April 1, 2003

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.

Conference 1 programme cover

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] and the final report [1.2 mb].

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