POWERING WORKPLACE PERFORMANCE
24 APRIL, 2014
THE EARLY YEARS
Since 1989, the DeakinPrime story has been one of providing innovative, flexible and engaging education and training programs to corporate, association and government clients. From humble beginnings, DeakinPrime has grown to enhance the capabilities and productivity of over 400 organisations, and upgraded the skills and qualifications of over a million employees and members.
For 25 years, DeakinPrime has stood for the best in learning and development solutions and quality customer service. As current DeakinPrime CEO Simon Hann says, ‘our history has been one of helping organsiations meet their corporate aims through the professional development of its people. This has been, and continues to be done, through the services of a responsive and client-focused organisation backed by the resources and expertise of Deakin, one of Australia’s leading universities.’
The early years
Deakin, Victoria’s fourth university, was formally established through an act of state parliament in 1974 and enrolled its first students at the Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus in 1977. From its beginnings, Deakin has been committed to:
- widening access to university study, in particular through distance education programs; and
- working with businesses, government and associations to meet their learning and development requirements.
One of the University’s first commercial partnerships in 1982 was between the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants (ASCPA, now CPA Australia) and the then School of Management to create an Associate Program for professional accountants. The School of Management also set up the Centre for Management Services in 1988 to facilitate the relationship with the ASCPA and establish new commercial partnerships.
Other early partnerships with industry included a ground-breaking distance education Graduate Diploma/MBA (Technology Management) course developed with the former Association of Professional Engineers, Scientist and Managers Australia (APESMA) and the Graduate Advancement Program offered in association with BHP.
In 1989, ties with industry were further strengthened through the development of the Technology Management Centre (TMC), established in conjunction with the Faculty of Applied Science, to develop an innovative course (Foundation Studies Certificate) aimed at providing formal qualifications for experienced people in employment (supervisory role) who hadn’t previously studied at tertiary level.
The course was underpinned with a computer-managed learning system that allowed students to study at their own pace, supported by tutors remotely (via modem/laptop connection) with face-to-face workshops run at client sites.
In 1993, The Technology Management Centre merged with the Centre for Management Studies to form Deakin Australia, a commercial arm of the University dedicated to facilitating and providing education and training programs to corporate, association and government clients.
DeakinPrime is now DeakinCo., the result of a merger between innovative Credentialing business DeakinDigital, and longstanding workforce capability development business DeakinPrime.
