University College Cork

Student Hub: This building will redefine how the University engages with its student body in an exciting centre campus redevelopment of the historic Windle building.  The building consists of zones focused on Teaching and Learning, Student Success, Employability, Student Life and a Welcome Zone which incorporates a Helpdesk facility.  Planning permission for the project was achieved in May 2016 and enabling works were completed in summer 2016. Detailed design of the projected was progressed and tenders received in April 2017.  Construction works for this €15m investment commenced in July 2017 and the project is due for handover for the 19/20 academic year.

Student Benefits:

University College Cork is confident that this investment in our staff, students, and community will continue to improve the UCC experience, and will deliver a whole host of benefits, including:

·         A range of UCC student services located under one roof providing a central reference and referral point for students and staff on campus

·        Dedicated student project rooms and meeting spaces

·         Access to next-generation innovative learning and teaching spaces

·         New spaces for community organisations to use, furthering developing links between UCC and out community

Cork Science and Innovation Park – 1^st Building:  This is a project of national significance led by the Local Authority with the support of UCC/CIT and a number of other landowners.  A precinct masterplan has been prepared for UCC’s lands and planning approval was received for a first building on the Science Park in March 2016.  The building will incorporate a Health Innovation Hub Ireland and space for grow on companies that emerge from UCC’s research through GatewayUCC and other incubation initiatives across the region.   It is hoped to commence construction in 2019.

Cork University Business School (CUBS): UCC has plans to develop a major city-centre located Business School.  This would combine all aspects of undergraduate, postgraduate and research activities across the Business disciplines.  This comes following an initial development, UCC acquiring the Cork Saving Bank building at Lapps Quay & developing the Continuous Professional Development and Executive Education (See below IMIM Building on Lapps Quay Executive Education Centre) aspects of the school following UCC’s recent acquisition of the Irish Management Institute.  Planning approval was achieved for the Lapps Quay development in March 2017 and construction was completed and the building opened in November 2018. 

Student Health

The Student Health Department provides a comprehensive range of student health care services to all registered students, during office hours, Monday to Friday, 12 months of the year.  The Department has an FTE staff of 6.6 covering doctors, nurses, psychiatrist, physiotherapists and administration.

Student Counselling & Development

Student Counselling & Development (SCD) is a free confidential service to all students. The Service provides individual counselling and support to students with emotional, psychological, academic or personal development needs. 

Peer Support programme

The Peer Support programme is a support service for students, by students.

Chaplaincy Services: - UCC Chaplaincy - A Home Away from Home

 As a UCC Department for Wellbeing & Health, we support all UCC Students & Staff, of any gender, age, disability, family status, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, or ethnicity.

The Skills Centre offers a free and friendly place for all students (undergraduate and postgraduate) to come and address any aspect of their study. This relaxed, friendly and non-judgemental resource is available to students even before term starts.

Sports at Curraheen: UCC’s existing playing fields are zoned for a Science Park.  It is proposed to relocate and develop a new high quality sports facility on lands acquired close to our existing facilities.  A feasibility study for the development was completed in 2016.  It incorporates new high quality grass and synthetic pitches and a major new pavilion building incorporating changing rooms, team rooms, catering etc.  It is planned to progress a planning application for the proposed development following a major strategic review of all our sports facilities in 2019.

With over 100 societies in UCC ranging from academic, charitable, creative, debating, political, religious and social. 

Student Accommodation:  The University is actively seeking to increase its provision of student accommodation through site acquisition\development or joint ventures with the private sector.  UCC acquired the Victoria Mills development of 418 beds at Victoria Cross and a smaller unit at Mardyke Hall (50 beds) in 2018.  UCC also acquired the Crow’s Nest site in 2016 and a planning application for a significant 255 bed development along with our student health centre was submitted in November 2017 under the Strategic Housing Development Act.  It is expected to start on site in Summer 2020. and to be ready for students in 2021. 

Medical & Dental School: It is proposed to develop a new state of the art Dental School and to develop, in conjunction with the HSE, a Medical School facility at Cork University Hospital to enhance the experience of our undergraduate medical students in a clinical environment.  A design team for the Dental Hospital development was appointed in 2018, and a planning application was submitted for this major new facility on the Curraheen Science and Technology Park site in May 2019. It is expected to appoint a design team for the Medical School faculty in summer 2019 in conjunction with the HSE.

No. 5 Grenville Place:  UCC and Cork City Council have joined forces to acquire and upgrade this property.  It was home to George Boole, the first Professor of Mathematics at Queen’s College Cork (now UCC). Phase I of the refurbishment of the building was completed in April 2017.  The fit-out phase is planned for 2019/2020.

