PResident's RePORt 2009/2010 - University College Cork

Foreword
UCC at a Glance
Academic Developments
Teaching and Learning
Research
College Reports:
Arts, Celtic
Studies and Social
Sciences
Business and Law
Medicine and Health
Science, Engineering and
Food Science
Events
Student Experience
Sports and Recreation
Buildings and Estates
Cork University Press
Finance
Governing Body
IRIS Appendix
11
Teaching and Learning
The global economic crisis has created a consensus on the
importance of education in any economic and social recovery.
As the fiscal crisis has affected reliance on Exchequer funding,
it is doubtful that higher education institutes (HEIs) will be able
to scale up their physical space and faculty fast enough to
match the growth in demand for their services. UCC’s Strategic
Plan 2009-2012 reflects the national concern for initiatives that
supports flexible and lifelong learning and echoes national policy
as outlined in such papers as the Higher Education Authority’s
(HEA) Open and Flexible Learning (November 2009).
Ionad Bairre, UCC’s Teaching and Learning Centre, is committed
to this mission and, through the centre’s suites of continuing
professional development (CPD) accredited programmes and
‘drop-in’ seminars, aims to disseminate such principles through
a community network of UCC scholars who engage with the
centre’s activities. Currently, the centre is making real progress
in the development of online education and the greater physical
visibility of the Teaching and Learning Centre, afforded by
the relocation, in 2009/2010, to a dedicated building on main
campus, is coupled with a parallel growth of UCC’s virtual
presence that will cater for the needs of students’ ‘anytimeanywhere’
learning.
Similarly, UCC’s Centre for Adult Continuing Education (CACE)
has developed new programmes, responding to needs in both
communal and commercial settings. 2009/2010 saw the opening
of outreach centres in Nenagh and Clonmel and the delivery
of programmes in large local industries. These off-site courses
have been hugely significant in broadening equity of access
opportunities and in responding to requirements for part-time
and flexible modes of learning and teaching.
The UCC-led and based National Academy for Integration
of Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL) is funded entirely by the
HEA’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF). In 2009/2010 NAIRTL
consolidated its position as a vibrant generator and disseminator
of knowledge with a specific focus on the integration of research
and teaching and learning. In February 2010, an evaluation
report commissioned by the HEA of all its SIF-funded projects
strongly endorsed the work of NAIRTL saying that it is:
“. . . one of the best SIF projects: internationally acclaimed, [with]
strong leadership, significant effects on entire third-level sector.
It has produced excellent results and has expanded to include
38 institutions. Resources should be made available to continue
NAIRTL’s work.” NAIRTL scored the highest possible result in
the evaluation and was the top scoring project in the teaching
and learning category.
Teaching and learning highlights at UCC for
2009/2010 include:
• Ionad Bairre relocated in 2009/2010 to the West Lodge. This
new site is a dedicated space for Teaching and Learning and
enjoys a prominent position on the main university campus,
reflecting UCC’s commitment to ‘parity of esteem between
teaching and research.’
• 63 UCC staff members were awarded with postgraduate
certificate/diploma/masters qualifications in Teaching and
Learning at third level in 2009/2010. In addition to these
accredited programmes, Ionad Bairre continued to offer CPD
opportunities via ‘open’ lunchtime sessions for all teaching staff
in UCC throughout 2009/2010. These sessions were delivered
by a mix of local staff and invited international experts. The
courses and seminars were run by Ionad Bairre staff, assisted
by a number of UCC volunteer teachers.
• 45 postgraduate students completed an accredited course,
run by Ionad Bairre, on teaching at third level. The provision of
this course by Ionad Bairre was facilitated by funding received
from UCC’s Graduate Studies Office. The participants on the
course were invited to submit their work for publication and it
resulted in the publication of In at the Deep End: Postgraduate
Students’ Experiences of Teaching and Learning in Higher
Education, edited by UCC staff and published by NAIRTL.
• €92,000 of external funding was secured by Ionad Bairre in
2009/2010. This entire grant was disbursed amongst 24 UCCbased
projects whose aims were to encourage the growth of
research activity in the undergraduate curriculum. Final reports
on these projects have been completed and Ionad Bairre
staff have presented undergraduate students with awards at
various prize-giving ceremonies as a direct result of the grants
initiative.