It was a proud moment for 17 students with intellectual disabilities as they graduated from University College Cork on 11^th November 2024. This was the second cohort of students to be conferred under the umbrella of the id+ Project.

The Deputy President and Registrar's office, University College Cork, played host to a visiting group of managers from the Education & Student Affairs unit of Erasmus University Rotterdam on October 14th to 15th, 2024. 

On tuesday 8th OCtober we were delighted to welcome 140 of our Guidance Counsellor colleagues to University College Cork for our annual Guidance Counsellor Conference.  This year the lens was on Access, Diversity and Inclusion. The conference was jointly opened by our Deputy President and Registrar, Stephen Byrne and the Deputy President of the UCC Students' Union Hayley O'Connell Vaughan, followed by updates from our Admissions Officer, Danielle Byrne and an overview of supports and services provided by Olive Byrne, Head of the Access UCC. We were thrilled to include a student panel, expertly mediated by James Bilson (Access UCC), where four of our students shared their own experiences of Access UCC and how the supports and services have positively impacted their university experience and beyond. Really powerful stuff - thank you Brian, Barromie, Daragh and Nicole for your really open and honest engagement.

UCC launched the first ever Apprenticeship in Social Work in Ireland on 11^th September 2024. Staff from the School of Applied Social Studies, Employers, Mentors and other stakeholders gathered to welcome the first cohort of Apprentices in Social Work as they began their first week of term on the MSW and PDSWS programmes.

Deputy President and Registrar Prof. Stephen Byrne represented University College Cork at a special in-person meeting of the UNIC Management Board at Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) on August 28, 2024.

The new Minister for Further and Higher Education, Patrick O’Donovan, met students with disabilities on his first visit to UCC on Monday 26^th August 2024. The focus of the visit was a roundtable discussion on ways of supporting transitions into and out of university for students with disabilities.

On Wednesday, 7^th August, Deputy President and Registrar Professor Stephen Byrne officially opened the Accessibility Allies Showcase, celebrating the contributions of the Inclusive UCC’s 17 student interns. Their efforts have significantly enhanced accessibility and universal design across over 120 modules at UCC.

The Safe and Sound project was launched on the 26th June by Professor Stephen Byrne. Using social media content, posters, digital signage and events, the project aims to address sexual violence and harassment as part of the Ending Sexual Violence Framework. Safe and Sound will run for one year and is led by Professor Nuala Finnegan, Dr Caroline West, and Chloe Boland. 

We were delighted to officially launch the University College Cork Staff Disability and Neurodivergence Network with President John O'Halloran. This event took place on Thursday 18th July 2024 and was attend by over fifty staff members.

At a recent National Tertiary Office event in Dublin on 13 June, the UCC-Cork ETB teams comprising Kathy Bradley, Joan Cronin, Nuala Finnegan, Fionna O’Connor, and Helen Ryan, presented on the development of the new tertiary degree programme – Bachelor in Social Work.

I gcaitheamh mhí na Bealtaine ghlac daltaí ó Ghaelcholáiste Mhic Shuibhne, Cnoc na hAoine, Corcaigh, páirt sa Scéim Chónaitheach de chuid Bharr na gCnoc i nGaeltacht Chorca Dhuibhne agus i nGaeltacht na nDéise. I nDún Chíomháin (Baile an Fheirtéaraigh) agus i gColáiste na Rinne (Rinn Ó gCuanach) faoi seach a chuireadar fúthu. Chuir an scéim seo deiseanna ar fáil dóibh an teanga a labhairt go leanúnach agus páirt a ghlacadh i bpobal Gaeltachta.
Dhá dhíorma dhaltaí a chuaigh siar go Dún Chíomháin: trí dhuine dhéag ón gcúigiú bliain, agus seacht nduine dhéag ón gcéad agus ón dara bliain. Grúpa amháin de dháiréag a chuaigh soir go Coláiste na Rinne. Ghlac na daltaí páirt i ranganna teangan agus in imeachtaí sóisialta, agus chuireadar aithne ar an bpobal áitiúil.
 

