University College Cork as a learning organisation

This report provides evidence that in the area of teaching and learning, staff in UCC have risen to the challenge which was presented to them in the Agenda for Excellence. UCC’s strategic plan focused on enhancing the quality of the educational experience of our students and on improving the structure and content of our academic programmes. These were ambitious goals but I expressed confidence in July 2000 that these goals were achievable. I am pleased that my confidence was well-placed and that so much has been achieved within the past four years. Programmes and teaching strategies have been reviewed; new and more appropriate forms of student assessment have been introduced; the increasing diversity of the student body has been recognised and responded to, and new information and communication technologies have been exploited to improve the opportunities for teaching and learning – both for students and staff. UCC’s success as one of Ireland’s leading research universities is clearly matched by its success as a research-led teaching and learning university.