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.

UCC was delighted to be awarded €1.7million in funding under the fourth national Programme for Access to Higher Education (PATH 4), to expand and further develop its course offerings for for students with intellectual disabilities (ID).

UCC is project lead on GEEF 2023 mentoring project, ENGAGE.

The event was designed to open up conversations around the value and significance of languages across education, business, technology, science, politics, peace-building, diplomacy and culture. It explores ways in which policy can support languages to overcome existing challenges and harness potential opportunities.

With an address from Minister Simon Harris, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) and presentations from all the Tertiary Partners the workshop focused on past learning and future recommendations with panellists from DFHERIS, HEA, SOLAS. It was inspiring to learn of new programmes such as the BA in Immersive Media Production, a collaboration between City of Dublin ETB, Kildare and Wicklow ETB and the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT), Dún Laoghaire. UCC, with their partners in ETB, are continuing to explore widening access and further pathways from Further Education into programmes across the university.

We are pleased to share the UCC Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report for 2022-2023. The report is co-authored by the Equality Committee and the EDI Unit and provides an overview of the wide range of equality related work undertaken across the university in the past year.”

This is the link to the interactive version of the report: https://issuu.com/uccequality/docs/ucc_edi_annual_report_22_23_print_blue

Wednesday, November 22^nd, saw UCC welcome young artists from across Cork to see their work displayed to the public and be celebrated.  We were delighted to welcome to campus some of the more than a hundred artists who took part to be presented with certificates and art packs by way of recognition of their efforts.  This art fest for young people is linked to two international dates of note: International Youth Day (Aug 12), when the applications were opened, and World Children’s Day, November 20, when the exhibition was ended for this year.

The 2^nd Student Forum took place on Monday 20^th November to listen to the student voice on a key issue facing the University.

Students were chosen through a random multi-level approach which included students from multi-disciplinary, multi-national and diverse backgrounds.

The students met a Grand Design Challenge on ‘How might we create an inclusive, sustainable and smart sport and physical activity experience for the wellbeing of both current and future students at UCC and the planet’

The new Student Health Department Medical Centre was launched and officially opened on 20^th of November 2023 by Minister Simon Harris TD, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. This new facility follows on from the opening of the new Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub in September and demonstrates the University's commitment to supporting the physical and psychological health and wellbeing of our students. 

The first 15 students from UCC’s two new programmes for students with intellectual disabilities graduated with flying colours recently. The Certificate in Social Citizenship and the Certificate in Disability-Inclusive Practice were launched in 2022 as part of the id+ Project, sponsored by the Deputy President and Registrar Prof. Stephen Byrne. As part of their course, the students joined degree students in a wide range of modules across all four Colleges, representing a breakthrough for meaningfully inclusive education in the Irish higher education landscape. Congratulations to them all!

On the 9 November, the National University of Ireland conferred honorary degrees on Conor Brady; Mary Crilly; Claire McGettrick, born Lorraine Hughes and Orla Tinsley.

Warm congratulations are due to Dr Mary Crilly, the founder member and Director of the Sexual Violence Centre Cork, who was presented by Professor Nuala Finnegan for the award of Honorary Doctor of Laws by the National University Ireland at a ceremony in the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin.

On the 8^th of November, University College Cork hosted the national Athena SWAN Awards Ceremony. The objective of the Athena SWAN Ireland charter framework is to support higher education institutions, schools and professional Units in impactful and sustainable gender equality work and to build capacity for evidence-based equality work across the equality grounds enshrined in Irish legislation.

UCC Project Lead, Mags Arnold, recently gave an interview with The Irish Times on Micro-credentials and our collaboration with Stryker. MicroCredentials are a short-form learning option, offer enterprise an easy way to upskill a workforce. Quality assured and accessible it’s a very time-efficient approach that will increase the ability of your existing talent pool.

Ireland is experiencing skills gaps at every level of enterprise, from SMEs to multi-nationals.

MicroCreds, is a collective initiative from Ireland’s top universities that is helping to bridge the gap with short-form training designed to upskill workforces fast.

PROPEL Pre-Entry Employability Module for International Students. The UCC Careers Services team have listened to the voices of our international students to understand their experience of accessing career opportunities in Ireland. As a result of this feedback, we created a module called the UCC PROPEL Pre-Entry Employability Module for International Students.  The PROPEL Employability Module is designed to assist international students who are planning on coming to UCC to complete a programme of study online in their home country that will support prospective international students to deal with the challenges gaining employment, and developing their long-term employability, while studying in Ireland. 

UCC Microcreds project team were delighted to host the Erasmus + funded Super Diversity and Micro-credentials event at UCC this week. Held in the Dora Allman Room in the Student Hub, the event was well attended both in person and online. Colleagues from the UNIC project, IUA partners and from across UCC joined.

Dr Jean Van Sinderen-Law, Director of UNIC at UCC, opened proceedings by welcoming colleagues. Dr Van Sinderen-Law introduced the concept of Super Diversity and outlined some of the plans for the next four years of the UNIC project including the development of Micro-credentials. Superdiversity means a high degree of diversity in a population. the term captures the growing complexity of diversity, including complex mixtures of ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, culture, religion, social status, economic status, legal status, lifestyle and more. It reflects how our cities are home to a rich mix of people of different backgrounds and identities.

This week, we were honoured to welcome Hector Minto, Microsoft’s Director of Accessibility, to UCC to explore how we can all work together to create a better future through accessibility and inclusion.

Hector Minto has worked at the cutting edge of Assistive Technology (AT) for 25 years. Hector’s role at Microsoft sees him engaging across governments, organisations and stakeholders to showcase product accessibility, inclusive design, the inclusive hiring programmes and accessibility innovation from Microsoft Research.

• New microcredential to strengthen the talent pipeline for Ireland’s BioPharmaChem sector.
• The global top 10 Biopharmaceutical companies operate in Ireland.
• 84,000 employed in the sector and this is expected to will increase by up to 10,000 jobs over the next five years.

University College Cork (UCC) and BioPharmaChem Skillnet have launched a new micro-credential to support the continued growth of Ireland’s BioPharmaChem sector.

A very poignant and symbolic event will be the ceremonial tree planting, in collaboration with The Gay Project, at the Rainbow Walkway, by Deputy President and Registrar Professor Stephen Byrne, to mark the 30^th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Ireland. In the current societal atmosphere where we see increasing homophobic abuse and attacks it is important to acknowledge the progress that has been made but also to recognise the work that is still to be done to achieve equality.

The Inclusive Colleges Research Showcase took place in the Dora Allman, The Hub on Tuesday (3^rd October). Celebrating a year of dedicated efforts, the event brought together a selection of researchers from projects funded by Inclusive UCC. These micro-grants have been pivotal in promoting inclusion, universal design, and accessibility across the campus.

From the 2^nd to the 6^th of October UCC will celebrate Equality Week through a series of events highlighting the importance of inclusion, accessibility, and diversity in working towards equality.

On 26th September 2023, the Deputy President and Registrar, Professor Stephen Byrne represnted University College Cork (UCC) at the graduation ceremony of students of the Pharmacy degree which is jointly developed and delivered by staff of Futures University in Egypt (FUE) and University College Cork. Also in attendence was Professor Brendan Griffin, Schollof Pharmacy, UCC and Ms Nuala O'Brien, Ambassador of Ireland in Egypt. 

Bhí pobal-thionscnamh Gaeilge de chuid Choláiste na hOllscoile, Corcaigh, ar na cúig buaiteoirí faoin Mhaoiniú Feidhmíochta de chuid an Údaráis um Ard-Oideachas 2023 a fógraíodh ag ócáid in Ollscoil Teicneolaíochta an Oir-Dheiscirt i gCeatharlach inné.

Faoi cheannas an Ollaimh Phádraig Ó Macháin, Stiúrthóir Ionad na Gaeilge Lahartha UCC, atá na tionscnamh seo. Sa bhliain 2017 chuaigh UCC i bpáirt le Coláiste Pobail Thraolaigh Mhic Shuibhne i gCnoc an Chuilinn, Cnoc na hAoine, i dtuaisceart chathair Chorcaí, chun tacaíocht a thabhairt dóibh i mbunú Aonaid Lán-Ghaeilge sa scoil, mar a ndéanfaí gach ábhar a theagasc tré Ghaeilge, ón gcéad bhliain ar aghaidh go dtí an Ard-Teistiméireacht. Freagra ar éileamh ón bpobal féin ab ea é seo, go gcuirfí rogha sa mheánoideachas ar fáil dá bpáistí i gceantar ina mbraitheann go leor daoine go bhfuil siad fágtha i leataoibh ag an saol. Tugadh cuireadh do UCC páirt a ghlacadh sa togra seo, agus ba dá thoradh sin a bunaíodh Barr na gCnoc.

