February 18th 2008

Volume 2, Issue 18

Compiled and edited by Angela Short.

DkiT students break Guiness World record.

Careers Week at DkIT– choose your employer today. Check the timetable of events on page 2.

On Tuesday last during Valentines week 936 DkIT staff and students played their part in breaking the Guiness Book of Record for ‘most hugs in an hour’. The previous attempt was held by an Austrian group who broke the record last September with 667 hugs but students at DkIT made sure that the Austrian record was dispatched to history.

Not content with breaking the record, the students extended the Valentines theme, by raising money at the event for the Irish Heart Foundation, who sent a representative on the day to watch as the hugs tallied up..

The offical ajudicators on the day were members of the local Gardai Síochána and they were kept busy for the hour. One willing Garda took charge of the stopwatch while the other armed with a clicker, kept count of the hugs.

The man of the hour, the Hugee, was one DkIT Cultural Studies student Fabian Doran who hails from Mullingar, Fabian had to ensure that each hug was a full contact hug, some’thing that seemed to come naturally to him. After each hug, every hugger had to sign their name, and be given a stamp ensuring that no eager beaver could hug twice! Appropriately enough, the music for the event was porvided by local band The Urge. The event was hailed a resounding success and we can hold the moment now until the the 2009 version of the Guiness Book of World Records is released. Pictured above is Fabian hard at work and below students line up to share a hug.

DkITimes

Monday 18th Tuesday 19th

Wednes

day 20th

Thursday 21st Friday 22nd

10am to

12.30pm

Explore the Ca-

reers

Information Area

located

in the Library

All Welcome

1pm to 1.45pm

Career Man-agement and Job Seeking

Skills

Venue: Slieve-foye Room (Level

2 Library)

All Welcome

2pm to 2.45pm

CV and Cover

letter workshop

Venue: Slieve-foye Room (Level

2 Library)

All Welcome

10am to 12.30pm

Exhibitors:

SCS

CCHBC Coca Cola

Crowne Plaza

Pauwels Trafo Ireland

Limited

Computershare Gov-

ernance Services

Dundalk Chamber

FUSION Programme,

InterTradeIreland

i-to-i

Moffett Engineering

Abbott

Jobsalouth

VSI Voluntary Service

International

1pm to 1.45pm

Postgraduate Study

Venue: Slievefoye Room

(Level 2 Library)

Level 8 Final Year Students

2pm to 2.30pm

Washington-Ireland Pro-

gramme Presentation

Venue: Whitaker Thea-

tre

All Welcome

10am to 12.30pm

Exhibitors: (BS, Hosp,

Hum)

CPA

Engineers Ireland

ACCA

CIMA

ICAI

University of Glamorgan

The Chartered Institute of

Building of Ireland

Gradireland

Development Perspectives

Quinn Hotels

IFS

Grafton Recruitment

Marsh Mackey

10am to 11.30am

IBM 2008 Graduate and Stu-

dent Recruitment Drive

Venue: Room N117 (Nursing

Building)

Level 8 Computing Final Year

Students

2pm to 3pm

Accountancy Talks – ACCA/

CIMA/CPA/ICAI

Venue: Whitaker Theatre

Finance Students

10am to

10.45am

Teaching as a

Career

Venue: Cler-

mont

(Level 1 Li-

brary)

All Welcome

11.30am to

12.15pm

Interview

Techniques

Venue: Cler-

mont

(Level 1 Li-

brary)

