-Business
Supply Chains
(Workshop: July
19, 9am-5pm)
• BUSM1174—
Leading and
Managing Change
(2 Aug, 9am-5pm)
• COSC1233—
Broadcast
Network
Engineering (D)
• COSC2347—
Mobile
Application
Development
• COSC1131—
Unix Systems
Admin. and
Programming
(Linux) (D)
• COSC2277—
Web
Development
Technologies
• OMGT1236—
E-Business
Supply Chains
(Workshop: July
20, 9am-1pm)
• ECON1113—
Economic
Analysis for
Business
• BUSM1174—
Leading and
Managing Change
(3 Aug, 9am-5pm;
5 Oct, 9am-5pm)
• ACCT1118—
Risk Management
(seminar)
• OMGT1021—
Supply Chain
Principles
• ECON1113—
Economic
Analysis for
Business (D)
• BUSM1174—
Leading and
Managing Change
(4 Aug, 9am-5pm)
Table 5: Specialist Cluster courses according to weekly timetable, July Semester 2006
• ISYS1124—Web
Database
Applications
• COSC1300—
Web Servers and
Web Technology
• ACCT2127—
Accounting for
Management
Decisions
(intensive;
9.30am-4.30pm)
- 5 & 6 Aug
- 9 & 10 Sept
- 7 & 8 Oct
• OMGT1236—
E-Business
Supply Chains
(Tutorial: Sep 2,
9am-5pm)

CHAPTER 3 Advanced Databases
3.1 Introduction
Chapter 3: Advanced Databases
Most computer users have some knowledge of databases, in particular ofthe relational
database systems that have dominated during the last two decades. But database
technology and the kinds of data being stored are changing rapidly. The courses in the
Database Systems cluster concern the most significant kinds of database.
COSC2306 Algorithms For Efficient Data Engineering presents state-of-the-art data
structures and algorithms for data representation and manipulation, extending the material
presented in typical advanced algorithms courses.
Relational database technology is being extended in many ways: by addition of recursion;
by introduction of object-oriented concepts; by aggregation of data into warehouses; and
by use of distributed resources. Deductive and object-relational databases are covered in
ISYS1072 Deductive and Object-Relational Databases. Data mining and technologies for
making use of vast databases are covered in COSC2110 Data Warehousing and Data
Mining.
ISYS1065 File Structures and Database Systems concerns the technology underlying
relational database systems: the algorithms and data structures used to provide efficient
access to large quantities of data.
COSC1168 Internet and Intranet Document Engineering covers ways of creating, filing,
finding and reading documents that are not based on consuming paper. Such documents
need to be able to be published on the Web.
In recent years, retrieval systems for non-traditional data have grown from niche
applications to an essential commercial technology. The best-known examples of such
systems are the search engines deployed on the internet, which are examples of
information retrieval systems. The underlying principles are quite different to those of
conventional databases systems, and they deal with vast volumes of data, rely on complex
heuristics to identify matches to queries, yet provide answers in a fraction of a second.
They are an excellent case-study of high-performance algorithms in practice.
Text and multimedia databases and the principles of information retrieval are covered in
ISYS1078 Multimedia Information Retrieval. The principles and algorithms underlying the
implementation of search engines are covered in COSC2109 Search Engines, including
indexing techniques, text compression, and web query evaluation.
Pursuant to demand, the following courses are available for students who wish to choose
this cluster. The courses are:
• COSC2306—Algorithms for Efficient Data Engineering (see page 18)
• COSC2111—Data Warehousing and Data Mining (see page 18)
• ISYS1072—Deductive and Object-Relational Databases (see page 19)
• ISYS1065—File Structures and Database Systems (see page 20)
• COSC1168—Internet and Intranet Document Engineering (see page 20)
• ISYS1078—Multimedia Information Retrieval (see page 20)
17

Chapter 3: Advanced Databases
3.2 Courses
3.2.1 COSC2306—
Algorithms for
Efficient Data
Engineering
3.2.2 COSC2111—
Data
Warehousing
and Data Mining
18
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Aim
This course presents state of the art algorithms for data manipulation and advanced
applications. Content includes advanced compression techniques, perfect minimal
hashing, randomised algorithms and cache-aware programming.
Objectives
On completion of this courses students should be able to:
• Improve the efficiency of their code by applying suitable heuristics
• Choose appropriate algorithms and data structures to solve a complex problem
• Compare and evaluate strengths and weaknesses of data structures, and
communicate this understanding
Prerequisites
• COSC1285 Advanced Programming Techniques
Syllabus
1. The programmer’s toolkit:
• Hash tables
• Heaps
• Splay trees
• Tries
2. Beyond procedural structured programming:
• Lookup tables to accelerate elementary functions.
• Goto for clean break out of nested loops
• Avoiding pointer de-referencing.
• Cache aware algorithms, with a focus on sorting (Burst sort).
3. String search and pattern matching:
• Suffix trees and tries.
• Repository data structures, such as splay trees, ternary search trees, burst
tries.
4. Perfect minimal hashing.
5. Randomized algorithms.
6. Advanced Compression Techniques, including: arithmetic coding, Burrows-
Wheeler Transform
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
This course is about the deployment of advanced database techniques in large
enterprises. It aims to provide you with up-to-date conceptual and practical knowledge
on recent developments in database technology, specifically data mining and data
warehousing. At the end of this course, students will understand concepts, principles and
techniques of data warehousing and data mining.
Lecture topics include: Overview of data warehousing, Data warehouse design, OLAP
technologies, Data cubing, Overview of knowledge discovery and data mining, Data
mining techniques, Classification, Clustering, and Knowledge discovery in data
warehouses.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Fundamental knowledge in relational database concepts, including relational
modelling & design, relational algebra & SQL, conceptual modelling, and
transactions & concurrency, equivalent to ISYS1055 Introduction to Database
Systems

3.2.3 ISYS1072—
Deductive and
Object-
Relational
Databases
Chapter 3: Advanced Databases
• Co-requisite: Extensive programming skills in C language and advanced data
structures and algorithms, equivalent to COSC1285 Advanced Programming
Techniques
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/029570.
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Aim
This course has two components. In the first component students are introduced to
extensions to the traditional relational data model, known as Deductive Databases.
Students will study those elements of Logic Programming, which are directly linked to
Database Systems, and will learn optimisation techniques for deductive databases, how
to use a Database with deductive capabilities based on SQL 3.
In the second component the course will cover the principles and use of object relational
database systems. This covers the transformation methodology of object to tables,
object-extension in relational systems, and object-oriented concepts and
implementations in object-oriented database systems.
Students who complete the course will be familiar with using an object-relational
database system, be able to design using an object model and transform it to relational
tables, and understand in broad terms the concepts of object-relational and objectoriented
database systems.
Objectives
At the conclusion of the course, the student should be:
• able to understand the need for Deductive Databases;
• able to understand the optimisation issues surrounding deductive queries;
• able to understand how to create and use a Deductive Database;
• able to understand the principles underlying relational, object-relational and objectoriented
database systems and their applications;
• able to understand the transformation issues from an object model to a relational
model;
• familiar with object extensions in commercial database systems;
• familiar with the current development of SQL involving object-oriented features.
Prerequisites
• ISYS1055 Introduction to Database Systems
• Co-requisite: COSC1295 Java for Programmers OR COSC1252 Object-Oriented
Programming
Syllabus
• Introduction to Deductive Databases and Logic Programming; Viability of Logic
Programming Approach
• Optimisation for Coupled Systems
• Datalog and Model Theory
• Relational Translation and Differential Optimisation
• Negation
• Magic Sets
• Introduction to Object Oriented Modelling with UML; Applications of Relational,
Object-Relational and Object-Oriented databases
• Object-Relational Transformation (Inheritance and Association)
• Object-Relational Transformation (Aggregation and Object behaviour)
• Object-Relational Databases
• Object-Oriented Databases
19

Chapter 3: Advanced Databases
3.2.4 ISYS1065—File
Structures and
Database
Systems
3.2.5 COSC1168—
Internet and
Intranet
Document
Engineering
3.2.6 ISYS1078—
Multimedia
Information
Retrieval
20
Note: This is a Masters-level course but is available to GDips.
Course Description
This course is the second and final compulsory database course. The course aims to
broaden knowledge of the implementation of database systems and to introduce
emerging database technologies such as information retrieval. File structures and
indexing are discussed, and analytical details presented, that enable students to
understand efficiency in query evaluation. The idea of the transaction is introduced along
with the necessity of concurrency control and serialisability. Issues of backup and
recovery for databases are discussed.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Fundamental knowledge in relational database concepts, including relational
modelling & design, relational algebra & SQL, conceptual modelling, and
transactions & concurrency, equivalent to ISYS1055 Introduction to Database
Systems
• Extensive programming skills in C language and advanced data structures and
algorithms, equivalent to COSC1285 Advanced Programming Techniques
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004127.
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
The course covers the principles and practice of document engineering on both the
internet and on intranets. The course is particularly concerned with how document
management systems can assist at all stages of the document lifecycle.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• An introductory database course such as ISYS1055 Introduction to Database
Systems or ISYS1122 Intro to Databases (Internet & Web Computing).
• An ability to use Unix tools is expected. A basic understanding of HTML is helpful.
• COSC2106 Document Markup Languages is strongly recommended as a prerequisite;
and knowledge of XML will be assumed – a refresher tutorial on XML will
be discussed at the end of the first lecture.
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004176.
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
The course first introduces standard concepts in information retrieval such as
documents, queries, collections, relevance, recall-precision, and evaluation. Standard
retrieval models such as boolean, vector space, probabilistic and language models are
also studied. The course then covers a selection of advanced topics such as distributed
information retrieval, semi-structured retrieval, cross-lingual retrieval, video and image
retrieval.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Ability to use basic Unix tools.
• Year 12 Maths, especially Vector Spaces and Probability
Reading material will be available for students who are deficient in Maths.
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004175.

CHAPTER 4 Bioinformatics
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Courses
4.2.1 COSC2308—
Advanced
Topics in
Bioinformatics
Chapter 4: Bioinformatics
As the rate of accumulation of biological data increases exponentially, computational tools
for the storage, annotation, querying and modelling of this data become paramount, and
can impose a limitation on data analysis. The courses in the Bioinformatics cluster cover
both the creation of algorithms for the analysis of biological data and the use of these to
derive useful and novel information. Computational Biology describes the limitations of
current algorithms, and how we can develop superior data analysis and querying tools.
Bioinformatics 1 and 2 describe the use of these tools in the analysis and querying of data,
from a biologist's perspective. Bioinformatics 2 in particular deals with the statistical basis
underlying the tools. Advanced Topics is a course designed to introduce selected current
problems in biological data analysis, and how these may be solved by computational
techniques.
Pursuant to demand, the following courses are available for students who wish to choose
this cluster. The courses are:
• COSC2308—Advanced Topics in Bioinformatics (see page 21)
• MATH1300—Analysis of Medical Data (see page 22)
• BIOL2034— Bioinformatics (see page 22)
• COSC2151—Introduction to Computational Biology (see page 22)
Aim
This course presents state-of-the-art algorithms for efficient data analysis and advanced
applications. Students will acquire knowledge about advanced algorithms, architectures
and data structures, learn how to choose appropriate ones to solve complex problems,
and be able to explain their decisions. This course builds on the capabilities acquired in
Computing Fundamentals, and complements the material of the course BIOL2034
Bioinformatics [1].
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course students should be able to:
• Select appropriate heuristics to address NP-hard problems
• Choose appropriate algorithms and data structures to solve a complex problem
• Compare and evaluate strengths and weaknesses of data structures and algorithms,
and communicate this understanding
Prerequisites
• BIOL2034 Bioinformatics 1
Syllabus
• Methods related to intelligent systems such as simulated annealing, neural networks
and genetic algorithms
• Heuristics for sequence analysis, such as Hidden Markov Models and dynamic
programming
• The principles underlying a range of advanced algorithms and data structures,
including most of the following: suffix ties, suffix trees, depth first search, breadth first,
density computation.
• How to compare and evaluate strengths and weaknesses of data structures and
algorithms
21

Chapter 4: Bioinformatics
4.2.2 MATH1300—
Analysis of
Medical Data
4.2.3 BIOL2034—
Bioinformatics
4.2.4 COSC2151—
Introduction to
Computational
Biology
22
Course Description
This course aims to deliver postgraduate researchers the skills needed to analyse data
specifically in a medical context. It covers both statistical and epidemiological techniques
using a computer based approached, with all methods described from their foundation.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
This course assumes that the students have:
• Basic IT skills including web browsing, e-mail, Windows based program usage, and
the ability to use a word-processor for report writing
• Fundamental mathematical skills to a graduate high-school standard
• A basic knowledge of medical terminology
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/029566.
Note: This course is offered by the School of Applied Sciences.
Course Description
Bioinformatics is the computational management and use of biological information to
solve biological problems. This course will deliver descriptions of this rapidly evolving
field, and facilitate user access to and manipulation of the biological data. Topics will
include descriptions of genetic and biological databases and relevant tools available to
retrieve and analyse the information within these. Descriptions of various techniques,
such as evolutionary analysis, data mining, protein structure/function and computational
drug discovery will be given. RMIT staff and external scientists working in the field will
deliver topics. This course is designed to enable students to evaluate data using
bioinformatics, and to better identify potential uses and opportunities of this data within
their industry context. Students will gain an appreciation of the potential of new
technologies to their industry sector.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• BIOL2184 Advanced Molecular Biology (or equivalent)
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/028321.
Aim
As the rate of acquisition of biological data increases exponentially, the management,
interrogation and manipulation of this data becomes a complex process that requires
novel software solutions. These solutions are the driving force behing Computational
Biology, lying at the intersection between the biological and IT fields. There is a
requirement for methodology to facilitate the acqusition, storage and retrieval of data, the
analysis of this data and computationally complex tasks such as the prediction of
macromolecular structure. This course will introduce these concepts and demonstrate
some of the computational techniques currently available.
Objectives
The objectives of this course are as follows:
• Introduce the aims and uses of computational biology.
• Describe the sources of data, in particular from the characterisation of genomes
and proteomes.
• Describe how biological information is stored and accurately retrieved.
• Introduce computational algorithms that can be used for querying and manipulating
biological data.
• Study some of the practical uses of these algorithms.
Prerequisites
• COSC1321 Computing Fundamentals
Syllabus
• Genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics.
- Introduction to the biological revolution. Data acquisition and storage.
Databases- format and querying. The challenges in Computational Biology.

Chapter 4: Bioinformatics
• Computational Biology Algorithms I.
- Dynamic programming and molecular dynamics.
• Computational Biology Algorithms II.
- Sequence alignment algorithms.
• Practical uses of computational algorithms.
- DNA and protein alignment. Finding homologs, evolutionary analysis. Protein
folding, predicition of protein structure/function. Future directions.
23

Chapter 4: Bioinformatics
24

CHAPTER 5 Computer Security
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Courses
5.2.1 COSC2302—
Computer and
Internet
Forensics
Chapter 5: Computer Security
Computer security is one of the fastest-growing areas of the IT industry worldwide. There
is a shortage of expertise in this area, with openings and salaries for computer security
specialists increasing quickly.
Students choosing to specialise in the computer security cluster will gain valuable
understanding of security threats and vulnerabilities, the skills to prevent and address
problems, and the capability to appropriately investigate computer security incidents.
COSC2302 Computer & Internet Forensics explores issues related to security of computer
systems, accessing and analysing data, reconstructing events, surveillance, intrusion
prevention, intrusion detection, and recovery from breaches.
COSC2304 Mobile & Wireless Computing introduces a variety of data communicating
methods and protocols in wireless and mobile environments. Students learn to employ
application frameworks for developing mobile applications, create web sites suitable for
mobile environments, and select components and networks for particular applications.
In COSC2107 Network Security, students will gain advanced knowledge in computer
network security, which is becoming one of the most pressing problems in computing.
Topics include: threats and attacks; system security; network security; application security;
port security; data security; and security management.
INTE1070 Secure Electronic Commerce covers security issues in e-commerce, focusing
on the principles and concepts related to computer-based, electronic transactions.
Pursuant to demand, the following courses on offer are:
• COSC2302—Computer and Internet Forensics (see page 25)
• INTE1125—Cryptography and Security (see page 26)
• COSC2304—Mobile and Wireless Computing (see page 26)
• COSC2107—Network Security (see page 26)
• INTE1070—Secure Electronic Commerce (see page 26)
• INTE2401—Secure Programming Environments (see page 27)
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
This course introduces students to the principles and practice of computer and internet
forensics. Students will explore issues related to security of computer systems, accessing
and analyzing data, reconstructing events, surveillance, intrusion prevention, intrusion
detection, and recovery from breaches. This course is particularly aimed at students who
have a strong interest in computer and information security.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• INTE1070 Secure Electronic Commerce or equivalent
(For information on equivalence go to http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/courseguides/
equivalents.shtml.)
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/036671.
25

Chapter 5: Computer Security
5.2.2 INTE1125—
Cryptography
and Security
5.2.3 COSC2304—
Mobile and
Wireless
Computing
5.2.4 COSC2107—
Network
Security
5.2.5 INTE1070—
Secure
Electronic
Commerce
26
Note: This course is offered by the School of Mathematics and Geospatial
Sciences.
Course Description
Classical and modern cryptosystems used to ensure the secrecy and integrity of data
communicated over an insecure channel. Topics covered include perfect secrecy and
one-time pads, shift registers and stream ciphers, Secret key systems: block ciphers and
DES, Public key systems: RSA, digital signatures, hash functions and applications.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• INTE1120 Introduction to Information Security
• INTE1122 Case Studies in Information Security
• This is a second semester course that builds on the overview presented in the
above courses, and introduces a more rigorous study of cryptography.
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/014836.
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
The course introduces the emerging field of mobile and wireless computing and the
basic principles and technologies in mobile computing. Topics may include: web-site
development that is mobile-friendly, basics of wireless communications and mobile
networks, mobile IPv4 and mobile IPv6, Ad-Hoc networks, Bluetooth, Sensor networks,
Satellite Networks, Satellite MAC, TCP over Satellite, J2ME programming, mobile data
management, Human-Computer Interface for Small Devices, location/context
management, WAP/WML, Wireless Security and Authentication.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• The course assumes a general knowledge of computer communications (for
example COSC2061 Foundations of Data Communications), and the assignments
will need programming skills (at least at the level from students who have
completed COSC1295 Java for Programmers).
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/036672.
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
Students will learn advanced knowledge on computer network security, the most
pressing problem in today's networked environment. International orientation is a key in
this field, as many security threats and attacks originate from overseas. The students'
ability to critically analyse existing systems will be developed via exercises such as
security assessment of network architectures. Using real-life scenarios and network
security management students will appreciate and learn responsibility. Students will
learn creativity by proposing and then analysing solutions for different security
requirements.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• COSC2061 Foundations of Data Communications and Networks
• COSC1295 Java for Programmers
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/029567.
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
The course is an introduction to secure e-commerce, focusing on the principles and
concepts related to computer-based, electronic transactions.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• A sound understanding of computer data communications, the structure and
protocols of the Internet and the Web, equivalent to COSC1300 Web Servers and
Web Technology

5.2.6 INTE2401—
Secure
Programming
Environments
Chapter 5: Computer Security
• Good knowledge of programming in a programming language such as Java, PHP
or C++, equivalent to one of the following:
• COSC1295 Java for Programmers OR
• Sound programming background
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004178.
Course Description
This course aims to introduce you to programming in a secure environment. It will
introduce basic and some advanced concepts in security, and their implementation in
programming. The focus is on problem solving ability with emphasis on security. In this
course, you will learn the basics of programming in fire walled environments, creation
and use of digital signatures and certificates, authentication and biometrics. The
teaching platform is Java, with standard and additional security extensions.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
You should have capabilities equivalent to those acquired in COSC1295 Java for
Programmers; in particular, you should be able to:
• write, test and debug small to medium-sized application programs that use
inheritance, polymorphism, abstract classes, interfaces, threads and eventhandling
where appropriate
• navigate the Java API to discover suitable interfaces, classes and methods
• use third-party packages in your Java programs
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/038407.
27

Chapter 5: Computer Security
28

CHAPTER 6 Intelligent Systems
6.1 Introduction
Chapter 6: Intelligent Systems
Students should ensure that their prerequisites are met, and relate this to the sequence
order presented by the timetables. It is quite acceptable to complete a cluster over two
years or semesters if necessary. If students wish to undertake the Intelligent Systems
specialist cluster in the Masters then it is mandatory to have a proper discrete
mathematics background as described by the course COSC1105 Computing Theory.
COSC1125 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (or its equivalent) is also required.
The amount of information in computer systems and on the world wide web is massive and
growing every day. Finding relevant information and using it in meaningful ways is
becoming more and more difficult. It is becoming increasingly clear that the only way to
deal with the tidal wave of information is to use programs which are capable of intelligent
behaviour. Many companies in such areas as manufacturing, mining, finance and
medicine have already made and saved millions of dollars by developing and using
intelligent systems.
The courses in the intelligent systems cluster are concerned with the theory and practice
of incorporating intelligent behaviour into computer programs.
COSC1163 Intelligent Agents and Agent-Oriented Systems is a seminar style subject
providing an overview of a variety of research topics in the area of building collaborative,
autonomous, intelligent programs, used for controlling robots and for building software
agents which operate in virtual environments, the web and other networks.
COSC1165 Intelligent Web Systems deals with intelligent programs and web agents for
the world wide web.
COSC2033 Evolutionary Computing is a seminar style subject which aims to give an
understanding of the research area of evolutionary computation and the current state of
the art of its application.
COSC2048 Agent-Oriented Programming and Design introduces a software engineering
methodology and a programming environment for the new programming paradigm, agent
oriented programming, which is likely to supersede object oriented programming over the
next decade.
Deductive and object-relational databases are covered in ISYS1072 Deductive and
Object-Relational Databases.
Minor theses in intelligent systems can involve applying existing theories to commercial
and industrial problems or can be cutting-edge research projects. The Intelligent Systems
group has a mobile autonomous robot which is used in some research projects. Thesis
topics are available in intelligent agents and multi-agent systems, robot soccer (RoboCup),
robot rescue simulation (RoboCupRescue), animated agent simulations, mobile agents,
co-operation amongst agents, agents in open systems, robust machine learning
algorithms, design, implementation and applications of logic programming languages,
automated proof search, resource-sensitive logics, description logics, novel applications
of logic, intelligent information retrieval, knowledge integration, neural networks, computer
vision and evolutionary computation.
The courses intended to be offered in 2006 are:
• COSC2048—Agent-Oriented Programming and Design (see page 30)
• ISYS1072—Deductive and Object-Relational Databases (see page 19)
• COSC2033—Evolutionary Computing (see page 31)
• COSC1163—Intelligent Agents and Agent-Oriented Systems (see page 31)
• COSC1165—Intelligent Web Systems (see page 31)
29

Chapter 6: Intelligent Systems
6.2 Courses
6.2.1 COSC2048—
Agent-Oriented
Programming
and Design
6.2.2 ISYS1072—
Deductive and
Object-
Relational
Databases
30
Note: This is a Masters-level course but is available to GDips.
Aim
This course covers design and programming in the emerging field of agent-oriented
software engineering. The high-level design methodology covered is appropriate for a
wide range of approaches to agent development. The course covers identification of
system goals, agent capabilities, data sources, agent interactions, use cases, scenarios,
agent types and agent interaction diagrams. The detailed design and programming
focuses on the "Belief, Desire, Intention" framework which is particularly suitable for
intelligent agents and has a strong industry base in Melbourne. Programming is done
using JACK, a commercial, java based agent development environment. Agent oriented
systems are a growing area and the field of agent oriented software engineering is in its
infancy.
Objectives
The objective of this course is to develop an understanding of and gain experience with
agent oriented design and development. Students will become familiar with a
methodology for high-level and detailed design as well as gain expertise in using a state
of the art commercial intelligent agent development environment. Students will develop
an understanding of the constructs available within this (and similar) environments and
will gain experience in effective use of the available constructs. At the conclusion of the
course students will have an appreciation of how to use agent development
environments to design and build complex multi-agent systems.
Prerequisites
• ISYS1117 Software Engineering Analysis and Design
• COSC1295 Java for Programmers
Syllabus
• Introduction, structure of course, industry comments
• System specification
• Architectural design
• Detailed design
• Other Agent-oriented SE paradigms
• Agent UML, the BDI execution engine
• Implementing a JACK agent within a wider environment
• Agent communications and different event types
• Capabilities, plans, context and relevance
• Specialised constructs such as maintains and fail conditions
• Agent databases and logical variables
• Views and interfaces
The description for this course can be found on page 19.

