NUI Galway launches 2020 plan

NUI Galway hopes to rise to the ranks of the Top 200 universities in the world and have a 25% mix of international students by 2020.

President Jim Browne has unveiled the university’s five-year strategic plan, ‘Vision 2020’, and said he hopes to make Galway one of the top 2% in the world.

Part of the plan will see the student accommodation crisis tackled, with sites already identified on campus to provide up to 1,000 new bed spaces.

He said that while rankings are seen by some as a vanity exercise, alumni had stressed its importance to him.

“We’re grown 200 places; we were somewhere between 450 and 500 in the world, and now we’re about 250. Some people think of rankings as a vanity exercise, they’re not.

“I regularly meet with alumni [in the United States], what surprised me was the number of young graduates who said to me how important it was that Galway was well-ranked, for the simple reason that they are filling in applications for jobs in major corporations who never heard of Galway.

“There are 8,000 universities in the world. If they can say they’re NUIG, one of the top 2% in the world, that’s a major, major point, that gets them an interview.

“Rankings are far from perfect, but they cannot be ignored for graduates looking for jobs outside of Ireland with employers who don’t know Galway. We want to be recognised globally and be globally competitive,” said Dr Browne.

He said he envisages a university with a more diverse student body – including a 25% target for international students.

“We are keen to have a more diverse student body. I’m talking to diversity in terms of international, non-traditional, mature students, Access students, all the various non-traditional groups to create a kind of ambience here where students are not just a homogenous bunch of 18-year-olds,” Dr Browne said.

He added the university also wants to double its research funding to €100 million.

“We have a target of €100 million from Horizon 2020 and we’re on target to do that. We want to grow our post-graduate student body – we want to have 30%; it’s currently at about 22%,” he said.

Dr Browne said that in terms of funding for the provision of new student accommodation, NUIG will have to borrow to complete it and repay the loan through rental income.

“We have a plan for 1,000 bedrooms. The initial plan is for 450 and we have a site picked out for that, that will depend on planning permission. We have identified a set of sites on the campus,” he said.

“Our first commitment is – and always will be – to our students. This commitment to delivering excellent academic and developmental opportunities for our students informs all our decision-making.

“It involves ensuring our students are challenged and intellectually stimulated by academic staff at the frontiers of research, as well as creating a learning environment that enhances student interaction and engagement, and enriches their leadership potential,” he said, in launching the college blueprint.