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Classes commence in week 7, after vintage placement has been completed.

There will be lectures and workshop on Thursdays, from 9am -5pm

On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

1.      
Demonstrate competency in the key practical aspects of viticultural work
in a commercial setting.

AND/OR

2.      
Demonstrate competency in the work undertaken by a cellar staff in a
commercial winery during the period of vintage.

 3.      
Explain the principles behind either
the practices that underpin a commercial viticultural operation. Students are
required to reflect on practices undertaken in the vineyard.  This can include a first hand understanding of soil
management, irrigation, pests and diseases, canopy management, pruning, and
vine monitoring and further describe limitations and suggest improvements. Furthermore,
the student should be able to evaluate the management strategy used by a
viticultural enterprise.

AND/OR

4.      
Explain the principles behind the
practices that underpin practical winemaking during the period of vintage in a
commercial winery. This can include a first hand
understanding of grape harvest and vine monitoring, grape receival and
weighbridge operations; grape and juice processing; fermentation and post
fermentation operations, cellar management and quality control procedures and
further describe limitations and suggest improvements. Furthermore, the student
should be able to evaluate the processes by which a series of operations from
grape harvest decisions to post-fermentation management of a selected wine are
made by a commercial winery.

5.      
Explain the aims and objectives of the
major grape and wine industry organisations.

6.      
Explain some of the issues that are
currently before the industry. These may include topics such as alcohol abuse
and its implications for health and society, the global positioning of
Australian wine, the role and importance of the Australian Wine Show system,
and emerging practices in grape growing and winemaking.

7.      
Develop high order report writing and
presentations skills, including reflective analysis of placement experience in
the context of industry issues.

Multiple modes of learning and teaching will be utilised. Student will undertake a 10-week professional placement in their chosen discipline of viticulture or oenology, with the option after consultation with the course coordinator(s) of a blended option between these disciplines. Students are expected to undertake self analysis and reflection of their performance through a bi-weekly online journal. Supporting this placement experience is a lecture and workshop series that establishes the Australian wine industry in an international context, explaining the aims and objectives of the major grape and wine industry organisations and key issues confronting the industries’ potential growth and development. The goal is for the students to achieve an in-depth but practical ‘real-world’ understanding of the wine related industries and further develops professional skills and industry networks to enhance future career opportunities.

A student enrolled in a 12-unit course, such as this, should expect to spend, on average 48 hours per week on the studies required. This includes both the formal contact time required to the course (e.g., lectures and practicals), as well as non-contact time (e.g., reading and revision).

 

Due to the non-standard nature of the activities associated with this course, the normal academic workload modelling used is inappropriate. During the ‘industry experience’ component of the course, students will typically be in full-time employment within a winery over the vintage period, or within a vineyard or similar operation at various times of the year. The total number of hours worked in this time will vary depending upon the year and the nature of the placement. Typically however, at least 400 hours of employment will be undertaken. Moreover, in many cases, this will take place to an extent outside of the formal semester timetabling.

 

The weekly workload during the formal semester periods may be summarised thus:

(i) Assuming six weeks of semester 1 working vintage (or equivalent), then one hour per week of weekly online reflective journal; additionally, ca two of the three two-hour sessions on Industry Placement Analysis and Industry Placement Case Study will occur over this period.

(ii) Weeks 7 to 12 of semester at UA, then ca 3 hours per week Industry Perspectives lectures, 2.5 hours per week of Industry Perspectives workshops, plus non-contact study comprising two hours per week each of Industry Perspectives Seminar and Final Report preparation, completion of the Industry Placement Analysis and Industry Placement case Study assessments (ca 2 hours each in total) and preparation of the Industry Perspectives Literature review (3 hours). By revising therefore the ‘weeks’ value in the table below to 7 (cf 13), a weekly workload of 12.4 Hours is achieved.

 

The overall course workload, 400 hours ‘work experience’ plus 86 hours at Uni, spread over the 13 notional weeks of the course, is ca 37.5 hours per week. 

Lecture topics include:

Overview of research directions in the Australian wine industry

Industry organisations and their roles:

SA Wine Industry Association, Winemakers Federation of Australia, Wine Grapegrowers of Australia, Wine Industry National Environment Committee.   

Industry specific issues:

Environmental Protection Authority (SA).

Australian Grape & Wine Authority (trade and other issues, international marketing of Australian Wine)             

Wine marketing and Making an international brand, The changing face of world wine (emerging new varieties and styles).