6.2.3 COSC2033—
Evolutionary
Computing
6.2.4 COSC1163—
Intelligent
Agents and
Agent-Oriented
Systems
6.2.5 COSC1165—
Intelligent Web
Systems
Note: This is a Masters-level course but is available to GDips.
Chapter 6: Intelligent Systems
This course is run in seminar style. (See “Seminar Style Courses” on page 98.)
Course Description
Evolutionary computation is concerned with the use of simulated biological evolution to
solve problems for which it can be difficult to write the programs using traditional
methods. This course examines different models of evolutionary computation and the
kinds of problems to which they can be applied.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Programming skills in Java or C++, including basic data structures and algorithms
• Familiarity with Unix and C is strongly recommended
• Completion of one of the following courses (or equivalent) will satisfy the prerequisite
requirements.
• COSC1295 Java for Programmers OR
• COSC1252 Object-Oriented Programming
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/014062.
This course is run in a seminar style. (See “Seminar Style Courses” on page 98.)
Course Description
To present both the theoretical foundations as well as the practical aspects of agents and
agent systems.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Students are expected to have a sound understanding of artificial intelligence
techniques and the fundamentals of computing before commencing this course.
These include planning, knowledge representation, Bayesian networks, advanced
search techniques, tractable and intractable problems, and heuristic approaches to
problem solving. Completion of both of the following courses (or equivalent) will
satisfy the pre-requisite requirements:
• COSC1105 Computing Theory
• COSC1125 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004169.
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
This course is concerned with making web based systems more useful and more
useable by the use of relevant techniques from artificial intelligence. A number of recent
systems will be examined in detail.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Students are required to have programming skills in Java or C++ before
commencing this course, including basic data structures and algorithms
• Familiarity with Unix and C is strongly recommended
• Completion of one of the following courses (or equivalent) will satisfy the prerequisite
requirements.
• COSC1295 Java for Programmers
• COSC1252 Object-Oriented Programming
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004170.
31

Chapter 6: Intelligent Systems
32

Chapter 7: Networked & Distributed Systems
CHAPTER 7 Networked & Distributed
Systems
7.1 Introduction
These topics are provided in the four courses currently taught in the DC cluster, as follows:
COSC1174 Advanced Client/Server Architectures provides an in-depth understanding of
advanced client/server architectures (e.g. Common Object Request Broker Architectures).
Topics include: the object model, overview of CORBA, static and dynamic invocation, inter
and intra ORB communication, basic object adaptor, mappings. Also, this course provides
opportunity to design and implement advanced client/server applications using a CORBAcompliant
product.
ISYS1095 Distributed Databases discusses the theory and practice of Distributed
Databases and Multidatabase systems. Topics included are: database architectures and
design, transaction management, query processing, concurrency control, recovery, as
they apply to distributed databases. Special cases such as Object-Oriented distributed
databases and heterogeneous multidatabase systems are also discussed.
COSC1195 Foundations of Distributed Computing discusses the basic concepts of
distributed computing, and gives an insight into the principles of distributed operating
systems. The topics covered include Remote Procedure Call, name and time services,
replication, fault tolerance, middleware infrastructures such as DCE and CORBA. The
practical work gives the students the opportunity to explore some topics in a greater depth.
COSC2304 Mobile and Wireless Computing introduces one of the newest and fastest
developing fields in the discipline, where significant application developments are
anticipated and have already started.
Without question, no area of the computer industry is undergoing faster change than that
of networked computing. Both Windows NT and Unix are foundation technologies. In
COSC1176 Network Programming, basic and some advanced aspects of Unix and NT
networking are covered.
In COSC2107 Network Security, students will gain advanced knowledge in computer
network security, which is becoming one of the most pressing problems in computing.
Topics include: threats and attacks; system security; network security; application security;
port security; data security; and security management.
Parallel programming uses multiple computers, or computers with multiple internal
processors, to solve a problem at a greater computational speed than using a single
computer. It also offers the opportunity to tackle larger problems; that is, problems with
more computational steps or more memory requirements, the latter because multiple
computers and multiprocessor systems often have more total memory than a single
computer. Several software tools are available for message-passing parallel
programming, including PVM and several implementations of MPI, which are all freely
available. COSC2206 Parallel Computing covers fundamentals of parallel computer
architectures such as SISD, MIMD etc. and parallel programming such as MPI and PVM
which is linked to real parallel programming software. It covers the techniques of parallel
programming in a practical manner that enables students to write and evaluate their
parallel programs.
Pursuant to demand, the courses on offer in 2006 are:
• COSC1174—Advanced Client/Server Architectures (see page 34)
• ISYS1095—Distributed Databases (see page 35)
• COSC1170—Foundations Distributed Computing (see page 35)
• COSC2304—Mobile and Wireless Computing (see page 26)
33

Chapter 7: Networked & Distributed Systems
7.2 Courses
7.2.1 COSC1174—
Advanced
Client/Server
Architectures
34
• COSC1176—Network Programming (see page 35)
• COSC2107—Network Security (see page 36)
• INTE2401—Secure Programming Environments (see page 36)
Students who wish to take this cluster must have completed the equivalent of:
• COSC1112 Operating Systems
• COSC1295 Java for Programmers
• COSC2061 Foundations of Data Communications and Networks
NOTE: Students who wish to do the entire cluster MUST also have done or studied the
equivalent of COSC2061 Foundations of Data Communications and Networks and
COSC1112 Operating Systems, and be very familiar with Unix.
At the end of this cluster, a student will be able to design and implement advanced
applications, such as client-server or distributed database applications, using the most
existing advanced software products. Details about the Networked & Distributed
Computing Cluster or the Networked & Distributed Computing Research Group can be
found on the School’s website.
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Aim
This course covers theoretical and technical aspects of advanced distributed systems,
such as CORBA and Web Services. Specifically, this course covers the core elements of
such advanced systems, including the underlying communication protocols (e.g. IIOP
and SOAP) and some major services (e.g. trading and transaction services). A few other
advanced issues, such as caching and load balancing, are also covered in depth. Finally,
this course also covers issues and solutions related to the design and the
implementation of large-scale distributed heterogeneous applications. JacORB and
SOAP implementations are used to illustrate the implementation of different concepts
related to CORBA and SOAP.
Objectives
At the conclusion of this course, students should be able to:
• understand the different basic concepts related to client server technology;
• understand advanced client/server architectures;
• understand the underlying principles of distributed object systems;
• understand the underlying concepts related to Web Services;
• understand the major issues and solutions provided by distributed object systems;
• design and implement distributed applications using JacORB and SOAP.
Prerequisites
• COSC1195 Foundations of Distributed Computing
• COSC1295 Java for Programmers
Syllabus
• Introduction to CORBA
• Basics of CORBA
• Portable Adapters
• Caching
• Load Balancing
• Trading Service
• Transaction Service
• SOAP
• Web Services (i.e. UDDI, WSDL)

7.2.2 ISYS1095—
Distributed
Databases
7.2.3 COSC1170—
Foundations
Distributed
Computing
7.2.4 COSC2304—
Mobile and
Wireless
Computing
7.2.5 COSC1176—
Network
Programming
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
Chapter 7: Networked & Distributed Systems
To provide students with an understanding of distributed technologies as they are used
in the enterprise, including the distribution of data, services and enterprise knowledge.
The course focuses on enterprise integration along these dimensions, from a systems
and software architecture points of view. This includes issues such as distributed
databases, integration of legacy systems, enterprise integration and distributed systems
architecture. The discussion includes implementation issues in the context of distributed
applications engineering. The course includes discussion of the existing and emerging
technologies on software engineering for distributed systems. Students will develop a
project that may include using Oracle, Java, JDBC, Java RMI, and Java JMS.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Students are expected to have completed a degree or diploma in Computer
Science or Computing, which includes object-oriented programming (preferably
Java), software engineering, data communications and databases. In addition,
students will require knowledge, as evidenced by formal courses or industrial
experience, of database theory and practice that includes data modelling, the
relational model, relational database implementation, SQL, transaction processing
and concurrency control.
• The above pre-requisite knowledge is covered in ISYS1055 Introduction to
Database Systems and one of COSC1295 Java for Programmers or COSC1252
Object-Oriented Programming.
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004194.
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
The course is an introduction to distributed computing. It discusses the basic principles
and concepts used in distributed systems. The course assumes a general knowledge of
computers, and the assignments will need basic C programming skills and working in a
Unix environment.
The assignments are to illustrate the material from different aspects, such as
programming in a distributed environment, doing research on a specific topic, and
solving/understanding theoretical problems.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• C programming, typically taught in COSC1283 Programming Techniques
• Working knowledge of Unix, typically taught in COSC1112 Operating Systems
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004192.
The description for this course can be found on page 26.
Note: This is a Masters-level course but is available to GDips.
Course Description
The course is an introduction to programming applications that use computer networks.
The operation and characteristics of major computer networks are studied because of
their strong influence on programming interfaces (APIs) and application design. Most
programming will be undertaken in the 'C' language.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Programming:
• COSC1283 Programming Techniques or equivalent knowledge of C language
programming. It is very important that the student be a competent C or C++
programmer.
35

Chapter 7: Networked & Distributed Systems
7.2.6 COSC2107—
Network
Security
7.2.7 INTE2401—
Secure
Programming
Environments
36
• Networking:
• COSC2061 Foundations of Data Communications and Networks or equivalent
knowledge of computer communications. Very strong students may undertake
the course without this background as a brief introduction is included.
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004197.
The description for this course can be found on page 26.
The description for this course can be found on page 27.

CHAPTER 8 Search Engines
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Courses
8.2.1 COSC2306—
Algorithms for
Efficient Data
Engineering
8.2.2 COSC1165—
Intelligent
Web Systems
Chapter 8: Search Engines
The most important development in retrieval systems in recent years is the extraordinary
growth in storage of non-traditional data, in particular text but also multimedia data such as
audio, video, and images.
Everyone is familiar with the search engines available on the web, which index billions of
web pages, but similar technology is used in a wide variety of contexts, from information
providers such as libraries and press agencies to information gatherers such as
intelligence agencies.
Businesses increasingly use such systems for all internal and external documentation.
COSC2306 Algorithms For Efficient Data Engineering presents state-of-the-art algorithms
and data structures for efficient data manipulation and advanced applications, extending
the material in advanced data structures and algorithms courses.
COSC1165 Intelligent Web Systems covers processes for garnering and management of
information on the web.
COSC1168 Internet and Intranet Document Engineering covers the creation and
management of documents, in particular documents intended for the web, covering issues
such as workflow and XML.
Text databases, multimedia databases, and the principles of information retrieval are
covered in ISYS1078 Multimedia Information Retrieval.
The principles and algorithms, and implementation of search engines are covered in
COSC2109 Search Engines. Search engines, and more generally multimedia retrieval
systems, provide users with the ability to query over large volumes of non-relational data.
This data must be created, gathered, and interpreted prior to retrieval.
Pursuant to demand, the courses on offer are:
• COSC2306—Algorithms for Efficient Data Engineering (see page 18)
• COSC1165—Intelligent Web Systems (see page 31)
• COSC1168—Internet and Intranet Document Engineering (see page 20)
• ISYS1078—Multimedia Information Retrieval (see page 20)
The course description can be found on page 18.
The course description can be found on page 31.
37

Chapter 8: Search Engines
8.2.3 COSC1168—
Internet and
Intranet
Document
Engineering
8.2.4 ISYS1078—
Multimedia
Information
Retrieval
38
The course description can be found on page 20.
The course description can be found on page 20.

CHAPTER 9 Software Engineering
9.1 Courses
9.1.1 ISYS2377—
Enterprise
Architecture
9.1.2 ISYS1083—
Object-
Oriented
Software
Design
Chapter 9: Software Engineering
The software development industry evolves constantly with innovations in the tools and
methods used in project management, software design, testing, prototyping, metrics and
other aspects of the software development. The Software Engineering cluster offered by
this School equips students with a solid foundation in software engineering principles for
continued learning and mastering of new software engineering paradigms and
approaches. Students are prepared for future roles as software developers and testers,
software architects and designers. This cluster also provides technical foundations for IT
management roles.
Pursuant to demand, the following courses are available for students who wish to choose
this cluster:
• ISYS2377—Enterprise Architecture (see page 39)
• ISYS1083—Object-Oriented Software Design (see page 39)
• COSC2275—Software Requirements Engineering (see page 40)
• ISYS1081—Software Reuse (see page 40)
• ISYS1085—Software Testing (see page 40)
• COSC1182—Usability Engineering (see page 41)
• ISYS1088—Systems Architecture (see page 41)
Course Description
This course presents the key components and processes involved in the effective creation
and governance of enterprise architectures. An enterprise architecture is an overall
framework and strategic objective for the usage of technology over time across an
organization; it provides a plan and objectives that align business goals with ICT strategy,
to enable the organization to make the most effective use of ICT to support and build the
business. Students will acquire knowledge about all of these aspects of enterprise
architectures, learn what the choices are and how to make them for enterprise
architectures, and be able to explain and present their decisions.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Students will be expected to understand the key processes, knowledge and usage of
software requirements engineering acquired in COSC2275 Software Requirements
Engineering. In addition the capabilities being acquired in this course will be
complemented by those acquired in the courses ISYS1088 Systems Architecture
and IT Governance and Change Management.
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/037926.
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
This course aims to investigate, understand and apply the software design process, using
an object-oriented paradigm. The course has two major components. It first introduces the
Unified Modelling Language *UML), and a number of software development processes,
including the Rational Unified process. The second half of the course is devoted to the
understanding of a catalogue of design patterns, selected from Gamma et.al.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Two of the following topics must have been studied as part of an undergraduate
Software Engineering or Computer Science course:
• Structured Design
39

Chapter 9: Software Engineering
9.1.3 COSC2275—
Software
Requirements
Engineering
9.1.4 ISYS1081—
Software Reuse
9.1.5 ISYS1085—
Software
Testing
40
• Project Management (including Software Life-Cycles)
• Structured Programming (preferably C)
• Knowledge of, and experience using, object-oriented programming (Java or C++) is
necessary to succeed in this course
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004185.
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
This course presents the key components and processes involved in the effective
creation and governance of enterprise architectures. An enterprise architecture is an
overall framework and strategic objective for the usage of technology over time across
an organization; it provides a plan and objectives that align business goals with ICT
strategy, to enable the organization to make the most effective use of ICT to support and
build the business. Students will acquire knowledge about all of these aspects of
enterprise architectures, learn what the choices are and how to make them for enterprise
architectures, and be able to explain and present their decisions.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Students will be expected to understand the key processes, knowledge and usage
of software requirements engineering acquired in COSC2275 Software
Requirements Engineering.
• In addition the capabilities being acquired in this course will be complemented by
those acquired in the courses ISYS1088 Systems Architecture and INTE2412 IT
Governance and Change Management.
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/035217.
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
This course is an introduction to systematic software reuse. Topics covered include:
reuse library, component-based development, domain engineering, program generation
and customization, and software product lines. Students will also learn various
techniques for developing reusable software, such as XSLT, Frame Technology,
Templates, Design Patterns and Object-Oriented Framework.
This course is primarily for students who have a software engineering background and it
requires some prior experiences in software development.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• ISYS1117 Software Engineering Analysis and Design
• COSC1295 Java for Programmers
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004183.
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
This is an introduction to software testing principles and practices in industry. We will
discuss practical software testing goals and approaches to testing software at various
levels - from end user application level to source code level through all phases of the
Software Development Lifecycle. The course material will include the following -
software quality standards and metrics, types of testing, function and performance
testing, test planning, test case generation, shipping criteria, estimating test resources,
scheduling tests, object-oriented factors in testing, assessing risks, prioritizing tests,
automation strategy, defect management, test execution, the end game before final
shipping and post ship test and support issues. Software quality assurance activities will
be discussed as part of a dynamic process that is flexible and constantly tuned to the
changing needs of a project.

9.1.6 ISYS1088—
Systems
Architecture
9.1.7 COSC1182—
Usability
Engineering
Chapter 9: Software Engineering
Typical test tools will be discussed. In particular we will learn how to apply many of the
tools that come with IBM's Rational Suite TestStudio product in order to gain a solid
understanding of how testing is done in practice.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• A knowledge of basic high school/first level math including algebra, binary
arithmetic, boolean logic, and elementary statistics
• 6 months’ programming experience in any high level computer language
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004186.
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
As the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) states: “For all but the most trivial system,
success will be elusive if you fail to pay careful attention to its architecture: the way the
system is decomposed into constituent parts and the ways those parts interact.” The
primary aims of this course are to provide you with a sound understanding of architecture
concepts, functions, tasks and techniques, and to expose you to the practical aspects of
architecture through the analysis of case studies and design assignments. It also aims
to enable you to understand what is required at a high level to evaluate, communicate
and document architectures.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• You will be expected to understand key processes, knowledge and capabilities
equivalent to those acquired in ISYS1117 Software Engineering Analysis and
Design and COSC1321 Computing Fundamentals.
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004187.
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
Usability is the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve
specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of
use (ISO 9241-11 1998). Usability engineering is a set of behavioural research methods
and techniques that can be applied at every stage of the software development lifecycle,
to improve the usability of the developed product by conducting usability studies that
analyse users’ needs or evaluate the product’s usability.
This course introduces you to concepts, methods and techniques that you can apply to
design and conduct usability studies, building on your practical experience with software
system analysis and design, and with writing and testing code. You will learn the theory
and practice of various approaches, methods and techniques, and apply these to
acquire practical experience in conducting usability studies for interactive systems.
Tutorial activities provide the skills you need to complete the major assignment, where
you design a usability test of an interactive system, recruit suitable participants, conduct
the test, and analyse and report on your findings.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Practical experience with software system analysis and design, equivalent to
ISYS1117 Software Engineering Analysis and Design
• Practical experience with writing and testing code, equivalent to COSC1321
Computing Fundamentals
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004199.
41

Chapter 9: Software Engineering
42

Chapter 10: Web-based Computing
CHAPTER 10 Web-based Computing
10.1 Courses
10.1.1 COSC2032—
Computer and
Internet
Forensics
The emergence of the World Wide Web in 1990s has seen a revolution in the way people
use computers and the Internet for communicating.
The Web-based multimedia document computing cluster covers the key technologies to
build systems that make effective use of this new medium now and in the future.
Individuals and organisations need to manage the flood of information on the Information
Super-highway, as well as to manage the documents that are created within the local
environment.
COSC2302 Computer & Internet Forensics explores issues related to security of computer
systems, accessing and analysing data, reconstructing events, surveillance, intrusion
prevention, intrusion detection, and recovery from breaches.
COSC1165 Intelligent Web Systems is concerned with techniques for making Web-based
systems more useful and more usable by the use of relevant artificial intelligence
techniques.
COSC1168 Internet and Intranet Document Engineering covers ways of creating, filing,
finding and reading documents that are not based on consuming lots of paper. Such
documents need to be able to be published on the Web.
COSC2304 Mobile & Wireless Computing introduces a variety of data communicating
methods and protocols in wireless and mobile environments. Students learn to employ
application frameworks for developing mobile applications, create web sites suitable for
mobile environments, and select components and networks for particular applications.
ISYS1078 Multimedia Information Retrieval covers text and multimedia information
retrieval, the principles behind Web search engines.
INTE1070 Secure Electronic Commerce covers secure e-commerce, focusing on the
principles and concepts related to computer-based, electronic transactions.
COSC1182 Usability Engineering introduces students to behavioural research methods
and techniques used in evaluating user needs and usability testing.
COSC2279 Web Services introduces students to the principles and practice of
webservices and their application in web application development.
Pursuant to demand, the courses on offer in 2006 are:
• COSC2302—Computer and Internet Forensics (see page 25)
• COSC1165—Intelligent Web Systems (see page 31)
• COSC1168—Internet and Intranet Document Engineering (see page 20)
• COSC2304—Mobile and Wireless Computing (see page 26)
• ISYS1078—Multimedia Information Retrieval (see page 20)
• INTE1070—Secure Electronic Commerce (see page 44)
• COSC1182—Usability Engineering (see page 41)
• COSC2279—Web Services (see page 44)
The description for this course can be found on page 25.
43

Chapter 10: Web-based Computing
10.1.2 COSC1165—
Intelligent Web
Systems
10.1.3 COSC1168—
Internet and
Intranet
Document
Engineering
10.1.4 COSC2304—
Mobile &
Wireless
Computing
10.1.5 ISYS1078—
Multimedia
Information
Retrieval
10.1.6 INTE1070—
Secure
Electronic
Commerce
10.1.7 COSC1182—
Usability
Engineering
10.1.8 COSC2279—
Web Services
44
The description for this course can be found on page 31.
The description for this course can be found on page 20.
The description for this course can be found on page 26.
The description for this course can be found on page 20.
The description for this course can be found on page 26.
The description for this course can be found on page 41.
Note: This is a Masters-level course.
Course Description
This course introduces students to the principles and practice of Web services and their
application in Web application development. Topics include introduction to Web services
architecture (WSDL, UDDI, SOAP), Web services security and an examination of
common implementation platforms for Web services (J2EE and.NET). This course is
particularly aimed at students who are interested in research issues in these areas.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Fundamental knowledge in relational database concepts, including relational
modelling & design, relational algebra & SQL, conceptual modelling, and
transactions & concurrency, equivalent to ISYS1055 Introduction to Database
Systems
• Ability to write Java programs, equivalent to COSC1295 Java for Programmers
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/035219.