Lir – National Ocean Test Facility: Ireland’s ocean energy test facility, Lir, was officially opened on 18th January at the Beaufort Building in Ringaskiddy, by Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney, TD. Located in the €20 million UCC ERI Beaufort building, Lir – the National Ocean Test Facility provides world-class laboratory testing for offshore wind, wave and tidal energy devices. As well as the ocean test infrastructure, Lir also offers a highly experienced team of researchers and operators.

UCC's Academic Strategy (2018 - 2022) was launched on 4^th December 2018, following almost a year of development, and sets out a roadmap for our academic ambitions over the coming years. It focusses on six key areas:

1. Develop a Connected Curriculum, building on existing strengths and best practice globally.
2. Align curriculum offerings with demand and with teaching and research priorities.
3. Constructively align effective assessment practices with learning outcomes. 
4. Facilitate students' development of core values and graduate attributes.
5. Establish a student enrolment plan that aligns with student recruitment targets.
6. Reform academic governance such that innovation is enabled, coherence is restored and risk is reduced. 

The Connected University programme is a five-year investment programme in our student and academic services that will create a truly connected university. This programme of work is informed by the goals and actions of the university’s strategic plan (2017–2022), and will deliver change and improvement through a number of individual strands i.e. The Academic Strategy, Student Central, Student Administration Systems, The Student Hub and the Virtual Learning Environment. Significant progress has been made in the programme.   

New Virtual Learning Environment Introduced – Canvas

Canvas is a cloud-based Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) developed by a company called Instructure. Canvas is used by some 3,000 institutions globally, and it has been selected to replace Blackboard as UCC’s VLE for the 2019/20 academic year. 

To watch a short video on UCC’s Sports Strategy please click here: https://youtu.be/ApNnaJg7eO4/ 

On 27 February, 2019, UCC launched a new Sports Strategy. The 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.  This new strategy aims to develop a new UCC Sports Park in Curraheen to replace the current facilities at the Farm in Cork – a leading action in the University Strategic Plan.  A new sporting club, ‘Sport for Life Club - Many Tribes-One Team’, will be launched to connect players, volunteers, sponsors, supporters and alumni.  Other plans include the launch of a new #ActiveUCC sports participation programme, and an annual UCC Sport Hall of Fame Day. Also, a new line of UCC Sport Skull and Crossbones-branded apparel will be developed. With the year only in its second month, it has already been a phenomenal start for UCC sport. UCC completed the first Sigerson-Fitzgibbon cup double in 31 years this year, while earlier this year UCC beat UL to take the Collingwood Cup to clinch their 14th win in the competition. UCC also extended its partnership earlier this year with Cork City FC.

Equality Diversion and Inclusion:  UCC launch its first ever Diversity Calendar for the third level sector in September. Based on submissions from UCC staff and students, this calendar  marks significant religious events, internationally recognised dates (e.g. relating to civil rights) and national and local diversity-related events and dates. The calendar is proposed to create conversations about diverse religious and other events that affect students' and staff lives and their engagement with UCC duties and tasks. UCC is adopting the expanded Athena SWAN Charter Principles, which become mandatory in Ireland from 2019.  

Autism Friendly University Initiative: A three year project to create an academic, social and physical environment that will support autistic students from pre-entry stage through to graduation and employment was launched by the Deputy President and Registrar on July 3rd 2018.   The initiative, spearheaded by the UCC Students’ Union, is undertaken in collaboration with AsIAm.ie, the autism support and advocacy organisation.  The initiative will deliver a state of the art building in the heart of the campus open to all students, which will provide an inclusive, quiet space, housing a sensory room, an eating area, a meditation room as well as accessible and gender neutral bathrooms.  

UCC has a strategic priority and a policy of widening access which has resulted in almost 25% of the current student population coming from under-represented areas including Disability Support Service; Mature Students; UCC Plus+. 

The Disability Support Service provides support to over 1,500 students with disabilities and is a core element of Access and Participation in UCC.   The Service works to increase access and retention of students with disabilities and specific learning difficulties and does this by delivering a very proactive and innovative pre entry programme through which we engage with primary and secondary schools as well as students with disabilities and their parents.

UCC is the most successful university in Ireland in providing access to undergraduate programmes through admission from Further Education colleges (termed the QQI-FET (FETAC) route) and there is substantial annual increase since 2013.  

The Mature Student Office (MSO) works with full-time undergraduate students who are over the age of 23 (on 1 January of the year of entry to third level) and with QQI-FET students.  In 2018/19 there were 1052 mature students and QQI-FET students registered in UCC. 