UCC is delighted that its Sailing Club was selected to represent the Irish 3rd level institutions at the FISU World Sailing Championships in Lake Garda from 6-10 June 2024.

The UCC Sailing Club crew was selected having won the Irish Universities Sailing Intervarsity Championship in 2023 in addition to the Irish Student Yachting Championship.

The club was delighted to be selected by Sailing Ireland & Student Sport Ireland.

The crew has trained hard for the event & look forward to representing Ireland at this prestigious event.

Prof Stephen Byrne formally welcomed delegates to the ASEM Lifelong Learning Hub International Advisory Council meeting which was hosted in UCC on May 29^th as part of the Global Lifelong Learning Week conference. The Irish hosting of the ASEM LLL Hub at UCC takes place from 2020-2025 and is funded by the Irish government with Dr. Séamus Ó Tuama (Director of ACE) as Chair. The conference attracted close to 300 delegates from 108 universities and 40 countries across the world.

On 24 May 2024, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation, and Science, Patrick O’Donovan TD, announced the launch of two ground breaking pathways in social work education. These new initiatives aim to make the profession more accessible and diverse, offering flexible and practical routes for aspiring social workers.

Inclusive UCC proudly celebrated Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) last week with a seminar themed "Universal Design and Accessibility: Different Concepts, Same Goal." The event featured international experts and interactive sessions, providing practical insights into accessibility and universal design.

Over 100 Access Practitioners and community partners from around the country assembled in UCC for the SOAR Project’s national conference - Access to Higher Education: Emerging Practice and Professional Challenges in a Changing Access Context that took place on April 23^rd & 24^th.

Comhpáirtíocht phobail is ea Barr na gCnoc a bhunaigh an tOllamh Pádraig Ó Macháin (Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Corcaigh) i bpáirt le Phil O’Flynn, Príomhoide, agus foireann Choláiste Phobail Thraolaigh Mhic Shuibhne, Cnoc na hAoine, Corcaigh. Cumasc idir dualgas UCC i leith na páirtíochta pobail agus an dualgas um thaighde agus teagasc is ea Barr na gCnoc. Cuireann an tionscnamh seo acmhainní acadúla, daonna agus praiticiúla sa Ghaeilge ar fáil ar mhaithe leis an bpobal.

UCC Societies were victorious at the annual Board of Irish College Societies (BICS) National Awards on April 11, taking home four awards. 

Board of Irish College Societies (BICS) is a national organisation that was founded in 1995, and its role is to provide a national forum for the societies in Ireland’s universities, colleges, and institutes of education. Their National Awards are an opportunity for student societies to showcase their numerous achievements from the previous year. This year 345 students competed in the awards across 18 higher level institutions.

The UCC EmployAgility Awards programme is a key transition out initiative coordinated through a partnership with the UCC Graduate Attributes Programme and UCC Career Services. This year 239 students achieved an award. 

EmployAgility is defined as being “flexible enough to skill up and manage rapid changes in the workplace.” 

A symposium focused on Care, Caring and the upcoming referendum on article 41 took place this morning and was followed by the launch of an exhibition of 'Fostering a sense of belonging ...', an original research- and art-based collaboration between Professor Marie-Pierre Moreau and Sally Campbell Galman. Speakers were, Dr Seán ó Conaill, Dr Claire Edwards, Dr Carol Kelleher, UCC & Dr Laura Cahillane, UL, and chair Professor Conor O'Mahony.

Now in its seventh year, UCC's annual staff and student-led Refugee Week (February 19-24) covered a broad range of topics, from the rise of the Far Right to human trafficking to challenges faced by refugees accessing education. It also held more joyous moments, with a Sanctuary Run, a Sanctuary Swim and a wonderful Open mic Night featuring the Sauti Studio.