Institutes move ahead with TU status plan
Their joint plans with Limerick IT to form a Munster Technological University ended when LIT announced last month it is withdrawing and wants to remain as a standalone institute of technology.
The Higher Education Authority has proposed a cut from 39 colleges to as few as 15 in a draft blueprint for the third-level sector.
It has not had an alternative submission from CIT and IT Tralee, but a CIT spokeswoman said the two still plan to apply to become a TU.
“The fact that LIT has withdrawn has not delayed things. The consortium is proceeding and we will be going ahead,” she said.
But the college could not say when a formal TU application will be made or what work has been done to meet the high standards needed.
The Irish Examiner revealed last year that most of the proposed joint applicants for TU status fall short on a requirement that 90% of full-time academics have at least a masters degree or equivalent. The lowest was at CIT, where 75% had a level 9 qualification or higher, although 95% of IT Tralee’s academics have one.
The highest proportion of any consortium was the combined 84% in Carlow and Waterford institutes, which want to become a TU for the south-east. But just 24% of their staff have a PhD, against the 45% required by the HEA criteria.
The CIT-IT Tralee and Carlow-Waterford TU applications are supported by the HEA plans, along with an expression of interest from three Dublin institutes in becoming a TU.
Despite the strict criteria published almost a year ago, political pressure remains for a south-east TU. Fine Gael Waterford TD Paudie Coffey said vested interests should not be allowed to hold up the project.
But the HEA stressed that the process will be based on applications assessed by international education, rather than on political decisions to simply rename any group of colleges. A TU would have a much different mission than traditional universities, focused more on careers and enterprise, with particular emphasis on links to regional industry needs.
The draft proposals will be finalised and sent to Education Minister Ruairi Quinn in March, and combine earlier proposals from colleges with advice from Irish and international experts over the last two years. But the Teachers’ Union of Ireland said the HEA document is a kite-flying exercise that attempts to influence ongoing consultations.
“The significant changes proposed in terms of mergers would have a more negative impact on the institute of technology sector while the universities appear to escape largely unscathed,” said TUI deputy general secretary Annette Dolan.
Proposed colleges and mergers:
*UCD; Marino Institute of Education.
*TCD; Marino Institute of Education; Royal Irish Academy of Music.
*UCC.
*NUI Galway; Shannon College of Hotel Management; St Angela’s College Sligo.
*NUI Maynooth; Froebel College of Education.
*University of Limerick; Mary Immaculate College of Education.
*Dublin City University; St Patrick’s College Drumcondra; Mater Dei Institute of Education; Church of Ireland College of Education.
*Dublin Alliance Institutes of Technology (DIT; IT Blanchardstown; IT Tallaght).
*Munster institutes of technology (CIT; IT Tralee).
*South East institutes of technology (WIT; IT Carlow).
*Connacht Ulster Alliance institutes of technology (Galway- Mayo IT; Letterkenny IT; IT Sligo).
*Athlone IT.
*Dundalk IT.
*Limerick IT.
*Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
Further discussions required on future of nine colleges, including: National College of Ireland; National College of Art & Design; and Institute of Art, Design and Technology Dun Laoghaire.
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