The Institute of Technology, Sligo, recently received approval for a new three year BA (Hons) in Accounting (SG146).

Indications are from the Institute of Chartered Accountants that IT, Sligo will be given exemptions from their Chartered Accountancy Proficiency 1 examinations.

Programme leader John Joe Gillen said “We are very excited about the launch of our new three year honours degree. Most honours degrees take four years to complete but ours is of three years duration. Because of this we need to hit the ground running and therefore students are expected to have obtained a D1 or better in higher level Leaving Certificate Accounting.

He continued: ‘ On completion of the course, students should be exempt from the Proficiency 1 examinations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI). By the time the first intake of students graduate, we hope to have a one year add-on Masters degree in place which should exempt students from the Proficiency 2 examinations of the ICAI.

Mr Gillen concluded ‘ It will be a wonderful achievement for students that after four years of study at IT Sligo, they will have a Masters degree in accounting and be in a position to sit the final admitting examinations of the ICAI”.

Caroline McNulty, lecturer in Accounting at Institute of Technology, Sligo, suggested that “Students should not be disheartened if they do not obtain the D1 in higher level Leaving Certificate Accounting. Students without leaving certificate accounting can apply for the Higher Certificate in Accounting and after completing the two year certificate course, they can transfer into year two of the BA (Hons) in Accounting. The result is that if a student has not got Leaving Certificate accounting or a sufficiently high grade in it, that student will take four years to complete the honours degree in accounting instead of the normal three years”.

Keith McManus, Head of Department of Information Systems at IT Sligo highlighted the fact that the National Skills Bulletin 2008 identified Accounting as an area of current and future skills shortage.

Representatives of the four professional accountancy bodies (ICAI, ACCA, CIMA and CPA) delivered presentations on ‘Careers in Accounting’ at the annual careers fair at IT Sligo. The presentation coincided with the launch of a new BA (Hons) in Accounting at IT Sligo.

Left to right: John Joe Gillen (IT Sligo), Ciara Murphy (CPA), Kate O’Mahony (CIMA), Caroline McNulty (IT Sligo), Catherine Moore (ACCA), Caroline Bolster (ICAI) and Keith McManus (Head of Department, IT Sligo) at the launch of the new three year BA (Hons) in Accounting at IT Sligo.

For further information contact:
Caroline McNulty,
Lecturer in Accounting:

Email: mcnulty.caroline@itsligo.ie
Phone: 0719155227

Microsoft McKnight Team and Mentors

The MediKnight Project is a collaboration between the Department of Information Systems, the Department of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering and the Department of Business which has developed a system to help medical practitioners in the under-developed regions of the world using the latest Microsoft technologies.

“Welcoming the team’s achievement on reaching the Microsoft Irish Imagine Cup Finals”, commented Padraig Harte Lecturer and Team mentor.

He noted ‘ that the multiplicity of skills and knowledge of the team members, makes the project particularly exciting and indeed even ground breaking”. He further added that’ this is the 2nd year running when IT Sligo has successfully reached the finals of this competition, which further enhances the prowess of its students and its courses. ‘

Engineering Documentation Ltd. honoured by Small Firms Association
Engineering Documentation, based at the Business Innovation Centre at Institute of Technology, Sligo has been recognised as one of five of the Best Emerging New Businesses Nationally at the Small Firms Association Small Business Award 2009. The company is a winner in this new category which recognises the achievements of start-up companies in Ireland.

Formed in 2006, Engineering Documentation produces safety files and mechanical and electrical operation and maintenance manuals for the construction industry, which give the end user a complete record of everything installed in the building. Its emphasis on engineering separates the company from competitors which offer administrative services only. Turnover at the company has doubled year on year.

Greg Swift, CEO Dublin City Enterprise Board, An Taoiseach Brian Cowen, David Mullen Engineering Documentation Ltd and Aidan O’Boyle, Chairman, Small Firms Association. Engineering Documentation Ltd was recognised as a Best Emerging New Business at the Small Firms Association Small Business Award 2009.

Engineering Documentation was selected along with four other start-up businesses, each of which has the potential to grow into a successful organisation that will be innovative and create employment. It is hoped these companies will be future winners of the SFA National Small Business Award.

Company Director, David Mullen acknowledges the support he has been given by the Business Innovation Centre at IT Sligo. ‘The Centre is in the business of providing incubation space for new businesses and being based here meant that we were ‘in the know’ when it came to what supports were available to the company’ says Mullen. He also reenforced the importance of the support of the Institute itself. ‘The links with IT Sligo too are invaluable, as there is a wealth of information and expertise through the building and construction related courses available to us’.

Mullen himself is studying for a Masters in Energy Management at IT Sligo, as he feels that this is an area that Engineering Documentation could work with in the future.