CHAPTER 11 Minor Thesis/Project
11.1 Eligibility
11.1.1 COSC2149 -
Research
Methods
Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project
Students need to have obtained a CGPA of at least 3.0 in their specialist and elective
cluster subjects.
Before any thesis or project can be submitted, students must undertake COSC2149 -
Research Methods (see page 45). Sometimes a student is undecided as to whether they
wish to take a minor thesis. Students may undertake Research Methods and then change
their mind and undertake an vocational cluster instead in their final semester (full-time) or
year (part-time).
The minor thesis/project component is available as COSC2179 Minor Thesis/Project.
The duration of the subject is either one year part-time or half a year full-time. If a student
wishes to start their thesis on a part-time basis in second semester, then they have to enrol
in COSC2180 Minor Thesis/Project Part A and then COSC2181 Minor Thesis/Project Part
B instead of COSC2179 Minor Thesis/Project.
Before students start Research Methods they should go to https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/
students/pgrad_projects/ and discuss a thesis topic with a potential supervisor. If the
supervisors agree then students will start on the thesis as part of COSC2149 Research
Methods.
Aim
This course is an introduction to research methods in computer science. It explains the
skills needed to successfully complete a thesis/research project in computer science,
exposes students to ways of thinking about research, and teaches general skills for writing
and experimentation.
Objectives
At the conclusion of this course a student should be able to:
• Understand the process of research and development in computer science;
• Utilise tools and methods of research in computer science;
• Prepare and present, in a professional manner, written and oral reports of research:
• Write research proposals.
Syllabus
• The Process of Research
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Library Skills
• Empirical Research
• Writing and Web Skills
• Presentations Research
• Research Management
• Tools for Experiments
• Reading and Assessing Literature
45

Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project
11.2 COSC2179 (or COSC2180 + COSC2181) Minor Thesis/Project
11.2.1 Minor Thesis As this is not a PhD thesis or a Masters by Research thesis, students should not
misconstrue the expectation to include a “significant original contribution to computer
science.” Originality is required, but this is primarily in the sense that this is the student’s
own work (see point 5 of “Guidelines to Examiners of a Minor Thesis” on page 57).
Reproducing or testing results or hypotheses is quite acceptable.
46
Usually, the Minor Thesis is:
• an extension or outgrowth of work that a student may have begun in an
assignment; or
• an idea which has been mentioned in lectures; or
• a topic which the student suggests; or
• a topic which is supported by the student’s employer.
One of the lecturers will supervise the thesis. If students are concerned about their topics
they should not hesitate to contact the cluster coordinator of the area in which they would
like to do their work.
A list of topics is available at https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/students/pgrad_projects/.
The thesis need not be theoretical in nature, and can involve the implementation of
applications of some new techniques to an existing problem. Where possible, the
student is strongly encouraged to undertake the thesis jointly with his or her workplace.
The student should feel free to contact the course coordinator in this regard if it is
appropriate.
11.2.2 Minor Project The minor project has a different flavour to the minor thesis. It can best be described as
a piece of research or developmental software engineering. Here the student must
implement, to high industrial standards, a programming task as outlined by the
supervisor. The student will not be judged on whether the concept that has been
programmed is worthwhile. Rather, the student will be judged on how well they
implemented and presented the specifications and design. A comprehensive report is
still required.
11.3 Minor Thesis/Project Guidelines
This chapter is designed to assist both student and supervisor in the construction of a
minor thesis/project in partial fulfilment of the degree of Master of Applied Science in
Information Technology. It draws on RMIT regulations, the School’s Honours thesis
guidelines, documents from other Universities and our own impressions.
The minor thesis/project accounts for approximately one third of the study towards the
degree. The first two parts of the degree are devoted to the candidate undertaking a
coursework-based specialisation in two of five broad areas of Computer Science. A
specialisation constitutes four subjects in an area. These areas are:
• databases;
• intelligent systems;
• networked and distributed systems;
• search engines;
• software engineering; and
• web-based computing.
In the last stage of the Master of Applied Science (IT) program the student undertakes:
• COSC2149 Research Methods (see page 45); and
• a second elective subject.
It is during this stage that candidates are expected to lay the foundation for the
completion of a successful minor thesis. Where appropriate, candidates are encouraged

Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project
to consult their employer to investigate the possibility of a topic which is relevant to their
workplace.
11.3.1 Thesis Types Before addressing the question of thesis topic and supervisor, it is important to define a
minor thesis. It is therefore constructive to describe other types of theses in order to
understand the minor thesis.
Often, candidates have a singular perception that the work and innovation required to
complete a thesis is just a few levels down from that of a Nobel Prize! This is of course
incorrect. There are different types of theses. By reviewing the context of the different
types, the concept of a minor thesis can be better understood.
The PhD Degree
From a study-program point of view, a PhD is of great importance in measuring
academic achievement. The PhD entitles one to the title of Doctor. The degree probably
originated in the University of Bologna and was associated with a research degree in the
Law.
To obtain a PhD candidates must be intelligent, diligent, patient, perservering and
obsessed with solving an outstanding problem in the field of Computer Science. The
PhD takes three to four years of full-time work to complete and culminates in the
publication of a thesis. In many instances, components of the work contained in the
thesis are published in international journals or conferences before the thesis is
completed.
A successful PhD thesis should:
1. present work based on original 1 and new research;
2. demonstrate a significant and original contribution to the knowledge of fact or
theory of Computer Science;
3. demonstrate independent and critical thought;
4. demonstrate a capacity to work independently of supervision;
5. review literature relevant to the thesis;
6. critically appraise one’s work especially as it relates to the work of others;
7. design an investigation which may involve the gathering and analysis of
information;
8. present information in a manner consistent with publication in an academic
Computer Science Journal; and
9. demonstrate the carrying out of supervised research.
Some people define a PhD as comprising three quality publications 2 on a theme at an
international professional-level.
The Masters Degree by Research
The Masters degree actually pre-dates the PhD It had its beginnings in the field of
Theology. It was originally senior to the PhD but is now junior to it in the sense that
candidates are not required to present totally new and original research. Specifically,
requirements 1 through 4 of the PhD (inclusive) are not strictly necessary for the
completion of a successful Masters thesis.
Therefore, a successful Masters thesis should:
1. review literature relevant to the thesis;
2. critically appraise one’s work especially as it relates to the work of others;
3. design an investigation which may involve the gathering and analysis of
information;
4. present information in a manner consistent with publication in an academic
Computer Science journal; and
5. demonstrate the carrying out of supervised research.
1. All theses must be original; a candidate must not present another person’s work
and claim that it is their own. Originality in the PhD context also means: new,
unexplored, innovative and creative.
2. Such publications should not be confused with technical computer journals,
such as Byte magazine.
47

Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project
48
Some people think of a Masters by Research as comprising one quality publication.
The Masters Degree by Coursework and Minor Thesis
Traditionally, Masters degrees in Australia have been of the research variety. The
Masters degree by coursework and minor thesis is a comparatively new degree. It seeks
to combine a formal graded study of current postgraduate topics in Computer Science
with a minor, Masters by Research-level, thesis. It is smaller in scope than a Masters by
Research thesis simply because less time is available. A Masters by Research thesis
usually comprises two full-time years of research. By comparison, a minor thesis
comprises only half a year of full-time research (or one year part-time).
Clearly, in such a short time, the scope of the thesis must be narrowed and the task
carefully refined.
A minor thesis should:
1. review literature relevant to the thesis;
2. critically appraise ones work especially as it relates to the work of others, or
critically appraise the work of others;
3. describe an investigation which may involve the gathering and analysing of
information;
4. present information in a manner consistent with publication in an academic
Computer Science Journal; and
5. demonstrate the carrying out of supervised research.
An Example
To be more concrete, we begin with a mythical problem (sic). The problem is usually
identified by your supervisor. Our mythical problem is in the domain of real-time
applications for an intelligent networking hub. It is found that the robustness and ease of
re-use of code (written in a 3rd generation language) is unsatisfactory. Changes to the
code are increasingly difficult to implement and fraught with side-effects.
The PhD
The PhD candidate undertakes a detailed analysis of the problem. The candidate seeks
to carefully identify the shortcomings of the current approach. In constructing a solution,
the candidate effectively invents a new programming paradigm. The candidate
implements a prototype using the new paradigm and demonstrates its effectiveness not
only in the context of the original problem domain but as a general programming
paradigm. The candidate compares and contrasts the new approach with others and
identifies any open problems.
The Masters by Research
The Masters by Research candidate (who does not go on and convert the thesis to a
PhD) uses a different approach. This involves the construction of a series of specialised
libraries (a repository) which are to be strictly used as the building blocks for a re-write of
the existing system and future enhancements. The code is developed with reference to
a formal mathematical software specification; implementing this specification. A
prototype is built. The thesis examines the approach of repositories in general and
contrasts these to that described in this thesis. The candidate reflects on the
shortcomings of the approach and the advantages. The approach may not be an ideal
solution but useful nonetheless.
The Masters by Coursework
The Masters by coursework candidate works for the networking company in question.
The company has identified the problem but is not that concerned with it because the
economy is in a down-turn; there is little money available for research and development;
and the problem appears not to be hurting sales. The candidate convinces the boss that
the problem should be addressed and points out that newly developed expertise in
formal methods should be used to map out a prototype for a repository. The boss
supports the investigation and the candidate undertakes the research. The thesis
presents only the formal specification and places the specification into the context of the
problem and the overall approach. The literature survey looks at the building of specific
software repositories, investigating those which utilise formal methods 1 .

11.3.2 The Minor
Project
11.3.3 Examination of
the minor
project
11.3.4 Progress
Reports
Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project
In some instances a candidate may choose a topic which has more of a developmental
flavour than an inquisitorial one. That is, the major contribution of the project can be
measured more in terms of a quality high level industrial strength implementation of an
advanced system than a prototypical system that is used to determine results and
support a hypothesis. Where a candidate undertakes a minor project, a major part of the
examination will be a demonstration of the software that has been developed. The
accompanying documentation will be in the same form as a thesis. The chapters will
ordinarily comprise:
• An introduction which motivates the need/use of the program.
• An optional literature chapter (where relevant) which compares the approach taken
to existing approaches.
• A specification chapter. The program requirements are specified possibly using
formal notation.
• A design chapter. The program design is specified using formal notation.
• A testing chapter (sic). This describes the testing regime employed and the actual
tests performed.
• A conclusion.
• An appendix consisting of a user manual.
• A CD which includes the source code and a script enabling the software to be
installed completely from the CD.
This will be in two stages:
In stage one an examiner, usually from the School, will read your documentation. At this
stage, your documentation should be bound in a loose form. Subsequent to this, the
examiner may meet with you and your supervisor and have a “test-drive” of the software
or install and run it themselves. The examiner may:
• recommend changes to the documentation
• recommend changes to the code (not the specification) to fix any bugs or ask that
you implement something which has been specified but not implemented as per
specification or design.
Note that your project needs to come with explicit installation instructions for the
examiner. You should ensure that an installation script has been written and that it
actually works (on other platforms/machines as per the specifications).
When a student is undertaking research methods and has agreed and been accepted for
one of the topics, they must:
• Email Dr. Michael Winikoff, the topic
• Email Dr. Michael Winikoff, the name of their supervisor
• Email Dr. Michael Winikoff, the normal day/time of meetings with their supervisor/s
• CC the above email to their supervisor/s.
All students must use an on-line ‘blogger’ (Web Logger) and keep this up to date.
Here is the link to install the blogger:
https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/support/docs/mtype/
The idea is that, at the end of each day that students work on their thesis, they use their
blogger to record the things they have done/are doing. Their supervisor/s and Dr.
Michael Winikoff will look at the blog regularly.
If students have no evidence / don’t use the blog, then there is little for the supervisor/s
and Dr. Michael Winikoff to go on.
1. In case you were wondering, after the work was completed, the mythical candidate
was appointed to lead a team to commercialise the concept started in the
minor thesis. The candidate was considered suitable for this because of the new
expertise the candidate had brought to the company and the management skills
acquired during the course.
49

Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project
11.3.5 Choosing a
Topic and
Supervisor
11.3.6 What Should I
Expect From My
Supervisor?
11.3.7 What Should My
Supervisor
Expect From
Me?
11.3.8 What Happens
if There is a
Conflict?
50
Students should go to https:inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/student/pgrad_projects/.
In rare cases you may wish to work on a topic about which no lecturer is familiar enough
or prepared to supervise you. If this is the case, you should see Dr. Michael Winikoff and
he may be able to organize a system of technical advisors and supervisors.
Your supervisor should:
• be familiar with the masters by coursework regulations;
• agree to a schedule of meetings at which they will give helpful guidance and
comments;
• assist you in identifying and obtaining relevant literature;
• take the initiative in raising problems or difficulties as appropriate;
• read all papers relevant to the topic before meetings and be prepared to discuss
these; and
• read and return drafts promptly with appropriate comments.
You should:
• be familiar with the Masters by Coursework regulations;
• attend scheduled meetings at which you will discuss guidance most helpful to your
needs;
• take the initiative in raising problems or difficulties as appropriate;
• maintain progress in your work as set out by your supervisor, including presentation
of written materials;
• prepare the thesis for examination as per this document and the regulations; and
• notify the University and your supervisor of any change of name, address,
telephone number, or other circumstances which might affect the progress of your
studies.
If you encounter conflict between yourself and your supervisor, please approach Dr.
Michael Winikoff in the first instance.
11.3.9 Ethics The thesis should be consistent with ethical guidelines. These guidelines require that
candidates do the following.
• Ensure that results are accurate.
• Describe any limitations of experiments and any considerations that may have
affected their outcome.
• Provide enough detail to allow other researchers to reproduce experiments,
including (where relevant) method, sources of input data, and so on.
• Retain code and data used to perform experiments, or alternatively, retain original
output and records of experiments.
• When reporting the work of others, describe it fairly and accurately.
• Not plagiarise the work of others, published or otherwise, or imply that published
results are new work. For more information on plagiarism see
http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/students/integrity/
• Report negative as well as positive results.
• Not deliberately make misleading statements of any kind.
11.3.10 Summarising After you and a supervisor have approved a topic and informed Dr. Winikoff of this
choice, you should set up regular appointments with your supervisor. The recommended
sessions are a weekly 1-hour meeting for full-timers, and a fortnightly 1-hour meeting for
part-timers. It is vital that you get into a pattern of consultation. Dr. Winikoff will routinely
contact all students and ascertain that there are no problems and that consultation is
taking place.
1. Clearly define the parameters of your thesis. Know what it is you intend to do and
equally importantly what it is you will not do (for lack of time or otherwise).
2. Next, develop with your supervisor a table of contents for the thesis. This should
specify what the primary, secondary and ternary section headings will be.

11.3.11 What Should My
Minor Thesis/
Project Look
Like?
Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project
3. Your supervisor will then usually give you a list of papers to read. You may also be
asked to undertake a literature search via the library. Skills to handle this task are
studied in COSC2149 - Research Methods (see page 45).
4. You should seek to discuss each paper in detail with your supervisor after you have
read them.
5. Start working on the main task of the thesis. When the work has been completed,
you should fill in the “gaps” (with reference to the headings in your table of
contents) and present drafts of chapters to your supervisor. If English is not your
primary language then your drafts should be shown to the Teaching and Learning
Advisors (see page 5) before presenting them to your supervisor.
Style
Most of the information you require to answer this question will be covered in COSC2149
Research Methods. There are some excellent books which you can use to assist you.
These include:
• “The Elements Of Style”, by Strunk and White, Macmillan.
• “Writing Successfully In Science”, by M. O’Connor, Chapman and Hall.
• “Manual on Scientific Writing”, RMIT Faculty of Applied Science, available from the
RMIT Bookshop.
• “Writing for Computer Science”, by Justin Zobel, Springer
In today’s world of desktop publishing it is fashionable to use multiple fonts and fancy
designs to an extreme. Avoid the temptation. You might excel in Computer Science;
leave the layout design to the experts. As an indication, look at an issue of the Journal of
the ACM. Notice the simplicity and consistency.
It is strongly recommended that you use LaTeX 1 for your word processing. If you use it
as a novice your documents will look professional. In addition, public-domain
implementations of LaTeX exist for PCs and Macintoshes, as well as Unix and VMS. Be
warned though - for most software, you need plenty of memory (at least 128Mb) and disc
space (at least 2 Gigabytes).
Layout and Presentation
The following are the requirements to be followed for the layout and presentation of your
minor thesis:
• Theses should be typed on metric A4 size paper, using a font no larger than 12
points and no smaller than 10 points. There should be between 35 and 45 lines of
text per page.
• Do not use the RMIT logo.
• The length of the thesis should be approximately 20,000 words. Typically, this is 35
pages.
• Your thesis should eventually be printed on a laser printer (you can use the
School’s laser printers) and so you should use a word processor that supports
proportional spacing and pair kerning.
• There should be a margin of 3cm on the left-hand side of all pages, and
approximately 2cm on all other edges. Alternatively, if you use LaTeX then simply
include the standard A4 style file.
• The text should be typed on one side only. Diagrams, tables, graphs etc. must be
placed so that they can be seen at (approximately) the same time as the text to
which they refer. They should not be grouped together at the end of each chapter.
• Every diagram, table, etc. must carry both a number and caption.
• References must all be listed at the end of the thesis and conform to a recognized
international standard. Lane and Martin (1978a) is highly recommended.
• A sample LaTeX style can be downloaded from https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/
research/students/Procedures/Thesis/.
1. A simplified introduction to using LaTeX is available on the world wide web,
accessible using Google Search whereas a more detailed manual can be found
at any technical bookstore or library.
51

Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project
11.3.12 Things To Avoid 1. Rhetoric. A successful thesis is not necessarily one that looks big and impressive.
Resist the temptation to be verbose. Don’t be over argumentative. Precision is
most important. Avoid superfluous adjectives. Don’t become a Roget’s thesaurus
addict. By all means use a thesaurus; don’t over-use it.
2. Clichés. For example, “Herculean effort,” “untiring efforts,” and “as a whole.”
3. Unreferenced sources. Whenever you are using or referring to work done by others
you should attribute the source of that work.
4. Jargon. There is much jargon in Computer Science. Jargon is difficult to avoid.
However, this is not a problem provided that you carefully define each and every
use of jargon. Please note that VATLAs (Very Awful Three-letter Acronyms) are to
be used sparingly and expanded on first usage!
11.3.13 Content of
Minor Thesis
52
In general, the minor thesis should appear as follows.
1. A title page as shown below (do not use the RMIT logo):
Using a Deductive Database for Database
Mining
by
Alfonso Bradley Ng, B.Sc.
Minor thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of
the requirements for the degree of Master of
Applied Science in Information Technology
School of Computer Science and Information
Technology
RMIT University
Figure 1: Title Page for Minor Thesis

11.3.14 Identifying your
supervisor
11.3.15 Content of
Minor Project
2. A declaration page as shown below:
Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project
3. A table of contents.
4. A table of figures (where relevant).
5. An acknowledgment page (where desired).
6. A summary of approximately 200 words; this summary (or abstract) should also be
emailed to Dr. Winikoff by your supervisor when the thesis is ready for examination.
7. The introductory chapter.
8. The literature review chapter.
9. A series of chapters describing your work.
10. A conclusions chapter.
11. A list of references.
12. Appendices, if any.
Page numbering should be in Roman numerals commencing from the title page, and
Arabic numerals commencing with the summary.
About the literature review
It is imperative that you understand the extreme importance of a comprehensive
literature search. Imagine a situation where you have not undertaken an adequate
literature search after which you then develop the main body of your research.
Subsequently, an examiner claims that:
• you are not referencing sources; and
• your work is not original!
The examiner’s claim is based on the existence of a well-known publication which is
almost identical to your work. You were negligent in not doing an adequate literature
search. Your supervisor may not have been aware of all relevant references and may
have wrongly assumed that your search was adequate. It may be too late to salvage the
thesis unless a case can be made that you have verified an existing theory and that this
verification is useful.
The moral should be clear.
Declaration
I certify that all work on this thesis was carried out between
February 2006 and June 2006 and it has not been submitted for
any academic award at any other college, institue or university. The
work presented was carried out under the supervision of Dr ...
who proposed ... and who .... All other work in the thesis is my
own except where acknowledged in the text.
Alfonso Bradley Ng
June 17, 2006
Figure 2: Declaration Page for Minor Thesis
Please DO NOT write your supervisor’s name on the front cover. It should only appear
on your declaration page and possibly your acknowledgement page.
The Minor Project should appear as follows:
53

Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project
54
1. A title page as shown below (do not use the RMIT logo):
2. A declaration page as shown below:
A Java based tool for manipulating course
approval documents
by
Virginia Leanne Ruttaputnam, B.Sc.
A Minor project submitted in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the degree of Master
of Applied Science in Information Technology
School of Computer Science and Information
Technology
RMIT University
Figure 3: Title Page for Minor Project
Declaration
I certify that all work on this project was carried out between X
and Y and has not been submitted for any academic award at any
other college, institue or university. The work presented was
carried out under the supervision of Dr ... who proposed ... and
who .... This is my original work and no part of it has been copied
from any other source except where due acknowledgement is
made.
No part of this thesis has been written for me by any other person
except where such collaboration has been authorised by my
supervisor (as described on page X). This thesis may be
reproduced, communicated, compared and archived for the
purpose of detecting plaiarism.
I give permission for a copy of my marked work to be retained by
the School for review and comparison, including review by
external examiners.
Plagiarism is the presentation of the work, idea or creation of
another person as though it is your own. It is a form of cheating
and is a very serious academic offence that may lead to expulsion
from the University. Plagiarised material can be drawn from, and
presented in, written, graphioc and visual form, including
electronic data, and oral presentations. Plagiarism occurs when the
original of the material used is not appropriately sited.
Virginia Leanne Ruttaputnam
June 17, 2006
Figure 4: Declaration Page for Minor Project
3. A table of contents.
4. A table of figures (where relevant).
5. An acknowledgment page (where desired).
6. An introductory chapter which motivates the need/use of the program.
7. An optional literature chapter (where relevant) which compares this approach to
existing approaches.
8. A specification chapter. The program requirements are specified using formal
notation.
9. A design chapter. The program design is specified using formal notation.
10. A testing chapter (sic) which describes the testing regime employed.
11. A conclusion.
12. An appendix consisting of a user manual.
13. Other appendices may include, where relevant, code fragments, further definitions
etc.