UCC Clubs Day was hosted in the Hub on Wednesday 20 September 2023 from 10.00 – 3.00pm. In the region of 45 clubs set up stands to promote their clubs to students for the 2023-24 academic year. Clubs used the new Clubforce app to register students interests in becoming members of their club. Over 1,700 sign ups took place through this app on the day with a combined total membership of 4,700 as of Friday 22 September 2023. There was a great buzz in the Hub and on campus throughout the day as clubs promoted themselves to the student population. In addition to the Hub, clubs had displays/demonstrations in the main quad area.

UCC Societies Day 2023 took place in the Hub on 19 September 2023 and the atmosphere was electric. There were over 90 society stands showcasing their work and the students were excited to see what it was all about with the largest turnout for a number of years recorded. Thanks to the hard work of the Societies Exec and the individual societies involved we saw over 12,000 new sign ups in one day alone. It's exciting to see what the year ahead will bring with such active societies and so many new members!

Video captured by Max Bell can be viewed HERE.

As part of its ongoing outreach programme of support for the newly-established Gaelcholáiste Mhic Shuibhne, Knocknaheeny, Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha sponsored scholarships for eleven new first-year pupils at the Gaelcholáiste recently.

The pupils were presented with their scholarships by Prof. Stephen Byrne at an event hosted in the Seomra Caidrimh.

Mar ghné amháin den dtacaíocht leanúnach atá á tabhairt ag Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha do Ghaelcholáiste Mhic Shuibhne i gCnoc na hAoine, dhein Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha urraíocht ar scoláireachtaí d'aon dalta déag nua sa Ghaelcholáiste. B'é an Cláraitheoir, an tOll. Stiofán Ó Broin, a bhronn na scoláireactaí ar ócáid a seoladh sa Seomra Caidrimh le déanaí.

On September 6th, we were delighted to host colleagues from Munster Technological University (MTU) on our campus to exchange expertise and perspectives on integrating Universal Design (#UD) and accessibility (#a11y) in both our institutions.

Celebrating the second year as an official sponsor of Cork LGBT+ Pride Festival, UCC hosted a range of events during Pride Week which ran from the 31^st July to the 6^th August this year. These events, coordinated by the EDI Unit, included a Pride Tea Party, a Pride ‘Stride and Ride’ cycle/walk and a screening of ‘The Quay Co-op’ documentary, celebrating an important hub for the development of Cork’s LGBTQ+ community and a base for social change activism. The Cork Pride at UCC week ended with UCC staff and students marching together in the Cork Pride parade.

Deputy President & Registrar Professor Stephen Byrne officially launched UCC’s Service Principles on Wednesday 26^th July. The event showcased a suite of principles that have been developed to highlight the level of quality service delivery that UCC staff commit to providing to our students.

University College Cork (UCC) has reaffirmed its commitment to challenging racism and embedding a culture of race equality by signing the Anti-Racism Principles for Irish Higher Education.

UCC President Professor John O’Halloran officially signed the principles at an event with representatives from the Higher Education Authority which launched the Anti-Racism Principles for Irish Higher Education Institutions earlier this year.

On Thursday, 20th July, Deputy President and Registrar Prof. Stephen Byrne opened the Accessibility Allies Showcase. It was a celebration of the hard work and dedication of the Inclusive UCC 18 student interns whose efforts have significantly improved our approach to accessibility and universal design. They have worked to enhance the accessibility of over 90 modules across the four colleges.

On 15^th of June 2023, Professor Stephen Byrne, Deputy President and Registrar participated as a panellist on an IUA Future of Ireland Webinar focusing on Future Skills Needs for the Health Sector.  At the Webinar Minister Stephen Donnelly gave his perspective on workforce planning for the health sector.  The key role of Universities in producing the talent and skills pool for the health sector, was recognised with thousands of medical, nursing and other health and social care professionals graduating each year. The panel discussion also included Professor Orla Shiels, Vice-Provost/Chief Academic Officer, Trinity College Dublin and Sheila McClelland CEO, Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland.

Welcome to the Inclusive UCC Internship Programme, where 18 student interns have recently joined to enhance the accessibility of over 80 modules across the four colleges. This initiative builds upon the success of a pilot programme conducted in the summer of 2022, which involved four student interns working on improving the accessibility of 18 modules. During that pilot, a remarkable 22% increase in content accessibility was achieved across the modules.

Each individual student at UCC joins our community and campuses from different backgrounds, cultures and experiences. While studying at UCC we want students to broaden their horizons and to develop their current skills, graduate attributes and values

READ OUR YEAR IN REVIEW

On Thursday, 8 June 2023, the Deputy President and Registrar’s summer coffee morning took place in the Atrium of the Main Rest and it was a great opportunity for colleagues across the office of the DPR to come together to catch up after a very busy few months and to mark and celebrate the start of the summer.

On Thursday 1^st June the very first MicroCreds Symposium took place in University College Cork. It was wonderful to see so many colleagues from near and far come together to share their experiences thus far with MicroCreds and learn from each other. Guest speaker, Caitlin Harvey from The Open University spoke about her experiences in The Open University in relation to the creation and development of MicroCreds. The day consisted of inspiring research, elevator pitches and ended with a fantastic panel discussion involving staff and students who have developed MicroCreds in their areas.

For further information on MicroCreds or if you are interested in developing one please contact a member of the team by emailing microcreds@ucc.ie .

The sun was shining for the Medicine & Health graduation ceremonies in UCC on Friday 26th May, and it particularly shone on our golden boy, Paul O'Donovan - or should we now say Dr. O'Donovan! 

Paul received his Quercus Sports' Scholarship in 2018 and he has been studying GEM in the university since then. His hard work and dedication to reach Olympic gold, while retaining first class honours results, has inspired us all throughout those years and we cannot believe how fast they have flown.

This week the Graduate Attributes Programme rolled out 1500 LinkedIn Learning licenses to Postgraduate Research and Masters students.

LinkedIn Learning is an online educational platform that helps students to discover and develop business, technology-related, and creative skills through expert-led course videos. With more than 16,000 courses and personalized recommendations, they can discover, complete, and track courses related to their field of study and interests.

LinkedIn Learning Pathways have been created to support PhD students in developing core skills in line with the IUA PhD Graduate Skills Matrix and UCC Research Administration Project.

Additonal pathways provide learning content on key skills students highlighted they needed to further develop, such as networking, data analysis, collaboration and teamwork. 

Over 90 delegates attended The Gathering Travellers in Education – Celebrating Success, Framing the Future on 23 May 2023 at the Kingsley Hotel, Cork. Hosted by the SOAR Project, the event showcased models of best practice, shared research findings, identified outstanding challenges and priority actions to enable further Traveller success in education. Highlights of the day included keynote address from Dr. Hannagh McGinley, (NCCA); passionate discussions with programme participants; a specially-commissioned rap video from Traveller youths and a stirring performance from Steo Wall. A report on The Gathering will be published later. 

Cork Camogie captain Amy O’Connor returned to her alma mater, St. Vincent’s National School, to unveil the school’s brand-new sports kit. This marks the first sports kit that the school has owned, and the initiative was made possible through the generous sponsorship of Access UCC. St. Vincent’s National School, which is linked to the Access service, expressed their gratitude to the sponsor and their excitement about participating in upcoming soccer, Sciath na Scól football, and camogie competitions.

Inclusive UCC ran an exciting day to mark the 12th annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) on the 18^th May. The theme of the day was 'Accessible Content in Higher Education'. There was a line-up of international experts in the field to speak on this theme. The sessions included interactive elements as well as critical takeaways for integrating accessibility into our everyday.

The Deputy President and Registrar Prof. Stephen Byrne gave the opening address at a showcase event for the id+ Project on 15^th May 2023. The showcase highlighted UCC’s “co-learning” approach to inclusive education for people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Unique in the Irish higher education sector, co-learning allows degree students and students with ID to learn with, from and about each other in a wide range of subjects across all four Colleges in UCC including Geography, Engineering, Nursing and Law.