If you would like to find out more about the Business Innovation Centre and how to go about availing of it services and supports, log on to www itsbic.ie

For further information on Engineering Documentation log on to www.engdoc.eu.

For further information contact:
David Mullen
Engineering Documentation Ltd
ITSBIC,
Institute of Technology,
Ballinode,
Sligo

Email: info@engdoc.eu
Phone: 071-9141564

Soccer team bridge Thirty Three Year Gap…

IT, Sligo’s Men’s Soccer team claimed a long awaited victory in the third level sector’s CFAI Umbro Cup Final on the 11th of March, bridging a gap of 33 years. The Institute last won the cup in 1977.

The Umbro cup is the top premier knock out competition in the country’s third level education sector with 32 teams from different institutes and universities throughout the country, taking part at the outset.

IT Sligo defeated Letterkenny IT 3-2 in a thrilling final. Letterkenny had defeated IT, Sligo in the quarter final of the Colleges & Universities Football Premier League earlier in the season.

Final – slow and cautious start
The first half was slow to start with both teams finding their feet after two tough semi-finals the previous day. The game then sprung into life when team captain Niall Costello opened the scoring on the 43rd minute with an excellent header from a well rehearsed set piece. It was Costello’s sixth of the season making him the top scorer for the club. A minute Letterkenny had a chance to get back into the game when they were awarded a penalty. But the resulting spot kick taken by Gareth Harkin was saved by Sligo keeper Rory O’ Kelly.

Sligo pull away in pulsating Second Half
The second half was a pulsating affair. Two minutes into the re-start Caolan O Grady took down IT, Sligo’s Gareth Harkin and Paul Doohan scored the resulting penalty. Then on 51 minutes Sean Kelly volleyed home, to put IT, Sligo back in the lead.

Letterkenny again equalised at the 61st minute mark, when Mark Forker latched onto a breaking ball to slot home with an accurately placed shot.

Substitute seals victory
The game was settled when the injury stricken Stephen Coen showed great courage and commitment to come off the bench to score the winner on 75 minutes with low volley, following a neat move by Sean Kelly and Thibaut Galland.

Sligo’s firm defence kept their opponents at bay as the Letterkenny team began to tire towards the end of the game. At the final whistle the 32 year wait was over and scenes of well earned jubilation followed.

Just after the final whistle
The winning Sligo team were: R Kelly,G Coniffe, R O’Donnell,C O’Grady,N Costello,R McCombe ( T Galland 62),C Greene, S Kelly, G O’Dwyer (S Coen 53((B O’Donnell 89), R Boyle, G Melly.

Sligo also win ‘Man of the Match’
In a clean sweep for IT, Sligo Ciaran Greene of IT, Sligo was awarded ‘Man of the Match’

‘77 final memories‘
The 1977 Final was held in Sligo at the Showgrounds when the then, RTC Sligo, defeated the Dublin Institute of Technology in the Final. The 1977 team was captained by Michael Cox who is a nephew of the retired caretaker David Cox.

Victorious Team return to Sligo met by Registrar Dr. Brendan McCormack. Left at rear: Keith McManus, Head of Information Systems and in blue Jacket Paul Powell, Team Manager

Success after 19 years for Team Manager Powell
Head coach Paul Harte in only his second season as coach is to be commended on this success. He expressed his pride in all the players at the end of the game. Team manager of 19 years, Paul Powell was also ecstatic with the result and the exemplary behaviour, commitment and effort of the players. ‘I would like to congratulate all involved both on the field and the organisers off the field who have made this possible. On behalf of the players and myself I would especially like to thank our coach Paul (Scotty) Harte for his commitment and professional preparation of the team in getting to the Final and then winning it. He added: ‘ I would also like to thank Keith McManus for his considerable time and effort over the last few years and indeed this year. A special thanks to Frank Mc Garry for travelling down and doing first aid and kit duty for us. But most of all I would like to thank all the players whose efforts over the last few years have been leading to this. Finally we have achieved it!!’

More photos at :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cfai/3348968767/

The Institute’s BA in Performing Arts ( Hons) goes from strength to strength with some recent showcases on display here at IT, Sligo.

The students recent performances of Swedish playwright, Par Lagarkvist’s little known 1919 play ‘ The Difficult Hour‘ at IT Sligo’s Black Box Space set real challenges for its cast.

In a liminal space between sleep and waking, life and death – the protagonists endeavour to make sense of the profound alteration of consciousness that their new circumstances force on them as they come to terms with being ‘dead’.

