University College Cork (UCC)
Leanne D. & Megan A.
It was now day four for the group of graduate fellows from Merrimack College. In the early morning, we all indulged in a fabulous Irish B&B Breakfast at the Garish House in Cork. Sweet pancakes, whisky porridge, and tea galore! We all quickly ravaged our feast of plenty, afterwards we slowly meandered towards the University College Cork (UCC). At the entrance, we were greeted by Dr. Martin Galvin, the Research Support Officer for Community Academic Research Links (CARL). He took us on a brisk and speedy walk through the hogwart-esque campus. According to Dr. Galvin and many other guest speakers, they all spoke proudly of UCC’s humble beginnings and current progress. UCC began with 115 students in 1845, and now has an astounding student population of over 21,000. UCC is also very proud to be ranked in the top 2% of universities in the world and the world’s first green flag campus for sustainability.
We began our UCC journey by stopping off campus at the International Office. We were soon greeted by Karen McSweeny, the Visiting Student Coordinator for U.S. and Non-EU visiting students. With over 3,300 international students (15%), representing 103 countries, the international office aims to be a one-stop-shop for all international concerns. In Ireland, international students can be comprised out of three groups: Non-EU, ERASMUS, & Visiting Students. For student employment opportunities, only degree-seeking international students are eligible. Interestingly enough, Apple Inc. is the largest employer in all of Cork.
Post-arrival, international students will attend a three-day orientation and participate in Welcome Week for a smoother transition into the academic, social, and immigration expectations. Looking for new friends? Try out the speed friendship night or join in over 100 different student-funded clubs and societies! While, academic integration is important. UCC tends to utilizes an lecture-style way of teaching with average classroom sizes of up to 200 to 400 students, which equates to less opportunities for social interactions. In addition to support international students, study abroad is also housed under the International Office. Depending on a student’s major, study abroad is compulsory by the 3rd year.
Areas for potential growth would be student assessment and communication. The international office currently does not have the resources to conduct a more formal student survey to gauge overall student satisfaction. It seemed that most student feedback was collected from word of mouth or from a ULink Peer Leader. Communication and visibility was also a challenge. The International Office’s student traffic has recently decreased, likely because of class registration which has been moved online. Also, locating effective methods of communication with the students has been difficult as platforms, such as SnapChat are not a reliable source for distributing information.
We quickly moved along with the next session from Ann King, the Athena SWAN Project Officer. The Athena SWAN Charter recognises and celebrates good practice in recruiting, retaining and promoting women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) in higher education. This was in reaction to the “Leaky Pipeline,” which is the progressive attrition of women at the senior stage of the career ladder. The Athena SWAN takes advantage of incentivizing with an award system and funding, both institutionally & departmentally. An institution must apply through self-assessment and a 3-year action plan and are in contention for three possible accreditations: Bronze (Identify challenges & action plans, Silver (Measure of progress), and Gold (Self-sustaining gender equality). Through the HEA’s compliance, all Irish institutions must apply and achieve an athena award by 2019 and an silver award by 2023. Ann King argued that this goal, while had good intentions, was not feasible given the amount of time and energy that had to implemented to even achieve a bronze status. At UCC, their 3-year action plan consisted of 52 actions, improving policy and practices for gender equality, and also improving the working environment. For example, pregnant female staff now have access to priority parking. The hope that this increased awareness towards equality and diversity will have an rippling effect for future social justice movements.
While Athena SWAN is a much need initiative, it is not without flaws. Even Ann King acknowledged the fact that the Irish charter needs to address equality more broadly, and not simply barriers to progression that affect only STEM and gender. Concepts such as ethnicity, race, or sexual orientation has not yet been fully addressed on a national or local scale within higher education.
Our third stop of the day was to the Lewis Glucksman Gallery, where we met with Fiona Kearney, the founding director, and Tadgh Crowley, the Senior Curator. This Gallery is located in the center of campus is an institution that promotes the discursive relationships between art and the academic disciplines. This Gallery is named in honor of Dr. Lewis Glucksman, an investment banker who was awarded an honorary doctorate by UCC for outstanding contributions to finance, banking, and philanthropy. With the support of his wife Loretta, they both supported cultural and educational projects in the United States and in Ireland. Loretta currently serves as the Honorary Patron of the Gallery. In her current role, Fiona has been instrumental in bringing attention and collaborative action to a wide range of issues, that she gladly discussed with us today.
