Celebrating CHAS Winners at the UCD Values in Action Awards 2025
The 2025 UCD Values in Action (VIA) Awards celebrated the outstanding individuals and teams who bring UCD’s values of Collegiality, Creativity, Inclusion, Engagement, Excellence, and Integrity to life every day. Established by the Employee Engagement Network, the awards recognise staff who turn these guiding principles into real, tangible impact for colleagues, students, and the wider University community.
This year, over 80 nominations reflected the dedication, creativity, and passion of staff across UCD. From this remarkable pool, 14 VIA Awards were presented, with a special spotlight on the College of Health and Agricultural Sciences (CHAS). The CHAS awardees exemplified how UCD’s values are lived through everyday actions, showing leadership, collaboration, and a commitment to inclusion and wellbeing.
The ceremony opened with a warm welcome from Professor Aoife Ahern, UCD Vice-President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and Associate Professor Deirdre O’Connor, CHAS Vice-President for EDI. They highlighted the importance of celebrating colleagues who make a real difference by embedding UCD’s values in their work.
''It is great to see busy people still finding the time to want to give back to their communities, but to do more than that and to care about our students here today and future students that might come into our community. I am in awe of what you do beyond the day job.'' Professor Aoife Ahern UCD Vice-President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
The CHAS winners each shared short presentations on their achievements: See below
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Dr. Attracta Lafferty (CAREWELL Team)
Recipient:CAREWELL Team
Category:Fostering Inclusion
Nominator: Jocelyn O'Shea
The CAREWELL Team was nominated in the category of ‘Fostering Inclusion’ to recognise the team’s commitment to raising awareness of UCD employees who balance their work with caring for a family member and in some cases, family members, who have a disability, chronic illness or who are aging.
The efforts of the team have gone above and beyond their responsibilities as researchers, actively fostering inclusion and a sense of community amongst employees who are navigating the challenges of caregiving and work.
The team introduced a range of initiatives including coffee mornings, lunchtime information sessions and seminars. In addition, they championed wellbeing through an ‘8-week CAREWELL wellbeing programme’, co-designed with UCD employees who are family carers.
The team also created two videos to raise awareness. The first was created for line-managers and includes real life-based caregiving scenarios and offers guidance on how line-managers can support employees. The second video, ‘A day in the life of a working family carer’, illustrates the realities of juggling work and care. Additionally, the team has produced a podcast series called CAREWELL Conversations.
Through their advocacy and dedication, the CAREWELL team has made a significant impact on the lives of UCD employees who are family carers.
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Dr. Sinead Flannery
Category:Fostering Inclusion
Nominator:Assoc. Prof. Karen Keavney
Sinéad is the Professional Work Experience Coordinator for the School of Agriculture and Food Science. In support of this role, Sinéad has developed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Dignity & Respect training for students.
The training was developed in response to incidents that arose during student placements, such as workplace harassment and gender discrimination. These incidents highlighted the need to better prepare students in relation to EDI and Dignity & Respect, issues and to equip them with the knowledge and skills to tackle such issues effectively, and to understand their rights.
The initial pilot had two steps: to train the trainers, in this case the Placement Coordinators, and then to have them train the students. The roll out of the student training involved one-hour workshops for over 200 students.
The programme and consultation brought together colleagues from across UCD, supported by the team from the Dignity & Respect Support Service. There is a greater awareness and knowledge of key EDI and Dignity & Respect concepts amongst students and staff as a result of the programme. Students reported being better prepared to handle such situations with a very high number saying they would recommend it to other students.
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Dr. Daniel Crean
Inclusion, engagement and integrity are the UCD values which Dr Crean brings to life through his outreach work in St Kilian’s Community School, Bray, where he was a former student.
Dr Crean has been working for the past decade with St. Kilian’s, a Delivering Equality of Opportunity or DEIS school, supporting Leaving Certificate students to make informed decisions about their further and higher education pathways.
His work began as an informal initiative but over time this has developed into a more formalised mentoring programme called EMBED. This programme is designed around the idea of embedding professors in DEIS schools to share expertise, offer support and encourage students to consider further and higher education pathways.
Giving back to his former school, supporting and inspiring secondary school students to engage in higher education, and designing a programme in close collaboration with the staff of St Kilian's are all important ways in which Dr Crean demonstrates the values of inclusion, engagement and integrity.
The Embed Programme is a powerful example of how student-centered initiatives, designed in collaboration with schools, can foster educational resilience and encourage progression to further and higher education. This kind of work is critical to bridging the educational divide.
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Dr. Mary Sekiya
Category:Driving Sustainability
Nominator:Dr Marion Ryan
As Chief Technical Officer, Mary introduced the ‘My Green Labs’ sustainability certification to the research labs in her section. In addition, she worked with the College Principal of Health & Agriculture to propose, and launch the pilot ‘Sustainable Research Initiative’. This grassroots movement led by researchers in UCD, was committed to improving sustainability in research. The initiative involves securing funding, creating new networks, developing resources for sustainability and securing Irish Green Labs certification.
As it gathered pace, the ‘Sustainable Research Initiative’ was rolled out across UCD. Mary subsequently chaired a number of related groups, one of which now has 30-40 active members.
Mary also co-founded the School of Veterinary Medicine Sustainability group along with Dr Niamh Nestor and Dr Tristan Russell. The formation of the group was the first step in addressing sustainability issues as a cohesive group, with representation from students as well as academic, administrative and technical staff. This has now become a School Committee, effectively embedding and mainstreaming the concept of sustainability within the School.
Mary’s initiatives provided a platform which enabled students and staff of all categories to work together. Her encouraging nature empowered others to participate in sustainability and to put their own initiatives in place.
Their presentations highlighted the remarkable ways in which CHAS colleagues live the UCD Values, inspiring others through their dedication, creativity, and care.
The 2025 VIA Awards recognised not only individual accomplishments but also the contribution of staff to a strong, collaborative, and inclusive University community. By awarding Dr. Lafferty, Dr. Flannery, Dr. Crean, and Dr. Sekiya, UCD acknowledged their dedication to putting the University’s values into practice and the positive impact this has across the College and wider University. Through their work, the CHAS awardees have strengthened the College community, and the College is proud to see their achievements recognised and valued across UCD.
