a presidential encounter - National University of Ireland, Galway

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CONTENTS 2 President’s Perspective – Interview with Dr James J Browne 6 Galway University Foundation: Fundraising for the Future 16 Voices from the Past 19 Spotlight on Maths 20 Dealing with Age-Old Issues 22 Paul Hession’s Need for Speed 24 Cover Story: 40 Years of the Defence Forces in Galway 30 Relieving Gaza: John Ging Profiled 31 When Hollywood met Galway: the Making of Alfred the Great UNIVERSITY NEWS 8 STUDENT NEWS 14 ALUMNI NEWS 32 ALUMNI AWARDS 2009 CLASS NOTES 44 WHAT ARE YOUR OLD CLASSMATES UP TO NOW? OBITUARIES 48 A LIFE LESS ORDINARY: EILEEN KATO REMEMBERED PROFILE: ALUMNI AWARD WINNER CIARAN FITZGERALD ROUND-UP OF ALUMNI EVENTS WORLDWIDE editorial director JB Terrins, Director of Alumni Relations editorial management Maxmedia editorial board Caroline Loughnane, Emma Goode, Liz McConnell, Michelle Ní Chróinín contributors Galway University Foundation, Dr Brenda Gannon, Comdt Dan Harvey, Peter McMillan, Mary J Murphy, Pierce O’Reilly, Dr Ray Ryan, Brian Skelly, John Walshe, Jackie UÍ Chionna , Peter Williams design Link Associates printers Snap Printing Cois Coiribe is an annual magazine published by the Alumni Office for alumni and friends of NUI Galway. Contributions from alumni in the form of feature articles, personal news items, letters and photographs are welcome. While every care is taken in compiling the contents of this magazine, NUI Galway accepts no responsibility for the effects arising thereof. The views expressed are not necessarily those of NUI Galway. All material is copyright. What do you think? Cois Coiribe invites your comments on the articles which appear in this issue. Whether you wish to analyse, praise, or criticise — send your views by email to: alumni@nuigalway.ie or post to: The Editor, Cois Coiribe Magazine, Gate Lodge, NUI Galway. Alternatively, contact us on 091 493750. 1
INTERVIEW UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE NUI Galway President Dr James J Browne BE 1974, MEngSc 1978 tells Irish Independent Education Editor John Walshe BA 1968, HDipEd 1969 why education is so important and why increasing participation rates at third level can only be done through reintroducing fees for those who can afford them JW: WHY SHOULD ANYBODY GO TO COLLEGE NOW WHEN SO MANY GRADUATES ARE JOBLESS? PRESIDENT: All the evidence indicates that those who are educated and trained are best able to create their own futures. In the past, people saw a degree as a passport to a secure job. Their future was somebody else’s responsibility to create. But now, the onus is on the graduate to create his or her own future and, equipped with an excellent education, graduates have that capacity. Look around, and all you see is constant change with people going into second and even third careers. Education is about a lifelong experience and adults are constantly coming back to retrain, to upskill, to equip themselves with the tools they need to face the challenges of a changing workplace. In the last year, more and more people are finding themselves unemployed and needing to change direction – but the solution isn’t to turn your back on education. Education is the key to the smart economy that Ireland must create if we are to find our way out of this recession. sometimes means that they demand more of their lecturers, but they also contribute more to their studies. The same is true of mature students at university. They are also very committed students who demand a high level of service. Mature students are a great influence in the classroom – they bring a wealth of experience and a real drive to succeed that the average 18 or 19-year-old unfortunately doesn’t always have. JW: WHY CHANGE NOW WHEN WE HAVE HAD FREE FEES FOR MORE THAN A DECADE? PRESIDENT: Ireland is spending €55 billion a year with a tax take of €35 billion a year. Higher education costs just over €2 billion. It is not tenable to aspire to a world-class, high- model of publicly funded higher education is not sustainable. If you continue to rely almost solely on the taxpayer, you are going to end up with lower quality. Quality is hard to achieve but when it’s lost, it is difficult to retrieve. The effect of underspending is like that of a dripping tap; it amounts to a gradual running down of the system and you create a culture of second best – we have to avoid that. Deferred payments, or fees up-front at a discount, are a way of ensuring higher education gets the money it needs to retain that quality. It works in Australia, so why not here? Of course, contributions do not necessarily always have to be monetary. It would be totally reasonable to consider a situation where graduates were willing to contribute in kind for a few years doing some social or public good, with a value being put on experience. We have a Quality Office which regularly