Wine show system from a judge’s perspective.

Alcohol dependence, Wine and health, Alcohol policy, Corporate Social Responsibility, Centre for Automotive Safety Research.

Workshop topics include:

Human resource management ─ conflict resolution

Leadership

All students must complete a 10-week industry placement at a viticultural and/or winery enterprise. This placement must be discussed with and approved by the Course Coordinator(s) prior to commencement. Lecture and workshops are presented in the second half of semester 1, after the mid-semester break and therefore classes are only scheduled in weeks 6-12 of semester 1. Students are therefore required to complete their 10-weeks placement prior to the return from mid-semester break.

Assessment task	Type of Assessment	Percentage of total assessment	Approximate timing of assessment	Learning Outcome
Industry Placement Pre- Employment Report	Formative & Summative	10	20 February 2017
Industry Placement Weekly Online Reflective Journal	Formative & Summative	10	Duration of placement
Industry Placement Analysis	Formative & Summative	25	Week 8
Industry Placement Seminar	Formative & Summative	10	Week 9
Industry Perspectives Literature Review	Formative & Summative	10	Week 10
Industry Perspectives Seminar	Formative & Summative	15	Week 12
Industry Perspectives Final Report	Formative & Summative	20	Week 13

Industry Placement Pre-Employment Report (10%)

Students will prepare a 1,500 word report that will define the workplace area, company background, expected responsibilities and anticipated outcomes from the placement.

Industry Placement Bi-Weekly Online Reflective Journal (10%)

Students will contribute to an online bi-weekly reflective journal (using an online MyUni portal), that allows critical evaluation and reflection of their industry placement. Students will be expected to locate, analyse, evaluate and synthesise information on their experience. The course coordinator(s) will monitor the reflective journal and provide appropriate feedback and commentary on their activities via monthly meetings (via skype or telephone).

Industry Placement Analysis (25%)

Students will prepare a 3,500-word report analysing their placement. The report will provide an overview of the region they are employed in, its climate, geography industry base, its wine-related history and the corporate structure and production objectives of their employer (including specific details of production techniques, reflected against industry standards or benchmarks. The report will describe the contextual understanding of the ethical and social aspects of the wine industry. Students will also be expected to provide critical evaluation and reflection on the processes they have been involved in directly and communicate them clearly and succinctly. As appropriate students will be expected to critique there own performance, providing reflection and solutions that would have improved the outcomes. Students will receive timely feedback from the course coordinator(s) and/or tenured academic staff.

Industry Placement Seminar (10%)

Students will present a 20-minute (plus question time) seminar on their placement experience. This seminar will summarise their Industry Placement Analysis. All students enrolled will be expected to attend to gain an insight into their peers’ role, analysis and reflection on their experience. Peer and academic assessment will be utilised, with feedback provided within 1 week.

Industry Perspectives Literature Review (10%)

Each student will be required to submit a detailed 1,500 word analysis of a topic related to research and development in the international wine industry. The aim of this analysis is to evaluate published literature to determine what is known and to identify gaps or problems in the knowledge, and generate appropriate conclusions. Assessment will be undertaken by academics in the specific discipline or appropriate for the topic of the review. Feedback will be provided within two weeks of submission.

Industry Perspectives Seminar (15%)

Groups of students will select a topic related to a wine industry issue from a provided list (e.g., Should health claims be permitted on Australian wine in international markets where it could be both legal and advantageous?). The groups will research and analyse the context, current industry perspective and present solutions or alternative viewpoints. Students will then provide evidence to support or refute these claimsand make further recommendations on research required for this topic. Students will present a 30 min group oral presentation. Peer and academic assessment will be utilised, with feedback provided within 1 week.

Industry Perspectives Final Report (20%)

Based on the main points developed via the Industry Perspectives Seminar each group will be required to submit a 3,500 word written report. This must include the background, objective(s) analysis and discussion of the key issues, conclusions and recommendations and appropriate references.In addition, each student is to append up to one page about their contribution and their approach to the topic of the seminar and written presentation. Both peer and topic specific academic assessment will be utilised, with feedback provided within 2 weeks.

If an extension is not applied for, or not granted then a penalty for late submission will apply. A penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment for each calendar day that the assignment is late (i.e. weekends count as 2 days), up to a maximum of 50% of the available marks will be applied. This means that an assignment that is 5 days late or more without an approved extension can only receive a maximum of 50% of the marks available for that assignment.