January 2006 St Angela's College, Sligo, becomes a College of NUI Galway

St Angela s College, Sligo has become a College of NUI Galway, with effect from January 1, 2006, under a formal Agreement between the College and the University. This is the first occasion on which an independent educational institution has become a College of a Constituent University of the NUI.

The Agreement, which is aimed at expanding the provision of University education and research in the North-West, will ensure a much closer strategic and working relationship between the College and the University, while ensuring an appropriate degree of autonomy for the College and preserving its independent and separate legal status and its traditional ethos.

Students of St Angela s College will also be registered as students of NUI Galway, and their degrees and other qualifications (which will, as with all students within the NUI system, be degrees and qualifications of the National University of Ireland) will be awarded by NUI Galway. The existing governance structures of the College will remain in place and there will be no change in the position of staff as employees of St Angela s College.

There will be appropriate cross-representation of staff on the academic and governing bodies of the partner institutions, including ex officio membership of Údarás na hOllscoile (The University Governing Authority) for the President of St Angela s College, with a view to maximising the joint resources of both, in programme development and research, for the benefit of the North-West region. A joint body is also being established to oversee the implementation of the Agreement, including reciprocal use of library, technology and other facilities as appropriate.

The Agreement, which is the outcome of discussions in response to an approach by St Angela s College to NUI Galway in recent years, has been welcomed by the staff and governing bodies of both institutions. It has also received the warm support of the Department of Education and Science (which to date has been the funding body for the College), the Higher Education Authority and the Senate of the National University of Ireland. St Angela s College, which has since 1978 been a Recognised College of the NUI, under the oversight of NUI Galway, has ceased to be a Recognised College since December 31, 2005, in consequence of its new status as a College of NUI Galway.

St Angela s College, Sligo was founded in 1952 by the Irish Ursuline Union as a training college for teachers of home economics. While its achievements in that area were recognised in 2003 by its being designated by the Minister for Education and Science as henceforth the sole national centre for the training of teachers of Home Economics, with a consequent growth and diversification of its specialisms within that discipline, its educational provision has expanded far beyond that original remit.

Today it offers programmes at Bachelor, Master, Higher Diploma and Diploma levels in a wide range of aspects of Home Economics, Education (including Special Education Needs), Nursing (General and Intellectual Disability), Food, Textiles, Fashion and Design; it also provides an Access course for the socioeconomically disadvantaged and cooperates in the delivery onsite of NUI Galway s BA programme in Economic and Social Studies. It also has an important Food Product Development Centre and has been involved in a variety of cross-Border projects, with educational institutions in Northern Ireland.

The College currently has an enrolment of 510 fulltime and 300 part-time students and a staff of 90 fulltime and 21 part-time.

The St. Angela's College community of staff and students enjoy a scenic and tranquil setting on the shores of Lough Gill in the heart of Sligo's Yeats Country. The College campus is located a short distance from Sligo City, which is a vibrant and rapidly growing social, cultural and commercial centre, with good road, rail and air access. A subsidised bus service transports students to and from the campus at regular intervals from early morning to late evening.

The College has demonstrated its commitment to the modernisation of its facilities and infrastructure, with ongoing investment in upgrading its teaching and learning facilities, specialist laboratories, information and communications technology, and a range of student facilities and support structures.

Under its President, Dr. Anne Taheny, St. Angela's is currently constructing a €9 million Nursing and Health Studies building funded by the Department of Health and Children. Also under construction is a €12 million student residence complex, which will be ready for occupation in September, 2006.