Trinity Now eZine – Provost’s Message

Posted on: 22 September 2014

Welcome to another Trinity year! After the buzz of Freshers’ Week, we bring you this brand new eZine, Trinity Now, which highlights some of the best recent stories of college life, from research awards to ‘greening’ the campus.

This Michaelmas term, 2014, is particularly ground-breaking because of two initiatives which Trinity is piloting in Ireland: MOOCs and an alternate university admissions route. It’s a pleasure to welcome our first cohort of students – in Law, History, and Medieval History – as pioneers in the new admissions feasibility study which we’re undertaking on behalf of the whole third level sector in Ireland. It will run for two years, with the Senior Lecturer/Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Dr Gillian Martin, as sponsor.

Trinity, and Ireland’s first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) –  Irish Lives in War and Revolution: Exploring Ireland’s History 1912-1923 – started on 1st September 2014. The six-week online course is free and almost 16,000 people have signed up for it, more than half from outside Ireland. The Associate Dean for Online Education, Professor Timothy Savage leads on this and on the college’s other online initiative – the Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Social Studies, also starting this month. These mark the start of Trinity moving its education offerings into the online space.

In just a few weeks, we’ll be launching the new Strategic Plan 2014-19, which was approved by the Board of the College on 17th September. This Plan lays out, in some detail, our goals for the next five years, and the initiatives which will deliver the goals. I’d like to thank the sponsor of the Plan, Vice-Provost/CAO, Professor Linda Hogan, for bringing this important document to fruition, and I look forward to working with all members of the College community on its implementation.

As many of you will be aware, work is now underway on the College’s major infrastructural project of the next few years:  the Trinity Business and Innovation Hub.  This exciting development – which will replace the existing Luce Hall and adjacent properties – will include the School of Business, the Innovation Hub, a 600-seat auditorium, and student residences.  At a recent meeting of the Board, approval was granted for the project to progress to the detailed design and tendering stages. The sponsor for this project is the Bursar and Director of Strategic Innovation, Dr Gerard Lacey.

A new edition of this eZine will be brought out at the beginning of each term to fill you in on campus life and future plans. Meanwhile, for daily and weekly updates of Trinity activities and initiatives, keep an eye on our News and Events website.

I wish you all the best in the coming term. May you achieve all your goals – academic, entrepreneurial and extracurricular!

Dr Patrick Prendergast,

Provost