Cork Access Network hosted a Workplace Learning Breakfast Seminar in Munster Technological University on May 12th. The Cork Access Network is a collaboration project whose focus includes workplace learning and workplace access opportunities. CAN’s composition includes Cork ETB, University College Cork, Munster Technological University, Cork Chamber, Cork City Council, Janssen and ONE Cork. The Breakfast Seminar was an opportunity to showcase innovative and best practice initiatives and Shay Nolan from the Access UCC Employability programme presented input on their new initiative to support employers, and support students with a disability to transition to employment. Other contributions on the day came from MTU, Cork ETB and employer partners including Dell, the Kingsley Hotel, Intreo, and Trigon Hotels.

UCC took the lead to collaborate with Student Affairs Ireland (SAI), the International Association for Student Affairs & Services (IASAS), the European Council for Student Affairs (ECStA) and the European University Association (EUA) to host the first ever hybrid global summit on Student Affairs & Services which attracted 166 global leaders from 24 countries to UCC in June 2022.

The 39^th UCC / River Lee Sports Star Awards in association with the Bank of Ireland were held in the River Lee Hotel on Monday 24^th April.

12 individual award winners were presented with awards on the night. Equestrian & Olympic Weightlifting were honoured for the first time.

Conor McGlinchey, Kickboxing, was awarded the overall winner of the UCC Sports Star Awards in recognition of his performances over the past 12 months in his sport. He is ranked no 2 in Europe & no3 in the World in his weight category.

An Leas-Uachtarán agus Cláraitheoir, an tOllamh Stephen Byrne, agus an t-údar clúiteach, Rick Riordan, ag oscailt na comhdhála um Thuatha Dé Danann a d'eagraigh  Roinn na Nua-Ghaeilge le déanaí.

Professor Stpehen Byrne, Deputy President and Registrar, with well-known author Rick Riordan, at the opening of the Tuatha Dé Danann Conference hosted by the Department of Modern Irish recently.

On Thursday 13 April 2023, Carol Veiga from Student Recruitment and Clodagh O’Sullivan from the Graduate Attributes Programme attended the Irish Second-Level Students'​ Union (ISSU) Chomhdháil Bhliantúil (Annual Assembly) in Dublin’s Liberty Hall to represent and promote the Nurturing Bright Futures programme to almost 250 secondary school students from all over Ireland.

UCC Societies have had another successful year at the National Society Awards bringing home a further four major awards to our campus. 400 students from across Ireland attended the National Awards in the Clayton Whites Hotel in Wexford.

Dr Gerald Craddock, Chief Officer from the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, recently visited UCC to discuss the importance of embedding Universal Design. The Centre is a statutory body established by the Irish Government in 2007 and part of the National Disability Authority, which is the lead state agency on disability in Ireland. Its focus is on developing standards in professional and industrial services, creating awareness of the benefits of Universal Design within Ireland and at European and international level.

Academic and leadership staff from University College Cork attended a symposium aboard the MV Armorique docked in Ringaskiddy, meeting with colleagues from Irish and Breton universities to deepen educational and research connections between Ireland and Brittany, France.

Six hundred Transition Year students from 30 schools across five counties gathered at the Mardyke Arena on Tuesday for a Wheelchair Basketball4All event.

Organised by UCC Sports Studies and Physical Education third-year students, it was the first time the event was held since before Covid with the aim of promoting an inclusive message that sporting activity is for everyone.

The Graduate Attributes Programme hosted a 'Create with Canva' workshop as part of Cork Lifelong Learning Festival 2023, led by Maggie O'Sullivan, a professional graphic designer and member of the GAP team. The in-person workshop was a sell-out success with both members of the public and UCC staff in attendance. The session focused on using Canva design software to develop the core UCC graduate attribute of 'creator, evaluator, and communicator of knowledge'. A core aim of the Graduate Attributes Programme is to promote lifelong, life wide and life deep learning. 

On the evening of 23^rd March, the office of the Deputy President and Registrar welcomed Her Excellency, Carolina Zaragoza Flores, Ambassador of Mexico in Ireland on her first visit to UCC since taking up her appointment.

The College of Medicine and Health celebrated the achievements of 36 students who received a Quercus Undergraduate College Scholarship at a special event in the Dr Dora Allman Room on Thursday, 23 March. 

The scholarship acknowledges the achievement of a first class honours standard in their University examination in 2022.  The event was a great afternoon of celebration for the students, friends and family. Students from as far away as Vietnam and Canada received the scholarship demonstrating the international reach of the College of Medicine and Health.

The Graduate Attributes Programme published their first article with RTÉ Brainstorm on Thursday 23rd of March. The article ranked in the top read features of the week and explored the five key skills needed for a successful transition to the workplace, and how these skills can enhance career success. The article was informed by research conducted with Abodoo and commissioned by the Graduate Attributes Programme in collaboration with UCC Career Services. The Graduate Attributes Programme will be ongoing contributors to RTÉ Brainstorm.

Soon after the publication of the article, Adel Coleman, GAP manager, was interviewed by Kildare FM for the Kildare Focus Show. You can listen to Adel's interview here

UCC's delegation at the conference - Chair of the Race Equality Forum, Dr Amanullah De Sondy, Dr Anne Gannon, Human Resources and Professor Nuala Finnegan, Dean of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Studies - were delighted to contribute to the first HEA National Race Equality Conference in University of Galway where the Anti-Racism Principles for Irish Higher Education Institutions were formally launched. UCC has been invited to sign these Principles to acknowledge that racial inequalities are a reality in our higher education institutions, to commit to embedding a culture of race equality in UCC and to establish platforms for open dialogue on advancing race equality.

Kacper Bogalecki will be heading across the Atlantic soon! He was accepted on the Washington Ireland Programme Class of 2023, a hugh achievement for a first year.

Kacper is a Quercus Active Citizenship scholar and Medical student. He was the International Officer of the ISSU and he is continually involved in social justice and climate activism. Kacper is a ray of light and he will make a great doctor! Best of luck in DC Kacper.

Members of UCC TradSoc were interviewed, and performed a traditional piece, on CNN Malaysia in the run up to St. Patrick's Day. 

It was only one event of a jammed packed tour that included performing at the Irish Embassy in Mayaysia and Hong Kong. 

Three Quercus Scholars were included in the group, Donnchadh Hughes, who plays the harp, flute and piano, Sophie Ryan, who plays the harp, and Iona Ritchie, who plays fiddle and piano accordion. All three scholars study Arts Music. 

The entire group did UCC proud on St. Patrick's week.

Quercus Sports' Scholar, Laura Hayes, was named on The Electric Ireland Camogie Third Level Rising Stars Team of the Year.

Laura is a player with huge talent and great integrity. She fights on and off the field for what is right in women's sport and we are delighted to call her one of our scholars! Laura is in her final year of Food Marketing & Entrepreneurship. Well done Laura - a place well deserved.

Congratulations to the Quercus Talented Students' Programme Scholars for 2022/23, celebrated at their awards night on Monday 6th March.

The scholars were presented with their acorn pins, the symbol of the Quercus Programme, by UCC President, Prof. John O'Halloran, on the night

A wonderful evening of celebration took place in The Shtepps on March 6^th to recognise the inaugural graduates of the Continuing Professional Development Certificate in Community Based Mentoring.

Led by the SOAR Project, this collaborative initiative was developed by Access UCC, MTU Cork Campus Access Service, Adult and Continuing Education, Cork City Learning Neighbourhoods and Cork Migrant Centre.

UCC Sports clubs have committed to undertaking the UCC Bystander Intervention training programme in support of the University’s vision for a shared zero tolerance approach to all forms of sexual hostility, harassment and violence. Their leadership will serve to further highlight the importance of challenging any normalisation of unacceptable behaviour and the importance of stepping up and speaking out. Dedicated workshops will be delivered to their members to ensure a greater understanding of their shared experiences and a collective zero-tolerance approach to all forms of abuse.

Huge congratulations to Quercus Creative & Performing Arts Scholar, Otto Goodwin, who has been announced as one of the two awardees of the Evan Boland Emerging Poet Award. 

This award includes an onsite residency in Stanford University, a bursary, and a mentorship. Otto is in their final year of English here at UCC and we will miss their spirit, personality, moving poetry and love of nature when they fly the Quercus nest! 

