Developing and Implementing a Professional Doctorate in Computing

This paper describes the processes involved in developing and implementing the Doctor of Computing (DComp) programme at UNITEC Institute of Technology. It is the first professional doctorate in computing to be offered in New Zealand and required a rigorous and prolonged approval and accreditation process, involving a panel of eight people set up by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). The UNITEC development team began (in May 2001) by examining various models for professional doctorates from Australia, England and New Zealand and agreeing on a generic structure that met NZQA requirements and could be applied to a range of academic disciplines. Generic regulations and course outlines were drafted by the team and approved by the UNITEC Academic Board and a 150 page document was sent to NZQA after 12 months of development and refinement. The approval and accreditation process took another seven months and the programme commenced in February 2003. The paper concludes by describing the experience of offering the first of three courses and reflecting on the challenges and rewards of facilitating learning at the highest level of NZQA's "framework".