“When the first England lockdown was announced in March 2020 we shared a sense of outright panic with many of our colleagues who are parents. But we are lucky to be part of Durham University’s Mothers and Mothers-to-be Support Network (MAMS), which was established in 2013-14 with the aim to support and advocate for mums who work at the university …” (more)
[Nicole Westmarland, Wonkhe, 14 July]
“More than a third of student teachers have experienced ‘serious’ or ‘very serious’ financial difficulties, to the extent where some have considered dropping out of the training process. The findings are based on the experiences of 391 second-level student teachers enrolled in the Professional Master of Education (PME) programme, with many having to resort to family and friends to help them out financially …” (more)
[Noel Baker, Irish Examiner, 5 July]
“The stress of balancing work and home life during the COVID-19 pandemic has left many medical scientists with children questioning their future careers, and women are the hardest hit, according to a survey at a US university …” (more)
[Nature, 28 June]
“Eamonn Walsh, professor of accounting at University College Dublin and a high-profile commentator on financial issues, has died. He was 60. Mr Walsh was a member of staff at UCD’s Michael Smurfit Graduate School of business for 22 years. He was a former dean of the school, and in recent years occupied a professor of accounting role that is supported by financial services firm PwC …” (more)
[Mark Paul, Irish Times, 28 June]
“Much of the language we hear about the Fall 2021 semester is about a call to ‘return to normal’. For colleges and universities that offer a predominantly residential education, ‘normal’ is assumed to mean (among other things) the return of students, faculty, and staff to campus …” (more)
[Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed, 27 June]
“The end to the pandemic unemployment payment (PUP) for students all started with an inflammatory article in the Irish Daily Mail almost a month ago. Government bigwigs – all speaking on the condition of anonymity – launched a scathing attack on college-goers that claimed the payment …” (more)
[Cormac Watson, University Times, 1 June]
“The coming academic year will be like no other in the history of further and higher education, both within Ireland and internationally. Third-year undergraduate students will be returning to colleges they last attended in person in March 2020 during the early weeks of semester two in their fresher year …” (more)
[Brian Mooney, Irish Times, 1 June]
“A young musician who is returning to college later this year in Dublin has decided to live in a converted campervan due to unaffordable rent. Conni Dawson (28), who is originally from Northern Ireland but is now based in Co Clare, was working as a full-time harpist before the Covid-19 pandemic hit …” (more)
[Sarah Burns, Irish Times, 24 May]
“A recent survey conducted by NUI Galway found that over a third of students have experienced some form of depression and anxiety over the past year. Feelings of disconnection and isolation were widespread among the 5,000 surveyed …” (more)
[RTÉ News, 7 May]
“With both the academic year and the harshest level of government restrictions drawing to a close, the past year for many third-level students’ is morphing into a beautiful, sepia-toned montage of their time in higher education. From losing your perception of time as you stare blankly at a computer screen, meandering the journey from library-booked seat to library-booked seat, to the simple joy of sipping a flat pint in sub-zero temperatures, this academic year will be one us students may struggle to forget …” (more)
[Faye Curran, University Times, 6 May]
“On Monday May 3rd, students woke up to yet another slanderous headline. A national newspaper insinuated that students are exposing a ‘loophole’ in the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) scheme …” (more)
[Luke Murphy, College Tribune, 5 May]
“University student Aoife Corcoran feels the pandemic stopped her from saying ‘goodbye’ to school and starting college life, despite being almost a year into university …” (more)
[Laura Lynott, Independent, 4 May]
“I teach sociology at Maynooth University which means I used to spend most of my waking hours surrounded by 18- to 22-year-olds, not to mention a good number of mature students. During the pandemic, I have heard people saying that third-level students, like mine, are impatient, demanding, materialistic, selfish and above all they are the ‘snowflake’ generation – fragile and lacking in resilience. They have no backbone or strength. To this I ask: Have you met my students? …” (more)
[Rebecca Chiyoko King-O’Riain, Independent, 30 April]
“Difficult though it is to accept that it was 20 years ago, I can still remember my first day of college very vividly, particularly the feeling that this was the beginning of a new and very exciting chapter in my life. I met people that day who would become close friends, bonding over the experiences we shared over four years. The nights (and afternoons) out, the disastrous attempts to complete projects at the last minute, the trips away and the bizarre scrapes in which we found ourselves …” (more)
[Conor Wilson, RTÉ News, 27 April]
“The mystery surrounding Michael Byrne, affectionately known as Old Man Belfield, is no nearer to being solved after a man who contacted gardaí to say he might be his son received a negative result in a DNA test …” (more)
[Niamh Horan, Independent, 18 April]
“After a few days off last week following the Easter Bank Holiday weekend it’s time to get back into the swing of things for the four weeks of teaching term that remain. It’s back to school today for all school students in Ireland too, so good luck to them on their first day in the classroom since Christmas! …” (more)
[In the Dark, 12 April]
“UCD Academic Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin has claimed that there were times during the two year period between 2015-2017 where she was advised by colleagues to take extra security measures to remain safe from her harasser. Speaking to Róisin Ingle as part of The Irish Times Women’s Podcast’s Big Night In, Ní Shúilleabháin recounted her experience of navigating the issue whilst upholding her duties as an academic in the university …” (more)
[Doireann O Sullivan, College Tribune, 10 April]
“Sir, – Statistics this year show that just over half of students completed their courses in computer science and engineering (Carl O’Brien, ‘Is our obsession with degrees failing students?’, Analysis, Education, March 29th). Reasons for dropping out from college include financial, health, family or changing course. Away from the firm structure of secondary education, new independent learning can become problematic for some students at third level …” (more)
[Kevin McLoughlin, Irish Times, 31 March]
“A recurring theme of the current UCD SU election is the ‘legitimacy crisis’ facing the Union. No doubt this is a problem, but the issue goes somewhat deeper, and is not solely an SU challenge. Student Life at the University has, for some years now, been facing a silent but accelerating engagement crisis, which is eroding the sense of Community in UCD …” (more)
[Joseph Aherne, College Tribune, 28 March]
“Since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, there has been a marked increase in incidents of anti-Asian racism, in Ireland and around the world. Speaking to The University Observer, Asian students across UCD have relayed their experiences of and reaction to racism they have encountered since the outbreak of Covid-19 …” (more)
[Andrea Andres, University Observer, 23 March]
