Our Students

Our Vision for Our Students

To ensure that our students are empowered to discover their true potential, to direct their own futures, and to articulate clearly how their university experience has made them distinctive and well-rounded global citizens

We Will

Academic Engagement

• Ensure that all of our students benefit from a rigorous academic experience of the highest quality
• Continue to encourage genuine intellectual engagement by students with their programmes, in order to attain the highest academic standards
• Strengthen our students’ ability to negotiate key transitions in their learning and life journeys successfully, with a special focus on the First Year experience and the transition from university to employment
• Develop graduate attributes, both at programme level and institutionally, to enable our students articulate their skills and achieve their potential in learning, life and society
• Develop an employability strategy, incorporating experiential learning, extra-curricular participation, high-quality work experience, and strong connections with alumni and the world of work

Student Life

• Promote student welfare, health and well-being, recognising that they underpin student engagement, academic performance, retention and progression
• Promote the holistic development of our students through increased participation in such areas as sport, student societies, culture and civic engagement
• Realign, integrate and co-locate student services where feasible to meet student needs
• Foster a spirit of empathy and flexibility among staff across the University in responding to student needs

Measures of Success

• Institutional-level graduate attributes defined and embedded
• A suite of graduate attributes defined and embedded within all programmes
• Leading position nationally in delivering an “Enriching Educational Experience” as measured in the Irish Survey of Student Engagement
• Systems developed to measure academic engagement by students, to include use of Virtual Learning Environments, use of Library resources, and other interactive feedback systems
• Very high rate of student retention maintained at 84%
• 24% of students from traditionally under-represented groups entering full-time undergraduate study, increased from 19%
• 10% growth in proportion of students achieving the ALIVE programme certificate for volunteering
• Increased active participation in Clubs and Societies
• Leading position in the BICS national student society awards maintained
• Methods of measuring impact of student welfare services developed