reviews academic performance, and we have recently developed a role for a Vice President for Performance and Innovation whose task will be to oversee performance indicators and outcomes. Students are also surveyed regularly to gauge their satisfaction levels and academic staff are supported and encouraged to develop their teaching, learning and assessment skills. Every student has the right to give feedback to lecturers. Irish universities are behind other countries in this regard. In NUI Galway, teaching portfolios and feedback from students are a required part of the promotional system and academic staff are required to have feedback mechanisms in place. Under our revised academic structures, Heads of Schools will oversee the feedback on their staff and, if necessary, work with JW: BUT SHOULD THEY PAY FOR THEIR EDUCATION? PRESIDENT: Investment in education is crucial. Education has a dual benefit: to the individual and to society. The person who is trained to become a doctor or engineer or teacher, for example, is well rewarded in those roles and it is only reasonable that he or she should make some contribution to the cost of education. But it is also essential that the right model for individual contribution is adopted. It’s not a simple case of reintroducing the fees – an adequate grants systems must be in place, which makes provision not just for those who can’t afford fees, but also for those on the borderline between being able to afford fees and not. We cannot return to a twotier system where higher education is seen as a privilege of the well-off. A decade of ‘free fees’ has brought benefits, the main one being a very high participation rate, which needs to be protected. There is no doubt that if people pay for their university education they appreciate it. Take the example of the American students who come here on study-abroad programmes; they pay high fees and value their education more as a result. They are highly engaged students – and yes, that NUI Galway President Dr James J Browne (right), with John Walshe in the grounds of the university participation-rate system without widening the resource base. We have a participation rate in higher education of around 58% and the aspiration is 72%. That’s a big gap. In the interest of the people who should be here (in college) and are not, we have got to get those who can afford it to contribute to the costs of their education. Otherwise, we simply cannot meet our national goal of opening up third-level education. JW: BUT WON’T A FEES/DEFERRED PAYMENT SYSTEM LEAD TO A DECLINE IN APPLICATIONS? PRESIDENT: I don’t think so. Other countries have done this and haven’t experienced decreases in applications as a result. Even those in Scandinavia are considering it. They realise that the current that contribution. The Malaysian students who come here on scholarships, for example, have to work in socially disadvantaged areas when they return home, as a way of repaying their scholarships. Something along those lines might be considered here. JW: BUT CAN STUDENTS BE GUARANTEED GOOD TEACHING IN RETURN FOR THIS MONEY? PRESIDENT: There are concerns about value for money and such concerns are legitimate. Some may have memories of a time when people perhaps were not always as diligent as they should have been and performance was not monitored. But those days are gone. Universities are now much more aware of the need to monitor performance and to provide a good quality colleagues to bring about suggested changes. We don’t want to impose bureaucratic management oversight or a heavy-handed approach but the Heads have to be assured that adequate feedback mechanisms are in place, in line with best practice internationally. The Heads themselves are going through training programmes which emphasise their management role in the revised structures. The vast majority of staff want to contribute a good day’s work. Where there are problems, systems are in place to identify them and develop solutions. JW: ARE ALL THESE AND OTHER CHANGES LEADING TO A ‘DUMBING DOWN’ OF STANDARDS? PRESIDENT: No, I don’t accept that argument. We are in the middle of a new revolution in the way 2 3
Page 1: A PRESIDENTIAL ENCOUNTER President
Page 5 and 6: GALWAY UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION Fundra
Page 7 and 8: UNIVERSITY NEWS Extensive coral ree
Page 9 and 10: STUDENT NEWS Sporting honours never
Page 11 and 12: FEATURE Maths makes its mark Tony B
Page 13 and 14: FEATURE One track mind One track mi
Page 15 and 16: COVER STORY Add a university educat
Page 17 and 18: PROFILE FEATURE Leading from the fr
Page 19 and 20: PROFILE AN ALUMNUS IN... Man of man
Page 21 and 22: ALUMNI NEWS GALWAY EVENTS NUI GALWA
Page 23 and 24: ALUMNI NEWS US EVENTS NEW ENGLAND N
Page 25 and 26: CLASS NOTES Ursula Bracken BA 1993,
Page 27: Exclusive to NUI Galway Graduates T

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