The Glucksman Gallery focuses on Contemporary Irish Art that attempts to provoke thoughts through the exploration of cultural, social, and political issues. Recent exhibits have included Living Loss: The Experience of Illness in Art, Gut Instinct: Art Food and Feeling, and a new and upcoming exhibit entitled Outposts: Global Borders and National Boundaries, which we discussed more in-depth about today. This past year the Glucksman Gallery had three groups collaborate them, the Irish Traveller Community, a group of refugees seeking asylum, and a group of Staff members from UCC fighting for their right to chose abortion. These groups took part in special programming titled access programming, or programming encouraging those without tractional roots to take part in the arts as part of the National Strategy.
The Traveller Visibility Group and the Cork Traveller Women’s Network came together to begin the process of designing a logo that they hoped would capture the true face of their community. They strongly believed that this logo should capture the spirit, history, and aspirations of Traveller Women. The UCC Star Society (Student Action for Refugees) has been working with the Glucksman Gallery for the past nine months to develop programming for the children living in Direct Provision and Scout and Browning Groups. Student Volunteers and Staff members have worked collaboratively to develop workshops using multiple approaches and mediums. Finally, members of the UCC Staff for Choice group worked to create large scale banners and signage that will be used in upcoming marches on the Eighth Amendment. The UCC Staff for Choice group will be using their artwork at marches and gatherings for the referendum coming in May of this year. Going forward the Glucksman Museum would like to see their collaborative programming expand beyond the confines of the museum walls to include the entirety of the campus.
Following our visit to the Glucksman Gallery we made our way over to the UCC Student Centre to Meet with Dave Carey, who works with the Peer Assisted Support service (PASS) Office. ULink Peer Support is a service offered by UCC for all first year students that specializes in student counseling and one-on-one support. To begin our conversation Dave offered an explanation to how this peer mentoring system worked. At orientation, all undergraduate first year students are matched with a peer support learner who is a current UCC student studying in the same program as them. In the case of mature students (ages 23+), students with disabilities, and international students, peer leaders are assigned on a different basis, using different criteria. This leader offers guidance to the student through the orientation process, showing them what life at UCC is all about. Following the conclusion of orientation, the Peer Mentor, will continue as a confidential ear, providing practical, emotional, and social support, as the student acclimates to their first year at UCC.
In our discussion with Dave, we reflected upon the finer details of running a Peer Support Service. Currently Dave manages 350 volunteer mentors. These mentors go through an intensive two day training prior to Summer Orientation. During this training students receive instruction on how to support students through personal dilemmas, how to communicate proficiently, and how to proactively refer students out as need be. Prior to the start of Orientation, mentors receive an additional day of training. Responsibilities include, monthly one-on-one meetings or debrief with Dave, check ins with students, and reflective meetings among coordinators. While Dave explained extensively about the ULink Peer Support Services, he only briefly touched upon the Niteline Free listening service that is also staffed through his office. Leaving us to question the programs longevity.
One of the parts of our UCC trip that I learned a lot about was the mentoring program that is offered to the first year students. As stated in Megan and Leanne's blog, this program has approximately 350 mentors that all volunteer for this position. In order to be a mentor thought, students have to have at least one year at UCC under their belt. Once the student applies and are accepted into the program, they will then attend training in April, May and August where they learn the resources offered on campus, how to give a campus tour and go over the mentor-mentee relationship. These mentors then work first year orientation and are immediately connected to their mentee. Throughout the year, mentors have to attend reflection meetings where they talk about what has happened within their mentee group. This was extremely beneficial for me to hear because the ASC at Merrimack is trying to make FYE mentors recieve credit for what they do and we were not sure what mentors would have to do during the school year. Overall, the meeting with Dave was interesting to hear because of how much detail was given about their peer mentoring program.
