Bond launches revolutionary degrees for jobs of tomorrow

While everyone talks about jobs of the future, Bond University is preparing students for them, launching four revolutionary degrees for careers including zero impact analyst, crowd-funding specialist and chief trust officer.

The newly announced degrees are the Bachelor of Digital Transformation, Bachelor of Entrepreneurial Transformation, Bachelor of Health Transformationand Bachelor of Legal Transformation.

The Federal Government’s Employer Satisfaction Survey earlier this year found employers of Bond University graduates were amongst the most satisfied in Australia.

Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) Keitha Dunstan said the new suite of degrees would further enhance graduates’ employability.

“We are already very proud of everything the University has achieved in terms of a truly exceptional student learning experience,” Professor Dunstan said.

“For the past year-and-a-half we have been strategising how the University responds to make sure that we are preparing our students in the very best way that we can.”

The innovative degrees are focused on new and emerging fields and will complement traditional degrees offered at Bond such as law, medicine and business.

Students who enrol in the four new degrees will participate in two significant workplace immersions and have access to the Transformation CoLab which will draw in expertise from across the University and industry.

“They will learn design thinking, they will be innovative problem-solvers, they will understand how to find information, how to analyse information and how to use information,” Professor Dunstan said.

“We also have a design studio where students will be working on actual workplace problems. Employers will pitch problems they have and our students will work on those problems and deliver outcomes that will then be implemented in the workplace.”

The university’s James Birt, Associate Professor of Computer Games, said there was a lot of angst in society about the age of automation, artificial intelligence and robotics, and the effect these would have on employment.

“But what is fascinating is usually when you ask the question of who is concerned, it tends to be the older population -- not necessarily the younger generation,” Dr Birt said.

“Young people embrace it, they want to see it, they're super-excited about what is happening in the world.

Professor Jeff Brand, Associate Dean of Learning and Teaching in the Faculty of Society and Design, said fears of mass unemployment due to technology were overblown, given the evidence about those willing to explore new pathways.

“Unemployment in the 48 leading economies accounting for 84 per cent of global output is at the lowest level in 40 years according to a report in late 2018 by investment bank UBS,” Professor Brand said.

“Students with lateral thinking, creativity, a sense of enterprise, and a willingness to make transformation happen as the economy evolves, will have no worries about getting a job.”

Bond University has a strong focus on employability, underpinned by its personalised approach to learning which includes dedicated career guidance through its Career Development Centre, the ‘Beyond Bond’ compulsory professional development and community engagement program, and its co-curricular entrepreneurship program, ‘Transformer’.

Bond University, Australia’s first private non-profit university, is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its founding this year.

The degrees

In a business environment where private sector, government and not-for-profit organisations are all undergoing a digital transformation, the Bachelor of Digital Transformationequips students with the knowledge and practical skills required to lead cultural and technological change. Potential jobs* include:

• Chief Happiness Officer 
  Reviewing corporate hiring, human resource and collaboration policies to balance the needs of employees and senior management.
• Chief Trust Officer
  Working with finance and PR teams to advise on traditional and cryptocurrency trading practices to maintain integrity and brand reputation.
• Zero Impact Analyst
  Identifying, strategising and devising the use of a company’s assets to minimise environmental impacts.

The Bachelor of Entrepreneurial Transformation is designed to foster creativity and innovation in the business developers, operators and managers of the future. Potential jobs* include:

• Opportunity Conduit
  Examining markets to identify gaps and areas of potential growth. Analysis can be used to plan forward strategies, develop products and services, stimulate investment from government and the private sector.
• Chief Data Storyteller
  Translating data into compelling, actionable insights through art and narrative; liberating understanding from the confines of the analytics team.
• Mobile Marketing Jedi
  Drawing on mobile and cloud data to develop marketing campaigns and socially connected experiences based on where the consumer is at any given time and how they interact with their mobile devices.

Bachelor of Health Transformation students with the skills to understand the changing demands that society will place on health systems and to innovate beyond traditional modes of healthcare delivery that links consumer expectations, public needs and health sector outcomes. Potential jobs* include: 

• Personal memory curator
  Consulting with patients and stakeholders to generate specifications for virtual reality experiences that bring a particular time, place or event to life to combat memory loss.
• Octogenarian Service Provider
  Providing a wide range of specialist products and services for the record numbers of people who will be living active lives well into their 80s, 90s and 100s.
• Walker/Talker
  Connecting with seniors to coordinate social and activity-based interactions via an Uber-style platform.

The Bachelor of Legal Transformation focusses on the knowledge, skills and dispositions essential for the delivery of legal services in the face of rapid and persistent technological change. Potential jobs* include:

• Legal Technology Designer 
  Working at the intersection of human-centred design, technology and law to build the next generation of legal products and services.
• Legal Entrepreneur 
  Creating and innovating new legal products, services and systems based on a knowledge of law.
• Legal Project Manager
  Tasked with defining the parameters of a case, planning the optimum course of action, managing the process and evaluating how the matter was handled.

The new degrees will be available from January 2020.

Online applications are welcome now, and for further information you can call 1800 074 074.

* The potential Jobs of the Future listed above have been referenced from a variety of sources, including media articles, corporate reports, futurists and recruiters.