“We very much welcome the vote of confidence which the cabinet has made today in the future of higher education in Tipperary. The Tipperary campuses at Thurles and Clonmel can now focus afresh on developing and expanding educational opportunity for all the people of Tipperary and surrounding counties.” said Acting CEO of Tipperary Institute, Michael O’Connell. The integration with LIT provides for the maintenance and development of courses already available at Tipperary Institute but also provides for new courses specifically developed for Tipperary and the opportunity for Tipperary and indeed the Mid West students to tap into the wider array of choices available in the wider LIT organisation.
The new relationship with LIT will
1. Build the courses at Tipperary Campuses so as to service 1000 full time students from Tipperary and adjacent counties in 2014/15. Full time students stood at 337 in 2009
2. Protect the future of long term jobs and education by bringing the cost base of Tipperary campuses into line with national norms over a 5 year period.
3. Use the established LIT brand e.g. LIT (Tipp.) to build further students, parents and schools confidence in courses
4. Provide from an expanded LIT Governing Body to include membership from North and South Tipperary
5. Develop the campuses both in Thurles and Clonmel to meet demand from higher Education especially in new domains for Tipperary like Science and Education
6. Develop Enterprise Acceleration and industry support services to drive new business and economic activity in Tipperary
7. Preserve and strengthen key strong projects being delivered by TI e.g. the SERVE project and the Tipperary Energy Agency and the National Rural Network.
There are many benefits to the new organisation including
• It secures its future to provide 3rd level education in Tipperary and especially increasing interest from schools
• It makes wider range of courses and expertise available to it to meet Tipperary demands
• It preserves key strength of TI in sustainability, creativity and cross disciplinary approach
• Bringing TI into the IOT system will give credibility to proposals for expansion and development
• It provides expertise in Enterprise Development – the Community Enterprise Centre in Thurles and the development of a Enterprise Acceleration Centre in Clonmel
• Provides sound platform for future investment in campuses
• Access to expertise of TI staff especially in areas under developed in LIT
Michael O’Connell said “We are delighted with the cabinet’s endorsement and look forward now to a bright future for LIT Tipperary.”
Enquiries:
Laura O’Mahony (Marketing Officer)
0504 28071
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