Speech by Dr Michael P. Mortell,
President, The National University of Ireland, Cork - University College, Cork
at the Conferring of Degrees and Diplomas
on Thursday, 11 December, 1997 at 12.30 p.m.
 
A 1997 Overview Of UCC And Its Contribution To The Region

This is the last Conferring Ceremony in 1997, and it is an appropriate occasion to look back and see what has been achieved over the past year.

The first thing to note is that this year we have had 24 Conferring Ceremonies, and a total of 3,345 people were conferred with undergraduate diplomas, primary degrees, higher diplomas and higher degrees. You can add to this number, 1,139 people conferred with certificates and diplomas in the area of Adult & Continuing Education. So, nearly 4,500 people - between young and old - have earned a qualification from UCC this year. This gives you an idea of the scale of UCC, when 4,500 qualify - which is the size of a reasonably large town.

What about the size of UCC itself? We have 10,800 students. Over a 10 year period we have grown by over 70%, from 6,300 to 10,800. During this period the postgraduate numbers have gone from a little under 1,000 to 2,250; so that now more than 20% of students are at the postgraduate level.

What has been the effect of this rapid rise in student numbers? It is very easy to measure in purely economic terms.

The number of staff in UCC has gone from 1,250 to 1,800

ie, 550 jobs created.

The annual budget has increased from £25m to £70m.

If we look at these figures in the same way as the IDA would look at investment and job creation, we see that

turnover has increased by nearly a factor of 3

550 new jobs have been created

This is the equivalent of a large industry.

In recent times, we have had a study done on the economic impact of UCC on the region. The economic contribution of UCC is

£150 million per annum

and 4,300 jobs.

If 1,800 of these jobs are inside UCC, there are 2,500 jobs outside UCC supported by the activities within UCC. This is clearly a hugely important contribution to the local economy.

If we turn now to the research side of UCC, we find that the amount of contract research brought in by our staff last year was £16.8 million. Ten years ago the figure was £2.3 million. Over the past five years, the total brought in exceeds £65 million. This is a research industry within UCC and now directly supports 430 people. UCC leads all universities in the State in the amount of research income earned, and has done so for a number of years.

To accommodate the increased student numbers and the increased research activity, last year our capital expenditure exceeded £12 million. Over the last five years it has averaged nearly £8 million per annum.

From increasing student numbers, with the consequent increase in staff numbers and the necessity for a major capital programme it is easy to see that an expanding and thriving university is a huge economic influence on a city such as Cork.

I started off by giving you the total number of people conferred this year. It is worth noting that of these, some 450 were Masters Degrees and 50 were PhDs. This is another indication of the research activity on this campus. It is also an indication of the way the job market is going. There is a growing demand for higher qualifications as our industry becomes more sophisticated. There can also be a significant salary differential for people with higher degrees, especially in the technical fields.

From the figures I have given you, you can see that UCC is an expanding and dynamic institution. The road ahead will not be easy; change, and rapid change, is the order of the day. The competition both between universities in Ireland, and from further afield, increases every day. But we have attracted, and continue to attract, very good students, we have very good staff. These are the essential ingredients for success and progress. I have no doubt but that UCC is poised to successfully meet any of the challenges ahead, and maintain its position among the premier institutions in this land.