TNE “very much of interest” for Irish unis

“TNE is very much of interest, so looking at opportunities offshore is very much part of the agenda here,” Orla Feely, president of University College Dublin (UCD) told The PIE Live Ireland last week.

UCD currently has three joint colleges in China, which Feely said had been “incredibly successful”, with the institution pleased with the relationships it has made in the area, as well as the quality of the education on offer.

Programs at these colleges are delivered through some regionally based faculty, while others fly out from Ireland to teach in China, she explained.

The university’s business school also has a program in Singapore, delivered through Kaplan, which Felly said was “really popular” and “growing in numbers”.

Feely shared that UCD also had global study centres around the world in locations such as in South Asia, East Asia, North America and the middle East, which were set up just over a decade ago to support international student recruitment. But now their remit includes alumni relations and partnership building as well as gathering regional intelligence, she said. “They have become extraordinarily important to us in delivering on strategy.”

Patrick McCole, vice-president international at Maynooth University and chair of the Irish Universities Association (IUA) VP for Global group, said his institution had also embarked on successful TNE operations in China. “It’s a very important part of our internationalisation strategy,” he told delegates, adding that TNE was “very much on our agenda”.

It’s a very important part of our internationalisation strategyPatrick McCole, Maynooth University

“TNE really is very very important for us,” said McCole. “It’s something that you certainly have to look at in terms of the different modes of internationalisation”.

Maynooth University is currently looking at further TNE opportunities in South and East Asia, McCole revealed. “But you have to take your time and you have to do your homework,” he advised.

Meanwhile, Veronica Campbell, President of South East Technological University (SETU), said that while the institution worked with two joint institutions in China, there are currently no plans for further projects “until we embed and really nurture our existing joint institutes”.

“They’re relatively new relationships in that they are a few years old as opposed to decades old, so we’re managing them very carefully,” she said.