Fastest growing institute needs more investment
CARLOW IT is the fastest growing institute in the country, but needs increased State investment to allow it to continue to grow, its president Dr Patricia Mulcahy told students at a conferring ceremony at the National Opera House in Wexford.
‘We have proven that we can deliver a high quality return on investment to the State and we have delivered high quality growth throughout the recession.
‘However, to continue to meet the demands of our regions, significant additional growth is envisaged for this institute. We cannot do this without increased investment by the Government,’ she said.
Last Friday’s conferring saw 196 awards, from Higher Certificate up to Doctoral Degrees, conferred in a special ceremony.
This year’s ceremonies at Institute of Technology Carlow will see over 2,200 awards in total conferred in Carlow, Wexford and Wicklow. The total number of graduates from the Institute is now approaching 50,000 across the globe. There are currently students from more than 90 countries studying at Institute of Technology Carlow.
Minister Paul Kehoe attended the ceremony and presented prizes for academic excellence to two students:
Imelda Scallan, who was conferred with a Higher Certificate in Science in Computing in Commercial Programming, received the Julie Breen Solicitor Student of the Year Award at Level 6.
And Alan Walsh, who was conferred with a Bachelor of Science in Energy Management (Buildings) received the Environment Protection Agency Student of the Year Award at Level 7.
Congratulating the students, Minister Kehoe said the range of courses offered, particularly those at the Wexford Campus, are responsive to changing needs in competitive and globalised industries, demonstrating that Institute of Technology Carlow is outward-looking in its efforts to meet the needs of the community it serves.
Institute of Technology Carlow has delivered significant capital projects throughout the past five years of the recession in the absence of a capital investment programme from Government. Future capital projects include the south sports campus presently going through the planning process and the development of the Wexford Campus. The past year has seen prominent international review panels highly commend the Institute’s culture of openness, facilities, student supports, research and postgraduate opportunities and industry engagement.
In the past five years, enrolments on high technology STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) programmes have increased by 45 per cent in Institute of Technology Carlow. The increase reflects the strategic focus of the Institute on the technological needs of the economy, exemplified by the need to address the well-publicised skills deficit in ICT and engineering graduates.
In response to government enterprise development and job creation initiatives, Institute of Technology Carlow has worked with new and existing companies to develop products and services and to help build sustainable businesses.
To allow the Institute build on their success will require additional government support, but support that Dr Mulcahy says will result in a significant return on investment.