Professor Stephen Byrne, Deputy President and Registrar and Kathryn Neville, Interim Director of Recruitment and Admissions were delighted to welcome high school counsellors from the United States of America to campus on the 27^th of February and the 2^nd of March. Schools from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New York Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Washington DC were represented in the two groups of counsellors.  

From Feb 20-26, UCC was host to a broad range of events, both staff and student-led, focusing on issues such as the rise of the far right, what it's like to be a refugee and a parent in Ireland, the criminalisation of migrants and humanitarian aid and the difficulties faced by exiled journalists. Many thanks to all who took part or came along, in particular the members of the University of Sanctuary Working Group & Fáilte Refugees student society. If you want to get involved in Sanctuary work in UCC, email ediunit@ucc.ie for more information

On Tuesday, 14 February, UCC was delighted to host 12 members of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU) for a 1-day workshop on the transition to third level tool, Nurturing Bright Futures (NBF) Attendees included the ISSU’s Regional Liaison and Support Officer, Mohammed Naeem, Jack McGinn, Education Officer as well as ten Regional Officers from all four corners of Ireland.

UCC joined nine European partners to kickstart the second phase of the European University of Cities in Post-Industrial Transition (UNIC), signing a mission statement in Zagreb, Croatia.

UCC Deputy President and Registrar Prof. Stephen Byrne joined rectors across UNIC universities in Zagreb last Friday, January 27^th 2023, to sign the statement and to mark a bold and ambitious new phase for UNIC, a European University Alliance. The new UNIC Centre for City Futures was also announced at the signing.

Over 600 prospective students and almost 200 UCC staff and student ambassadors participated in UCC’s annual Postgrad Expo.

It was the first time this event was hosted in the Hub and the first in-person event for postgrad applicants in three years. The atmosphere was fantastic, with staff and students coming together.

The annul UCC Postgraduate Expo will be held in the Hub on Thursday 26 January from 3pm until 8pm.  Prospective postgraduate students will have an opportunity to meet academic, professional staff and current students at information stands. There will be 'PG Roundtable' discussion with current postgrad research & taught students and a 'Panel Talk' with postgrad Alumni. Career Services will be providing career advice, UCCApply support staff will be also at hand to show prospective students how to apply. The evening will finish with a networking event, finger food and music.

For full timetable of events, please visit www.ucc.ie/postgradexpo. We look forward to the event!

As part of the UCC 2022 October Open Day and, in line with UCC’s steadfast commitment to leave no one behind, the Student Recruitment Office, with the collaboration of the Office of Sustainability and Climate Action, UCC’s Environmental Research Institute (ERI), Student Societies and UCC’s Students’ Union, organised a Mock COP27 (a simulation of the United Nations’ Framework Convention for Climate Change) for pre-entry students. It was designed to increase their awareness of what would be discussed at COP27 in Egypt and attendees were really engaged and surprised at how difficult it was to reach agreements on the difficult topic of carbon emission targets.

On the evening of Thursday the 19^th January Access UCC staff welcomed the public to an open clinic on the  HEAR and DARE schemes in the Dora Allman room. It was the first in-person clinic since January 2020 and allowed for Parents, prospective students, guidance counsellors and other interested parties the opportunity to get information on the application process for the HEAR and/or DARE scheme.  

University College Cork and the International Office were delighted to welcome Dr Richard Ice, Provost of the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University and Dr Kevin Clancy, Director of the Center for Global Education (CGE) to UCC on Thursday, 19 January, to celebrate 25 years of the academic partnership between our institutions. Since the establishment of the partnership in 1997, 426 students from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University have studied at UCC, including the thirteen who are currently enrolled for the spring semester 2023.

239 Entrance Scholarships were awarded to first year students last night in University College Cork (UCC). Entrance Scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic achievement in the school leaving examinations. Students represented 115 schools in Ireland and 1 school in Poland.

UCC was delighted to join colleagues from Cork ETB and MTU (Cork and Kerry) to participate in shared discussion around the expansion of progression routes from further education to higher education in the Cork region. 

The Le Chéile Programme has been launched again in the new semester. While it is offered to the student population in general, the programme has garnered interest from the school of nursing and midwifery and is offered to students from this school as part of their pastoral reflection module. Le Chéile is a programme encouraging personal development for proactive student-to-student assistance and intervention. It is a 4-week programme delivered by qualified expert presenters both internal and external to UCC. The programme covers, mental health & wellbeing, bystander intervention, active listening, suicide awareness and drugs & alcohol. Le Chéile is now digital badge approved.

UCC Deputy President and Registrar Professor Stephen Byrne, opened the event ‘New Connections: The Impact’ Conference held on Friday the 13^th of January 2023. Minister Michael McGrath TD was the guest of honour at the event where some of the country’s most promising researchers showcased their initiatives and achievements.  The conference celebrated scientific collaboration in University College Cork (UCC).

University College Cork (UCC) today officially launched its new Student Mental Health & Wellbeing Hub in 1-4 Brighton Villas, Western Road.

We are pleased to announce that the Ally Accessibility Report is now live on all Canvas modules for staff and students in UCC.

University College Cork (UCC) and Munster Technological University (MTU) have today signed Healthy Campus charters for their respective institutions at a gathering at UCC, pledging to make our campuses healthier places to study, work, and research the wellbeing of future generations.

Inclusive UCC is delighted to announce the procurement of the Anthology Ally software for Canvas. This tool scans all content in a Canvas course for accessibility issues and produces an 'Accessibility Score'. Specific instructions on how to remediate this score for each piece of content are provided. This tool will be deployed to all Canvas modules from January 2023 onwards. Below we have some more information and resources to help you get started.

UCC International Office shared how staff are supporting UCC’s international student community, on Friday 16^th December last , as part of the Training and Development Connect Series.

Irish sports stars of tomorrow from across 12 counties have had their talent and hard work recognised with UCC Sports Scholarships for the 2022-2023 academic year.

MicroCreds Project Lead, Mags Arnold, recently represented #UCC and the #IUA at an International Conference on Strategy and Policy in Higher Education. The conference took place in Prague between the 21st & 23rd November. Mags led a panel that spoke about 'Empowering lifelong learners, Internationalisation and Reliable Recognition'.

The Deputy President and Registrar Prof. Stephen Byrne gave the welcome address at a seminar co-organised by students from the id+ Project’s Certificate in Disability-Inclusive Practice and the PPI Ignite Network @UCC on 18^th November 2022.

Deputy President and Registrar Prof. Stephen Byrne chaired the UNIC European University Academic Forum on November 15 in the Dr Dora Allman Room, UCC.

The Deputy President and Registrar Prof. Stephen Byrne hosted a Roundtable discussion with id+ Project Fellows on 11^th November 2022.

University College Cork celebrated its 6th Equality Week between the 7^th - 11^th of November 2022. The Equality, Diversion and Inclusion Unit hosted many events with the support of the UCCSU, under the heading “Making Space for Everyone: Equality Week at UCC”.

Congratulations to two Quercus Sports' Scholars on their Graduation from UCC. 

On the 26^th of October, the Deputy President and Registrar represented UCC as part of the OECD Skills Strategy project for Ireland.  The regional workshop, organised for the South West, South East and Mid-West. 

Access UCC launched its first student Ambassador and Advisory Group on Monday. The shared goal is to ensure that students and Access UCC staff work to make UCC more accessible for all. The 32 students will have opportunities to represent Access UCC at events throughout the year and give vital input on core topics.

Following on from the successful implementation of CIM Modules, the University has now embarked on Phase Two of the new UCC Curriculum Management System.

On the 20th October, the Quality Enhancement Unit hosted a Case Study of Good Practice Symposium in the Glucksman Gallery.  The overall aim of the symposium was to highlight the great work that is carried out by the UCC community that are considered instances of Good Practice from which others can learn from.  Using a Case Study, the learnings and enhancements that emerge can be shared to support greater awareness, improve quality and increase effectiveness.

Orientation for new postgraduate researchers took place on 18^th October 2022 in the Aula Max.

UCC is working with university, city and civil society partners across ten European cities, including Cork, to build a second-round proposal for the ‘European University of Post-Industrial Cities’ (UNIC).

On the 17th of October 2022, UCC attended the John Kelly Awards Ceremony in UCD. The UCC submission on the Inclusive University was shortlisted for the collaborative award. This category is aimed at higher education institutions and education and training boards who have used the Digital Badge to systematically develop UDL capacity in their college/centre, such as the development of communities of practice, institutional projects and new strategic actions. In part, the award aims to celebrate and promote the use of UDL in further education and higher education settings.

