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.

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. 

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 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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.”