Ninth Level Ireland

“The University of Limerick is rolling out mandatory sexual consent classes for all incoming first years in a bid to change campus culture and encourage students to speak out. Workshops in the form of online facilitator training are being provided to all students as part of a new nationwide effort to tackle sexual violence in third level institutions in Ireland …” (more)

[Cian Ó Broin, Limerick Leader, 23 September]

“Students flooded Front Square this evening to protest the continuation of online teaching in College. Around 200 students gathered at the Dining Hall chanting ‘let us in’ and ‘face to face’ …” (more)

[Jody Druce and Emma Taggart, University Times, 22 September]

“… Anyway, this is Welcome Week in Maynooth and, barring any sudden changes of plan, we’re due to start teaching first year students on Monday 7th September. Returning students commenced on Monday 20th. I gave my first lecture on Vector Calculus yesterday. That was the first in-person lecture I’ve done for over a year …” (more)

[In the Dark, 22 September]

“Trinity has not bathed itself in glory since classes returned on September 13. The issue of this newspaper published on September 7 featured an editorial decrying the administrative incompetence displayed by College year after year, amplified in particular by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, things have only gotten worse, significantly so …” (more)

[Trinity News, 21 September]

“Well here we are at last, back to campus. Returning students were back to lectures this morning and although our new students don’t begin their lectures until next Monday (27th September) a sizeable contingent who accepted first-round offers were also here today doing orientation activities …” (more)

[In the Dark, 20 September]

“Students at Trinity College Dublin are planning to protest next week over the university’s lack of on-campus lectures and reliance on remote learning. The university has introduced a more cautious approach to reopening than many third level institutions but promised students that all courses would have an element of in-person teaching …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 17 September]

“Provost Linda Doyle has committed to removing all social distancing in College after reading week. In a video posted to Twitter today, the provost said: ‘We are having issues especially about in-person teaching and learning. I want to assure you we are working through those issues and focusing on finding solutions’ …” (more)

[Emma Taggart, University Times, 16 September]

“Sir, – After many frantic, anxious weeks my son finally secured accommodation in Dublin and was really looking forward to getting back to college for his third year after missing some of first and all of second year due to Covid. He’s just received his timetable and is in college for one hour per week with the rest of his lectures pre-recorded …” (more)

[Letters, Irish Times, 15 September]

“Over 350 students have signed an online petition calling for refunds for those who do not have in-person classes. The petition was created by the TCD Campaign for F2F Teaching and cites approaches from other universities, vaccination rates and the mental health of students and the student contribution charge as reasons for Trinity to provide more in-person teaching …” (more)

[Jennifer Ní Chiara, University Times, 13 September]

“A lecturers’ union claims some third-level colleges have not engaged adequately with staff around plans for a safe return to campus. Colleges of higher education are in the process of re-opening fully for the first time in 18 months. But the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) said there are inconsistencies in the approaches being taken by college authorities …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 14 September]

“Ulster University (UU) is set to help run a new integrated post-primary school for about 1,200 pupils in Coleraine, County Londonderry. If the plan is approved the new school would be sited on the university’s Coleraine campus …” (more)

[Robbie Meredith, BBC News, 14 September]

“Trinity College students have expressed discontent with the university’s approach to on-campus learning so far this year. The university confirmed that all lectures with over 150 students will be online until at least November 1 …” (more)

[Emma Nevin, DublinLive.ie, 14 September]

“Lecturers from at least five schools are reusing lecture videos recorded last year for classes this term. Screenshots of lecture recordings for various modules in English, chemical sciences, engineering, European studies and biological sciences, seen by The University Times, indicate that the videos were recorded in 2020 …” (more)

[Jody Druce, University Times, 13 September]

“Trinity students will return to in-person learning today, over 550 days after they last sat in a classroom. At the beginning of the pandemic, Trinity postponed large-scale in-person lectures due to the nature of the pandemic on March 12, with government announcing all colleges and schools were to close on 13 March 2020 …” (more)

[Shannon Connolly, Trinity News, 13 September]

“It’s Monday 13th September 2021 which means that teaching begins a week today. Gulp. We still don’t really have any idea how many students we’ll have on our courses in the first year …” (more)

[In the Dark, 13 September]

“Room allocation issues have prevented classes with fewer than 50 people from being held on-campus. Many students in Trinity are to have less in-person teaching this semester than College had previously said would take place …” (more)

[Jack Kennedy, Trinity News, 12 September]

“A UCD international management course has been named third best in the world in the highly-regarded ranking by the Financial Times (FT). It is the highest FT ranking achieved by an Irish university …” (more)

[Irish Times, 13 September]

“I spent most of today in various virtual meetings to do with next Semester’s teaching which is due to start on September 20th for returning students (and a week letter for first-years). I’ve also been keeping an eye on the student record system, as the returning students have started to register …” (more)

[In the Dark, 10 September]

“… I agree with the broad thrust of Fintan O’Toole’s argument. I think the School and University systems are far too focussed on examination and assessment at the expense of genuine education. What I disagree with is the idea that creativity is only to be found in the Arts …” (more)

[In the Dark, 5 September]

“Higher Education Minister Simon has pledged Government support as this Monday marks the return of many third level students to college campuses. Writing on social media today he said: ‘This Monday, many third level students will return to college campuses – for some, it’ll be the first time in over a year, for others it will be the first time ever …'” (more)

[Independent, 4 September]