11.3.16 What do I do
when my
Thesis/Project
Is Ready?
Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project
Page numbering should be in Roman numerals commencing from the title page, and
Arabic numerals commencing with the summary.
When your supervisor is satisfied that the thesis/project is ready for examination, you
should print two copies and temporarily bind them. Temporary binding means coilbinding
or warm glue-binding 1 .
You should take the two copies to Dr. Winikoff. In addition you should email
pgadmin@cs.rmit.edu.au:
• Thesis title
• Supervisor
• Your abstract in PLAIN TEXT
• Your entire thesis in PDF format
Your thesis/project will then be sent to at least one examiner. This examiner will not be
known to you. Approximately four weeks after submitting your thesis you will be informed
of the result. The result will be one of either:
• Pass;
• Pass with minor revision;
• Major revision with re-assessment; or
• Fail.
For a minor project, there may be an additional session where your program is testdriven
by the examiner, in your presence and in the presence of your supervisor. This is
up to the examiner who may prefer to install and run your software on their own.
If you are required to make minor revisions, your supervisor will direct you accordingly
and formally inform Dr. Winikoff when these changes have been completed satisfactorily.
If major changes are required, your thesis/project will be re-sent to the examiner. In the
case of a minor project, changes may involve either the documentation or the actual
code.
When your thesis has been passed you should make:
1. Two permanently bound (single-sided) copies of the thesis 2
2. One electronic version of the thesis. This should be a PDF file (see “Portable
Documents” on page 94) and should be emailed to Dr. Winikoff.
3. The abstract in PLAIN TEXT, title and name of supervisor should also be emailed to
Dr. Winikoff.
You may want to make a few extra copies of your thesis for yourself and your family.
Permanent binding means:
• stitched and bound in a hard cover (colour of your choice); and
1. Facilities are available on Building 12, Level 4 at the student services counter.
2. A binding company that is popular with students is “The Law Bindery”, 802
Glenhuntly Road, Caulfield South (ph.: 9523 6026).
55

Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project
56
• lettered in gold on the front and spine, starting from the top and reading downwards
as shown below:
The cover of the thesis/project should be similar to the spine except that you might need
to use a shorter version of the title on the spine; the cover should display the long official
title.
An example cover is:
Using a
Deductive
Database for
Database Mining
A. B. Ng
M App Sc(IT)
2006
RMIT University
Figure 5: Spine of Minor Thesis/Project
USING A DEDUCTIVE DATABASE
FOR DATABASE MINING
Alfonso Bradley Ng
Master of Applied Science
(Information Technology)
2006
RMIT University
Figure 6: Cover of a Thesis/Project
One copy of your thesis/project will be handed to your supervisor, another will be
retained by the School and the third copy will be handed to the library.
The loose-leaf copy of the thesis may be published as a School technical report.

11.3.17 Intellectual
Property
11.3.18 Guidelines to
Examiners of a
Minor Thesis
11.3.19 Guidelines to
Examiners of a
Minor Project
Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project
Subject to any employment relationships between the University and a student or any
provision under the next paragraph, any intellectual property created by a student is
owned by that student.
Where a student contributed to the development of intellectual property as part of a
research or other project involving other students or members of staff or uses existing
University intellectual property, the contributors to the creation of the intellectual property
associated with that project will be recognised. Where a student is involved in a project
or specific commission in respect of which the University or any party to an agreement
with the University has provided funds, equipment, facilities or supervision the University
may require the student to be a party to an intellectual property and/or confidentiality
agreement before commencement.
The University may require that public access to a thesis be restricted for a specified
period to enable the student, the University and any outside funding bodies to benefit
commercially from the results of a research project.
The following are the criteria which the examiners will use to assess your thesis.
1. Is the thesis written according to the guidelines described in this document?
2. Is there an adequate summary?
3. Is there an adequate literature survey?
4. Is the thesis relatively self-contained?
5. Are the results presented in a proper scientific manner?
6. Is there an adequate conclusion?
7. Is the problem and background clearly defined?
8. Is the approach to be followed in solving the problem and the objectives clearly
defined?
9. Does the thesis demonstrate a general understanding of the field of study?
10. Is the work done original? That is to say, is the work that of the candidate and does
the work constitute something that has not been done before? Original work can
include that which verifies an existing theory in a new situation.
11. Is the work a contribution to the field of study?
12. Has the work shown a development in the application of knowledge?
13. Does the thesis demonstrate the candidate’s ability to undertake systematic
supervised enquiry?
The following are the criteria which the examiners will use to assess your project.
1. Is the project written according to the guidelines described in this document? That
is:
• Is there an adequate specification?
• Is there an adequate literature survey (where relevant)?
• Is there an adequate design?
• Was a proper testing regime employed?
• Is there an adequate conclusion?
2. Is the problem and background clearly defined in the introduction?
3. Does the project demonstrate the candidate’s ability to undertake systematic
supervised project work to a high standard?
4. Is the program relatively free of bugs?
5. Is the user manual satisfactory?
Examiners will not be expected to make a judgement of whether the project is a worthy
piece of work, rather, they should pass a project on the basis that the specification of the
problem (and its value) has been determined by the supervisor. The examiner’s role is to
determine if the work has been done professionally and to a high standard.
Usually, there will be a two stage process:
• First, the examiner will read and possibly comment on the documentation
• Next, the examiner will take a “test-drive” of the software. The test drive may or
may not involve the student. At some stage, the examiner may choose to test the
software in the presence of the student and supervisor.
57

Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project
58

CHAPTER 12 Vocational Electives
12.0.1 Computer
Science
electives
12.0.2 Business
electives
12.1 Computer Science electives
12.1.1 COSC1233—
Broadcast
Network
Engineering
Chapter 12: Vocational Electives
Students who do not undertake the Research Methods and Minor Thesis/Project option
must complete four approved courses. This is known as the vocational cluster. The
vocational cluster can include a maximum of three courses described in this chapter. The
remaining course(s) should be from the specialist clusters.
Courses on offer in 2006 are:
• COSC1233—Broadcast Network Engineering (see page 59)
• COSC2401—Client Server Architectures (see page 60)
• COSC2106—Document Markup Languages (see page 60)
• COSC2354—Electronic Commerce & Enterprise Systems (see page 61)
• ISYS1106—Engineering Software Projects (see page 61)
• COSC1125—Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (see page 61)
• COSC2347—Mobile Application Development (see page 61)
• COSC1092—Scripting Language Programming (see page 62)
• COSC1131—Unix Systems Administration and Programming (Linux) (see page 62)
• COSC1219—User Interface Programming (see page 62)
• ISYS1124—Web Database Applications (see page 63)
• COSC2277—Web Development Technologies (see page 63)
• COSC1213—Web Media Technologies (see page 63)
• COSC1300—Web Servers and Web Technology (see page 64)
In addition to electives offered by the School of Computer Science and IT, students may
also choose electives offered by the School of Business. These courses are:
• ACCT2127—Accounting for Management Decisions (see page 64)
• ECON1113—Economic Analysis for Business (see page 64)
• BAFI1070—Financial Statement Analysis (see page 65)
• BUSM1174—Leading and Managing Change (see page 65)
• BAFI1059—Managerial Finance (see page 65)
• MKTG1100—Marketing Management and Implementation (see page 65)
• OMGT1021—Supply Chain Principles (see page 66)
• JUST1055—E-Business Law A (see page 66)
• ACCT2108—Performance Measurement (see page 66)
• JUST1063—Corporate Governance (see page 66)
• OMGT1236—E-Business Supply Chains (see page 66)
• BUSM1734—Risk Analysis and Assessment (see page 67)
• ACCT1118—Risk Management (see page 67)
Course Description
This is an advanced course on networking. It deals with current issues, trends, and
aspects of Local Area Networks (LANs) and Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs). It also
deals with some of the newer developments in networking, for example: optical networks,
network management, peer to peer networking.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• COSC2061 Foundation Data Communications & Networks
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004232.
59

Chapter 12: Vocational Electives
12.1.2 COSC2401—
Client Server
Architectures
12.1.3 COSC2106—
Document
Markup
Languages
60
Aim
This course aims to cover the concepts and Java skills necessary to build client server
applications. Most of the concepts will be presented using simple projects.
Initially the concepts of sockets, threads and synchronization will be introduced allowing
students to build multithreaded applications such as simple multiplayer games and a
multithreaded web server, etc. Following that, students will build a simple chat system
using Remote Method Invocation (RMI).
In the second part of the course students will learn the concepts and skills necessary to
build simple web based applications. Students will learn to query and update relational
databases using JDBC. Student will also learn the mechanism for encoding data
independent of any programming language using XML. Students will be introduced to
the Java classes necessary to build secure applications incorporating encryption
decryption and digital signatures.
Objectives
On successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:
• Design and write multithreaded applications;
• Design and code simple distributed applications using Sockets and RMI;
• Write programs that can access relational databases;
• Read and write XML documents using Java; and
• Incorporate mechanisms to ensure data integrity, confidentiality and authentication
Prerequisites
• COSC2207 Programming Principles 1B
• ISYS1055 Introduction to Databases
Syllabus
• Multithreading (3 weeks): Learning to use threads in Java, Race conditions and
deadlocks, Synchronization.
• Client Server Programming (2 weeks): Building simple client server applications
using Sockets.
• Building 3-Tier applications with RMI (2 weeks).
• Java Database Manipulation (1 week): Connecting to database with JDBC, Writing
programs to insert and update.
• XML Manipulation (2 weeks): Concept of XML parser, Using DOM and SAX,
Designing Document Type Definitions.
• Security (2 weeks): Key management with Java, Message digests and message
authentication with Java, Java authentication and authorization service.
Course Description
This course is an introduction to the principles, use, and application of document markup
languages, especially for use on the World Wide Web. Topics in this course include
document markup languages (especially XML), document description languages (such
as Document Type Definitions (DTDs) and XML Schemas), document transformation
languages (specifically eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT)),
stylesheets (such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and eXtensible Stylesheet
Language (XSL)), XML namespaces, XML APIs (such as the Simple API for XML (SAX)
and the Document Object Model (DOM)), document query languages (specifically
XQuery) and XML databases.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• COSC1297 Web Page Construction or equivalent
• Ability to write programs in PHP or Java, equivalent to COSC1309 Programming
Web Applications OR COSC1295 Java for Programmers
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/029566.

12.1.4 COSC2354—
Electronic
Commerce &
Enterprise
Systems
12.1.5 ISYS1106—
Engineering
Software
Projects
12.1.6 COSC1125—
Introduction to
Artificial
Intelligence
12.1.7 COSC2347—
Mobile
Application
Development
Course Description
Chapter 12: Vocational Electives
This course introduces the concepts and technologies necessary to understand and
implement electronic commerce and enterprise systems in Java J2EE. Emphasis is
placed upon the development, deployment and usage of such systems over TCP based
infrastructure in both intranet and internet applications. The primary function of this
course is that of teaching, investigating and enabling, and while students will do practical
work involving the writing of a small complete system using JSP (Java Server Pages)
and EJB (Enterprise JavaBeans).
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Introductory Java Programming, such as COSC1295 Java for Programmers
• ISYS1059 Introduction to Internet Technology
OR
COSC1309 Programming Web Applications
OR
course leader approved equivalent
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/014053.
Course Description
This course is designed to educate students about the principles and practices in the
management of software engineering projects and how this relates to people,
organisations, and software processes.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• ISYS1117 Software Engineering Analysis and Design
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004245.
Course Description
This course introduces the basic concepts and techniques of Artificial Intelligence.
Artificial intelligence is the sub area of computer science devoted to creating software
and hardware to get computers to do things that would be considered intelligent as if
people did them. Artificial intelligence has had an active and exciting history and is now
a reasonably mature area of computer science. Many of the research discoveries have
now reached the point of industrial application and products. Many companies have
made and saved millions of dollars by exploiting the results of artificial intelligence
research. However the goal of emulating human intelligence has not been reached and
many stimulating and challenging problems remain.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Students are required to have advanced programming skills, in both Java and C,
together with a sound grasp of the fundamentals of the theory of computing before
commencing this course. This includes data structures and algorithms (such as
balanced trees, hash tables, quicksort, and mergesort), tractable and intractable
problems, heuristic approaches to problem solving and undecidability. Familiarity
with Unix and C is strongly recommended. Completion of both of the following
courses will satisfy the pre-requisite requirements.
• COSC1105 Computing Theory
• COSC1285 Advanced Programming Techniques
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004123.
Course Description
This course is concerned with the development of applications on mobile and wireless
computing platforms. Java will be used as a basis for teaching programming techniques
and design patterns related to the development of standalone applications and mobile
portals to enterprise and m-commerce systems.
Emphasis is placed on the processes, tools and frameworks required to develop
applications for current and emerging mobile computing devices. Students will work at all
stages of the software development life-cycle from inception through to implementation
61

Chapter 12: Vocational Electives
12.1.8 COSC1092—
Scripting
Language
Programming
12.1.9 COSC1131—
Unix Systems
Administration
and
Programming
(Linux)
12.1.10 COSC1219—
User Interface
Programming
62
and testing. In doing so, students will be required to consider the impact of user
characteristics, device capabilities, networking infrastructure and deployment
environment, in order to develop software capable of meeting the requirements of
stakeholders.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• COSC1295 Java for Programmers
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/036687.
Course Description
Scripting languages require very different style of programming than system
programming languages such as C or Java. Scripting languages are typically used for
"gluing" applications together. Scripting languages are often typeless and usually
provide methods for higher level of programming and more rapid development of
applications than typical system programming languages. This course provides an
introduction to the script programming paradigm, and introduces and compares a range
of scripting languages used for Unix and Web-based applications.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Ability to write substantial computer programs in C or PHP, equivalent to a result of
CR (Credit) or better in COSC1283 Programming Techniques OR COSC1309
Programming Web Applications
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/014048.
Course Description
This course provides an intensely practical introduction to Unix System Administration
using Linux. The Linux Operating System, a free implementation of UNIX for personal
computers, will be used extensively throughout this course for lecture/tutorial examples
and importantly during laboratory classes. In addition to System Administration proper,
TCP/IP network service administration and the use of scripting languages will be
introduced.
Since Linux implements the POSIX standard, most of the learning from this course will
be directly applicable to commercial Unix systems.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• COSC1283 Programming Techniques
• COSC1112 Operating Systems
• A strong knowledge of Unix - what this means is that you have practical experience
using the Unix command line. It means that you know the basic user level
commands and some of the common options for those commands. It means that
you have experience with text mode Unix editors such as vi or emacs. This course
covers a wide range of topics and simply cannot cater to students who lack basic
Unix skills. A pre-test for self-evaluation will be available in the first week.
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/014050.
Course Description
This course is concerned with the development of interactive systems, i.e. systems that
have a significant graphical user interface component, using the Java Foundation
Classes and AWT/Swing. The course is delivered with a strong focus on software
engineering and computer science, as well as an introductory treatment of design and
usability issues.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• COSC1295 Java for Programmers or equivalent
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004225.

12.1.11 ISYS1124—Web
Database
Applications
12.1.12 COSC2277—
Web
Development
Technologies
12.1.13 COSC1213—
Web Media
Technologies
Course Description
Chapter 12: Vocational Electives
This course introduces students to the principles and practice of implementing and
designing medium-size web database applications. Topics include server side scripting,
session management, authentication and performance.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Ability to write substantial computer programs in Java, PHP or C, equivalent to
COSC1309 Programming Web Applications OR COSC1283 Programming
Techniques
• Fundamentals of database systems and SQL, equivalent to ISYS1055 Introduction
to Database Systems OR ISYS1122 Introduction to Databases (Internet and Web
Computing)
(For information on equivalence go to http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/courseguides/
equivalents.shtml.)
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004312.
Course Description
This course introduces you to the principles and practice of developing applications
using the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) and the C# programming language.
Topics include the CLI, C#, ASP.NET, ADO.NET, Web services, and security.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Fundamental knowledge in relational database concepts, including relational
modelling & design, relational algebra & SQL, conceptual modelling, and
transactions & concurrency, equivalent to ISYS1055 Introduction to Database
Systems.
• Ability to write programs in an object-oriented programming language, equivalent to
COSC1295 Java for Programmers OR COSC1252 Object Oriented Programming.
(For information on equivalence go to http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/courseguides/
equivalents.shtml.)
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/035218.
Course Description
This course provides you with an overview of the rich-media environment. Rich-media is
a new term used to define the enhanced experience of information streaming into the
user via various modalities. It is a superset of the conventional concepts of multimedia
and also incorporates interactivity, multi-modality and contextual response. The course
will include detailed case-study descriptions of some of the more innovative
developments in human-computer interaction. The course also encourages the
incorporation of accessibility features in the form of a multi-modal model of
communication. This course can feed directly into:
• COSC2272 Digital Media Programming, which further develops knowledge of
digital technology;
OR
• COSC1182 Usability Engineering, which further develops and formalises usability
concepts.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• COSC1297 Web Page Construction or equivalent
OR COSC1295 Java for Programmers
(For information on equivalence go to http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/courseguides/
equivalents.shtml.)
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004223.
63

Chapter 12: Vocational Electives
12.1.14 COSC1300—
Web Servers
and Web
Technology
12.2 Business electives
12.2.1 ACCT2127—
Accounting for
Management
Decisions
12.2.2 ECON1113—
Economic
Analysis for
Business
64
Course Description
This course introduces you to the role of a Web server administrator. To that end, it
teaches you about the World Wide Web; networking and the Internet; the hypertext
transfer protocol (HTTP) and other related protocols; Web server performance; Web
server security issues, and Web caching. You will be given tasks required of a Web
server administrator, including installing and configuring the Apache 2.0 Web server.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Unix Essentials / UNIX induction session (held during Weeks 0,1 and 2 of
semester. Check CSIT Orientation web page for details at http://www.rmit.edu.au/
csit.)
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/004318.
Course Description
Accounting for Management Decisions is intended to provide post-graduate, nonaccounting
students with a study of the accounting context that forms the basis of all
management decisions including short term operational and long term strategic
decisions. The importance of accounting information in the overall business environment
in which the organization operates, both internal and external, is emphasised. To this
end the course presents an examination of accounting information covering introductory
concepts, principles and practices relating to financial accounting and managerial
accounting.
This course is specifically aimed at students with little or no prior knowledge in
accounting.
The major topics covered are:
• Business decision-making and Accounting
• Types of Business Structures
• Financial Position
• Financial Performance
• Reporting Cash Flows
• Financial Ratio Analysis
• Managing Working Capital
• Cost, Volume, Profit
• Full Costing
• Budgeting
• Capital Investment Decisions
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• An undergraduate degree, or its equivalent
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/034427.
Course Description
This course is designed to give students an understanding of economic concepts and
how to apply them in “real world” situations. This course aims to introduce students to:
• Factors that influence the behaviour of firms and consumers and the impact of such
behaviour on industry performance.
• Models of pricing and output decisions as well as the non-pricing behaviour of firms
with varying degrees of market power.
• Necessary conditions to achieve the desired economic outcomes in markets and
also to provide a basis for understanding and evaluating the real world market
strategies of firms.
• Necessary skills needed to understand aspects of the Australian macroeconomy.