Born from UCC’s strategic plan, the UCC Student Forum is an exercise in deliberative and participatory democracy that places students at the heart of important strategic and policy issues facing UCC as a community. UCC is committed to widening participation, an intention that goes beyond mere access but extends to active involvement in decision-making. UCC’s current student population is almost 23,000 and growing. Furthermore, the University has over 2,000 Continuing and Professional Development students, 1,100 Adult and Continuing Education short course students and a Language Centre cohort.

On Saturday, October 8, UCC opened up its doors to welcome back prospective students and their families and friends to the first in-person Open Day since 2019! The sun showed up and so did the people, over 6,000 of them!

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 5th 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.

On Tuesday 4 October, we were delighted to welcome over 130 Guidance Counsellor colleagues back to campus for our annual Guidance Counsellor Conference. Deputy President and Registrar Professor Stephen Byrne opened proceedings in Devere Hall and spoke about UCC's steadfast commitment to the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals and our pledge to Leave No One Behind. In preparation for the advent of the new Leaving Certificate subject in Climate Action and Sustainability, which comes on stream in September 2024, the afternoon CPD session focussed on UCC's sustainability journey and accolades, including a presentation by UCC's Sustainability Officer, Dr Maria Kirrane and an interactive Climate Journey exercise.

UCC Career Services will host the biggest ever Recruitment event from the 4^th to the 6^th October 2022.  Taking a hybrid format for the first time, students will have the opportunity to engage and connect with over 135 employers over a three-day period.

On 30^th September, the Deputy President and Registrar joined a panel discussion representing UCC at an event in Waterford entitled Towards a Learning Region.  The event was hosted by the Southern Regional Assembly with speakers from UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning, Cork Learning City and Learning Limerick.  The discussion focused on the challenges and opportunities relating to the Regions HEIs and how to improve Lifelong Learning.  The report can be viewed at Towards A Learning Region

University College Cork is delighted to announce today (TUESDAY SEPT 27) that its flagship scholarship, the Quercus Talented Students’ Programme, is to be sponsored by Bank of Ireland up to the end of 2026.

On 26 September 2022, the Deputy President and Registrar represented University College Cork at the graduation ceremony of students of the Pharmacy degree which is jointly developed and delivered by staff of Futures University in Egypt (FUE) and University College Cork. 

The UCC/FUE collaboration began over 10 years ago in 2011/2012.  Following a number of visits between senior academic staff at both UCC and FUE, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in 2014.  UCC and FUE now work in collaboration to deliver and assess agreed modules and learning outcomes which are accredited by the Egyptian Minister for Education and the Pharmacy Regulator in Egypt.

We are delighted to welcome 19 students into two new courses for people with intellectual disabilities (PWID) this September.

Congratulations to Quercus Sports Scholar, Paul O'Donovan, who won Gold in the Lightweight Men's Double Schulls with his partner, Fintan McCarthy, at the Rowing World Championships in the Czech Republic over the weekend!

Congratulations to Mags Cremen and Aoife Casey who won Bronze in the Lightweight Women's Double Sculls final at the Rowing World Championships in the Czech Republic on Saturday. 

We welcomed Dr Kevin Merry from De Montfort University to UCC this week. He gave an insightful session on De Montfort's journey, shedding some light on how they have enabled a University-wide adoption of Universal Design for learning and teaching practices to ensure accessibility and inclusivity. It was a timely workshop as we currently work on developing our five-year strategic plan here at UCC and consider how Universal Design will play a part.

On 22^nd of September, the Deputy President and Registrar officiated at the opening of the Tyndall Internal Conference.  Tyndall's annual Internal Conference showcases the outstanding work undertaken at the Institute by researchers, staff and postgraduate students in a collaborative and engaging environment.  The programs was divided into five session aligning with the five pillars at Tyndall i.e. Research Excellence, Impact, International Reach, People and Culture and Infrastructure.

As part of its ongoing outreach programme of support for the newly-established Gaelcholáiste Mhic Shuibhne, Knocknaheeny, Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha sponsored scholarships for six new first-year pupils at the Gaelcholáiste recently.

The pupils were presented with their scholarships by Prof. Stephen Byrne at an event hosted in the Seomra Caidrimh.

Your UCC Graduate Attributes and Values Compass or Your Compass for short, the flagship initiative of the Graduate Attributes Programme officially launched on 20^th September.

The ‘Give it a Go’ festival will take place from  Monday 19th Sept to Friday 30th Sept 2022.  

On 16 September 2022, UCC became a signatory of Magna Charta Universitatum. This charter was originally signed by 388 rectors and heads of universities on the nine-hundredth anniversary of the founding of the University of Bologna in 1988.

On Wednesday the 14^th of September a delegation of UCC Staff visited Keele University Campus. 

Clubs and Societies Day 1 took place on Tuesday 13^th September (Sophomore Week) in Devere Hall to facilitate 2^nd, 3^rd, & 4^th years who were interested in getting involved in Clubs & Societies post Covid.

University College Cork has achieved two new Athena SWAN Bronze Awards for gender equality in higher education.

The Centre for CPD is delighted to be supporting UCC’s Canvas Catalog as we transition into a third academic cycle of learners.  Canvas Catalog was implemented and launched during 2020, in response to a requirement for fully online delivery of non-accredited short courses.

The UCC Bystander Intervention prgramme has been shortlisted for the Outstanding Support for Students Award in the prestigious 2022 Times Higher Education (THE) Awards. Billed as ‘the Oscars of Higher Education,’ the THE Awards considered over 550 entries from Higher Education Institutes across the UK and ­Ireland and shortlisted the best across twenty categories.

Within the College of Business and Law, a summer internship programme was developed in partnership with the Inclusive UCC project. Four student interns remediated accessible content issues across 18 modules within the College of Business and Law throughout July and August 2022.

Adam Duane, captain of UCC Powerlifting, and Mia Kovacs have been selected to represent Ireland at the Junior World Championships and European Championships respectively.

Taking place between August 26 and September 4, Adam will compete in the 74kg category at the Junior World Championships following his spectacular national debut at the Irish Nationals.

Adam’s inclusion in the Irish Powerlifting Federation’s team for the World Championships is remarkable given that he only began competing in powerlifting events last year.

The Taaleem Group is one of the largest education providers in the UAE. It currently has a roster of 18 schools, and this will grow to 32 by the end of 2023, catering to 28,000 students. The schools offer British and American curricula as well as the International Baccalaureate, offering early childhood, primary and secondary education. The school group has 1,467 teachers (many of whom are Ireland trained and, indeed, UCC graduates). 90% of Taaleem graduates go overseas to study at 3^rd level. 

UCC, through the Deputy President and Registrar's Office, officially sponsored Cork Pride for this first time this year. 

University College Cork (UCC) and the University of Plymouth have agreed to work together to address some of the critical climate and sustainability challenges facing our planet.

Of the six Irish crews that won medals at the World Rowing Cup in Poznan, four contained UCC students or alumni.

Bronnadh teastaisí ar dhaltaí cúigiú bliana ó Ghaelscoil Pheig Sayers le déanaí sa Seomra Caidrimh, Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha. Stiúrthóir an Ionaid, an tOllamh Pádraig Ó Macháin a bhronn. Dearbhú ar dhá bhliain i mbun foghlama na Sínise do na daltaí ab ea é seo, cúrsa atá curtha ar fáil sa Ghaelscoil le sé bliana anuas faoi choimirce an Ionaid. An Dr Ciarán Dawson a d'eagraigh i bpáirt le Rongrong Guo (Roinn Staidéar na hAisia).

On June 2^nd UCC hosted the annual PATH SOAR Project Steering Group Meeting.

Bhí Lá na Scoileanna Gaeilge ar siúl san Aula Maxima i gColáiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh ar an 1 Meitheamh 2022. Thug an tOllamh Pádraig Ó Macháin, Stiúrthóir Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha cuireadh do Ghaelscoileanna agus do bhunscoileanna Gaeltachta Chorcaí teacht chun na hollscoile chun an obair thábhachtach atá ar siúl ag na scoileanna san ar son na Gaeilge a cheiliúradh. Chuir Uachtarán na hOllscoile, an tOllamh John O’ Halloran agus Leas-Uachtarán na hOllscoile, an tOllamh Stephen Byrne fáilte rompu ar an lá.

