Students forced into course re-think

DOZENS of college courses have been cancelled, forcing students to re-order their preferences ahead of the July 1 cutoff for finalised third-level choices.

Six of the cancellations have taken place in the past six weeks, after 44 others were notified to college applicants at the start of May. Just over half of the 50 courses concerned are level 8 (higher bachelor degrees), and most of the remainder are level 7 (ordinary bachelor degree).

The Central Applications Office (CAO) said the numbers of higher education courses no longer being offered at that stage were the same as a year ago. However, a number of colleges are already considering cutbacks because of budget cuts and the need to reduce their pay and other costs.

Among those to cancel programmes already are Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), where 10 courses, including furniture design, internet technologies and tourism degrees, have been removed from the CAO list.

Another four courses have been cut at Blanchardstown IT, while Cork Institute of Technology has axed its Theatre and Drama Studies degree at Cork School of Music, which moved to a new €60 million building in 2007.

Most of the cancelled courses are at State-funded colleges, but private institutions such as Dublin Business School and Griffith College in Dublin and Cork are also dropping study programmes. The full list appears on the Important Changes section of the CAO handbook on www.cao.ie

The CAO said almost 18,500 of the 73,500 applicants have already used the change-of-mind facility, available free of charge, with college hopefuls entitled to adjust their course choices and preferences as often as they wish, up to the July 1 deadline, either by post or online.

It remains unclear whether Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe will announce proposals to introduce tuition fees or some other form of student contribution before that date, with any changes likely to affect students entering college this year coming into effect in autumn 2010.

Meanwhile, a conference in Institute of Technology Sligo this week is examining the needs and challenges of first-year undergraduates. The Confederation of Student Services in Ireland event heard there is a challenge for all institutions to support and integrate first years. “Today’s first-year students are vastly different from 10 years ago and for some, attending university and college life is just part of a lifestyle. Many first-year students now work part-time and try to study full-time, which has significant implications for academic progress,” said CSSI chairperson Colleen Doyle.

“In addition, there is also a greater diversity. The Government’s strategy of encouraging non-traditional students to enter full-time higher education means an increasing number of mature and other non-traditional students,” she said.