12.2.3 BAFI1070—
Financial
Statement
Analysis
12.2.4 BUSM1174—
Leading and
Managing
Change
12.2.5 BAFI1059—
Managerial
Finance
12.2.6 MKTG1100—
Marketing
Management
and
Implementation
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Not specified
Chapter 12: Vocational Electives
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/005030.
Course Description
Analysing a set of financial statements requires an examination of the key financial
variables of the firm together with an examination of both the industry in which the firm
operates and the wider economy. Such an analysis provides an insight into the operating
performance and financial health of a firm. This course begins with such an analysis but
looks beyond this initial examination in order to understand the impact of financial
statements for risk analysis, the usefulness of forecasting variables and valuation
techniques. This course adopts a practical approach where possible using data from
companies such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Woolworths, Nilce and Walmart to reinforce
various concepts.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Nil
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/005015.
Course Description
This course aims to provide an opportunity for participants to articulate and challenge
their models of leadership and management in the context of organisational change,
critically evaluate the current literature, theories and models of organisational change
and leadership, assist participants in undertaking a diagnosis of their reactions to change
and transition on both a personal and organisational level and the impact this has on how
they lead and manage change, provide a starting point for participants to undertake a
self-directed learning project in the area of leading and managing change, explain the
relevance of a range of change management approaches and models to a variety of
situations where appropriate, analyse and assess current situations in organisations, to
determine whether change is required.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Nil
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/013407.
Course Description
This unit is about financial policy with special emphasis on the allocation of the firms long
term capital resources. It aims to provide the essential building blocks of modern finance
theory, and so provide a basic foundation for advanced studies in finance. Accordingly,
students examine the major issues surrounding the investment, financing and dividend
decisions of the firm.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Nil
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/005012.
Course Description
The course explains marketing as a business philosophy orientated to both
understanding and satisfying the customer. In doing so the course stresses the logic of
marketing so that the students can understand the role that marketing plays both in
business and not-for-profit organisations. It relates both strategy and tactics to those
environmental opportunities and constraints that managers must deal with daily; and
indeed those theories and strategies that marketing managers use to create competitive
advantage are central to the course.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Not specified
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/008994.
65

Chapter 12: Vocational Electives
12.2.7 OMGT1021—
Supply Chain
Principles
12.2.8 JUST1055—E-
Business Law A
12.2.9 ACCT2108—
Performance
Measurement
12.2.10 JUST1063—
Corporate
Governance
12.2.11 OMGT1236—E-
Business
Supply Chains
66
Course Description
This course aims to introduce to students the basic concepts and principles of business
logistics and supply chain management.
In this course, the development of supply chain strategies using inventory management,
just-in-time, and e-supply chain techniques will be explored.
The issues of integration, coordination and collaboration across organizations and
throughout the supply chain will be addressed and discussed using case studies.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Nil
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/008166.
Course Description
This course examines the legal environment relating to electronic commerce and ebusiness
and will provide an understanding of how the law has reacted to the
development of computer technology and its use in the conduct of business. Specific
areas to be covered include computer contracts, encryption and security, consumer
protection, protection of confidential business information, negligence and defamation,
computer crime, data protection and intellectual property.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Nil
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/013863.
To be advised
Course Description
This course will study the area of corporate governance and examine the legal issues
which arise in relation to corporate governance and directors’ duties and corporate
governance best practice. Particular emphasis will be placed on important recent
developments relevant to corporate governance. Selected legal areas will be examined
in order to develop an awareness of the legal context in which directors operate. This
course reflects the growing awareness of the business community to give increasing
recognition to the importance of corporate governance, in an overall understanding of
the corporate and financial environment.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Previous study in Company Law and/or suitable work experience
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/002957.
Course Description
This course introduces to students the significance of e-supply chain in business
logistics. It provides students with the necessary concepts and techniques in e-supply
chain design and implementation from a managerial perspective. Various technologies in
the field will be discussed from the perspective of availability of tools. The course also
emphasises on the use of case studies to illustrate the concept and approach to e-supply
chain design and implementation.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• OMGT1021 Supply Chain Principles or permission of Course Coordinator
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/014795.

12.2.12 BUSM1734—
Risk Analysis
and
Assessment
12.2.13 ACCT1118—
Risk
Management
Course Description
Chapter 12: Vocational Electives
This course introduces the notion of risk in logistics management and strategic decision
making. It is designed to develop an understanding of the fundamentals of risk
management and to introduce classical as well as state-of-the-art risk analysis
techniques. The potential of system thinking as a risk management tool will be
emphasised.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Nil
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/courses2006/008168.
Course Description
This course combines aspects of forensic accounting and risk management.
From a forensic accounting perspective this course aims to provide students with the
opportunity to look at the various investigative techniques used to provide solutions to
business problems including internal and external fraud encompassing commercial
bribery and kickback schemes, employee theft, sale and theft of trade secrets, civil
disputes and criminal investigation, quantification of profits and losses, apportionment
and cost allocation issues, royalty and franchise inspections, financial statement
misrepresentation and white collar investigations.
From a risk management perspective the course aims to highlight the fact that the
majority of companies do not have formal risk management policies. In noting this the
course provides an understanding of the responsibility that the board of directors, the
Chief Executive Officer and management have with respect of risk management. The
course develops a students understanding on how to implement, operate and monitor an
effective system of risk management including appropriate corporate governance,
business continuity and information security.
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
• Not specified
For more information on the course, go to www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=ACCT1118.
67

Chapter 12: Vocational Electives
68

Chapter 13: Master of Applied Science (Information Systems) MC060
CHAPTER 13 Master of Applied Science
(Information Systems)
MC060
13.1 Semester 4, MC060
This degree is of 2 years (4 semesters) duration. It was created for the benefit of those
students who would have enrolled in a M.App.Sci IT (MC061) degree as per this
information booklet but did not do so because the MAppSci IT was 1.5 years duration.
In summary, the 2 year degree is MC060 and the 1.5 year degree is MC061. All the
preceding chapters have been about MC061. How do they relate to MC060 for those
doing the 2 year version? This is straightforward. The first 1.5 years (3 Semesters) of
MC060 should be identical in all facets to the 1.5 years (3 semesters) of MC061 (as per
this booklet). That is, if a student does a minor thesis (Minor Thesis/Project (see
page 45)) then this occurs in Semester 3. Clearly then the only difference between
MC060 and MC061 is that MC060 has a fourth semester.
This is a flexible semester. It's best to describe what can be done using two examples.
Case 1
A student may undertake a groupwork based software engineering project performing a
real world implementation, thereby gaining experience.
Case 2
13.2 Intermediate Awards
13.3 Can I receive two Masters?
A student may take more coursework. This should be a minimum of 2 courses from the
specialist areas. The remaining courses can be drawn from the vocational courses
(Vocational Electives (see page 59)) or from specialist areas.
The School is currently finalising arrangements whereby students will receive a Graduate
Certificate after one semester full time, and a Graduate Diploma after two semesters full
time.
Some will think they can receive a Masters (MC061) after 1.5 years and then MC060 after
2.0 years. This is definitely not possible. Students will receive either one or the other
Masters depending on the duration of the program they are enrolled in.
13.4 What happens if I want to stop after 1.5 years?
If you terminate MC060 after 1.5 years, then it may be possible to graduate with MC061.
The arrangements for this are presently being finalised.
69

Chapter 13: Master of Applied Science (Information Systems) MC060
13.5 Is MC060 accredited at the professional level by the ACS?
70
Yes.

CHAPTER 14 Frequently asked
questions
14.1 Absence
14.1.1 I need to be
absent from
the University.
What do I do?
IMPORTANT:
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
You are advised to log in to the School’s Moodle - http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/~saied/
Moodle/course/view.php?id=5 - regularly to obtain updated information on processes and
resources.
MC152 Master of Technology (Enterprise Architecture) students should also check for
updates at www.cs.rmit.edu.au/~keithf/EAintro.htm.
Note: It is important that you read all the following questions and their answers.
Many answers will refer to information available on the world wide web.
It may be possible to take time out from your studies for a period of up to one year with
approval from your program advisor. This is referred to as a ‘Leave of Absence’, which
adheres to the same deadlines as Withdrawal (see page 103).
If taking a Leave of Absence you must submit the appropriate form (which can be
downloaded from http://www.rmit.edu.au/student-records/studentforms) authorised by
your program advisor to the Hub (City campus, Building 12, Level 4) to officially notify the
University of your absence.
If you are an international student you must see one of the Teaching and Learning
Advisors (see “International Students” on page 87).
Higher Education (HE) Academic deadlines can be accessed online via:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/academic-policy/academic_calendars.
14.2 ACS (Australian Computer Society)
The Master of Technology (IT) (MC062), Graduate Diploma in Software Development
(GD055), Master of Technology (Internet and Web Computing) (MC063), Master of
Applied Science (IT) (MC061), Graduate Diploma in IT (GD057), and Master of Applied
Science (Information Systems) (MC060) are all accredited with the ACS at the
Professional Level (the highest level of ACS accreditation). The ACS is the recognised
association for IT professionals in Australia and, on a per capita basis, is one of the largest
computer societies in the world.
For more information see:
http://www.acs.org.au/
Students who need an ACS completion letter for immigration should go to the Hub (City
campus, Building 12, Level 4) and fill out a graduation form.
See also “Letter of Completion” on page 88.
71

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.3 Adding Courses
14.3.1 How late can I
add a course?
14.4 After-Hours Access
14.4.1 How do I get
into RMIT out
of hours?
72
For the summer semester you may have only a few days to add courses (refer to
information handed out at the enrolment session for details). During the February
semester (Semester 1) and July semester (Semester 2), you can only add a course before
the end of week two of the semester. The HECS dates are used by the School for
withdrawal purposes only. For additions, you need to decide what you are going to study
before the end of University week 2. For information on withdrawing from courses see
“Withdrawal” on page 103. Your study plan must be approved and signed off by your
program advisor.
After you have enrolled you may obtain a form to apply for an after-hours access card. This
form is available from the School Office in Building 10, level 10, Room 7. You will also need
to present yourself for a photograph after applying. You can use the card until you have
finished your program.
14.5 Articulation, Exemptions and Advanced Standing
14.5.1 Can I obtain an
exemption?
14.5.2 How do I go
about getting
an exemption?
Please note that the following is relevant to all postgraduate programs other than MC061
Master of Applied Science (Information Technology) except for the ‘Timing’ section which
is still relevant:
Maximum number of exemptions
A maximum of four course exemptions can be granted to any one student. However, it is
possible, based on previous study or work experience, to forgo a certain course or courses
without credit (beyond the maximum two courses allowed for exemptions) and to take
alternative courses in their place. Any such agreement must be organised through the
appropriate program advisor, and should be agreed to in writing. It is important that you
retain this written evidence.
Courses students may be able to gain exemptions for
Exemptions will only be given for core/foundational courses, and will not be given for
elective courses.
Credit will not be given for an exemption from COSC1321 Computing Fundamentals.
Eligibility
The University’s policy is not to allow exemptions for postgraduate courses based on a
course, or courses, completed as part of an undergraduate degree.
Timing
Exemptions based on the recognition of prior learning should be applied for at the start of
the program - no later than two weeks after the start of the semester.
Note: The following information pertains to all postgraduate programs other than
MC061 Master of Applied Science (Information Technology). MC061 students
wishing to seek exemptions must consult with the program advisor, Associate
Professor Isaac Balbin.
These are interim procedures and processes for postgraduate students in the School of
Computer Science and Information Technology.
1. The student may apply for no more than four exemptions.
2. The student may not make claims for exemptions on basis of undergraduate studies.
Such a student may be assessed for Recognition of Prior Learning instead. If
successful, the student will be deemed to have passed the course for prerequisite

14.5.3 I have
completed a
Graduate
Diploma. Can I
get credit into
the Masters?
14.5.4 Can I take out
a Certificate or
Diploma
before I
complete the
Masters
Degree?
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
knowledge purposes, but cannot count it towards the postgraduate degree and must
replace it with a suitable elective.
3. The student may make claims on the basis of substantial work experience of a quality
indicating that the student is competent in the material covered in a course.
4. Exemptions are for core courses only.
5. The student may only claim exemptions at the commencement of the program.
6. Exemption challenge tests are normally held at the second week of semester.
7. The student will not be assumed to meet the exemption requirements until the
student has passed the challenge test. This means that the student will not be
allowed to enrol in courses for which they have not completed any prerequisite
course, or have not been exempted from them.
8. Before deciding to seek an exemption, the student should look for information on
individual courses in the their relevant program’s handbook.
Process for students seeking exemptions
1. The student must do so by the end of the second week of semester (or with some
exceptions, within the first semester of studies within the program).
2. The student completes the application for exemption (obtained from the Hub (City
campus, Building 12, Level 4)).
3. The student submits the claim and any supporting documents to their program
advisor.
4. The student may be asked to sit a challenge test (organised in conjunction with the
lecturer for the course) if the submitted information is not conclusive. (In this case the
student follows the next 4 procedures:)
a. The student is notified that the challenge test will go ahead and is given
instructions to make a payment of $110 to the Computer Science General office
at building 10 level 10 room 7, and receives a receipt.
b. A time is arranged for the student to sit the exam (in week 0, 1 or 2). An emailed
confirmation will be sent to the student to confirm details.
c. The student provides the receipt to the lecturer of the course, who will provide a
course guide, sample exam and solutions.
d. The student sits the test as advised.
This is dependent on the individual student and the particular Graduate Diploma. If the
courses you completed for your Graduate Diploma are at the standard that we expect,
then it is possible that you will get credit. Students should contact the program advisor after
enrolment (make an appointment) and be prepared to bring exam questions, syllabi and
assignments for the course for which you wish to gain credit. This is not necessary if the
course was done within the School of Computer Science and Information Technology.
Yes you may. Students in MC062 MTech (IT) or GD055 GDipSD who have completed four
approved courses, including COSC1283 Programming Techniques and ISYS1117
Software Engineering: Analysis and Design, are eligible to apply for the Graduate
Certificate in Software Development (GC077).
Students who have completed eight approved courses, including COSC1283
Programming Techniques, COSC1285 Advanced Programming Techniques, ISYS1117
Software Engineering: Analysis and Design, and ISYS1055 Introduction to Database
Systems, are eligible to apply for the Graduate Diploma in Software Development
(GD055).
Students in MC061 Master of Applied Science (IT) or GD057 Graduate Diploma in IT who
have completed at least four approved Stage C level courses are eligible to apply for the
Graduate Certificate in IT (GC038).
Students in MC061 or GD057 who have completed eight approved Stage C level courses,
with four of these courses being in a specialist area, are eligible to apply for the Graduate
Diploma in IT.
Students in MC063 MTech (IWeb) or GD059 GDip (IWeb) who have completed four
approved courses are eligible to apply for the Graduate Certificate in Internet and Web
Computing.
73

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.5.5 Can I
articulate into
a PhD
program?
14.6 Assignments
14.6.1 Where do I
submit
assignments?
14.6.2 How should I
prepare
documents for
assignments?
14.6.3 What is the
reject box?
14.6.4 What happens
if my
assignment is
late?
74
Students in MC063 or GD059 who have completed eight approved courses are eligible to
apply for a Graduate Diploma in Internet and Web Computing.
Students who complete their MC061 Master of Applied Science (Information Technology)
program and do exceptionally well (CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) of at least
3.0) will be considered for articulation. A recommendation to this effect will ordinarily also
be made by the examiner of the minor thesis.
MC062 Master of Technology (Information Technology) and MC063 Master of Technology
(Internet and Web Computing) students with a CGPA of at least 3.0 will need to undertake
the Graduate Certificate in Computer Science Research GC110 with Minor Thesis before
they can be considered for a PhD program.
Students in this position should contact:
Ms Beti Dimitrievska
Research Administrator
Email: beti@cs.rmit.edu.au
Telephone: 9925 2287
Fax: 9662 1617
See also “Plagiarism” on page 93.
Lecturers vary as to their requirements and will usually state their requirements when
assigning them or within the course guide. Most will use electronic submission.
Unless the course uses RMIT’s DLS system, electronic submission implies that you use
the turnin command on numbat or yallara. Your lecturer should issue the exact
commands needed for a particular assignment. Be sure to verify that your assignment
files have been submitted properly.
When in doubt, check with the CSIT Duty Programmers (see page 81) or with the CSIT
School Office (see page 98).
Unless you have access to a word processor, you should consider using LaTeX.
On Linux you can use lyx. On OSX you can use TeXShop.
Some free latex programs are available via ftp. There are also manuals in technical
bookstores and a help menu under the study aids link at:
https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/support/docs/
By all means, if you have a machine at home (see “Computer Purchase” on page 80) use
whatever word processor you wish, but it is best to use predefined scientific templates. We
recommend LaTeX because the document often ends up looking a lot better and it has
superior capabilities to deal with mathematics and bibliographies.
This is a box at the School Office which is used to keep those hard copy assignments
which have no face sheet or, have been incorrectly labelled. If you suspect you have not
labelled your assignment correctly, check with the School Office (see page 98).
This depends on each individual assignment and lecturer. This should be described in the
course guide you receive at the first lecture, or on the assignment itself. The general rule
is 10% (of the total available marks) less everyday for the first five days and then 100%
afterwards.
We do make certain allowances for part timers, but these need to be the exception rather
than the rule.

14.6.5 Why are the
labs so
packed when
assignments
are due?
14.6.6 Should I keep
a copy of any
assignment I
submit?
14.7 At Risk
14.7.1 What does it
mean to be “at
risk”?
14.7.2 What is an “at
risk” letter?
14.8 Awards
14.8.1 What awards
can I obtain as
part of my
program?
14.8.2 How do I
obtain a
degree/award
with
‘Distinction’?
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
This is because everyone seems to delay doing their assignments until the last minute.
This is not a good idea. Murphy’s Law will invariably imply that a machine will go down on
the day before an assignment is due. This is normal. Machines go down. Your schedule
should accommodate this scenario. The moral: start early, finish early!
In a word, “yes”. Always keep a separate electronic copy of all assignments submitted.
“At Risk” students are defined as any of the following:
• Anyone who has on two occasions failed the same major course within the program
• Anyone who fails (or is likely to fail as identified from their mid-year progress) the
equivalent of 50% or more of their total credit point enrolment in one academic year
• Anyone whose progress through a program is likely to lead to failure to complete
within the maximum time limit
Students identified as being “at risk” are sent a letter by the School inviting them to attend
an interview regarding their academic performance.
The discussion and outcome of that interview will be documented. Students will be sent a
follow-up letter advising of the outcome of the interview and possibility of exclusion if
academic performance does not improve. Students will be advised of the various
assistance options available to them.
For more information on the University’s academic policies and procedures on this matter,
go to http://www.rmit.edu.au/corporate-governance , click “RMIT Policies” and then
“students” to check the “Student Progress” section.
Within most of the Masters programs you can obtain intermediate awards such as a
Graduate Certificate (after completing 4 approved courses) or a Graduate Diploma (after
completing 8 approved courses). Graduate Diploma students can also obtain a Graduate
Certificate within their program.
Your enrolment will remain active even though you have obtained the award providing you
are still enrolled in the ‘parent’ program.
Students should refer to individual program plans to determine which are ‘approved’
courses to obtain their intermediate award.
Students who obtain an average result of 75 or more, including any failed results when
applying for a Graduate Certificate or Graduate Diploma are eligible for an ‘Award with
Distinction’.
There is no Master with Distinction.
75

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.9 Background
14.9.1 How should I
study? What
should I
expect?
14.9.2 International
Background
14.9.3 Some aspects
of my
computing
education are
either patchy,
or were done
so long ago
that I have
forgotten
them. What
shall I do?
14.10 Careers
14.10.1 Can the
School
provide me
with career
information?
76
The Learning Skills Unit (LSU) offers a wide range of free workshops in academic learning
skills for all RMIT students. Also, the Learning Resource Centre at the Hub (City campus,
Building 12, Level 4) is a room full of resources designed to support students with learning
skills, study techniques, writing, English language development, etc.
For more information about the LSU workshops and the Learning Resource Centre, go to
http://aps.eu.rmit.edu.au/lsu/services/index.html.
Students should note that it is unlikely that you will pass courses by “cramming” at the end
of a semester, or by doing as many past examination papers as possible. Exams are likely
to have fewer “memory recall” type questions and may be totally different from one year to
the next. The best strategy is to ensure that you understand all the matters pertaining to a
course on a weekly basis, and meet with your lecturer or tutor to explain any problems.
Don’t let a week go by with lingering doubts. See “Exams” on page 83.
International students should note that an important reason for students having difficulty
with the program is that some cultures do not encourage students to speak up when they
have problems. Students think that by the end of the semester things will magically
improve. Nothing can be further from the truth. Do not let a single week go by if there is
some aspect of a course that you do not understand. Seek out your tutor, lecturer or
advisor. Don’t stay silent!
We have taken special care to list the prerequisites for each course. If you are unsure, look
at the exam for one of the prerequisite courses and see how much you can do. Read these
carefully. If you feel you have a “gap” or a doubt, please contact the lecturer well before the
lectures start. They will refer you to supplementary information.
Yes. The School has a very strong relationship with industry and as a result we are in the
position to offer several events each year for all of our students. For postgraduate
students, there are a few events we encourage you to attend:
In March of each year, throughout an afternoon, the university coordinates a Careers
Expo. This year almost 70 companies and over 3,000 RMIT students attended. A large
range of small, medium and large companies attend this event to be introduced to RMIT
students. Traditionally, March is the month when companies start recruiting final year
students for employment for the following year. Companies are also keen to talk to
students of all year levels about their company activities so that student's can start thinking
about which companies they might apply to when they reach their final year of study.
In September we invite several alumni (former local students and international students
who have gained PR) who are working in the IT Industry, to talk to postgraduate students
about how to better prepare themselves for a career in IT. This event is a great opportunity
to ask questions to those who have been successful in obtaining working work in the IT
Industry. You are also invited to enjoy some food and beverages provided by the School,
over some conversation with your student peers.
Want to hear what Company representatives have to say about the IT industry? Then don't
forget to attend the IT Industry Seminar Day in October which is coordinated for students
of all year levels. This key event is when the School invites around 7 company