Eagraíodh turas timpeall an champais agus imeacht oifigiúil san Aula Maxima ina dhiaidh. Bhí óráidí, ceol is ceiliúradh i gceist. Bhí ardlá ag gach aoinne. Ba bhreá le hIonad na Gaeilge Labhartha an nasc speisialta seo atá cruthaithe acu le Gaelscoileanna is bunscoileanna Gaeltachta Chorcaí a neartú as seo amach.

On 30th of May, the Deputy President and Registrar, welcomed Minister Feighan T.D. Minister of State for Public Health, Wellbeing, and the National Drugs Strategy to a Town Hall event in the HUB, where the main findings of the Drug Use in Higher Education in Ireland (DUHEI) survey were presented. Student leaders, researchers, academics, and professionals from student services were joined by local and national experts in the area of drug use and addiction at UCC, to consider the findings and discuss the recommendations of the report.

On the 23^rd of May, 2022 UCC staff and students were delighted to visit the Munster Technological University (MTU) Cork Campus.  This was a historic occasion marking the first conferring ceremony since the establishment of MTU.  

On the 19^th of May, International Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), Inclusive UCC ran a symposium to spotlight the value of creating inclusive digital experiences for all. 

The [ask.ucc.ie] ASK UCC website was officially launched by the Deputy President and Registrar on May 11^th on the Shtepps in the Hub Building.

An Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD, who graduated from UCC in 1981, officially opened UCC's new student service centre The Hub this morning at 10am.

The IGNITE Graduate Business Innovation Programme Awards and Showcase, Spring 2022 were held on 28^th of April, in the Hub, UCC. The Deputy President and Registrar welcomed the attendees to the event.   

MicroCreds@UCC was officially launched on Tuesday 26^th April in the Dr Dora Allman Room. Prof Stephen Byrne, Deputy President and Registrar, welcomed everyone to the launch of the HCI Pillar 3 funded Multi-Campus MicroCreds project in UCC. UCC in conjunction with the IUA and the other six IUA universities have received €12.3 million in funding to support the national roll out of microcredentials.

Olympic medallists Paul O’Donovan and Emily Hegarty were among those honoured at the UCC Sport Star Awards on 25 April by Professor John O’Halloran, President of University College Cork.

Sponsored by the River Lee Hotel and Bank of Ireland, the UCC Sport Awards acknowledge the achievements of 19 outstanding student athletes who have excelled with their UCC clubs, external clubs and representative teams in the last twelve months.

A group of women from the Traveller Community graduated at the UCC Spring Conferring Ceremony having completed a ‘life-changing’ course designed to empower leadership in their community.

In response to conflicts across the world, UCC today announces that it has created a Sanctuary Fellowship Scheme.

This week during Ellucian Live, the higher education industry’s top global technology conference, Ellucian announced the winners of the 2022 Ellucian Impact Awards. The annual awards, from Ellucian, the leading higher education technology solutions provider, celebrate visionaries in higher education who are inspiring others to push the boundaries of technology and innovation.

UCC brought home multiple trophies at the 2022 Education Awards, which took place on Wednesday, April 6th, at the Clontarf Castle Hotel, Dublin, including Best Student Campus, Overall Excellence in Education as well as Best Career Impact Strategy! 

IADT are delighted to formally launch Moving Parts - a series of new short animated and motion graphic videos tackling the topic of consent and telling the stories of survivors of sexual violence and image-based abuse.

Bhí an-áthas orainn fáilte a chur roimh an Coimisinéir Teanga, Rónán Ó Domhnaill, go Seimineár Gréasáin ar 22 Márta. Dhein an Coimisinéir cur i láthair an-chuimsitheach do phobal na hOllscoile ar an lá, inar phléigh sé, ar chuma oscailte, fhíorchabhrach, dualgais reachtúla na hOllscoile i leith na Gaeilge mar atá leagtha síos in Acht na dTeangacha 2003 agus na himpleachtaí úra atá taghta i gceist le leasú na bliana seo caite ar an Acht (2021).

Professor Stephen Byrne has been appointed as Deputy President and Registrar of University College Cork, effective from 16th March 2022.

In early 2020, during the Autism Friendly University Initiative, UCC representatives took part in workshops for the IMAGE project (Improving Employment for Autistic Graduates in Europe). This international project looked for examples of good practice in supporting autistic graduates in transitioning to employment.

On the eve of International Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, University College Cork today announces that its current Civil Engineering Building is to be the Iris Ashley Cummins building, in honour of UCC’s first female engineering graduate.

Health inequalities faced by refugees in Ireland, entrepreneurship in the refugee community, and supporting vulnerable migrants in higher education are some of the issues to be explored during University College Cork’s fifth annual Refugee Week, which gets underway on today. Events can be accessed online, in person, live or recorded, so there is something for everyone. From February 21 to 26 staff and students of UCC, working with members of the refugee and asylum-seeking community, will highlight issues faced by refugees, as well as the richness and diversity of modern Ireland through a variety of media, including spoken and written word, webinars, radio shows, interviews and conversations, music and film.

A new online tool that will allow students and staff to anonymously report incidents of bullying, cyber bullying, harassment, discrimination, coercive behaviour or control, stalking, assault, sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape has been launched today in University College Cork (UCC). The tool, entitled Speak Out, is a national initiative, led by the Psychological Counsellors in Higher Education Ireland (PCHEI) and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science is funding it. The Speak Out tool is currently available in 17 other higher education institutions across Ireland.

To make chemistry laboratories more accessible to students with reduced mobility in UCC, the Disability Support Service, in collaboration with the School of Chemistry, recently installed an accessible laboratory bench and associated air-extraction apparatus. The bench will support students who might find it difficult getting up and down from a standard bench.

A major national survey to determine the prevalence and type of drug use among the third level student population in Ireland is published today.

The Drug Use in Higher Education Institutions (DUHEI) survey analysed over 11,500 responses from students across 21 higher education institutions, to give a national picture of drug use among Irish university students, so that future policy and practice in the area can be informed. 

Launching the report, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD states; 

 “This report is an important resource for the Department and our higher education institutions. It helps understand the prevalence of drug use and the range of drugs being used by our students as well as detailing the impacts and effects, including harms caused by drug use in our student population. This data is vital to map the extent of the issue and will help us to develop appropriate responses and monitor trends in drug use in higher education over the coming years.” 

Prof. Stephen Byrne, Interim Registrar, in collaboration with HR Strategy & OD, is pleased to announce the formal launch of an Academic Mentoring Panel, comprising of a panel of Professors from across the University focused on supporting the development of academic colleagues.

UCC students returning to their families this Christmas will receive free antigen tests, as the university commences a programme supported by the Department of Higher Education, Research, Innovation & Science.  

Under the programme UCC’s 23,000 students will receive 5 free antigen tests. UCC ran the most successful antigen testing system in the higher education sector recently, with 1650 students & staff participating in the ongoing Unicov project. 

Changing places was the brainchild of the late Irish woman and advocate of people with disabilities, Loretto Lamb, along with occupational therapist, Joyce Burns. Changing places allow families, carers and people with complex disabilities to manage their daily occupations of self-care and gives them the opportunity to engage in wider community activities with dignity.  The equipment in a Changing Places facility goes beyond what is available in a standard accessible toilet which often does not meet the needs of all people with complex disabilities. 

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD visited UCC this week.

The Minister met with students and staff and viewed the Old College Bar which has been transformed into the Calm Zone, a dedicated space of respite and calm for students, and in particular students on the autism spectrum.

In a session tailored for experts in lifelong learning across Ireland and Europe the MicroCreds HCI Pillar 3 funded programme team outlined the development of the national framework for ECTS bearing, quality assured microcredentials.

Dr Lynn Ramsey – IUA Programme Lead headed an insightful panel discussion with input from all seven IUA universities.   The panel explored universal vision for micro-credentials which was the first opportunity to formally engage with the wider academic community, policy makers, funders, and other sectoral bodies.

The successful launch will be followed by local events across units led by our own Project Lead – Mags Arnold m.arnold@ucc.ie

UCC today celebrated its recent Athena SWAN award successes, recognising the University’s commitment to promoting good practice and advancing gender equality in higher education.

At a virtual ceremony, Minister Simon Harris congratulated awardees to celebrate the advancement of equality in higher education.

Three awards cycles were included in the ceremony, with UCC receiving nine awards, including the Institutional Bronze award (awarded in 2019).

