QUT is upping its investment in online education, announcing a partnership with a subsidiary of employment services provider SEEK, Online Education Services.

The university will launchQUT going big into on-line study throughout next year, starting in January. Initial offerings will be graduate certificates, diplomas and masters, in health management, project management, public health, financial planning and education. QUT has a small selection of MOOCs available via FutureLearn, notably in robotics and AI but nothing as extensive as now announced.

Vice Chancellor Margaret Sheil says the initiative will allow QUT to “expand its market reach, not least of all to the 20,000 Queensland online learners who have enrolled in courses in universities in other states in the last 12 months.”

The university has created a new position to lead the programme, a yet to be filled PVC Digital Learning.

OES provides client universities with marketing, student support services, plus what it describes as “workforce management” and course-design. “We work closely with our partners’ academic staff to understand the desired learning outcomes, ensuring tailored online learning programs are developed,” OES states.

This is a big win for OES. It has long provided provided services to Swinburne U, which is a minority shareholder.  Western Sydney University –which signed on last September, offers five undergraduate degrees in business and social science.

The organisation started, as Swinburne Online in 2011.