Preparations for the government’s institutional quality review, scheduled for February/March 2011, are now well underway, led by the Quality Office. This is the first institutional review since 2005. Colleagues’ involvement in any of the specific preparatory activities in the coming months will be critical to the success of the review: you may be asked to join a focus group or provide your commentary on a Self-Assessment report. Given the importance of this activity, I will publish a special focus Bulletin on Quality and the Institutional Review later in Semester 1.

As you know, international best practice promotes the active involvement of students in informing changes to their learning experience and their university experience as a whole. The majority of universities internationally have a standardised approach to student evaluation of modules. This year UCD launched a new, online tool to gather and collate students’ feedback on their modules in 2009/10. This was piloted by 11 Schools with excellent results. Module co-ordinators and Heads of Schools can now use the data to enhance teaching and learning. In addition, 46 students from three Colleges participated in focus groups, facilitated by the Quality Office, in 2009/10. I plan to expand this work in 2010-11 so that UCD will be the first Irish University to have a comprehensive approach to student feedback. You can access more information on both the Teaching & Learning and UCD Quality office websites.

I have been impressed by the proposals from Undergraduate Programme Deans and their Programme Boards to make improvements to First Year that will better support students’ transition beyond the initial weeks of the semester. The active involvement of academic and administrative staff at this critical time is appreciated. New initiatives include an expansion of general and disciplinary Study Skills modules including a new introductory Scientific Inquiry module in UG Science, and the introduction of 'Arts Guides' in the Newman building. As a major theme of the university’s Strategic Plan, Forming Global Minds, I expect to revisit Student Engagement and our First Year initiatives on a regular basis in a range of discussion fora, as well as provide news updates through this Bulletin. You will also hear from Deputy Registrar, Bairbre Redmond, on these initiatives.

Internationalisation at UCD will continue to be a priority for the President and the Senior Management Team. We can note that international students as a percentage of the UCD population have already grown from 17% in 2007/08 to 19% in 2009/10. Efforts to attract international students to UCD and to facilitate student mobility intensified last year. UCD is now the top English-speaking European university for European exchange (284 outgoing students in 2008/09; compared to the next most mobile, the University of Sheffield with 269 students (source: European Commission)). This is an important achievement by UCD staff that I am confident we can replicate in other areas. We will continue to target key markets such as China, Malaysia and North America for international student recruitment to attractive programmes. I intend to take forward some important policy discussions and decisions in areas such as student support and on-campus accommodation, as well as collaborative efforts with government and with other universities and Institutes to improve pre-entry and post-entry supports for International students in Ireland.

All colleagues should be aware of the new admissions system at graduate level that was successfully rolled out for all taught programmes in 2009/10 and I would take this opportunity to congratulate all involved in this important work. Admissions Tutors in Schools now process applications on a rolling basis under delegation from Graduate School Boards (School or Programme-level). Part of the initiative has also been for a group of pilot programmes to permit the central Admissions team to make offers, against a strictly designated set of criteria, thereby further speeding up the turnaround time for applicants. I anticipate that a reputation for efficient, quality-assured applications processing will positively impact on UCD’s recruitment efforts – domestically as well as overseas.

UCD’s students will now be able, for the first time, to pay their fees by semester as opposed to at one of only two points during the entire academic session. This is an important milestone in our efforts to enable a truly modular, semester-based curriculum that can be adapted to the needs of lifelong learners. It means that the 'third' semester and its activities over the summer period becomes more formally recognised and enabled by the university’s academic governance and management systems. In practice this means that the fees charged to students – especially research students are in line with the structure of their programme. I encourage staff in Schools to raise awareness of this facility with your graduate students and to discuss its implications at School and Programme level. Further information can be accessed through the UCD Registry: Fees and Grants website 

Several Schools have enthusiastically engaged with the Career Development Centre and its Director, Dr David Foster, in the development of pilot Personal Development Planning (PDP) credit-bearing modules. These will be initially piloted in Computer Science, Psychology and Nursing, where outcomes will be awaited with interest. I encourage colleagues in all Schools to consider how their disciplinary module and programme Learning Outcomes could be enhanced by broader skills-based outcomes and whether the PDP model has something to offer your students. For more information, contact the Career Development Centre