19 Sep Interview with Professor John O’Halloran, Interim President, University College Cork
How does University College Cork (UCC) differentiate itself from other learning institutions?
University College Cork is a 175-year-old university. It is an institution that promotes independent thinking, a modern outlook and a strong focus on sustainability. We are connected to our learners, alumni, community, employers, city and country through culture and innovation. We take a whole systems approach to sustainability that is recognized globally and is reinforced by our range of credentials in this area. University College Cork is the first green flag campus in the world. We are ranked eighth in the world on The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings and ninth in the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking, the only global ranking for sustainability.
Our student sustainability program is student led, research informed and practice focused. We challenge our students to constantly enquire and make contributions towards a more sustainable world by embedding key skills and attributes through our curriculum. University College Cork is a research-intensive university. Everything we do is informed by deep and cutting-edge research. We have some of the world’s top researchers. We translate the activities of our research into our curriculum, practice and university.
University College Cork is committed to letting talent grow. We have a program called the Connected Curriculum that pushes students to improve global reach, provide community engagements, move from interdisciplinary to transdisciplinary systems and perform valued research. The curriculum aims to expose students to both local and global diversity and encourage them to respect and grow as global citizens through life-wide learning.
We have a unique program called the Graduate Attribute Programme that supports students in developing life-wide skills, such as being a good communicator, collaborator and team player. It also challenges students to process how good they are at social inclusion and see if they are digitally fluent and globally oriented.
We also have our Quercus Talented Students’ Programme, which is a competitive scholarship. Quercus is the Latin word for oak. It is an academy for highly talented students who are contributing to changing the world. The program has the five following strands: academia, sports, creative and performing arts, active citizenship and entrepreneurship. We have had 140 students on that program over the last five years. Some of these students have been profiled in Time magazine and others have spoken to the United Nations.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way the school operates?
In March, the entire university was successfully pivoted online. We continued our curricula and vital research during this period. We had more than 1,000 researchers working innovatively and safely during this period. We cover the full range of disciplines, including medicine, nursing, law, science, engineering and the humanities. We had to graduate our medical students in this period. It was the first time in our history that we did not have an on-campus awards ceremony. However, we were no longer constrained by the physical space of a building and celebrated our student’s accomplishment in our student’s homes in 110 countries. It was exciting.
Our original 2017-2022 strategy was revisited, and we realigned our priorities. We focused on learning and teaching, research and innovation, student success and infrastructure. We aim to keep all good elements of an on-campus experience while accelerating digital immersion and learning. Universities are often slow to move and evolve; in moments like this we are ready to take really big steps.
How have new digital technologies changed education at UCC?
We had already developed a digital education framework. For example, students were already preparing podcasts and videocasts in our self-service studio. Digital systems have allowed us global access. This year Rick Riordan, the best-selling American author of Percy Jackson, recently graduated with a master’s degree in Gaelic literature through remote lifelong learning. We also generated new simulation and virtual reality systems within the university. For our medical and dental students this technology was used in their disciplines but also in their social encounters. We have a simulation lab called ASSERT. We have students engage with so-called patients both virtually and in real time and an observer assesses how the future medical practitioners engages with their patient. Both technical and engagement aspects are equally critical in students becoming talented professionals.
What kind of impact does UCC have on the city of Cork and local communities?
University College Cork has a population of 22,000 students and 3,000 staff. The immediate population of the city is only about 150,000. There is also a second university, Munster Technology University. We are a real university city in every sense of the word; United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization has designated Cork as a learning city. University College Cork along with other municipal institutions have signed a memorandum of understanding focusing on Cork being a learning city. Our IGNITE company-incubation program builds talent beyond the university and develops new economies. Over 200 people have gained employment due to our company spinouts.
My larger vision is for University College Cork to support the development of an innovation hub that connects Irish ingenuity with Cork’s rich research environment. We connect UCC’s Tyndall National Institute, the largest research institute in the state and one that works on information and communication technology hardware and software, with the APC Microbiome Institute, which is also based at University College Cork and ranked number one in the world in microbiome research. We also connect to our Institute of Social Sciences in the 21st Century. We not only have the infrastructure, but we also have an ecosystem filled with talent that is supported by the private and public sectors to enable innovation. The world is currently being challenged by three things: infectious disease, climate change and digitalization. These are at the forefront of what the university needs to be working on.
We secured significant funding for managing and developing two large programs under the Irish government’s Human Capital Initiative. Our first program looks to assist the pharmaceutical sector. A total of 11 of the 13 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world are within 10 kilometers of University College Cork and are intimately connected. We are working with the Munster Technological University to meet the required skills in these workplaces to generate new knowledge. The second program is centered on business and sustainability. We are partnering with Maynooth University to look at the costs of industry, such as in finance, biotech, online education and social media.
How is UCC promoting diversity in its operations?
I am an ornithologist. The central axiom in ecology is that diversity bestows stability. The more diverse a community is in its shape, size and ethnicity, the greater the benefits are for society at large. We have over 100 different nationalities in our student body, and more than 30% of our staff are from international markets. We have partnerships all over the world, with approximately 4,000 in research. At the institutional level, we have an excess of partners spanning Asia, Europe, North America and South America. We have global research and education programs. We also have programs for overseas work placements.
There is both a significant outward and inward migration of students. We are currently developing a program with the University of Massachusetts Lowell. We have programs in Egypt and China and are part of the European Universities Initiative that strategically allies eight universities. We have 100 partners in the Erasmus Programme. This is the joy of the university; people are moving, connecting and collaborating.
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