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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

The BioPharmaChem sector has grown exponentially in recent years; there are now more than 84,000 highly skilled people directly and indirectly employed in the sector. It is projected that this will increase by up to 10,000 jobs over the next 5 years.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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

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).

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.

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 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.

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

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.  

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. 

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

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.

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! 

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.

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.

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.  

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.

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.

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.

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.