Group work scene from 3rd Year Peformaning Arts Showcase

‘ As the workmen repair the telegraph line, a ghost from the past tries to ascertain the whereabouts of his sweetheart…’

Linda Grant, Frank Farrell , Kieron Smyth, Sheila Moylette, Eunice Moran, Lisa Stanley, Kathryn Reynolds, Geraldine Foy, Enia Lopez

Performing Arts Lecturer and Director of ‘Difficult Hour’ Declan Drohan comments: ‘ This sort of work calls for a total immersion in the given circumstances of a character’s life and situation… The students embraced the learning opportunity with rigour and commitment‘.

Kieron Smyth, Kathryn Reynolds, Stephen Slowey, Geraldine Foy, Enia Lopez

‘ The recently deceased try to come to terms with the new environment they find themselves in‘.

Two post-graduate students Aine Conaghan and Caroline Gildea who are currently pursuing MA in tourism research, were awarded a place on a training programme with the Research Institute for Managing Sustainability (RIMAS), in Vienna University of Economics and Business.

Admission to this programme is very competitive, with applicants having to provide a motivational letter and an essay on the ‘Twelve Approaches to Sustainability.’

Aine Conaghan, Ann Higgins ( Head of Dept. ) and Caroline Gildea

Due to their continued success on this on-line training programme, they were subsequently accepted on to a more intensive eco training programme at Lund University in Sweden. The week long intensive course starting on Arpil 14th, provides an excellent opportunity to participate in group work, evaluate relevant academic case studies and network with some of the leading academics in the field of sustainability and evaluation.

It will provide the two post-graduate students with an opportunity to update their applied skills in developing sustainable tourism business.

It will also allow them to engage in more detailed analysis, publish abstracts and hopefully, present at future conferences.

Both students are the first ever Irish participants on this programme and have been successful in gaining EU funding to cover all participation costs.

Aine’s research topic is ‘Global conformity of indicators for eco-certification programmes‘

Caroline’s research topic is ‘The development of a generic sustainable greenprint for tourism attractions in Ireland‘.

Eco- Tourism Lecturer and Supervisor James Hanrahan highlights how invaluable this opportunity is: ‘ It allows these students to exchange ideas and work on local solutions to global issues with other European from all sectors of the industry from policy to planning.’

A major new resource has been added to the Library’s collection of databases. EBSCOhost contains two major sources of full text journal articles. Academic Search Premier is a multi-disciplinary database while Business Source Premier, as its name suggests, provides business sources. Between them they contain almost 5000 full text journals providing a wealth of information to students and staff. EBSCOhost is available via the databases section of the library website at library.itsligo.ie. Queries regarding access should be sent to library@itsligo.ie

EBSCOhost is being provided under the HEA funded IReL project.

For further information contact:
EBSCOHOST: www.ebscohost.com
IReL: www.irelibrary.ie

In recent years IReL has provided a wide range of online resources in Irish Universities. As the academic work of the Institutes of Technology has developed, in terms of range of courses and level of research, IT Libraries have been making the case that IReL be extended to the sector. The provision of EBSCOhost is an important first step in this. It is hoped that in the future additional online resources will be made available under the project.

Institute of Technology, Sligo is a leader in the field of open learning with a high proportion of students accessing courses online. The availability of high quality online resources, accessible from off campus via the Institute Library web site, plays a vital role in supporting the learning of these students.

Among the features of EBSCOhost is a visual search. This helps direct the student towards the required material by providing a graphical outline of the search steps as they occur. The database also includes many illustrations and photographs

We are delighted to put in place this new multi-disciplinary resource, after much deliberation! Jstor has been on a wish list for a number of Academic staff for some time. This new resource includes invaluable material for Staff and students from areas as diverse as Social Care, Archaeology, the Performing Arts, Mathematics, Statistics and Ecology. The fact that our electronic databases can be accessed and used on or off campus makes the IT, Sligo library web site a key source of quality academic information for all our members.

For further information contact:
Aine Meehan
Lecturer, Quality & Engineering
Institute of Technology, Sligo

Phone: + 353 (0)71 91 37218
Fax: + 353 (0)71 91 60475
Email: clibrary@itsligo.ie

Of the Level 8 ( Hons.) courses, the BSc in Environmental Science shows the largest increase with figures up by 23% on last year.

The Institute offers a total of seven different programmes in its School of Science which is one of the largest science faculties in the entire third level sector. All of the courses on offer produce graduates with skills vital to our knowledge economy. Noting the increased interest in the area of Environmental Science which IT, Sligo has been teaching since the 1980s. Padraic Cuffe, the Institute’s Academic Administration and Student Affairs Manager notes that ‘ On average we have produced almost 200 Science level 8 ( Hons) and Masters graduates each year for the past number of years’.

