Your Compass Oak sapling planted in UCC

5 Oct 2022

UCC's “Acorn to Mighty Oak” metaphor symbolises academic, personal and professional development journey throughout a student’s time at UCC.  In an additional celebration to the Your Compass formal launch, the Graduate Attributes Programme hosted an oak tree planting ceremony on 5 th October 2022 to bring to life this metaphor and to mark the different transitions in a student’s journey. The Acorns included two transition year students, Abbey Burke and Abby Carolan who attend North Presentation Secondary School, Farranree, Cork City, who were accompanied by their Guidance Counsellor, Teresa O Flynn. The Oaks were represented by Jack  David Pimlott, UCC student in Ecology and Environmental Biology and Ailbhe Fitzgerald, UCC student in Bcomm (Hons) Commerce International with Irish. Your UCC Graduate Attributes and Values Compass supports students to consider their holistic development, through their formal curriculum and through the many ways that they can grow, develop and become at UCC.

This week the Graduate Attributes Programme invited two students of North Presentation Secondary School (our acorns) and two UCC students (our oaks) to plant an oak sapling in the lower grounds of UCC. This ceremony celebrated the launch of Your Compass and symbolised the aims of our programme: nurturing successful student transitions from pre-entry to graduation. Abby and Abbey of North Pres Farranree will now assume Ambassador roles and support their classmates to engage with the Nurturing Bright Futures course, a free online offering for all students considering progression to third level.

Thank you to Jack David Pimlott, a second-year student in Ecology and Environmental Biology (School of BEES) and Ailbhe Fitzgerald a final year student in Bcomm (Hons) Commerce International with Irish for supporting us. Two students at different stages of their transition journey who have already excelled in their personal and professional development. 

We want our UCC graduates to be recognised as well-rounded, curious, self-aware individuals who continually learn new skills, are open to new ideas, and make things happen.  UCC students belong to a dynamic and diverse community where many, many people wish to support them on your learning journey. Here at UCC, we liken this journey to the growth of an acorn to an oak tree. The “Acorn to Mighty Oak” metaphor symbolises our students academic, personal and professional development journey throughout their time at UCC. Your UCC Graduate Attributes and Values Compass supports students to consider their holistic development, through their formal curriculum and through the many ways that they can grow, develop and become at UCC.

Your Compass launched on 20th September 2022 and students can sign in using their Student IT details. Your UCC Graduate Attributes and Values Compass is the flagship initiative of the Graduate Attributes Programme. In partnership with multiple academic and professional services units across the university, this self-assessment tool has been created to support and facilitate students in the development of their attributes and values. The learning experiences available on the platforms have been curated by over 20 professional services and academic staff, with the aim that all students are facilitated through curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular learning to develop their graduate attributes and values, in a manner reflective of their personal goals and programme of study. The development of this self-assessment tool was a key action and priority of UCC's Academic Strategy 2018-2022, and we are delighted that students will get the opportunity to discover Your Compass from this semester.

If you would like to learn more about the initiative, please contact Adel Coleman, Graduate Attributes Programme Manager: adel.coleman@ucc.ie 

For more on this story contact:

Adel Coleman

Graduate Attributes Programme Manager 

adel.coleman@ucc.ie 

graduateattributes@ucc.ie