In 2008 The University of Melbourne began implementing institution-wide changes to its academic programs. The changes greatly impacted on the Department of Geomatics, the University’s traditional home for spatial sciences education: brand new course structures and subjects required development. This paper aims to outline a number of key lessons arising from the changes by reviewing the design and implementation phases of the new programs. The reviews are based on qualitative analysis of discussions held with academic staff involved and quantitative analysis of figures and statistics emerging from the first year of implementation. Results highlight the importance of establishing well-funded and organized teaching teams; the need to align learning objectives with learning environments; the benefits of encouraging academic diversity by reducing prerequisites for school-leavers; and the ability to gain wider exposure of spatial sciences through the ‘breadth’ concept.