Asian option boosts opportunities for UQ students

University of Queensland students could enhance their career prospects by doing part of their study in Asia, the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Veterinary Science Professor Roger Swift said today.

The Faculty is building close relationships with leading universities in South East Asia through the Regional Centre for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).

UQ is one of seven member universities linking Australia and Canada with Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.

Professor Swift highlighted the benefits of student and academic interchange at a recent meeting of SEARCA Executive Officers and Coordinators hosted by UQ.

"Given our huge agricultural trade flows into South East Asia, the region is vital to our future," Professor Swift said.

"Students with some Asian experience would be attractive to employers with business links to the region."

Professor Swift said there had traditionally been stronger interest by Asian students seeking to spend time studying in Australia.

"We are keen to increase the flow going the other way," he said.

An international postgraduate distributed learning program launched in 2000 could become a model for other courses in the future.

Students could select units of a Master of Science in Sustainable Resource Management from the University of Queensland, the University of British Columbia and the Universiti Putra Malaysia.

"While studies can be undertaken by distance education, there is a lot to be said for spending time on campus absorbing the cultural experience," Professor Swift said.

Professor Swift said UQ enjoyed a number of benefits from its membership of SEARCA.

"It's a valuable relationship.We can benefit from staff and student interchange and it also gives us access to a range of potential postgraduate students at UQ," he said.

"The Asian members of SEARCA also have links to other universities in the region, extending relationships into countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam."

For more information, contact Professor Richard Williams (07) 5460 1305.