ReplyDeleteUniversity College Cork was my favorite college so far. I already told my brother about the philosophy/public health master’s program. It was a long day with a lot of information, but I left feeling like I had a strong understanding of the campus, it’s structure, and what the institution is doing for the community. The conversation that stood out to me the most was the Athena SWAN meeting with Ann King. I felt like it was a really positive initiative to start promoting women in academic STEM careers, knowing that there is a problem with a disproportionate amount of men in higher academic/professor roles than women. I could see my knowledge about applying for the Carnegie application directly relating to their experience of applying for this award. I thought that the levels was a smart addition, because it takes an institution's commitment a step deeper than application/reapplication. Even if institutions have started including more women, they could work toward silver and gold awards in the future. One question I still had was about Ann King’s background. I wanted to know if she had a STEM background or gender equality background. I will definitely do more research on this initiative and follow UCC’s progression toward silver.
ReplyDeleteWhile this day at UCC was very long and tiring, it certainly was a highlight for me in terms of our campus visits. Not only was I surprised by UCC's growth, but also was amazed by their flexibility and ability to adapt to a constantly changing society and student population. Speaking with Ann King about UCC's efforts in the Athena SWAN initiative was one of the first conversations we had about gender equality in Ireland. Prior to visiting the country, we had several conversations in class about the gender inequities across the state. What was most powerful about this conversation was the fact that the HEA had required colleges to work towards gender equality improvements in STEM across the sector in order for institutions to remain funded in certain areas. That serves as a great example of how leadership in organizations such as the HEA can start conversations and foster change on an institutional level, simply by prioritizing gender equality in their policies. Our visit to the Glucksman Gallery was most definitely my favorite part of the entire day. The work that the Glucksman Gallery is doing in terms of utilizing contemporary art to tell stories and start conversations about societal issues is incredible. The entire team at the Glucksman Gallery was extremely humble, yet I like to think they have absolutely influenced policy on a larger scale institutional level (especially regarding access for asylum seekers/refugees). I have no doubt that the work they do and the relationships they continue to build with other members of the community will continue to influence policy not only at the institutional level, but at the state level through fostering conversations within their community.
ReplyDeleteFor our first lengthy visit on a campus this one certainly had great information to give to us! I really enjoyed getting to speak with Karen from the International Office and hear from Dave from the PASS office. It became very evident that the International Office does a lot of work throughout the year for its students. They have such an influx of students each year to the University, so it must become challenging. I find that with the peer mentor group for the international students that this was a great method to spread the contact with student out from the office. It gives a familiar face in a way to the students because it is one of their peers that they do get to know and receive help from throughout the year! The theme of peer mentors was very evident while at UCC because the PASS office runs prominently on 350 students who coordinate to welcome and aid students transition to college. It was remarkable that all of these students are volunteers who want to help the incoming students with their new beginnings at UCC. I think that must speak to the community atmosphere that is being built among the students, which is so embedded in the culture of UCC. Speaking two these great people really helped me understand how influential the students at UCC are to each other and that our Orientation system in the US is different, but does the same positive work.
ReplyDeleteI think UCC was one of my favorite campus visits, especially with some time to reflect being back in the US. I think the structure of the day was beneficial as we got to see a number of different parts of campus. I learned more about the "leaky pipeline" in terms of women in academia in the STEMM fields. The Athena SWANN initiative, as mentioned above, was started in the UK and promotes good practice around recruiting, retaining, and promoting women in STEMM. This holistic approach looks to address various issues that women face when entering these field from the beginning courses to achieving promotions into higher positions of being granted full time professorship. Ireland is requiring institutions across the country to achieve certain status level and develop action plans to achieve it. This is not just rhetoric being used; rather, there are action steps being taken to bridge this gap. Another part of the visit I enjoyed was meeting with Dave and working with student support. I appreciated how he outlined his timeline for recruitment and interviewing student leaders. Further, I thought basing the groups by course of study was very intentional and beneficial as students can begin to develop connections within their particular field. I also appreciated hearing the volunteer system the student leaders run on, as this can mitigate the cost of the program. These student leaders are gaining leadership experience and also transferable skills to the job market. I left UCC feeling full of new information and happy to see action steps to further develop students and leaders!
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