SAS and UNSW Partnership Succeed in IT Skills Shortage

SYDNEY, Australia  (31 Mar 2006)  –  SAS Australia and New Zealand has announced today that its 2005 sponsorship agreement with the University of New South Wales’ (UNSW) School of Mathematics has been extended for at least another year.

The sponsorship, which was initiated by SAS Australia and New Zealand in partnership with UNSW Professor William Dunsmuir and Associate Professor James Franklin, resulted in the introduction of a second year undergraduate course focusing on the management of large volumes of data using SAS software tools.

Aside from providing the University’s School of Mathematics with a range of SAS software to use as the basis of the course, SAS also offered a $1,000 prize to the course’s top students and the opportunity to gain valuable work experience with some of SAS’ leading enterprise clients.

According to Melissa Cassar, Academic Program Manager, SAS Australia and New Zealand, the company’s sponsorship of the 2006 course will follow the same lines as 2005 but with the likelihood of a greater number of work experience opportunities open to students. “There were 31 students who participated in the work experience program over the Christmas 2005 period, with an average of five weeks each across industries such as manufacturing, finance, insurance and government,” she said.

"Given the enormous success of 2005’s program, we are expecting a much larger number of our clients to open their doors to those students who take this year’s course and express interest in gaining practical SAS experience in a real world business environment."

One of the students who participated in the work experience program was David Leon, a final year engineering student who spent six weeks working in the Consumer Marketing and Analytics department of telecommunications giant, AAPT.

In commenting on the benefits of participating in the program, Leon said: "There aren’t that many opportunities for students to follow up a course with hands-on experience in the corporate world – this is definitely an exception."

"I had the opportunity to participate in the analysis of data generated by AAPT’s telesales operations, along with a number of other projects, all of which gave me invaluable experience in using SAS to manipulate data in a high-pressure business environment."

Simon Robinson, AAPT Consumer Marketing’s Analysis and Reporting Manager, said: "There is a growing requirement for people who have strong SAS skills; and initiatives such as SAS’ sponsorship are essential for today’s businesses, where there the need for accurate and timely data analysis and reporting is becoming ever more critical."

"Certainly, if David’s [Leon] performance is anything to go on, then we will definitely be once again participating in the work experience program this year."

Students Gain SAS Certification

Continuing also throughout 2006 is the opportunity for all students passing the course to become SAS Certified Base Programmers. In 2005, 34 of the participating students successfully achieved that certification, providing them with a globally recognised credential that validates their SAS knowledge.

Those students who gained their Base Programmer certification now have enhanced credibility as technical professionals in addition to the corporate world experience many of them acquired through the work experience program.

Cassar says, "Our goal has long been to support our customers by providing the software solutions as well as encouraging the growth of SAS-skilled professionals within the Australian and New Zealand markets. This sponsorship program with UNSW is just one way in which we are continuing to meet that goal."

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