ALL Student Welcome Programme 2019

The ALL Student Welcome was a two-day event that took place on Tuesday 27th and Wednesday 28th of August, at UCD's O'Reilly Hall. It was open to all incoming UCD students who applied to through any of the following pathways:

• HEAR
• DARE
• Mature Years Entry
• QQI-FET
• University Access
• Open Learning

This was our first ever integrated welcome programme for all of our incoming Access & Lifelong Learning students and was designed to give them a head start with settling into UCD Life, while also finding out lots of practical information and having fun! It was a chance to get to know other first-year students, get used to the UCD campus before everyone else, find out what services are available, and where to ask for help. During the two days, students also got to know their 'Access Leader', a current UCD student, who will be their peer mentor for the coming academic year.

On day one, students heard from a number of speakers including Dr Anna Kelly, Director of UCD Access & Lifelong Learning, who invited attendees to pin on their new "UCD for All" badges, Colin Keogh, a former UCD student now on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, who encouraged them to "own their backgrounds", and Audrey Kongolo, current UCD Science student, who spoke about her own experiences of being supported by UCD Access & Lifelong Learning. This was all coordinated by Fiona Sweeney, Head of Outreach, Engagement and Transition, with the help of 55 Access Leaders and 20 Access & Lifelong Learning team members.

(opens in a new window)View the full programme of events.