Graduate Taught Programmes and Enrolment Planning

As you will have seen from the recent email communications from the President, significant work is ongoing around growth and development of graduate taught programmes. This is one of the key objectives of the UCD Education Strategy 2009/14 and the main priority activity in the area of graduate education for 2009/10.

During the last academic year nine UCD Schools participated in a pilot to review their Masters programmes with a view to detailing their current course structure and offerings and building flexible and innovative programmes and pathways from undergraduate to PhD level.

During this period also, the Director of Finance and Enrolment Planning, Deborah Kavanagh, in conjunction with the Deputy Registrar for Graduate Studies, Professor Julie Berndsen and the Graduate School Directors piloted an enrolment planning exercise for all graduate taught programmes for 2009/10. The purpose of the planning was to assist the Graduate Schools and Schools in reviewing their current portfolio and enabling them to set targets for student intake for 2009/10. The pilot involved compilation of individual Programme/School and overall College enrolment and fee templates including relevant historical information on student numbers. The consolidated data provided a basis for the definition of fee points, for supporting Graduate School level monitoring of the numbers of students applying for and being accepted into programmes, and for tactical marketing. The result of the efforts of the enrolment planning process combined with the individual recruitment efforts of the Schools was an increase in the main campus graduate student numbers by 410 (11%) for Semester 1 of 2009/10 to approximately 4,290, compared with 3,880 in 2008/09. We would like to congratulate and extend our thanks to all those who contributed to this successful outcome.

We are now moving to provide a framework to guide the development, review, enrolment planning, internationalisation and marketing of graduate taught programmes. The Graduate School Directors are currently working closely with Schools and Programmes to plan 2010 enrolments and look at further development and refinement of the graduate taught portfolio at UCD. Speed and efficiency of the admissions process is an essential part of growth and development of graduate taught programmes and the streamlined admissions pilot, initiated last year, is now being extended to over 30 programmes, which are particularly attractive to international students. I will update you further on this activity over the coming months and would like to draw your attention to a special graduate education issue of the Registrar's Bulletin that will appear on Tuesday 15 December 2009.

Module Student Feedback Pilot SIF II Funded
Electronic module feedback questionnaires residing in the Student Information System are being piloted for 80 modules across the university. The questionnaires opened on Monday, 16 November 2009.

College Teaching Awards SIF II Funded
College Teaching Awards 2008/09 were presented by the President of UCD, Dr Hugh Brady on 1 October 2009. Details of the application process for the 2009/10 College Teaching Awards will be published in early 2010.

Irish Universities Quality Board Seminar
The IUQB Seminar "Striving to enhance the Student Experience: Implementing a Student Centered Approach to Learning" took place on 3 November 2009. Click the following link to view the posters and presentations, a number of which were from UCD: http://november.dempsey200.com/presentations.html

UCD Connect Teaching and Learning Tab Re-Launched
A video of the keynote speech "Exploring Teaching/Research Linkages" which was delivered by Professor Andrea Nolan, University of Glasgow at the Teaching & Learning Colloquium on 16 October 2009 is available on the UCD Connect Teaching and Learning Tab.

Check out the Google Calendar on the tab for details of upcoming Teaching and Learning courses and events. If you would like a teaching and learning event added, please email the details to TLAD@ucd.ie

Dublin Centre for Academic Development
The VPTLs and Fellows contributed prominently at the official launch of DCAD, part of an initiative under the DRHEA which took place on Friday, 6 November 2009 in DCU. Professor Bairbre Redmond delivered one of the papers on possible new teaching and learning linkages between the eight institutions in the DRHEA.

The University is currently undertaking a pilot Annual Programme Reporting exercise for taught programmes, which is expected to be evaluated at the end of Semester 1 2009/10.

The pilot annual programme reporting process is designed to evaluate the continued effectiveness and quality of taught provision at UCD, and to identify future actions to address shortcomings and/or further enhance the quality of the student experience. Annual reporting may also be used as a means of sharing good practice with colleagues across the programme, school, and University.

The quality review site visit for the UCD School of Art History and Cultural Policy took place from 5-8 October 2009.

Supporting the University
UCD Registry has produced a document aimed at providing a snapshot of how we support staff and students in the University as well as a brief outline of our plans for the ongoing 2009/10 academic year. To view this document, click here (Connect login details required).

Start of term survey results
The student satisfaction rate from this year's start of term survey is high at 85% and is a reflection of the general success of the registration season which runs from mid August to the end of September. This continues the success of 2008, and does so in more challenging circumstances.

Review of Registration 2009
This year's review is being finalised. This review is produced by various participants in the Registration Season and is a collation of positive experiences, issues arising, and recommendations for change.

Student Recruitment
Over 100 guidance counsellors registered for the UCD Guidance Counsellors' Seminar in October, with representatives from close to 80% of UCD's top feeder schools. The seminar concluded with an Open Forum with the Registrar and Programme Deans. Feedback has been extremely positive.

Subject changes
On foot of 2009's Academic Council approval of the Register of Subjects, we are currently recoding subject information on the student system.

Online Applications
An Online Applications menu is now available through SIS Web, allowing users to upload documents, view application details and access the relevant reports. Applicants can now also upload their documents. Training for new users will be held on 2 and 3 December. Email martin.hurley@ucd.ie for more information.

Information Capture and Curriculum Management (ICCM) timeline
The ICCM timelines for 2010 will be published by mid-December 2009. The Curriculum Management System is due to go live at the start of January. Information will be available at http://www.ucd.ie/registry/adminservices/curriculum/ICCM2010.html in mid-December.