Growing interest in level 7 and 6 programmes at Institute
IT, Sligo continues to punch above its weight with news that the numbers of students applying to study here is once again on the increase. Areas that hold particular interest for applicants include Computing, Art, Design, Social Studies and Business Studies all of which are up by an average of 27% on last year’s figures.

Interest in Computing courses a ‘real vote of confidence’
Padraic further comments that ‘These trends are a real vote of confidence in the Institute. Despite a shrinking applicant market nationally in the area of computing, we are increasing our intake due to the course’s solid reputation down the years and recent promotion efforts. Our Level 6 Higher Certificate in Business Studies continues to do extraordinarily well. This is because of the practical skills that graduates can take with them immediately into the workplace.’

For further information contact:
Gerry Hegarty
Institute of Technology,
Sligo

Phone: + 353 (0)71 91 37324
Fax: + 353 (0)71 91 60475
Email: hegarty.gerry@itsligo.ie

On the 11th of March, staff and students from the Masters in Field Archaeology programme at the Norwegian Science and Technology University (NTNU) at Trondheim visited the Institute of Technology, Sligo.

This was the third annual visit by the Norwegians. Each year the master’s students from NTNU travel to Ireland to tour some of our more famous archaeological sites and landscapes. Since 2007, the Applied Archaeology Programme at IT, Sligo has hosted the Norwegian students, organising educational and social activities.

This year, a lecture series was organised, providing an opportunity to both ITS and NTNU archaeology students to present some elements of their own research in front of a wider audience. This year’s papers ranged from discussions on the role of women in Mesolithic Ireland to pre-Viking burial practices in Norway.

Programme contents included:

‘ Remembering where the Bishop Sat’ : Perceptions of the Past at Kilteasheen, Co. Roscommon ‘ : Christopher Read:

‘The role of Gathering in Mesolthic Ireland’ – Lisa Rankin and Rita Mhig Fhionnaile

‘Irish Henge Monuments’ – Charles Clarke

‘The Overhogdal Tapestries ‘- Johanne Ranvik

‘Veiem: a warrior grave from the Migration period ‘- Hanne Hongset

‘Germanic imitations of Roman gold medallions’- Tanja Larssen

‘Horses of Trondheim’- Eilin Iren Antonsen

Led by Dr. Terje Brattli, the 15 Norwegian students enjoyed a night of Irish hospitality here in Sligo hosted by our own archaeology students. The following day they were led on a tour of Sligo’s more spectacular archaeological sites by Sam Moore, local archaeologist and IT, Sligo lecturer.

Dr. Read considers the annual visit to be: ”One of the highlights of our academic year, providing our students with an opportunity to speak in front of their international peers and creating links between students, staff and our two institutions

From ‘ Old Masters’ to the new…- Institute Design students visit Belgium

A group of Design students from IT, Sligo recently returned from a stimulating five day field trip to a number of cities and relevant sites in Belgium.

Field trips like these, an important part of many courses at the Institute, allow Institute students engage with design culture and approaches internationally. This year, 21 students, ranging across course years 1 to 4 availed of the trip. The visit was supervised by Staff members including David Roberts and Ann Gheelin.

The group viewed Art exhibitions and visited Design Displays and museums in Brussels, Ghent and Antwerp to seeing paintings by old masters such as Breughel, Bosch, Van Eyck and Reuben’s.

They also visited the Museum of Modern Design in Ghent.

A poignant visit to the Great War Memorial the Menin Gate at Ypres in Flanders was also included. Students were moved to see the numbers of recorded casualties and took particular note of the section that honours the fallen from Ireland.

From a learning perspective, visits like this are a critical part of the student’s development. They undertake a busy schedule of visits to gain experience of both antique and modern design. This helps to place the design of contemporary products in the correct context.

Design Lecturer Dave Roberts, outlines the considerable learning elements of the trip: ‘The selling and marketing of goods for an island nation such as Ireland, demands that our design graduates have a clear picture of the required levels of design and delivery in a European and international context.

He went on to note that trips such as these make students ‘aware and respectful of the subtle differences that may arise between the presentation of products to customers in different markets.

He further reflected that ‘Accepting that you don’t know everything and respecting what you don’t understand are the most fundamental milestones in the progression of our young designers.’

A visit to the European Parliament was co-ordinated through the offices of Sligo, Euro MP, Marian Harkin and her staff. A particular thanks from the group is due to Aide Dennis Hogan who guided the students.

The party learned of the facilities and workings of the parliament and were generously provided with lunch in the parliament restaurant.

They participated in an informative private workshop in one of the committee rooms on the structure and workings of the parliament in the context of developing EU policy. This workshop was hosted by an Irish member of the EU civil service, Roger Chadwick

IT, Sligo Industrial Design staff and students as EU parliament in Brussels.

Peader Geelan of year 4 Industrial Design during the workshop at EU.