Courses

You are here
  • Home
  • Courses
  • Bachelor of Arts (Community Development)
Mid-year entry

Bachelor of Arts (Community Development)

On this page

Make a real difference in the world or your community by learning to build sustainable and participatory communities.

Choose from two specialist areas of study– International Community Development or General Community Development – and take your first steps to making a real difference in communities in Australia, the Pacific Islands, Asia, Africa, Middle East or Latin America.

See structure page for detailed course outline

In this course you will look at questions such as

  • What are participatory communities?
  • What is local and national ‘development’?
  • How is social inequality formed at local, national and international levels?
  • How are human rights frameworks used?

 These questions are examined in a variety of contexts which include

  • social movements
  • migration
  • contemporary Africa
  • social policy

Key community development skills are taught including

  • facilitating groups
  • managing a non government organisation (NGO)
  • community advocacy
  • research skills

Fieldwork placements form an integral part of the course. During placements students develop their skills while gaining practical experience with NGOs, community groups, government or on a campaign. Many students choose to do placements overseas in countries such as Timor Leste, Fiji, Bangladesh and Thailand. VU may provide a small travel grant to help with overseas placements.

The breadth of the placements program can seen in the third year students' Placement Symposium

Students also share their fieldwork experience via ‘Postcards from the Field’

The school has agreements with other universities, such as the National University of Timor Loro Sa’e (UNTL) and NGOs which enrich our program. For example

  • Study tour unit to Uganda taught in conjunction with the NGO AGYA
  • Study tour unit to East Timor. The school also jointly convenes a regular conference in Timor Leste with UNTL.

Graduates can continue studying by undertaking honours, a Masters in International Community Development and we supervise Masters by research and PhD students.

Course Essentials

How to apply

This course is open for mid-year applications. Applications close on 8 June 2012

Methods of applying:

  • You can apply direct to VU

Please note that part-time study may not be available at all campuses.

Already a VU student?

You can transfer into this course through our internal transfer process.

For more info contact the
School of Social Sciences and Psychology

Back to top

Careers

Graduates work as:

  • community advocates
  • managers in civil society organisations
  • researchers
  • advisers to local or central government
  • Service providers in a broad range of fields including work with children, women, youth, aged, indigenous and ethnic communities.
  • overseas aid workers 

Graduates are able to find employment in many government and non-government organisations in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Sudan, Timor-Leste, New Caledonia, Cambodia, Vietnam and other countries.

Learn more about your career options on the Australian government's Career Information and Resources website.

Refugee takes parliament

Gatwech Puoch’s International Community Development degree has laid the foundations in his role to help his homeland become independent.

"I am determined to help my...

Read more
Back to top

Study pathways

There are recognised study pathways for this course. You may be able to complete your course faster by getting credit for previous study.

VU TAFE to undergraduate

You can get credit in the (ABSE) if you have studied one of these TAFE courses at VU:

Diploma of Community Services Work

  • You may get over a year of credit.

Diploma of Community Development

  • You may get up to a year of credit.

Transferring to VU

You can get credit in the (ABSE) for study you have done at other universities. We have formal credit transfer arrangements for this course with the following universities

Careers Australia College of Healthcare

  • If you studied the Diploma of Community Services Work you may get up to a year of credit.

To find out more about the pathways available for this course, please contact the School of Social Sciences and Psychology

Recognition of prior learning (RPL)

Get credit for your work, study and life experience through our Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process.

Find out more about Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).

Graduate faster

If you've done previous study related to this course, you may be awarded credit. This means you can graduate in less time.

Completing this course also gives you a head-start on other at VU courses at a higher level of study.

We also award credit for relevant work and life experience. This is called Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).

Back to top

Course Objectives

  • Develop skills to explore alternative strategies to development in various contexts.
  • Develop skills to ask relevant questions that would lead to relevant development interventions.
  • Promote effective communication and community organising skills.
  • Introduce students to broad theory and practice of community development.
  • Promote a scholarly approach to researching and reporting in community development studies.
Back to top

Units and electives

Plus ONE elective*

*It is strongly recommended that students select this elective from one of the following two units:

Plus TWO electives**

**It is strongly recommended that students select one of the elective from the following two units:

International Community Development Stream

Or

Plus ONE elective selected from the Bachelor of Arts

General Community Development Stream

Or

Plus ONE elective selected from the Bachelor of Arts

International Community Development Stream

General Community Development Stream

International Community Development Stream

Or

General Community Development Stream

Or

International Community Development Stream

General Community Development Stream

Plus ONE elective selected from the Bachelor of Arts

#ASA2030 and ASA2033 are rotated annually. Each is only offered every second year.

Students undertake streams in either International Community Development or General Community Development.

What's a unit?

A unit or 'subject' is the actual class you'll attend in the process of completing a course.

Most courses have a mixture of compulsory 'core' units that you need to take, and optional 'elective' units that you can choose to take based on your area of interest, expertise or experience.

Credits

Each unit is worth a set amount of study credits based on the amount of time you study. Generally, 1 credit is equal to 1 hour of study per week.

Back to top

Admission Information

  • TAFE: VET applicants will be considered and pathways are available from a range of VET courses.
  • Year 12: VCE with minimum study score of 20 in English units 3 and 4 (any) or equivalent.
  • International: Completion of a secondary school qualification equivalent to Australia's year 12 or VCE qualification. IELTS minimum 6.0 (no band less than 6).
  • Mature: Applicants with relevant work, education and/or community experience may be considered on the basis of equivalence.
Back to top

How to apply for this course

We are currently accepting applications for this course.

You can apply direct to VU. Applications close on 8 June 2012.

When you're ready to apply:

  1. Read the Advice to applicants (contains details about how to apply for your course, extra requirements, what happens when you submit your application and other important information).
  2. Complete the Higher education direct entry application form.
  3. As part of the application you may need to complete extra requirements such as:
    • submit supplementary forms
    • attend an interview, audition, information session or workshop
    • submit a folio
    • sit a test

Details about extra requirements are available from the Faculty of Arts, Education and Human Development.

You need to complete all extra requirements by the given dates, otherwise your application may not be considered.

Transferring between VU courses

Want to transfer into this course from another VU course? Complete the Victoria University internal course application form and check whether you need to complete any extra requirements, listed above.

You can also contact us directly:

  • Faculty of Arts, Education and Human Development Student Centre
    Phone: +61 3 9919 4409
    Email:  aehdcourses@vu.edu.au
  • Course Coordinator:
    Dr Charles Mphande
    Phone: +61 3 9919 4755
    Email: charles.mphande@vu.edu.au
  • Ring us on +61 3 9919 6100
  • Find answers and ask questions at GOTOVU

Get in touch

Contact us to discuss your course options:

Ring us on +61 3 9919 6100

Find answers and ask questions at GOTOVU

Back to top