14.11 Challenge Tests
14.12 Common Room
14.12.1 What is
available?
14.13 Complaints
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
representatives to speak to students about a range of IT topics. The seminars provide
students with up-to-date industry information on such topics as current and future trends,
the nature of the IT industry and skill sets in demand. They also give useful hints on
preparing for a career in IT. At the conclusion of the seminars a mini-expo is coordinated
where students can visit company booths to ask some informal questions of company
representatives, collect some company literature and even application forms for possible
employment.
Don't forget to add these events to your calendar. For those of you who are working fulltime,
book an annual leave day in advance for afternoon events if you can!
The Careers department at RMIT University also manages a database of company
vacancies and Information Sessions held on campus. To register, visit:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/careers.
The School also posts vacant positions that it receives to the rmit.cs.careers newsgroup.
For information on how to subscribe to this newsgroup visit:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse?SIMID=twhf453h69p8
For specific dates and more information on the range of programmes and affiliations the
School has with industry visit:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/csit/industrycareers.
See “Articulation, Exemptions and Advanced Standing” on page 72.
Students can use the tea room located in building 14, level 9, at the beginning of the
corridor.
There is an electric kettle, a refrigerator, and chairs and tables. If you are a tutor, please
use the common room for casual discussions and for meetings with any students that you
tutor. Milk is supplied daily for tea/coffee.
You should only use your own dishes and cups/mugs.
Any dishes, clean or otherwise which are left lying around may be disposed of.
All food in the refrigerator needs to be sealed.
There is video surveillance of the tearoom. Students who misuse the room in any
way will be identified and not be permitted to use the room thereafter. Treat it as you
would your own home.
The Masters laboratories (see “Laboratories” on page 88) should be a quiet study
room. In the past students have complained of excessive noise in the lab. If you
need to have a discussion, have it in the common room.
14.13.1 First Contact If you have a problem with the service provided by the School, please contact your
Program Advisor.
If you have a problem with a lecturer or their style or content, or a tutor then the best thing
to do is speak directly with the staff member.
If you have a problem with the program advisor, do tell him/her! If you would rather not,
then please email the Program Leader, Dr. Audrey Tam, at amt@cs.rmit.edu.au.
If none of the above are satisfactory, please use the services of the Staff Student
Consultative Committee (SSCC). Each program has a student representative you could
also consult with for complete anonymity. Visit http://www.rmit.edu.au/csit/sscc for a link to
77

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.13.2 What is the
Staff Student
Consultative
Committee
(SSCC)?
78
the contacts for your program. Alternatively, you can email:
pgadmin@cs.rmit.edu.au. Your identity will be kept confidential.
This is an informal committee that meets, on average, three times each semester. SSCC
meetings involve students and relevant staff - including the program advisors, Teaching
and Learning Advisors and the Program Leader. All Computer Science Postgraduate
students are invited to attend these meetings and will usually be sent an emailed invitation
directly to their student account.
SSCC meetings provide students with an excellent opportunity to meet with the program
staff and to provide valuable input in order to help improve the quality and delivery of
programs and services.
Students are strongly encouraged to use this forum to give voice to issues that have not
been satisfactorily dealt with after attempts at direct consultation with the lecturer/tutor or
to give voice to issues that are considered by the students to be too sensitive to mention
directly to a lecturer.
Anonymity is ensured and protected. Lecturers will not know the names of the
students who make comments at SSCC meetings.
A link to dates and minutes of these meetings as well as student representative details and
information on how to feedback are obtainable from the CSIT SSCC page at:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/csit/sscc
14.14 Computer Accounts and System Issues
14.15 Computer Languages
14.15.1 What
Computer
Languages do
I need to
know?
See “System Help” on page 100.
Remember NEVER to allow someone else to use your account and do not give your
password to anyone. Check the “Last login” date and time that appears as soon as you log
in. If you suspect someone may know/guess your password change it IMMEDIATELY. It is
also good to change your password regularly.
You should also read the School’s Acceptable Use Policy to familiarise yourself with
security and privacy issues:
https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/rules/acceptable-use.shtml
Students undertaking the Master of Technology (Information Technology) (MC062), Master
of Technology (Internet and Web Computing) (MC063), Graduate Diploma in Software
Development (GD055), or Graduate Diploma in Internet and Web Computing (GD059) will
be provided foundations towards their chosen study area.
Students undertaking the Master of Applied Science (Information Technology) (MC061)
should have deep knowledge of C and Java under Unix.
If you are a GD055 GDipSD or MC062 MTechIT student you may wish to consider doing
an extra course - COSC1321 Computing Fundamentals. It provides instruction on
fundamental conceptual building blocks and C language programming. It is particularly
useful for those students from non-computing backgrounds.
It is important that you check the prerequisites for each course with the formal
course guide via:
http://www.rmit.edu.au (select ‘courses’ from the drop-down list, then type the course code
or title into the search box to locate the course guide).

14.16 Computer Purchase
14.16.1 Should I buy
one?
14.16.2 What about
Software?
14.17 Contact
14.17.1 When can I
see my
lecturer or
tutor or the
Program
Advisor?
14.17.2 How up to
date is your
contact
information?
14.17.3 What are the
methods of
communication
between the
program
advisor and
students in the
program?
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
Students who have access to a computer at home enjoy an advantage. The choice of
computer is entirely up to you, however, based on discussions with students and our
experience, any of the following will be adequate:
• A MacOSX machine with at least 512Mb of memory and a modem of 56K baud
• A fast Pentium with at least 512Mb of memory running Linux or Windows 2000 and a
modem of 56K baud
This depends on the courses you undertake. A good compiler environment, such as that
provided by Metrowerks Code Warrior is a good idea, as is a word processor. The latest
version of Firefox or Internet Explorer is also advisable.
A CD with a public domain C compiler and other free software is available from the Duty
Programmers. In general, students seem to find that running Linux on their PC or running
OSX (unix) on their Apple Macintosh is a useful approach. Students can additionally
access the free software download site at:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=qjmuq0ybt90c
Each staff member will advertise (on their door or homepage) their consultation hours. A
staff member’s home page should be visible from
http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/general/contact/phone.shtml by clicking on the name of the
lecturer.
Students can also make an appointment with a number of staff members via the CSIT
inside site at:
https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/staffbooking/
You should meet lecturers at those times. If these times are not suitable, then you should
email the staff member to try and arrange an alternate time.
Have you moved, changed addresses at home or at work? Has your phone number
changed?
You must notify RMIT of any such changes as soon as they happen. You can do so
by submitting a “Change of Personal Information” form (which can be downloaded from
http://www.rmit.edu.au/student-records/studentforms) to the Hub (City campus, Building
12, Level 4).
If you do not ensure that all your information is up-to-date, you are likely to miss out on
important University correspondence.
International students need to also inform RMIT International in Bourke Street.
The prime method of communication is electronic. This means that you will need to access
the RMIT computer system at least three times weekly to ensure that any items of
interest about the program are known to you. In most cases this is not an imposition. You
will be using the computer system as part of your work and it is therefore simply a matter
of ensuring that you peruse the relevant information each time that you log in. Reading
your email daily is strongly advised. Go to the following URL to read your mail:
http://studentems.rmit.edu.au/
79

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.17.4 What sources
of electronic
information
should I look
at on (at least)
a twice-weekly
basis?
14.17.5 What is the
primary
method of
communication
between
students and
lecturers?
14.18 Course Guides
14.18.1 The
descriptions
of the courses
in this booklet
do not list text
books. They
do not tell us
how we will be
examined, nor
how much
practical work
there is. How
do I find out?
14.19 Deferment
14.20 Deferred Exam
14.21 Dial-up access
14.21.1 Can I access
RMIT from
home via TCP/
IP?
80
Most importantly you should check your electronic mail (EMS). You should clear out any
old mail to ensure that there is room in your account so new notifications do not bounce.
Also check any newsgroups and web forums announced in lectures or course guides for
your course or program. You can usually access the web forum via the lecturer’s home
page.
Direct Communication! We encourage students to see their lecturer not only when they do
not understand a topic or lecture, but for any matter to do with the course. We recognise
that in some instances students are reticent to speak directly with the lecturer.
Alternatively, students can attend Staff Student Consultative Committee (SSCC) meetings
and voice their issues or they can send anonymous comments with another student who
will attend an SSCC meeting. Or, if the matter is urgent, they can go and see the program
advisor. It is very important that students are responsible in reporting areas that they
perceive require quality improvement. Statements such as “the lectures were not clear” do
not help. Please be explicit: list the topics that weren’t clear; think about the reasons that
they were not clear.
Each course is different. The course descriptions in this booklet are only brief outlines. To
see the formal (and comprehensive) course guides for the courses, go to the RMIT home
page at http://www.rmit.edu.au, select ‘courses’ from the drop-down list, then type the
course code or title in the search box.
If you feel uneasy about a course please take the opportunity to email or ring the lecturer.
They may refer you to a text book before the semester commences.
See “Withdrawal” on page 103.
See “Exams” on page 83.
You can use one of the RMIT ITS modems for PPP (there are currently 150 modems for
the whole University), or use your own ISP. Details can be found at:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/its/remote
If you wish to telnet into the Computer Science machines, you will need to use an SSH
compliant telnet program. These are available free from the Duty Programmers office
(Building 10, Level 10, Room 13) - ask for the student CD.

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.21.2 What is PPP? PPP stands for Point to Point Protocol. It is a method of encapsulating various datagram
protocols (including Internet Protocol) into a serial bit stream so that it can be sent over a
modem.
14.22 Dissertation (and Minor Thesis)
14.23 Duty Programmers
14.23.1 Where do I find
the CSIT Duty
Programmers?
14.23.2 What is the role
of the Duty
Programmers?
14.24 Email
14.24.1 Should we use
our hotmail or
yahoo or other
external public
/ bulk email
systems?
14.24.2 What is the
email tool
then?
14.24.3 How much
mail can I
accumulate?
14.24.4 Should I
forward my
EMS email?
PPP is one of the ways that the Internet can be extended over a modem. When you
connect using PPP, your computer is part of the Internet while you are connected.
A list of topics is available at https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/students/pgrad_projects/.
The Duty Programmers counter is located at Building 10, Level 10, Room 13 - just down
the corridor from the School Office. You can also email them at helpdesk@cs.rmit.edu.au.
The Duty Programmers can assist with any problems you may be having in connecting to
a particular machine and problems you may be having with a workstation or server. They
are also there to help you solve any programming problems you may be having or to
suggest ways of handling the problem. They are NOT there to write code for you as this is
not one of their duties. Questions relating directly to assignment work should be directed
to your course lecturer or tutor.
No. If you send email from these accounts, you may get no reply. The University has now
blocked access to Hotmail and other free email accounts due to the number of viruses that
were being spread into the system via them. Students are encouraged to use their RMIT
email account as their primary email address.
There is an excellent web-based client (Student EMS) which you can access at:
http://www.studentems.rmit.edu.au/
Student EMS allows you to change your NDS (not yallara or numbat) password. If you
have trouble with this, or any aspect of Student EMS, then contact the Duty Programmers.
You can only have a maximum of 6Mb of email. Make sure you clean out your email
regularly or new messages sent to your mailbox will bounce and you will miss critical
notifications. Any read email will be deleted after 14 days, and any unread mail after 30
days. There is no facility for students to exceed their disk space allocation.
If you forward your email from RMIT to another account please be very careful that it does
not generate an infinite loop. In particular, do not forward EMS email to yallara if you have
a .forward file on yallara that forwards to EMS.
81

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.25 Enrolment
14.25.1 Do I enrol for
both
semesters?
14.25.2 There is a
mistake on my
enrolment
form or my
fees
statement. I
did not even
enrol in this
course.
14.25.3 I would like to
change the
courses that I
am enrolled in.
How do I do
this?
14.25.4 How do I know
that I am
enrolled in the
correct
courses?
14.25.5 I would like to
reduce my
load—will I be
allowed to do
so?
82
Under normal circumstances, when you enrol for the February semester, you are enrolled
for the entire year. There is no need to re-enrol later for the July semester courses. If for
some reason, however, you are not enrolled in the July semester courses, then you should
do so using an “Enrolment Variation” form (EVF) downloadable from http://
www.rmit.edu.au/csit/evf. (Alternatively, a blank EVF is available at
http://www.rmit.edu.au/student-records/studentforms.) (See section 14.25.3 on page 82.)
If you started in July, then you are enrolled for the July semester only.
Summer courses are added at the same time that you re-enrol for the coming year, after
exams at the end of the July semester.
International students who wish to commence in January should aim to arrive in Australia
no later than the end of the second week of December. This will allow adequate time to
find accommodation and settle in before the holiday period commences.
International students who wish to commence in February should arrive by mid- to late
January.
You are strongly advised to check all RMIT documentation very carefully. If you need to
make a change, you should submit an “Enrolment Variation” form (EVF) (downloadable
from http://www.rmit.edu.au/csit/evf)to the Hub. (Alternatively, a blank EVF is available at
http://www.rmit.edu.au/student-records/studentforms.)
Always keep a copy of any form you submit to RMIT, with the timestamp clearly legible.
You must:
1. Download an “Enrolment Variation” form (EVF) from
http://www.rmit.edu.au/csit/evf (or download a blank EVF from
http://www.rmit.edu.au/student-records/studentforms).
2. See your program advisor to obtain their signature and approval. (Program advisor
information can be found at the rear of Chapter 1 in this book, or visit the Advisor
webpage at http://www.rmit.edu.au/csit/advisor. Always bring a copy of your current
transcript when you see your advisor. To obtain a current transcript see “The Hub” on
page 86.)
3. Submit the signed EVF to the Hub.
If you are not able to see your advisor, you can ring them and arrange to leave the form at
the School Office for delivery and pick up. The onus is on you to ensure that you deliver
the signed EVF to the Hub.
Always check any correspondence or enrolment information issued by RMIT. Human
errors do occur, but the onus is on you to check them.
If you want to check your enrolment you can go to the Hub (See “The Hub” on page 86.)
You can also check your enrolment details online at
http://www.rmit.edu.au/students/results.
In most cases, it is possible to work out your problem in another way. However, if the only
alternative is to alter your load, then see your program advisor.
International students should note however that they must do a full load of 4 courses in
order to maintain the requirements of their visa.

14.25.6 Can I take on
more than the
required
number of
courses i.e.
overload?
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
We do not allow overloading unless there is an exceptional circumstance and the student
has a CGPA of at least 3.5.
14.25.7 Re-enrolment When you re-enrol in late November / early December you should enrol for all courses
you wish to undertake in the following year (including summer should you choose to do
so).
14.26 Exams
14.26.1 Where and
when is the
exam
timetable
published?
14.26.2 What happens
if I am sick
before or on
an exam date?
14.26.3 Will I get a
deferred
examination?
14.26.4 What
paperwork do I
need?
14.26.5 What are
supplementary
exams?
14.26.6 When are
deferred /
supplementary
exams held?
14.26.7 What about retaking
exams?
Enrolment / Re-enrolment information (including enrolment schedule, course selection
forms, and advisor information) is currently available online at
http://www.rmit.edu.au/csit/enrol.
The exam timetables are published on
http://www.rmit.edu.au/examinations-graduations/timetables six weeks prior to the
commencement of the first exam. Reading time is 15 minutes before the advertised
starting time.
You need to see a doctor and get a certificate. It isn’t reasonable to present a “Student
was ill” certificate which states that you are “ill” for a day! You should ensure that you
give us enough information to conclude that you were indeed disadvantaged. It is
unfortunately very easy to find a “quack” who will issue a certificate for a simple headache!
At any rate, you should still try to attend the examination unless you feel too bad. Students
who attend and are too ill to complete the exam, can leave the exam after discussing the
matter with staff on duty.
For more information please see the Special Consideration and Deferred Exams policy at:
http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/students/spcon.shtml
Possibly, if your documentation and report are in order (see previous question).
There are other grounds for a deferred exam, such as a bereavement etc.
You should obtain a special consideration form from the School Office on level 10 of
building 10 and fill it in and return it to the office (no need for a signature) within 48 hours
of the examination.
Special consideration is also available for other forms of assessment.
If a lecturer believes that you are close to a “pass” grade, they may ask you to undertake
some extra examination. This is not a right. The decision is made by the lecturer in concert
with the Examiners’ Meeting(s), and is very rare.
These are held in the week before the July semester commences for February semester
exams, and late November for July semester exams. Students planning trips should
bear this in mind. If you do not present yourself for the deferred exam it is your own
fault.
Some universities in some countries allow exams to be re-taken. We do NOT.
83

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.27 Exemptions
14.28 Fees
14.28.1 When do I
have to pay?
14.28.2 What is the
cost of
postgraduate
courses
(subjects)?
14.28.3 Can I claim the
fees as a
deduction
against my
tax?
14.28.4 My fees are
wrong! What
do I do?
84
See “Articulation, Exemptions and Advanced Standing” on page 72.
Fees are payable “upfront” on a semester basis for courses that you are enrolled in.
The deadline for fee payment for local students is the 31st of March for the February
semester and the 31st of August for the July semester. These are known as the HECS
Census deadlines.
If fees have not been paid for a given semester, your results will not be released and you
will not be entitled to re-enrol until the matter is resolved. Withdrawal from the program or
from courses before a HECS Census deadline may attract only a 50% refund of fees. No
refunds will be made for withdrawals after a HECS Census deadline.
International students have different fee arrangements. In general, you must pay each
semester upfront before your enrolment will be processed.
Note: Fees quoted are exclusive of the CNAF (Compulsory Non-Acdemic Fee), an amount
levied by the RMIT Union and Student Union, and are based upon standard load and
normal progression, with pro-rata fees applying to non-standard load undertaken.
For local students:
The cost for commencing students is listed at http://www.rmit.edu.au/domesticfees.
Programs and course-fees for a particular year are held constant only for that year. RMIT
may increase fees by an amount that will not exceed 7.5% each year.
Students who commenced their program during or prior to July semester, 2003 will retain
the same cost per course that they commenced with for the duration of their program. If a
student extends their program to over twice the standard timeframe for completion, they
may be subject to an increase in fees, which may be equivalent to the fees for newly
commencing students for that year.
For international students:
Refer to http://www.international.rmit.edu.au/info/programfees.asp for up-to-date fee
information. For an idea of living expenses, medical insurance, etc., refer to
http://www.rmit.edu.au/international/livingcosts.
Students who are enrolled in the program because it benefits their employment or
employment prospects may be eligible to apply for tax deductions. For further information
and advice, contact your taxation accountant.
Australian students who wish to use the FEE-HELP system should check this website for
further information:
http://www.goingtouni.gov.au/
If you have any queries regarding your invoice or believe you have been incorrectly
invoiced, you should in the first instance call the 1800-number listed on your invoice i.e.
1800 155 945. Alternatively, you can email fquery@rmit.edu.au.
Local students
If the staff at the 1800-number are still unable to help you, you should then contact the
School Office at Building 10, Level 10. Contact Ms. Kristy Capper:
Email: kristy@cs.rmit.edu.au
Tel.: 9925 2699
International students
If the staff at the 1800-number are still unable to help you, you should contact Mrs Juliet
D’Souza at the International Office at Building 112, Level 6. Her contact details are:
Email: juliet.dsouza@rmit.edu.au
Tel.: 9925 2726

14.28.5 What other
costs can I
expect to pay?
14.28.6 International
Students
Summer
School Fees
14.28.7 Where can I
get more
detailed
information
regarding fees
and charges?
14.28.8 Are there any
student loans
available?
14.29 Finding My Way
14.29.1 How do I find a
particular
building?
14.29.2 How are
rooms and
lecture
theatres
identified?
The fees you pay are for tuition.
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
Textbooks and School course-based notes will need to be purchased from the RMIT
bookshop at 17-25 Little LaTrobe Street.
The cost of notes will be on a non-profit, cost recovery basis. Students will have to show
their student card, or proof of enrolment at the RMIT bookshop in order obtain a notes
discount.
Any student who will complete their degree when they do summer school courses, will be
sent an account for their summer school courses and they will have to pay for these by
December (that is before summer school starts).
If this is a problem for international students then please contact one of our Teaching and
Learning (T&L) advisors (see section 14.33.1 on page 87).
Other students (that is non-graduating students) will receive a fee statement for the next
year and summer school. Those students will have until the last week of February to pay
these fees.
Please note that the deadline for withdrawing from a summer course is very short (usually
within a few days of course commencement). Please refer to information provided at
enrolment on summer deadlines. You cannot withdraw from a summer course after the
given date, and will not be eligible for a refund!
Students who will be paying for their fees from their home country are advised to send a
bank draft made out to RMIT International. You must include your name and student
number (See http://www.rmit.edu.au/international/payment for details).
Summer courses generally commence on the first business day after 1st January and run
for about four-five weeks, after which will be the summer examination period. International
students who wish to commence in summer should aim to arrive in Australia no later than
the end of the second week of December. This will allow adequate time to find
accommodation and settle in before the holiday period commences. The University is
closed from 24th December and re-opens on the first business day after 1st January.
The RMIT Schedule of Fees and Charges can be found at:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/academic-policy
FEE-HELP is an interest-free loans facility for fee-paying local postgraduate students
undertaking non-research programs. This is similar to the deferred payment arrangements
available under HECS. To be considered for these loans a student must be an Australian
citizen. For more information see http://www.goingtouni.gov.au/ or phone 1800 020 108.
There should be a map in your student diary. The map is also available at:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/about/maps/city
Only the City Campus is relevant to this program.
If a room is described as 10.11.12, for example, this translates to Building 10, Level 11,
Room 12. For more information on lecture theatres please see:
http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/timetables and click on Lecture venues.
Please note that some lecture venues are located off campus.
85

