Last year, for example, 5800 students were exposed to SAP R/3 in undergraduate and postgraduate courses through SAP's University Alliance Program in which 16 universities throughout Australia and New Zealand are currently participating.
According to Len Augustine, director of marketing, SAP Australia, to date the applications software giant has provided some AU$2.5 million worth of R/3 software to the universities, pretty well any module(s) they want, he says. On an even grander scale, Peter Scope, Cisco Systems marketing manager education programs, for Australia and New Zealand, says that Cisco has spent about $20 million developing and bringing the Cisco Systems Networking Academy Program to market locally.
The companies involved claim such programs are a win-win for all concerned; they produce readily employable graduates with recognised accreditation who can immediately earn good salaries and help alleviate the skills shortage; they help provide the schools and colleges with cutting edge curricula, which in turn gives them a selling pitch for their courses; and to the vendors, themselves, the programs increase product awareness and indirectly grow the industry.
Traditional qualms within academic circles about letting industry tinker with education may be receding. However, the purists and cynics might argue that such programs are little more than -cash for comment" - an incentive for educational institutions to push particular products and one that compromises the independence and objectivity of those teaching the courses.
