Review Report
Adult and Continuing Education
Finalised: 22/03/2011
Reviewers
Prof. Michael Osborne, School of Education, University of Glasgow (Chair); Prof. Tom Mullins, Centre for
Adult Continuing Education, University College Cork; Dr. Edward Herring, Dean of the College of Arts,
Social Sciences, and Celtic Studies, NUI Galway (Cognate); Ms. Linda Sice, Roscommon Integrated
Development Company, Roscommon Town; Dr. Tony Hall, School of Education, NUI Galway
(Coordinator).
Preamble
NUI Galway has identified regional development, access, community education, non-traditional
students and civic engagement as key dimensions of its developmental strategy. This review group
believes that this space provides an opportunity for NUI Galway to become a world-leading institution
with a focus on this strength, and that Adult and Continuing Education is well positioned to make a
significant contribution to the realisation of this key strategic objective of NUI Galway.
Key Strengths
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Culture of providing support of the very highest quality and standards to non-traditional
students;
Very high levels of satisfaction from both students and stakeholders in the community, and
tutors contributing to the programmes;
Flexible and adaptive suite of innovative programmes, responsive to the needs of community,
youth, ethnic minorities, business, enterprise and leadership;
A leading provider of trainer education, up-skilling and professional development to state
bodies, including FÁS, Defence Forces, and private training organisations;
Pioneering the use of ICTs and blended approaches to delivery of programmes at NUI Galway;
Innovative, international collaborative distance programmes at Master level;
Strong tradition of successful and lucrative summer schools, attracting international students,
with clear potential for future growth;
Key role in opening the University to the wider community through the outstandingly successful
Access programmes and the initiatives to bring schoolchildren and parents onto campus;
Serving the region through working in partnership and synergy with a range of other higher
education institutions, schools and community partners;
Circa forty years of sustained impact in local communities across the BMW region;
Strong entrepreneurial leadership.
Key Recommendations
Recommendations for the University
1. Immediate release of the €1m philanthropic funding to support the sustainability of
Access/Adult and Continuing Education programmes.
2. Bringing the distributed, diverse units within Adult and Continuing Education together in one
physical space, centrally located on the campus.
3. Appointment of new academic director to build upon the excellent profile that has been
created for Adult and Continuing Education by the current director and team. This person
should possess:
- outstanding leadership skills;
- strategic vision;
- entrepreneurial flair; and
- demonstrated commitment to community-based education and regional development.
This should be a high-level appointment, perhaps with an equivalent status to that of a Dean or
at least Head of School, with membership of Academic Council, Council of Deans, and other
appropriate high-level decision-making committees, etc.
4. Short-term/immediate: address the current issue that surrounds remuneration of part-time
staff participating in Adult and Continuing Education.
5. Medium-term: develop flexible models to reward and incentivise staff who make a sustained
commitment to Adult and Continuing Education. This might include making funds, resources
available for a wider range of activities: e.g. research, conference attendance, teaching support,
professional development. This might also include acceleration of entitlement to apply for
sabbatical leave; recognition within workload profiling and promotion and progression
structures.
6. The University needs to enable students to register and pay for individual modules in order to
encourage continuing professional development and lifelong learning and to support flexible
fee-payment methods.
Recommendations for the Unit
7. The new director should lead projects in streamlining the activities of the Unit, in the context of
the Academic Simplification Project, and in developing staff potential, particularly in research in
Adult and Continuing Education. Simplification and rationalisation of the internal organisational
structure of Adult and Continuing Education, with a view to releasing capacity within the Unit
by avoidance of duplication (e.g. modules) and to facilitating the sharing of best practice across
activities is also recommended.
8. Director and Unit to meet with VP for Capital Projects to progress locating all Adult and
Continuing Education units and sections in one physical space.
9. Creating appropriate fora for all staff from the different areas within the unit to meet, to
address communication deficits and enhance coordination and integration through peer
support and collaboration.
10. Align academic procedures of the Unit more closely with the academic Learning, Teaching and
Assessment strategy.
11. Elimination of duplication through alignment, where feasible, of services for non-traditional
students with regular University services, practices and procedures while retaining flexibility
and adaptability of the current services which have demonstrated marked successes.
(previously unclear)
12. Review of contractual arrangements and job specifications for staff, in line with their current
roles and responsibilities.
13. Enhancement of internal and external communication, promotion and visibility, particularly in
the marketing and promotion of Adult and Continuing Education’s programmes and research;
working in collaboration with the Director of Marketing, to develop a coherent marketing
strategy that includes a common and highly-visible brochure, advertising, and media and
technology profile.
14. Developing more embedded relationships with the academic units of the University in
implementing regional development priorities which could bring greater profile to Adult and
Continuing Education within the institution. (previously unclear)
15. Cooperation with CELT and CKI, School of Education and Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge,
particularly in single-points of contact with schools, civic, and community and educational
partners.
Develop further the relationship with our Alliance partners at UL to deliver efficient programme
offerings that could not be available from NUI Galway alone.
16. Mainstreaming and resourcing of highly successful Adult and Continuing Education innovations
within the wider institution, e.g. Living Scenes Intergenerational Programme.
17. Development of a business and strategic plan that supports both the community and civic
activities and the income generative programmes delivered by the Unit. Indeed, the income
generating programmes should be used to ensure the sustainability and expansion of the Unit’s
community-based mission.
18. Develop, in partnership with other relevant units, work with local businesses and enterprises –
up-skilling, serving genuine training needs to sustain jobs.
19. Standardisation of the degree content and appropriate credit exemptions – daytime and
evening programmes – ensure standard experience and provision for all students.
20. Inform future development and periodic reviews of programmes content, with research
expertise in cognate areas and seek professional accreditation where appropriate.
Comments on Review Process
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organised very efficiently
review board met with broad-range of students, stakeholders, tutors and colleagues
meetings with wider constituency
all colleagues from the Unit have engaged with the process in an open and constructive way
impressed with the honesty of all of the people interviewed as part of the process
impressed by the senior management and their awareness and commitment to the Unit and
process, and their willingness to contribute to the review
found the streamlined process extremely efficient
all relevant documentation and information provided by the Quality Office in a timely and
efficient manner
Organised very clearly and in advance
The review board would like to congratulate the Quality Office on their efficient and excellent
organisation of the process