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.30 Graduation
14.30.1 Is there only
one
graduation
ceremony?
14.30.2 Can I choose
to graduate in
absentia?
14.31 Homepage
14.32 The Hub
14.32.1 What is the
Student Hub?
86
Refer to the Graduation website at http://www.graduation.rmit.edu.au. You may also email
queries directly to graduation@rmit.edu.au or call them at 99259199.
When you have completed the courses required for your program, you may apply (online,
or using a paper form) to graduate at a graduation ceremony, or in absentia.
Graduation ceremonies are held in Melbourne, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong
Kong. The Melbourne Graduation Ceremony is usually held in mid-December. If you apply
for a graduation ceremony, you will receive your award at that ceremony, provided you
meet the online deadlines to book and pay for tickets, gown rental, etc.
Yes. If you choose to graduate in absentia, your award will be posted to your mailing
address, as it appears in the graduation database; you can update this address online. In
absentia applications are checked and approved at the end of each month, and the
testamurs are posted during the following month.
See also “Letter of Completion” on page 88.
The homepage for postgraduate programs can be found at:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/csit/postgraduate.
The Hub is a new student services centre. It is designed to make it easier and more
convenient for RMIT students and staff to access service, advice and information.
Some of the things you can do at the Hub are:
• Get a copy of your Transcript or Confirmation of Enrolment
• Get a travel concession card form stamped
• Change your address
• Get help with managing your study time
• Find out about housing options
• Get directions around the campus
• Access online learning support
• Speak to a professional teaching and learning services professionals
• Find out about services for students with a disability
• Attend a health education seminar or drop-in session
• Book a room
• Enquire about studying overseas on an exchange program
• Look into scholarships available to RMIT students
• Get a referral to the ATSI unit
• Gain career advice, interview skills and resume writing
• Obtain financial advice
• Support for International Students
• Attend a study skills workshop
• Find out about daily activities and events on at RMIT
• Browse through online databases and reference materials
The Hub is located at: Building 12, Level 4.
For more information you can email: thehub@rmit.edu.au or visit the website at:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/students/aboutthehub

14.33 International Students
14.33.1 I am having
some settling
in problems. I
need advice
on various
facets of
Australian life
and studying
at RMIT. Who
can help me?
14.33.2 It’s an
emergency.
Who can I
contact out of
hours?
14.33.3 What are the
English
requirements
to get into the
Program?
14.33.4 English is not
my first
language and I
would like
some
assistance in
the proof
reading of
assignments
that I have
done. Where
can I get help
for this?
14.33.5 I am an
international
student and I
am having
some
problems
paying fees.
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
Please arrange to see one of the Teaching and Learning Advisors, Kathleen Lynch, Cecily
Walker or Jeanette Holkner.
Kathleen is located in Building 10, Level 9, Room 1. Her telephone number is 99255251.
She can be reached via email at koto@cs.rmit.edu.au or fax on 96621617.
Cecily is located in Building 10, Level 10, Room 1. Her telephone phone number is
99255088. She can be reached via email at cwalker@cs.rmit.edu.au or fax on 96621617.
Jeanette is located in Building 14, level 10, room 08. Her telephone number is 9925 9809.
She can be reached via email at jeanette@cs.rmit.edu.au or fax on 9662 1617.
Once you have a CSIT computer account, you can arrange to meet Kathleen or Cecily by
booking online via:
https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/staffbooking/
An after-hours emergency number is 99253999. If it is a security matter, please ring
security on 99253333 (8am to 5pm) or 92253895 (after hours).
Generally students need to have achieved an overall score of 6.5 under IELTS, with no
less than a 6.0 score on any one of the IELTS bands. If you have difficulty with your English
or would like to undertake English lessons, you can contact RMIT English Worldwide
formerly CELL (Centre for English Language Learning) via:
http://www.rmitenglishworldwide.com/
If you are not confident with your written English, and you would like an assignment proof
read, you are strongly advised to contact the Learning Skills Unit (LSU) to book an
individual one-hour appointment with an LSU advisor. There is a high demand for their
limited number individual appointments so you must ring the LSU to make an appointment
as early as possible. This service is free of charge.
LSU contact details:
Main office: Building 94, Level 3, 23-27 Cardigan St, Carlton
Phone: 9925 4488
Fax: 9925 4892
The LSU also offers a wide range of free workshops in academic learning skills for all
RMIT students. Additionally, the Learning Resource Centre at the Hub (City campus,
Building 12, Level 4) is a room full of resources designed to support students with learning
skills, study techniques, writing, English language development, etc.
For more information about the LSU workshops and the Learning Resource Centre, go to
http://aps.eu.rmit.edu.au/lsu/services/index.html.
Please see a fees officer at RMIT International Services - Building 108, Level 4 (Bourke
Street). If you require assistance speaking to the fees officer, please see one of our
Teaching and Learning Advisors (see page 102).
87

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.33.6 Are there any
scholarships
for
international
students?
14.33.7 Are there any
prizes
available for
international
students?
14.33.8 Is there any
part time work
in the School?
14.34 Laboratories
14.34.1 Where are
they?
14.34.2 Are there any
restrictions on
use of the
laboratory?
14.34.3 Is there a
phone
students can
use?
14.35 Leave of Absence
14.36 Letter of Completion
88
Information regarding scholarships for international students can be found at
http://www.rmit.edu.au/international/scholarships or by contacting RMIT International on
9925 5112.
Yes, there are a range of prizes available to international students who have demonstrated
outstanding academic performance in a Computer Science and Information Technology
postgraduate program at RMIT. For more information see:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/csit/industrycareers/industrycollaboration
Students should visit the following web site to see what is available and apply for work:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/csit/employment
Ms. Helen Cull, the School’s HR Manager, oversees the part time employment. You can
email her at helen@cs.rmit.edu.au or phone 9925 9583 if something is urgent.
There is one laboratory that is reserved for postgraduate students. It is located in
Building 14, Level 9, Room 23.
If and only if this laboratory is fully utilised, then students may occasionally use any of the
laboratories in Building 14 on levels 9 and 10 or Building 10 on levels 9, 10 and 11,
provided that there is no scheduled class taking place. When in doubt, consult the city
timetable at http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/timetables/. See also “Timetables” on page 102.
For complete Rules of Use information see http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/rules/.
Basically, students are not permitted to eat or drink or have discussions in the
laboratory. The Technical Services Group in the University will suspend a student’s
computer account if they are caught eating or drinking in the laboratory.
In addition, students should not use mobile phones in laboratories and should always
speak quietly. If students need to conduct conversations then they should do so in the
common room (see “Common Room” on page 77) and not the laboratory.
There is one in the Floyd laboratory. The telephone number is 9925 3139. It is to be used
for incoming calls. It is possible to make internal RMIT calls on the number and to ring
emergency numbers as well. Another phone for internal use only is located outside of
10.10.07. For outside calls there is a pay-phone on level 4 of building 14.
If students with to withdraw from all courses within a semester (defer for a semester or two)
you will be required to apply for Leave of Absence. See “Withdrawal” on page 103.
If you need a letter of completion, you’d need to do the following:
1. Apply online (http://www.graduation.rmit.edu.au) for your award.
2. Forward the confirmation email to pgadmin@cs.rmit.edu.au, cc’ing it to your
academic advisor. Include any information about exemptions or core substitutions
that you have negotiated with your advisor.

14.37 Lockers
14.37.1 I am a full time
student and
need to have a
place to put
my books and
things.
14.38 Orientation
14.38.1 When does
orientation
occur?
14.38.2 What activites
are run for
Newly
Commencing
Students?
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
3. Wait a few days for the graduation database to be updated, and for your award to be
approved. You will receive an email to tell you when this happens, or to tell you why it
has not been approved.
4. Contact the Hub. They can look up your record on the graduation database, to
confirm that your award has been approved.
If you also need a letter to the ACS, explaining your exemptions, fill in the following text (in
Mixed Case) and include it when you forward the confirmation email to
pgadmin@cs.rmit.edu.au and your advisor:
"This is to certify that [your name] has successfully completed the [your CSIT program]
degree at RMIT University, in [month] [year]. Prior to these studies, Mr/Ms [your family
name] completed a [program you did elsewhere] at [uni where you did this program]. The
courses s/he completed in this program are listed in the attached academic transcript from
the [uni where you did the other program]. Based on these studies, Mr/Ms [your family
name] was granted [number of semesters] semesters of Advanced Standing into the
program [your CSIT program]. This exemption appears on her/his RMIT University
transcript as [course code of exemption]."
There are some lockers available for full-time students only in the corridor opposite
10.11.12.You should contact the Computer Science office on level 10 to arrange for your
locker. If there are any problems, you can ring on 9925 2348 or visit the School Office on
Building 10, Level 10.
Orientation runs throughout weeks 0 - 3 of semesters one and two. Over summer a
condensed version runs just prior to commencement, and for the first 4 days of classes.
A link will usually be present to these activites from the CSIT home page approximately a
fortnight prior to their commencement. You will usually need to register to attend events so
that we can ensure enough staff are on hand. Registration will be via that link.
Unix and Computer Science Network Skills introduction (formerly called ‘Induction
sessions’) are held for commencing students to introduce them to the computer systems
used within the School. These sessions are held in weeks 1, 2 and 3 although you should
undertake at least 3 sessions in total prior to attending your first tutorial or lab
classes.
In your three sessions you should cover:
• Checking that your accounts are active and changing your passwords
• Allocating yourself to tutorials and labs
• Using the Unix operating system, commands, printing from Unix
• Effective Web Use - EMS email, timetables, courseguides, making appointments with
staff members and more
You can register for sessions via the Computer Science homepage at http://
www.rmit.edu.au/csit.
As part of your enrolment process you will be asked to register for these sessions.
Other workshops on offer for new students can be seen via the link above and include:
• Skills for new programmers
• Solution Design / Architecture Workshops
• Academic Integrity: understanding and skills for CS&IT students
• Interview and resume writing skills
89

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.38.3 What activities
are run for
Continuing
Students
14.39 Parking
14.39.1 Can I get a
parking space
at RMIT?
14.40 Passwords
14.40.1 What is the
password for
access to web
information?
14.40.2 I have
forgotten my
Unix or PC
password.
90
• Tour and BBQ
For both returning and new students the following are on offer:
• Java and C programming skills booster shots
• Solution Design / Architecture Workshops
• Plagiarism: understanding and skills for CS&IT students
• IP & Confidentiality Issues
• IT Marketing and Customer Service Skills
• Project Management
Timetable and registration is via a button link at http://www.rmit.edu.au/csit.
There are no internal car parking spots at RMIT. If you intend to drive to lectures, you will
have very little chance parking at a meter in the street and will invariably be late for
lectures.
It is better to park at one of the car parks nearby, such as the one around the corner from
110 Victoria Street. Alternatively, consider parking at a train station and taking the train to
Melbourne Central. RMIT is across the road.
This will be your yallara/numbat password ordinarily. Note: this only applies to URLs of the
form https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au.
When students obtain their computer account from the Duty Programmers office during
enrolment they will be given a ‘user name’ for the CSIT system and a random password
that must be changed upon logging in for the first time. Students who attend ‘Unix and
CS&IT Networks’ sessions (see “What activites are run for Newly Commencing Students?”
on page 89) will go through logging into the various servers and may have a unique
password for each. If you forget your password or have trouble logging in, see the Duty
Programmers for assistance.
See “System Help” on page 100.

14.40.3 Which
Password to
use for
accessing
what?
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
The following is a table of access details and information on various systems you will need
to use as a student of RMIT and Computer Science and Information Technology:
Which Account Information and Log In
All CSIT accounts eg: Yallara/Numbat etc.
NDS - Novell Directory Service
EMS - Student Electronic Messaging System
URL: http://www.studentems.rmit.edu.au/
DLS - Distributed Learning System
URL: http://www.rmit.edu.au/online
Weblearn
URL: http://weblearn.rmit.edu.au/
TABLE 1:
When students obtain their computer account from the
Duty Programmers during enrolment they will be given a
‘user name’ for the CSIT system, and a random password on
a sheet of paper, that must be changed upon logging in for
the first time. Students who attend the Unix and CS&IT
Networks sessions (see “What activites are run for Newly
Commencing Students?” on page 89) will go through
logging into each of the various servers. You may have a
unique password for each server.
The username for this account is simply the student number
with the letter "s" at the start e.g. "s9912345". And the
default password is your date of birth, in the format
yyyymmdd e.g. Nov 9th 1980 would be "19801109".
You should change this password to something more secure.
Every student enrolled at RMIT is given an RMIT student
email account. This email account will greatly assist
communications between the university and its students.
EMS is easy to use and accessible everywhere via the latest
web browsers.
The username and password for this system is the standard
NDS Account (as seen above).
The email address for a student is simply their login name,
followed by @student.rmit.edu.au e.g. "s9912345@
student.rmit.edu.au".
The DLS is an online learning facility that is used to varying
degrees, by courses with online content. Here, students have
access to the components and workspaces for courses
including: Classrooms, Conferences, Collaboratory shared
workspace, and Course Guides.
The username for this account is the student number, with
capital trailing letter (if any) e.g. "9912345X". The default
password is your date of birth, in the format yyyymmdd e.g.
Nov 9th 1975 would be "19751109".
Weblearn is a component of the DLS, where students can
submit assignments and complete course tests, should the
course require it. An account must be requested in order to
access this system. This is done via the web page and the
username and password is then sent to the student's SEMS
account. Requesting an account is done via the website.
Any further administrative issues should be taken up with
the weblearn support, the course's lab assistant or the
lecturer responsible for the course in question.
91

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.40.4 What is my
NDS
password?
92
RMIT Library
URL: http://www.rmit.edu.au/library
Location: City Swanston Library
Building 8 Level 5
ITS - Information Technology Services
URL: http://www.rmit.edu.au/its
Which Account Information and Log In
TABLE 1:
NDS - Novell Directory Service
In the RMIT Library, students can gain access to general use
PCs. To use these computers, students will need to use
their NDS account. They can then browse the Library
catalogues and database or use the PCs for course work,
such as research and word processing, printing and
scanning. The library also has a vast web site and online
catalogue, that students can access to locate past exam
papers or reserve material. It also contains journal article
databases, e-journals, Library services (such as borrowing,
Reserve services, Document Delivery) and documentation
on using the library and its computer facilities. For printing
in the library, and other general access labs, students need to
pay for the pages using a photo copy card. This card can be
purchased and recharged from the library, at the photo copy
desk. Details of use, are readily available at each printing
location.
ITS supports the University, students and staff in academic
and administrative IT operations. ITS maintains the
University's electronic communications infrastructure,
email, telephony and data and maintains central computing
services for administration, research and Internet
publication.
ITS also provides students with RDS (Remote Dial- in
Services), and computer facilities on campus (general access
labs).
Phone: (03) 9925 2296
Email: response.centre@rmit.edu.au
Across RMIT University, all students have an account that lets them access most of the
computer services. This account is referred to as the "NDS Account". Students will use this
University wide account throughout their studies. It allows students to logon to the
computers in the library, to use the SEMS and eRMIT sites (as described below), and to
access the various file drives, such as the student's home drive and various other course
drives and local applicable drives.
The username for this account is simply the student number with the letter "s" at the start
(e.g. "s9912345"). The default password is your date of birth, in the format yyyymmdd (e.g.
Nov 9th 1980 would be "19801109").
Each account also belongs to a context, which is denoted by the department/school in
which the student is enrolled. The context may need to be specified during login, in the
advanced settings of the login box. They are as follows for CS&IT students:
cs.appsci.rmit
For any support or further help with NDS, including lost password, students must refer to
the CS&IT Duty Programmers.
If you have forgotten your password, see “System Help” on page 100.

14.41 Photocopiers
14.41.1 I need to use a
photocopier.
Can I get
access to
one?
14.42 Plagiarism
14.42.1 Academic
Integrity
Workshop
available
14.42.2 What is
Plagiarism?
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
You can find photocopiers in the Swanston library (Building 8, Level 5) and in Building 10,
Level 4. Note, though, that photocopying is not free.
At the start of each semester you can attend a workshop on academic integrity. To register
to attend one of these sessions click the ‘Week 1 Activities’ link at
www.rmit.edu.au/csit.
Plagiarism is cheating. Specifically, it is wrong to submit an assignment that contains
other people's work without acknowledgement, or to help someone else to plagiarise.
Students are encouraged to discuss their work and seek advice when they are struggling
with problems or assignments. However, students need to be aware that:
• They must not submit material that is not their own work.
• They must not submit work they don't fully understand.
• They must not submit work that has been copied from elsewhere, unless they have
permission from the lecturer to include copied material and there is full
acknowledgement of which material is copied.
• They must not enable other students to plagiarise their work.
While it is fair practice for a student to seek advice while developing a solution to an
assignment, the solution must primarily be the student's alone.
As a rule of thumb, an assignment is plagiarised if writing it (or writing any non-trivial part
of it) involved having another solution to work from; or having a sketch of a solution written
by someone else; or even having a sketch of a solution developed together with a friend.
If the outline of a solution or part of a solution is from a textbook, or was provided by the
lecturer, this material can only be used with the permission of the lecturer, and must be
acknowledged in the assignment's documentation.
In group assignment work, there is a shared responsibility by all group members to ensure
that the work has been completed within the group. It is essential to contribute honest work
to the joint submission and to clearly indicate who is responsible for each individual
section.
Other situations are also treated as plagiarism. In particular, giving a solution to another
student is plagiarism; if a student gives their work to a friend or friends, all are cheating
and are equally disciplined.
The only case in which it is acceptable for a student to include other people's work in an
assignment is when there is explicit permission from the lecturer. In this case, the part of
the assignment that is copied must be clearly acknowledged. For example, if the copied
work is included in a program, the program should include all of the following forms of
acknowledgement:
• A detailed comment at the start of the program stating that part of it is copied, and
stating who wrote the copied part.
• Clear comments in the body of the program marking the start and end of the copied
material. These comments must also give the name of the author.
• If code has been obtained from elsewhere, then modified by the student, the
modifications need to be explained. For example, a comment might have the wording
"The original code obtained from Jos Leubnitz was modified to print more detailed
error messages". Each adaptation of the original code should be documented.
93

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.43 Portable Documents
14.43.1 How do I
prepare
documents
electronically
so that anyone
can read them
on any
platform?
14.43.2 How do I
prepare
documents for
which I want
to retain exact
formatting
(such as my
thesis/project)
in electronic
form?
14.44 Prerequisites
14.44.1 How important
are the prerequisites
listed for each
course?
94
• For copyright material, the documentation should also include a statement that
permission was obtained from the author, and an email address where the
permission can be verified.
Acknowledgements of this kind are required even for code provided by a lecturer as part
of the assessment. Note that material on the internet is copyright unless the author
explicitly states otherwise. (For example, some software includes a GNU public licence,
which states that the code can be copied under certain conditions. However, even in this
case it is essential that authorship be clearly identified.) Thus students must obtain
permission from the author if they wish to include material from the internet or from a
textbook.
If an assignment includes quotes (that is, short pieces of text or program drawn from other
places), there should be clear citations to the original sources.
Students who are found to have committed plagiarism can be failed in an assignment,
failed in a course, failed in all courses in a semester, suspended, fined, or even expelled
from the University.
For more information on plagiarism see:
http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/students/integrity/
For information on the University’s policy on plagiarism, go to:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/corporate-governance. Select RMIT Policies, then section A.
Use PDF. Save your file (using print to file) as postscript and then run ‘ps2pdf’ or distill to
create PDF. If you have problems see the Duty Programmers.
There are a few simple steps:
• Save your document in postscript form. For Word and other WYSIWYG programs
you can often do this by bringing up the window for printing and clicking on “Save to
File”. Therefore instead of printing your document, your document will be saved as a
postscript file. You should include, if the system offers you the possibility, all fonts but
the standard 13. For LaTeX users just use the -o option to dvips.
• Transfer the postscript file to numbat or yallara.
• Run ps2pdf on the postscript file. This will create a .pdf file (much smaller than the
postscript file, and more portable). The pdf file can be mounted on the web too and is
read by the Adobe Acrobat plug-in (which is freely available from www.adobe.com).
• If you are running OSX you can just save your document as PDF.
Very important. Please check them.
If you feel that you have equivalent knowledge from previous studies or work expereince
to the prerequisite listed for a course you would like to undertake (but have not undertaken
the specific courses listed), please discuss with your advisor.
For commencing students who may have either no or little experience with Unix, it is
strongly suggested that you attend the ‘Unix and CS&IT Networks sessions’ that are held
in the orientation and first weeks of classes. Refer to “What activites are run for Newly

