Last updated 16th April 2024
Emma Donnelly, Mature Student Administrator
Tell me about yourself?
My name is Emma Donnelly and I’m a long-standing member of the UCD Admissions team. My main areas of responsibility are Mature students and alternative entry routes such as UCD Access, Open Learning and other UCD progression routes. I believe everyone should have the chance to study at University if they want to and I love the challenge of finding a successful entry route for non-standard applicants.
What project are you working on? Tell us a little bit about it?
The Mature Applicant Assessment project. This project is dedicated to reviewing the application and evaluation processes for Mature students. The previous process was in place for over 10 years and most degrees had individual requirements which meant that prospective students had to navigate a lot of information before they applied. Some areas also required applicants to take an aptitude style test called MSAP (Mature Students Admissions Pathway) which came to be seen as a barrier to entry.
The goal of this project is to simplify the experience for prospective students. The entry requirements have been standardised and the MSAP test has been removed as a requirement. We’ve also been able to develop our system to allow for targeted communications with mature-aged applicants. The hope is that by engaging with these applicants as early as possible with specific information and guidance, we can increase the number of complete and eligible applications that we receive.
We have also simplified the experience for faculty and staff who are involved with the assessment of the applications. Accessing and reviewing applications will now be locally based and much more straightforward. The new process will also allow us to operate reserve lists for all courses (where numbers and standard allows) which means that we can stay issuing offers until the quota is hopefully filled.
What is your role on the Project? What element are you working on?
As the main Mature Students Administrator, I’ve been involved in many aspects of the project – reviewing the previous entry requirements and process, the consultation and pilot process and now we are rolling out training for assessors. I will be offering drop-in Zoom sessions should anyone run into any problems or would like the opportunity to go through some applications together. The dates and times will be included in the user guide for assessors.
What do you enjoy most about working on this project?
Seeing how the standard of applications is already improving. It has always been disappointing to see potential students missing out because they haven’t completed the application in full or have left out important information, despite all our publications and advice. We’ve already seen the benefits of our targeted communications with a much better rate of completion in the mature section of the CAO application form.
I’m really looking forward to seeing how the assessment and offer stages will work now, and then reviewing the process ahead of the next application season to see where we can make even more improvements.
If you have any questions on the above content please do not hesitate to contact Emma by emailing (opens in a new window)mature.students@ucd.ie