UCC President John O’ Halloran has unveiled the UCC Rainbow Walkway on campus to mark National Coming Out Day on October 11th and as part of UCC Community Week.

The UCC Rainbow Walkway has been installed to celebrate and recognise the diversity of the UCC community and to express UCC’s firm commitment to the creation of a campus that is inclusive, where the whole of the UCC community can feel a sense of welcome and belonging.

Career Services held their virtual fair in October and the data from this showed over 6,000 1:1 chats between students and employers and over 25,000 individual chat messages. 

The UCC EmployAgility Award is a professional skills development programme, and demonstrates that you have engaged in, and developed professional skills through extra-curricular activities and work experience, all of which will help you to stand out from the crowd when applying for graduate roles and internships. 

The €1m award from the Higher Education Authority recognises the impact of the university’s innovative work in the field of inclusive education, and its efforts to open higher education to students with intellectual disabilities. UCC’s achievements in challenging deficit-focused perceptions of people with intellectual disabilities were profiled in an Impact Case Study reviewed by a panel of international experts. The Certificate in Contemporary Living was established as a pilot project supported by the Brothers of Charity, Cope Foundation and Enable Ireland. It was designed to meet the needs for non-segregated, inclusive post-secondary education for people with intellectual disabilities and was recognised as a model of good practice.

University College Cork’s Bystander Intervention programme will today launch a series of audio-visual learning materials to Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) nationwide to raise awareness around active bystanders and sexual assault.

The materials include a fifteen-minute starter video explaining key concepts on how to be a pro-social bystander, intervening in unsafe situations, what happens when consent falls through, and how students can do their bit to make college campuses and local communities safer for everyone. The launch marked the new Bystander Intervention learning packages being offered to third-level institutions. HEIs are being offered the ability to upload and deliver the training through their own institutional learning platforms.

The project includes student ambassadors from a range of degree programmes as well Professor Louise Crowley, Director of Bystander Intervention in UCC, and Dr Clíonadh O’Keeffe, the Bystander Intervention Support Officer in UCC. The overarching aim of this wide release is to make students more aware of sexual assault and how they can stop it before a situation occurs.

UniCoV is a multi-site, randomised controlled clinical study led by the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) in partnership with Trinity College Dublin (TCD), University College Dublin (UCD) and University College Cork (UCC). Funded by Science Foundation Ireland, the four universities and the HSE and supported by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research Innovation and Science and Department of Health, UniCoV will further develop and apply testing, screening and surveillance strategies, proven tools used by Public Health to assist with early warning systems for disease, in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Ireland.

We are delighted to announce that the much cherished Old College Bar at UCC has been transformed into dedicated space of respite and calm for students, and in particular students on the autism spectrum.

The UCC Calm Zone, designed as part of the Autism Friendly University (AFU) initiative, will feature in the upcoming Venice Architecture Biennale in a show titled “Autistic Imaginaries of Architectural Space'', which showcases architecture through the lens of autism. The Calm Zone has been recognised as an example of architecture that has incorporated the principles of autism-friendly design as outlined in the ASPECTSS Design Index. 

UCC won the Best Student Experience Award at the Education Awards in 2020 and 2021.  A submission is being prepared for the 2022 entry in this category.  UCC won other others in 2021 also see here

Successful outcomes within UCC's Graduate Attributes Programme in 2020 are testament to a dedicated and talented team who engage in radical and transformative campus-wide collaboration. The successful integration of the GAP initiatives has been bolstered across the university with more than 30 teams collaborating on projects that will support and equip students and graduates with the necessary attributes, skills and values as they transition through the entire student life-cycle.

The Minister for Education Norma Foley TD and the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD today announced that UCC will receive funding of €420,000 to deliver an upskilling programme for teachers at post-primary level to address a shortage in Spanish teachers nationally identified in the Teacher Supply Action Plan.

UCC today announced a partnership project with Microsoft. This project will harness the power of Microsoft Teams and LinkedIn Learning to support final year/penultimate year students build up work-ready skills and attributes and will explore opportunities to apply technology to support students as they transition out of university into professional environments or further study.

241 free and subsidised places will be made available at UCC following the award of €1.8million under the new Jobs Stimulus Package announced by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD.

The Disability Support Service (DSS) Mentoring Programme has been awarded funding as part of the Ability to Work Fund from RETHINK Ireland. 

UCC has been awarded €14.4 million under Pillar 3 of the Human Capital Initiative Programme for new projects on innovation and agility in Higher Education to meet priority skills needs across Ireland’s economy.

You are probably used to hearing “what are you studying”? but not too many ask “how are you learning”? How you think about your learning and the strategies you use are really important for your study success. 

Find out about Growth mindset in the new video from the Graduate Attributes Programme at UCC https://youtu.be/nxNHWD_JfqI

Thank you to Dr. Eithne Hunt for her amazing contribution to this video script.

UCC has been awarded €5.6 million for more than 700 additional places on six new HDip and PG Dip courses, across all four Colleges, under Pillar 1 of the Human Capital Initiative Programme. 

We are delighted to launch a new short course on UCC's Academic Strategy's Connected Curriculum, which is freely available to all staff. This course aims to provide useful information about the Connected Curriculum and to help staff to identify how this is relevant to their own activities. 

UCC's Bystander intervention module, first piloted in 2016/17 has become sector-leading approach to addressing the issue of sexual harassment and violence across Irish HEIs.

UCC has been awarded its second Athena SWAN Bronze Award by Advance HE for its commitment to gender diversity. The School of Public Health was also recognised for its commitment to advancing gender equality and was awarded a departmental Athena SWAN Bronze award.

Meet Roisin, Raj, Ciara and Joe from UCC, who tell us what attributes and values they are developing throughout their journey in UCC. Each student tells us more about each attribute and value and how these are enabling them to develop life wide and life long skills. Watch here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy_2hXxSLB

Cormac Harris and Alan O’Sullivan, winners of the 56th BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, visited UCC today to present their project on “A statistical investigation into the prevalence of gender stereotyping in 5-7 year olds and the development of an initiative to combat gender bias”.

On Thursday, February 20th 2020, in the Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin, University College Cork were awarded the institution offering the Best Student Experience in Ireland.

On Friday 14 February 2020, Professor John O'Halloran, Registrar and Vice-President, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of UCC with Coláiste na Rinne, Co. Phort Láirge.

The Graduate Attributes Programme was proud to support a fantastic student-led and student-focused event this week.

Today, UCC Graduate Attributes Programme launched their showcase of the offices and services of the Student Experience.

Quercus Scholars met Apple's CEO Tim Cook at an event celebrating 40 Years of Apple's contribution to Ireland which was held in Dublin on Monday 20th January, 2020.

After twenty years located at the houses at Brighton Villas on the Western Road, on the 16th December 2019 UCC Career Services completed a permanent transition to their new central campus location in The Hub Building.

Review of the year 2019. This review illustrates the enthusiasm with which our Graduate Attributes have been embraced and, more importantly, the opportunities that have been seized by staff and students in UCC to achieve remarkable things in 2019.

The new hub building, designed by architects O’Donnell and Tuomey, opened its doors to students on 6^th January 2020, ahead of the upcoming academic term.

We are delighted to announce the speakers for this year's Lecture Series. 

UCC has been awarded €300,000 for an additional 30 places on its full-time undergradaute Engineering degree programme under Pillar 2 of the Human Capital Initiative. 

The first event to take place in the new hub building was the Annual Christmas Coffee Morning hosted by the Deputy President & Registrar.

For the third year running UCC has been ranked as the 9th most sustainable university in the world, and the most sustainable university in Ireland, by the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings. These rankings provide the results of online survey regarding the current condition and policies related to Green Campus and Sustainability in the Universities all over the world.

Here the Quercus Scholars and their guests enjoyed a sit down meal followed by the presentation of their Sterling Silver Acorn pins. The Creative & Performing Arts Scholars performed at the end of the night and received a standing ovation for their efforts. 

Deputy President & Registrar, Prof. John O'Halloran, delivered the introductory address on the occasion of the conferring of the Degree of Doctor of Law, honoris causa, on David Donoghue in the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland. 

Six thousand prospective students visited UCC on Saturday 12th October for the University’s Open Day. Held every year, the Open Day provides a wonderful opportunity to showcase all that makes UCC a great place to study.

