CENTRE for CROSS BORDER STUDIES

Generating real benefits through practical cross-border cooperation in Ireland

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Ireland as a Centre of Excellence in Third Level Education

Higher Education Conference Series: Conference 1
10 - 11 October 2002
Armagh City Hotel

This conference is the first of a series of six higher education conferences which are being organised by the Department for Employment and Learning in Belfast and the Department of Education and Science in Dublin, together with representatives of the university, institute of technology, further education and student sectors, North and South. The Centre for Cross Border Studies has been asked to organise these conferences.

The keynote speaker will be Professor Malcolm Skilbeck from Australia, author of 'The University Challenged: A Review of International Trends and Issues with particular reference to Ireland'.

The conference title is intended to cover both the island's potential as a centre of excellence to attract students and investors from abroad, and the potential of North/South co-operation to enhance higher education standards on the island.

Other conference speakers will include former US Education Secretary Richard Riley; Sir Howard Newby, chief executive of the English Higher Education Funding Council, and EU Commission Director General for Education and Culture, Nikolaus Van Der Pas.

PROGRAMME

Thursday 10 October

Conference chairperson: Olivia O'Leary, BBC and RTE broadcaster and journalist
1:45 pm	Registration and refreshments
2.30	Opening by the Minister for Employment and Learning, Mrs Carmel Hanna MLA and the Minister for Education and Science, Mr Noel Dempsey TD introduced by Professor Gerry McKenna, Vice-Chancellor, University of Ulster
3.00	Sir Howard Newby, Chief Executive, Higher Education Funding Council for England Higher Education in the 21st century: An English Perspective
3.30	Keynote speaker: Professor Malcolm Skilbeck (author of 'The University Challenged: A Review of International Trends with particular reference to Ireland') Ireland as a Centre of Excellence in Third Level Education: Challenges for the Universities
4.15	Responder: Professor Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, National University of Ireland Galway
4.35	Refreshments
5.00 - 6.00	Questions and discussions
7.30	Drinks reception (sponsored by Armagh City Hotel)
8.00	Conference Dinner Speaker: Ms Jackie Harrison, Director of Enterprise, Irish Business and Employers Confederation
Friday 11 October
9.30 am	Mr Richard Riley, former US Secretary of Education and former Governor of South Carolina American Higher Education in a Diverse World
10.00	Mr Nikolaus Van Der Pas, Director General, Education and Culture, European Commission: Higher Education: the European Dimension - and Beyond
10.30	Refreshments
11.00	Four workshops chaired by
	Dr Don Thornhill, Chairman, Higher Education Authority, Dublin
	Professor John Coolahan, Professor of Education, NUI Maynooth
	Professor Fabian Monds, Chairman, Invest Northern Ireland
	Ms Brenda Mc Laughlin, Pro-Chancellor, Queen's University Belfast
12.30 pm	Lunch
1:45	Panel discussion, chaired by Dr Art Cosgrove, President, National University of Ireland, Dublin with
	Professor Áine Hyland, Vice-President, National University of Ireland, Cork
	Professor Robert Osborne, Professor of Applied Policy Studies, University of Ulster, Jordanstown
	Dr Mary Meaney, Director, Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown
	Dr Matthew Quinn, Executive Director, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, Lansdowne, Virginia, and former President, Carroll College, Helena, Montana, USA
3.15	Closing remarks by Professor Gerry McCormac, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Queen's University Belfast
3:30	Close

See the list of attendees [45 kb],the press release and the final report [1.2 mb].