14.45 Prizes
14.45.1 Are there any
prizes for
outstanding
academic
achievement?
14.46 Printers
14.47 Program Advisors
14.47.1 Postgrad
Admin
14.47.2 Associate
Professor
Isaac Balbin
14.47.3 Mr. Ibrahim
Khalil
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
Commencing Students?” on page 89. You may wish to spend a few evenings or the
weekend acclimatising yourself to Unix.
If you are a GD055 GDipSD or MC062 MTechIT student you may wish to consider doing
an extra course - COSC1321 Computing Fundamentals. (See “Computer Languages” on
page 78.)
Yes, each year, companies sponsor cash prizes for both local and international students
who have demonstrated outstanding academic performance in their programs. These
prizes are formally awarded to students at the Industry Awards Ceremony.
For more information about the Industry Awards Ceremony and the list of prizes awarded,
go to the School’s Industry Liaison Unit’s calendar of events at
http://www.rmit.edu.au/csit/industrycareers/events_calendar
There are printers on levels 9, 10, and 11 of building 10 and in Building 14, levels 9 and 10.
For general enquiries regarding administrative issues (deadlines, enrolment/re-enrolment
dates, form submission etc.) you should consult with:
The School Office
Building 10, Level 10, Room 07
Telephone: 9925 2348
Fax: 9662 1617
Email: office@cs.rmit.edu.au
Their general hours of consultation at the 10.10.07 counter are:
Monday to Thursday: 9am - 5.30pm, Friday: 9am - 5pm
For all academic enquiries regarding course selection, leave of absence, addition or
withdrawal of courses you should consult with your relevant program advisor as follows:
Program Advisor for LOCAL and INTERNATIONAL students undertaking the
following programs:
• Master of Applied Science (Information Technology) MC061
• Graduate Diploma in Information Technology GD057
• Master of Technology (Enterprise Architecture) MC152
Office: Building 12, Level 10, Room 41
Telephone: +61 3 9925 2803; Fax: +61 3 9662 1617
Email: isaac@rmit.edu.au
Homepage: http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/~isaac/
Advisor for LOCAL students undertaking the following programs:
• Master of Technology (Information Technology) MC062
• Graduate Diploma in Software Development GD055
• Graduate Certificate in Software Development GC077
• Master of Technology (Internet and Web Computing) MC063
• Graduate Diploma in Internet and Web Computing GD059
• Graduate Certificate in Internet Computing GC040
Office: Building 10, Level 9, Room 29
Telephone: +61 3 9925 2879; Fax: +61 3 9662 1617
95

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
96
Email: ibrahimk@cs.rmit.edu.au
Homepage: http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/~ibrahim
14.47.4 Mr. Ivan Sun Advisor for INTERNATIONAL students in the following:
• Master of Technology (Information Technology) MC062
• Graduate Diploma in Software Development GD055
• Graduate Certificate in Software Development GC077
• Master of Technology (Internet and Web Computing) MC063
• Graduate Diploma in Internet and Web Computing GD059
• Graduate Certificate in Internet Computing GC040
14.47.5 Dr. Audrey
Tam
14.47.6 Dr. Michael
Winikoff
14.48 Quotas
14.48.1 What is my
disc quota?
14.48.2 What is my
print quota?
14.49 Rules for Computer Use
14.49.1 What can I not
do on RMIT
Computer
Systems?
Office: Building 14, Level 10, Room 12
Telephone: +61 3 9925 3670; Fax: +61 3 9662 1617
Email: isun@cs.rmit.edu.au
Homepage: http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/~isun/
Program Leader for all postgraduate coursework programs
Office: Building 14, Level 09, Room 17
Telephone: +61 3 9925 3202; Fax: +61 3 9662 1617
Email: amt@cs.rmit.edu.au
Homepage: http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/~amt
Minor Thesis and Projects Coodinator
Office: Building 10, Level 11, Room 12
Telephone: +61 3 9925 9651; Fax: +61 3 9662 1617
Email: winikoff@cs.rmit.edu.au
Homepage: http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/~winikoff
You have been allocated a quota for disc usage. If you accumulate too many files, you will
run out of quota. You should remove files that you no longer need. In addition, you should
zip your files to save space.
If you are doing a special project and you need space, then you should ask your lecturer/
supervisor to contact TSG for you to obtain extra quota.
To find out about your quota, type:
quota -v
under Unix (on yallara or numbat).
You are given a certain number of pages each semester. (Check with the Duty
Programmers (see “Duty Programmers” on page 81) on the exact number.) If you exceed
your quota, you may find yourself in trouble! You could try asking the Duty Programmers
to increase your quota, but there is no guarantee that it will be increased. You will see your
remaining quota each time you print.
Each semester your print quota will be reset, therefore you cannot credit unused quota
from one semester to the next.
Details of the rules of use that students sign and agree to upon receipt of their computer
account are available from http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/rules/.
The School provides certain facilities for use by legitimate users (staff, currently enrolled
students, and guests.)

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
The School holds data and programs in trust for its staff and students and may not provide
copies of any information, or access to it, to a third party without written consent of the
owner.
Users are authorised to access only their own files, and certain other system files
required when using the computers.
It is the responsibility of all people using computer systems to keep passwords
confidential. Do not type passwords in view of other people or write them down. Do change
them regularly. It is recommended that you use different passwords for different machines.
In General
All activities performed on the equipment by students must be directly related to program
work. If a user is unsure of this definition, it is advised that they contact the programmers
in the Technical Services Group for clarification. E-mail: helpdesk@cs.rmit.edu.au.
Prohibited activities
In order to provide fair and consistent access to the resources to the users, certain
activities and programs are not permitted. This includes but is NOT limited to the following:
Sharing accounts
Sharing accounts, either by revealing your password or implementing a scheme to bypass
the use of passwords (such as a.rhosts file) with an entry for someone other than yourself,
or using a setuid shell, is prohibited, except with prior arrangement with the School.
Games
Unless it can be demonstrated that a game is part of an approved assignment, they are not
permitted.
Using Mobile Phones in labs
To prevent distracting other students, or disrupting classes mobile phones should be
turned off, or to silent whilst within CSIT labs.
Wasting disk resources
Space is provided for the storage of program related files. Quotas are implemented to
prevent abuse of resources.
Wasting cpu time
Excessive use of cpu time for non program related purposes, especially when the machine
is consistently loaded, is not permitted.
Wasting print resources
Printing is provided as a free service to students of the School for hard copies of program
related material or assignments. Printing of other materials is not permitted.
Wasting terminal access
Any procedure which gives a user exclusive access to an unattended terminal (such as
terminal locking) is a prohibited activity, since it is a selfish activity that prevents another
user from using a terminal whilst you are not.
Harassment
The inter-user communication systems on the computers (such as E-mail, Net-News,
`talk', and `write') can be considered as means of interaction within a `virtual society'. Any
form of harassment which is not permitted in normal society is not permitted in the virtual
society.
Disruption of services
Attempts to disrupt the normal operation of the facilities is considered a severe offence and
will be punished accordingly.
Unofficial programs
Any program that is not installed on the system by the TSG that is not directly related to
coursework is not permitted. (Programs that are directly part of an assignment are
permitted.)
Remote services
Use of a (permitted) client to connect to a remote facility that is not under control of the
School to perform activities that contravene these rules is not permitted.
97

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.49.2 What happens
if I breach the
rules?
14.50 School Office
14.50.1 Where is the
general
Computer
Science
Office?
14.50.2 What are the
office hours?
14.51 Seminar Style Courses
14.51.1 What is a
Seminar Style
Course?
14.52 Special Consideration
14.53 Staffing
14.53.1 Who are the
Academic
Staff?
98
Any of the following could occur depending on the severity of the offence:
Disciplinary Action
Violation of your responsibilities may make you liable to disciplinary action by the School
and RMIT University. This may include suspension or termination of account privileges.
Personal liability
In addition, you should be aware that breach of some parts of the Acceptable Use Policy
may make the School, or yourself personally, liable for damages.
Prosecution
Further, if you breach any State or Commonwealth law, you may be liable to prosecution.
Cost Recovery
Finally, you may become liable for any costs that need to be recovered for any damage to
the School and RMIT University equipment as a result of any breach of the Acceptable
Use Policy.
This is located in Building 10, level 10, Room 7. The phone number is 9925 2348 and the
facsimile number is 9662 1617. You can email the office at office@cs.rmit.edu.au.
The office is normally open from 9am until 5.30pm.
During times of peak student demand (i.e. the beginning of each semester) the opening
hours may be extended to include Saturday. This can be checked by calling 9925 2348.
Seminar style courses are small classes where students learn by reading, discussing and
presenting material provided by the lecturer, often in the form of research papers. The
lecturer guides the discussion, but students are expected to take an active role, with
presentation of material or leadership of discussion often being a part of the course.
In addition to developing knowledge of the content area of the course students develop
skills in critical reading of research literature and in synthesizing and comparing
approaches to problems.
See “Exams” on page 83.
The official place to get a list of all courses and lecturers is via the Timetable. (Look under
information and the appropriate campus and semester).
http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/timetables/
The contact information for staff can be found at:
http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/general/contact/phone.shtml

14.54 Student Services
See “The Hub” on page 86.
14.55 Study Methods—Ten Commandments
14.55.1 I have not
studied in
Australia, is
the system
different?
14.56 Summer courses
14.56.1 Are there any
summer
courses?
14.56.2 What are the
summer fees?
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
1. Attend all lectures and tutorials.
2. Do not let a week go by without having revised what you have studied so that you
have totally cleared up any doubts or misunderstandings. Cramming is
counterproductive. You should contact any/all staff and schedule a formal
appointment to explain your problem. Staff should have a timetable of their
availability. If you have continuing trouble seeing a staff member, inform the Program
Leader. There is no extra charge for arranging to see your lecturer/tutor or lab
demonstrator.
3. Do not be a loner. You need to network and introduce yourself to other class mates
and colleagues. When you have a question and don’t understand something it is
great to discuss it with fellow students first.
4. Do not get too much help from your class mates. Often this ends up with some of you
failing because your work looks too similar. In addition, often one person understands
the material better than another.
5. Never ever rely on past papers as a study technique. The exam you will get may be
totally different from previous papers. Past papers are useful to assess how well you
have studied after you have done the revision.
6. Never assume that a topic will not be covered in the exam because the lecturer
hasn’t asked a question on this topic in the last few years, or because the lecturer
only spent 30 minutes on it at the very last lecture. Everything is examinable unless
you are explicitly told that it is not examinable by the lecturer. Attending revision
lectures is critical because you may learn about such useful information.
7. If anything happens to you, or is about to happen to you, and this may affect your
performance, it is very important that you inform someone immediately. You can
inform your lecturer, tutor, program advisor, or the Teaching and Learning Advisors
(see page 102) where relevant; it doesn’t matter, but never ever stay silent about an
issue. Sometimes you think the issue will go away; it is still better to inform someone
even though the issue may end up not affecting you. All correspondence will be
treated strictly in confidence.
8. Do not avoid programming as part of a course, even in group work. You will find that
programming almost always adds another dimension to your understanding of the
topic area.
9. Read questions in an exam very carefully. Some people have a habit of seeing key
words and concepts mentioned in a question and simply regurgitating all that they
know about those concepts. This however often does not answer the question. You
may end up with zero for the question. Make sure you read the question carefully and
understand it before answering precisely and to the point.
10. Never spend too much time on one question. Marks are usually allocated according
to the number of minutes it should take to do the question. Plan very carefully.
Yes. You should see http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/timetables/summer/2006/.
They are the same as normal semester courses. If you withdraw from a course before the
withdrawal deadline, there is no penalty, otherwise, you forfeit the fee.
99

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.56.3 How do
international
students pay?
14.56.4 When should a
commencing
international
student
arrive?
14.57 System Help
14.57.1 Are there any
user
information
sheets?
14.57.2 Is there any
other RMIT
documentation
on the use of
email or
electronic
news?
14.57.3 Is there a
tutorial on the
use of
electronic
mail?
100
See “International Students Summer School Fees” on page 85.
Note that summer courses normally start in early January and continue until mid-February.
Exact dates will be announced at http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/timetables/.
International students who wish to commence in summer should aim to arrive in Australia
no later than the end of December. This will allow adequate time to find accommodation
and settle in before the holiday period commences.
There is a series on the Web in https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/support/docs/ that includes
online manuals and documentation. If you cannot find what you are looking for, you should
go to the Duty Programmers (see “Duty Programmers” on page 81).
Students should attend three Unix and CS&IT Networks sessions (see “What activites are
run for Newly Commencing Students?” on page 89) prior to commencement of their first
classes for assistance on any of the following.
The topics covered include:
• Installing Moveable Type Web Logger.
• Creating self signed SSL certificates for use with Apache web servers.
• Using Mutt to access student NIMS email.
• Using fetchmail to access student NIMS email.
• For pine, nmh and elm users.
• SpamAssassin Setup.
• Accounts Overview.
• Student WWW pages and CGI access.
• Using Dial-in modems. PPP access.
• Using SSH instead of Telnet.
• Using SCP on Unix, Windows & MacOS X.
• Reading news from behind a firewall using SSH.
• Printing. NT and Unix.
• Recovering Deleted Files.
• elm Quick Starter.
• nn Quick Starter.
• vi Quick Starter.
• pine manual.
• Tomcat 4.1.18 Setup.
There is a web page regarding student mail at: http://www.student.rmit.edu.au/.
Access to student news is via http://www.rmit.edu.au/students/news.
For your RMIT web email, you should go the following link:
http://www.student.rmit.edu.au/help.html.
For instruction on using Unix programs (tin, nn) to read email, attend the Unix and CS&IT
Networks Sessions (see “What activites are run for Newly Commencing Students?” on
page 89) - or ask the Duty Programmers to show you!

14.57.4 Where is the
Duty
Programmers
office?
14.57.5 What
computers do
I have an
account on?
14.57.6 I can’t
remember my
password, or it
doesn’t seem
to work. Who
shall I see?
14.57.7 How do I
obtain a
computer
account?
14.57.8 Is there an
alternative to
the Unix vi
editor?
14.57.9 I have a PC at
home and I
would like to
use it for Unix.
What can I do?
14.57.10How do I
transfer files
from/to my
PC?
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
The Duty Programmers can be found at Building 10, Level 10, Room 13, just down the
corridor from the School Office.
Each day except Sunday, Duty Programmers are available to help you with any system or
account based problems. This includes “How do I use mail or news” type questions, or
even if you want help with a Unix or PC command. Don’t be embarrassed to ask simple
questions!
The Duty Programmers’ web page can be accessed at http://www.rmit.edu.au/csit/dpo.
Feel free to contact the Duty Programmers on 9925 1994 or email them at
helpdesk@cs.rmit.edu.au.
You will have a computer account on a number of machines. These will include numbat,
yallara and blowfly. numbat and yallara are Unix Machines, and blowfly is a PC server
which runs NT on both PC’s and X terminals using Wincenter. Access to numbat and
yallara and blowfly should be from the RMIT Masters laboratory in 14.09.23. This
laboratory contains many X Windows terminals which connect to numbat and yallara and
blowfly.
Refer to section on “Passwords” on page 90.
If it relates to access to a specific course’s materials, please approach your lecturer and
ask them to reset your password for you. Alternatively, if you are in during office hours, you
can go see the Duty Programmers.
You will get accounts on at least three machines:
• numbat (a Sun Ultrasparc running Unix)
• yallara (a Sun Ultrasparc machine)
• blowfly a series of Pentium machines running Windows 2000
The accounts are created for you when you see the Duty Programmers after you enrol.
Your files are common amongst the three sets of computers. That is, the same files are
available on each system. If you are having problems with your account you should
contact the Duty Programmers during office hours on 99251994 or send email to
helpdesk@cs.rmit.edu.au, or fax on 96621617, or go directly to the Duty Programmers
office in Building 10, Level 10, Room 13.
Please note that for security reasons it will be necessary for you to come in personally in
order to have your request serviced.
If you do not know any Unix editors, you should attend the ‘Unix and CS&IT Networks
Sessions’ (see “What activites are run for Newly Commencing Students?” on page 89) that
are run in the orientation and first week of classes. You can contact the Postgraduate
Administrators for details and running times. You can also use nedit from one of the X
windows terminals as an alternative to using vi. A better version of vi is vim.
One option is to purchase and install Linux. This is a PC implementation of Unix. You can
obtain a book and a CD from any technical bookstore. Redhat Linux is well thought of.
Students can install X windows etc. under Linux. Another similar option is to install
FreeBSD, also available with a book from a bookstore. Alternatively, Linux/BSD is
available from the Duty Programmers. Finally, students can purchase a Mac running OSX,
which is Unix.
See “Are there any user information sheets?” on page 100.
101

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.57.11How do I use
the modems at
RMIT?
14.58 Teaching and Learning Advisors
102
There are two ways to use modems at RMIT. Either you use the RMIT modems or you use
the ISP that RMIT has engaged (for a fee).
Information about the RMIT modems and how you use them should be available from
Building 5.
Information about general RMIT modems is available at http://www.rmit.edu.au/its.
Refer to the contact information under “International Students” on page 87.
14.59 Technical Services (TSG) and IT Help
14.60 Text Books
14.61 Timetables
14.61.1 Where do I
access my
timetable?
14.61.2 How do I
allocate
myself to tutes
and labs?
14.62 Transfer
14.62.1 How do I
transfer from a
Graduate
Diploma to a
Masters?
14.62.2 How do I
transfer from
one Masters
program to
another?
Students who are experiencing problems should contact the Duty Programmers in the first
instance, located at 10.10.13.
There is also theTSG web page at http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/tsg.
Text books change from year to year and are not listed here. International students who
wish to purchase a text book before they arrive might contact the lecturer of the given
course. Also see section 12.18 on page 82.
Timetables can be accessed via http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/timetables. From here you will
be able to view the times that lectures, tutorials and labs run for any given course running
in the relevant semester.
Once students have enrolled in courses and obtained their computer account they will
need to log into the Student Timetabling System (STS) to be allocated to their tutes and
labs. This will be done via http://www.rmit.edu.au/students/sts.
You must have maintained a CGPA of at least 2.0 in your Graduate Diploma program to
transfer to the Masters program. You can transfer either after Stage A or later in your
studies. You must apply for the Masters program through OPS (local students) or RMIT
International (international students).
If you transfer to the Masters program, you may still apply to receive a Graduate Diploma
when you have completed eight courses (including the core courses).
Local students
You should do the following:
1. Download a “Direct Application” form from:
http://mams.rmit.edu.au/ilqu19mxxs49.pdf.
2. Seek approval from the program advisor of the program you wish to transfer to. (For
a list of who these are, see “Program Advisors” on page 95.)
3. Attach a written approval to the application form and submit it to the Office for
Prospective Students (Ground floor, Building 15, City campus).

14.63 Unix
14.64 Withdrawal
14.64.1 I want to
withdraw from
a course.
14.64.2 I need to
withdraw from
all courses,
but just for a
semester.
14.64.3 The company
is sending me
away and I
have to miss a
few lectures;
what shall I
do?
Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
For MC062 Master of Technology (IT) students wanting to transfer to the MC061 Master of
Applied Science (IT) program, please note:
You can submit an application if and only if you have completed four Stage C courses of
the MC062 Master of Technology (IT) program and have at least an average of Credit
(CGPA of at least 2.0) in each course. Also, note that the only courses that will be counted
towards the MC061 Master of Applied Science (IT) program are your Stage C courses.
International students
You should do the following:
1. Go to the School Office (Building 10, Level 10) to obtain a form.
2. You will then be directed to the new program’s advisor and/or selection officer to
obtain their approval and signature. (For a list of program advisors, see “Program
Advisors” on page 95.)
3. Go back to the School Office with the form that’s been approved, and you will be
given further instructions on the next step in the process.
See “What activites are run for Newly Commencing Students?” on page 89.
It is very important that you familiarise yourself with Unix and attend three Unix and CS&IT
Networks sessions that are offered by the School before you commence your classes.
There are also some Unix tutorials that are available from the Computer Science Duty
Programmers office at Building 10, Level 10. (See “Duty Programmers” on page 81.)
Alternatively, you can go to the following link (you need to log in):
http://www.inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/support/docs/
Finally, you can go to any technical bookstore and buy a “Unix for Dummies” type book.
Not that you are a dummy; that’s just what they call those books!
Deadlines for course withdrawals (without incurring academic or financial penalty) in the
various semesters are as follows:
• 31st of March for the February semester
• 31st of August for the July semester.
Any additional courses must be approved and submitted for processing by the end of
teaching week 2 in both semesters.
Summer courses: The last day to withdraw from a summer course is much shorter than
standard semesters. While the deadline for course withdrawals is normally the end of the
second week of the semester, still, it is important that students check and confirm the
withdrawal deadline for summer courses at enrolment in December/January.
If withdrawing from all courses for either semester (excluding summer), you must apply for
a Leave of Absence for that period or your enrolment will be cancelled automatically. You
must be enrolled in at least one course per semester, or be on Leave of Absence to
maintain your place in your program.
See your lecturer. It may be possible to catch up. On the other hand, you should try and
ensure that your boss lets you know of any possible interruptions to your study as soon as
possible.
If you withdraw late, you will still incur fees. (See “Fees” on page 84.)
103

Chapter 14: Frequently asked questions
14.64.4 I have just
started the
program and I
need to take
leave of
absence.
14.64.5 For various
reasons, I feel
compelled to
take one
semester off.
Can I?
104
You may not take a leave of absence until you have successfully completed at least one
semester of study.
International students must see the Teaching and Learning Advisors (see page 87) AND
their academic advisor to discuss if they can take a leave of absence.
See the program advisor. You must be able to justify that this is a temporary hiccup, and
that in the future, things should return to normal.
If you are an international student and wish to take leave of absence for a job-related
reason, it is unlikely that this will be approved.
14.65 Work (sessional/part time) in the School
Students should visit the following web site to apply for work:
http://www.rmit.edu.au/csit/employment