UCC Graduate Recruitment Fair 2019 took place on Wednesday 9th October 2019 in the Mardyke Arena. This is the largest recruitment event of the year and is hosted by UCC Career Services. This year 114 graduate employers were available to meet with students and to offer career advice and job opportunities.

The Quercus Talented Students Programme, sponsored by Ford, has released a new set of Promotional Videos, featuring Quercus Scholars across the programme strands of Active Citizenship; Creative & Performing Arts; Innovation/Entrepreneurship; and Sports. 

University College Cork (UCC) today launched the Graduate Attributes Programme which will advance the development of students’ academic, specialist and technical competencies, equipping them with transferrable skills that can be applied in life-wide contexts. 

Professor John O’Halloran, Deputy President and Registrar UCC attended Future University in Egypt (FUE) as honorary speaker at the inaugural graduation ceremony of the graduates of the new pharmacy degree that was established under the 2014 FUE-UCC Cooperation agreement.   

On Friday 20th September students and staff of UCC convened in the Quad in support of the Global Strike for Climate. Prof Patrick O'Shea, president of UCC, dropped the Green Flag to half-mast in recognition of the fact that, although we are proud of our environmental achievements, there is more to be done.

Today, the 2020 QS Graduate Employability Rankings were released and QS Quacquarelli Symonds have named the world's top 500 universities for nurturing graduate employability. UCC has climbed since last year from being in the 301-500 band to the 250-300 band.

On Friday 6th of September, we welcomed the 6th intake of Quercus Scholars to UCC with a day long induction event hosted at Distillery House.  

Paul O'Donovan and Ronan Byrne, both Quercus Sports Scholars, have achieved success at the Rowing World Championships, which took place in Linz, Austria from August 25th to September 1st. Ronan has also succeeded in winning Gold at the European U23 Rowing Championships, which took place in Greece from the 5th-8th of September. 

REACT (Responding to Excessive Consumption of Alcohol in Third Level)  is a UCC led, joint initiative between the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), the Irish Student Health Association (ISHA) and UCC Health Matters. 

Today, UCC signed an agreement with Kerry Education and Training Board (Kerry ETB) that will see both institutions working together to enhance opportunities for and engagement in outdoor education and training at Cappanalea, The National Centre for Outdoor Education and Training, which is based at Oulagh West, Caragh Lake, Killorglin, Co. Kerry.

UCC is the lead on the capacity building work package of the Erasmus funded UniGov project (Improving Governance Practices and Palestinian Higher Education Institutions) including all training activities such as designing the training modules and supervise the online, face-to-face training as well as the study visits activities.

Congratulations to the Dentistry Class of 2019 on your examination results.

The SOAR Project Travellers in Education assembly -  Supporting Travellers in 2nd Level Education: Progress through Partnership sees key stakeholders working together to explore how best to support Travellers in second level education in Cork and Kerry.

The First Student Affairs Ireland Summit took place in UCC on the 11^th and 12^th of June. More than 400 delegates attended workshops and presentations on topics including included Student Success: Everybody's Business and Critical Incidents and Crisis Management.

Professor John O’Halloran presented certificates to the inaugural Puttnam Scholars on Friday 7th June.

During his visit he visited the ERI Beaufort Building, the Headquarters of the SFI MaREI Centre to discuss further potential areas for collaboration and build upon recent success that sees the MaREI Centre partnering in the Australian Blue Economy Co-operative Research Centre (BE-CRC), led by the University of Tasmania.

Deputy President & Registrar, Professor John O'Halloran, Irish Rugby, UCC Sport and Morgan Buckley, Director of Sport & Physical Activity at UCC today made a presentation to U20 rugby star John Hodnett, 1st Sports Studies & Physical Education student and Quercus scholar as he heads to Argentina to represent Ireland in the U20 Rugby World Cup next month.

Deputy President & Registrar Professor John O'Halloran welcomed over 500 students, teachers and parents to the Devere Hall today, where he officiated at the 2019 BFGtoEU Graduation Ceremony, and made a presentation to guest speaker Rob Heffernan. 

Sara Ahmed is a British-Australian scholar whose area of study includes the intersection of feminist theory, lesbian feminism, queer theory, critical race theory and postcolonialism, gave a presentation at UCC on May 16th on Closing the Door: Complaint as Diversity Work.

The Deputy President and Registrar Professor John O'Halloran has been a jury panel member for the L’Oréal-UNESCO UK & Ireland For Women in Science National Fellowships Programme for many years. 

The Deputy President and Registrar addressed the 7th ASEF Rectors’ Conference and Students’ Forum (ARC7) in Bucharest on 13th April 2019.  The conference theme was “Higher Education Taking Action Towards the Sustainable Development Goals: Perspectives from Asia and Europe” and Professor O’Halloran was invited to present at a working group on “Taking Action at Home: SDGs as Core Pillars of University Governance”.  

The Graduate Studies Office is proud to announce the launch of its newly structured and designed website.

An online Academic Policy Portal has been launched to provide a single location for accessing the full range of academic policies at UCC.

Congratulations to Quercus Innovation/Entrepreneurship Scholar, Mary Murphy, who was named the winner of the 2019 UCC Student Entrepreneur of the Year.

The Deputy President and Registrar met with Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys today as she visited the Tyndall National Institute at UCC to review Disruptive Technology Innovation Funding (DTIF) projects worth over €20 million and to welcome other significant funding wins at one of Europe’s leading technology research Institutes. 

UCC played host to the 2019 Annual International Workshop on UI GreenMetrics which addressed the theme of “Sustainable University in a Changing World: Lessons, Challenges and Opportunities.”

UCC Societies were the biggest winners at this year’s Board of Irish College Societies (BICS) Awards taking home a whopping four awards - more than any other college or institute in Ireland.

FINTECHNEXT, a financial technology research collaboration project between UCC, Fexco and Science Foundation Ireland, was launched today by Paschal Donohue, Minister for Finance & Public Expenditure and Reform at Fexco Head Office in Killorglin, Co. Kerry.

UCC’s top sports stars were honoured at the Sports Star Awards 2018/2019 in the River Lee Hotel on Tuesday 9th April, with personalities from the world of sport, coaches, parents, students, UCC Clubs Executive and UCC staff in attendance.

Dion Davis, a second year Professional Masters in Education (PME) student, was nominated by Olive Byrne, Head of Access & Participation, to speak at the launch of “Delivering for Ireland, An Impact Assessment of Irish Universities”. This is the first report by the Irish Universities Association on the role universities play in the economy and society, launched today at the Convention Centre Dublin.

University College Cork is placed 21st in the world in Times Higher Education’s (THE) University Impact Rankings 2019.

Congratulations to Ireland who were crowned U20 Six Nations Grand Slam Champions on Friday 15th March. The team included Quercus Sports Scholar, John Hodnett, in the number 8 position. 

Professor John O’ Halloran, Deputy President and Registrar presented 426 students with 531 UCC Works Awards and Digital Badges at a packed ceremony in Devere Hall on the 20^th March, 2019.

Dónal Óg Cusack was in UCC recently to launch the LGBT+ Allies scheme for staff. We were delighted to welcome him to UCC and took the opportunity to present him with a copy of our recently launched Sports Strategy Document.

Today, University College Cork launched a new Sports Strategy. This ambitios four-year strategy was launched by Olympic rowing hero Paul O’Donovan and athlete Mary Fitzgerald, who recently won three gold medals at the 2019 IWAS World Games.

UCC have won three major sporting cups over the past month. The Collingwood Cup, The Sigerson Cup and The Fitzgibbon Cup.

Quercus Sports' Scholar, Mary Fitzgerald, won 3 gold medals at the 2019 IWAS World Games in the United Arab Emirates.

Today, University College Cork's first every Academic Strategy was launched by Deputy President & Registrar, Professor John O'Halloran. The new strategy aims to transform the UCC learning experience and has, at its heart, a Connected Curriculum.

UCC has been shortlisted in five categories for the Education Awards 2019, which are part of the Business River network solution.

This year's Quercus Gala took place in the Aula Maxima on November 28th, 2018. 

In the recent Athena SWAN Charter awards-cycle, the School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, School of Chemistry and School of Pharmacy, all received bronze departmental awards for their ongoing commitment to promoting good employment practices for women in science in higher education. 

University College Cork has become the first institution outside of North America to achieve a gold star rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). We now join Princeton, Cornell and UC Berkeley in receiving the highest standard, Gold ‘Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System’ (STARS) for excellence in sustainability.