The Sanctuary Scholarships Scheme 2018 has successfully filled its seven undergraduate scholarship offers for asylum seeker students aged between18-23. Students are engaged in a range of courses awarded through the CAO, across three Colleges, namely Arts, the College of Arts Celtic Studies and Social Sciences, the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science and the College of Medicine and Health. 

Nine of this year’s Quercus Talented Student scholarships will be offered to CAO applicants. At least a further 60 Quercus Entrance scholarships, will be awarded to incoming students on the basis of their high performance in the Leaving Certificate examination.

In 2017 based on primary degree graduates 93.7% were in employment or completing further study such as Masters Degrees. Only 2.8% were seeking employment which is extremely low while a further 3.5% were not available to respond.

 Again based on 2017/2018 data the 4 year degree total graduation rate is 84% and the 5 year degree total graduation rate is 93%

 UCC has a great record for the retention of first year students. Based on 2017/2018 data this is running at 92%, circa 6% ahead of the National Average. 

UCC Career Services exists to support the career development of UCC students through the provision of advisory, work placement and graduate recruitment services.

Our Mission: We help UCC students to achieve their career objectives by providing access to one to one careers advice and coaching, employability skills development classes, workshops and events, work experience placement opportunities and employment or postgraduate opportunities in Ireland and abroad.

We achieve our mission by:

• Providing one to one and group career advice and coaching to students.
• Working in partnership with academic departments and other University initiatives/units to deliver customised employability and career related workshops and events to meet the needs of the cohort of students of that department/initiative
• Administering work placement modules on behalf of academic programmes
• Providing Graduate Employers with opportunities to meet and communicate with UCC students and graduates so that our students and graduates can avail of employment opportunities both in Ireland and internationally.
• Making UCC students aware of a wide range of postgraduate study opportunities.

University College Cork (UCC) graduates are highly sought-after by employers: 93% of our graduates are in employment or further studies within nine months of graduating. We attribute this success to the approach to employability and employment that we demonstrate as a research-intensive university. UCC prioritises a holistic approach to the development of professional skills and a strong work ethic that will enable our students to chart progressive, fulfilling career paths. Our degree programmes provide an intellectually rigorous, research-based education of the highest standard that is grounded in practice. Our employability and career development initiatives are delivered through curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities and are supported by multiple units across the university. 

UCC Partners with Industry in the Regional Skills Forum

UCC is a partner in the South West Regional Skills Forum together with:

·         Education & Training partners: CIT, IT Tralee, Cork ETB, Kerry ETB, Skillnets

·         Statutory Agencies: Enterprise Ireland, IDA, Cork City & County Councils & Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), Kerry County Council & LEOs, Dept of Social Protection, South West Action Plan for Jobs

·         Industry Associations: Cork Chamber, Cork Business Association, Ibec, Construction Industry Federation, Irish Hotels Federation 

UCC’s Graduate Attributes Programme.  

As a socially-minded, civically-engaged institution, our core values and graduate attributes are the bedrock of our student experience. Graduate attributes refer to the skills, knowledge and abilities of our graduates, beyond disciplinary content knowledge, that are applicable in a range of contexts in their lives. They advance the development of academic, specialist and technical skills. Based on extensive consultation with stakeholders, the following core values and graduate attributes will be prioritised for the lifecycle of this Academic Strategy.

A successful application to support this priority was made to the HEA Innovation and Transformation Programme 2018. The funding provided through this HEA scheme will support the development of a pilot Graduate Attributes Programme, which will be predominantly targeted at BA Arts students. Delivery of a suite of initiatives within the programme will focus on the different stages of students’ Transition In, Through and Out of the university. The overarching objective of the programme is to enable a successful student journey, which will prepare students for their future through three main projects.

1. Transition In initiatives will guide students into the right programme of study for them, whilst simultaneously widening access of under-represented cohorts and improving first year retention rates.

2. Transition Through initiatives will provide targeted supports, deliver skills training and develop graduate attributes that go beyond disciplinary content knowledge and can be applied in life-wide contexts.

3. Transition Out initiatives will prepare final year students to transition into professional environments, delivering on the ambitions of our Institutional Employability and Employment Guide.

This initiative will advance the development of students’ academic, specialist and technical competencies, equipping them with transferrable skills that can be applied in different environments. With a focus on developing core values and graduate attributes, these initiatives will integrate with the academic curriculum, taking a holistic educational approach to develop character, professionalism and the capacity for critical and creative thought. UCC graduates will be recognised as well-rounded, curious, self-aware, individuals who continually learn new skills, are open to new ideas, and make things happen

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

After engaging in the experience you will need to reflect on the skills you have developed and learn how to articulate these skills to employers.  You will do this by writing up a Reflective Report and preparing your CV before you actually receive the award at a formal rewards ceremony in the spring.