All Welcome

1pm to 2pm

Job Hunting and CV Skills for Interna-tional Stu-

dents

Venue: Whitaker

Theatre

International Students

RDS

Careers Awareness Week at DkiT

The Academic Council – One Hundred Meetings On this Thursday (February 21st) that august body that is the academic council will hold its hundredth meeting. This affords us the opportunity to look at its establishment and evolution over the past sixteen years. The college website provides a good archive of the minutes of the academic council going back to 1998. The current membership and constitution is also on the website as well as the subcommittees, their members and terms of reference. Much of the work of the academic council is done through the sub-committees who bring proposals, discussion documents and motions to the full council. The subcommittees comprise of: the Standing Committee, Academic Development and Planning, Course Evaluation, Research, Quality, and the Teaching and Learn-ing subcommittees. The current council is in place since 2006 and elections for the elective positions take place every three years. This brief account given chronologically on a yearly basis, has examined the minutes of the full council meetings and only attempts to give a flavour of the main discussion points and activities throughout each particular year. The piece does not detail the work done by the subcommittees or does it do justice to the work and part they play in the academic council. The reader is referred to the website for the detailed minutes. In line with an academic council position, the titles of individuals are omitted in this article. Those who served as chairmen down through the years include: Sean McDonagh, Pat Clinton, Gerry Carroll, Tom Collins, Bob McKiernan, Denis Cummins and Jim O’ Donohue. The Director, now President usually chairs the full meeting and in his absence, the vice-chair usually chairs the meeting. This meeting will be first in which Denis as t-Úachtaráin, will chair. The registrar serves in the role as secretary of the academic council. The registrar since 1994 has been Stephen McManus, Denis Cummins acted as registrar for 2002/3. Origins of the Academic Council The statutory nature of the academic council grew out of the Regional College’s Act 1992. Section 10 of the Act established such an academic council the first part of this section outlines the functions of an academic council as follows: ‘Each college shall have an academic council appointed by the governing body to assist it in the planning, co-ordination, development and overseeing of the educational work of the college and to protect, maintain and develop the academic standards of the courses and of the activi-ties of the college’. The academic council convened by Sean McDonagh (Director) on 3 November 1993 consisted of the Heads of School, Heads of Department, Head of Development, College Librarian and the elected representatives from the Schools of Business, Science and Engineering. This council met about five times over the period 1993-94. Prior to this, the academic council established by the Board of Management on 8 October 1991 met seven times over the period 1991-92. The Constitution and the first meeting, 14 November 1994 The board of governors approved the constitution of the academic council on 14 November 1994 thus paving the way for its first meeting as a statutory body. The broad headings of that constitution dealt with the academic council: its name, functions, mem-bership, committees, the term of office of the council, the election of elective members, officers of the council, agenda, minutes, voting at meetings, attendance at meetings, attendance of non members at meetings, quorum, frequency of meetings, special meetings, resignation from council, changes in the constitution, relationship with the governing body. The first meeting of the aca-demic council was held on Wednesday 16 November 1994 and the members were: Sean McDonagh (Director), Stephen McManus (Registrar), Heads of School: John Connolly, Peter Fuller, Simon O’ Brien, Head of Development: Gerry Carroll, Heads of Department: Eugene Roe, Pat Feenan, Dan O’ Brien, Joe McAuley, Paul Hannigan, Denis Cummins, Librarian: Ann Cleary, Elected Business School members: Pat Clinton, Niall Hayden, Micheál O’ Murchú, Frank Watters, Ann Campbell, Elected Science School members: Frank Murray, Henry Bacik, Bob McKiernan, Derek O’ Reilly, Karen Mullane, Elected Engineering School members: Gerry Woods, John Gilmore, Eugene McCabe, Bill McCarthy, Sean Redahan, Governing Body representatives: Dorothy O’ Boyle, Micheál O’ Dubhchair, Student members: James McGovern, Eleanor Clarke.

Two motions were carried at the first meeting on 16 November 1994, the first motion was that the academic council adopt the structure comprising of a standing committee and subcommittees. The second motion was that the council set up a sub-committee on procedures and on the constitution. Pat Clinton was elected as vice-chair. On 3 November 1993 the Director had outlined the issues facing the academic council. The academic Council would be concerned with more long-term planning and with the formalisation of procedures on a college wide basis. Course boards and examination boards would now have regard for the statutory functions of the Academic Council and the College’s relationship with the NCEA would evolve having regard to those functions. Issues which he felt might be considered by the council included the development of the College’s programme of courses full-time and part-time, academic standards and quality considerations, in-service training policies and College policies on modularisation and semesterisation, on language provision and on europeanisation. The promotion of research, admissions policies and development of the library and other central academic services would be concerns of the council. During 1994 the heads of school led the examination of some of these issues vis-à-vis: John Connolly on course structures, Simon O’ Brien on student admissions and Peter Fuller on rechecks, reviews and appeals. To be continued…

Amanda Mc Ardle

Theatre Studies

Applied Cultural Studies

Department of Humanities

Dundalk Institute of Technology

Dublin Road

Dundalk

Co. Louth

A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Dundalk Institute of Technology

Picture the scene: Two lovers divided over a child, a young girl whose father won’t let her marry the man she loves, while her best friend is in love with the guy her father wants her to marry. Throw in a group of comical ama-teur dramatics trying to impress their King, and set it all in a magical forest where anything can happen, and you are

not watching the latest Hollywood romantic comedy, but Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream!

After their success with the surreal and strange A Gas Heart last November, Second Year students of the BA Ap-plied Cultural Studies course at Dundalk Institute of Tech-nology take on their greatest challenge, performing A Mid-summer Night’s Dream in the new Blackbox Theatre, DKIT,

from the 19th to 21st February at 7.30pm.

This is the conclusion of two years practical work by Ap-plied Cultural Studies students in different aspects of practi-cal theatre. The aim of their module this semester is to experience producing a play under professional conditions. Students will be involved not only in acting, but in set and costume design, stage management, lighting, sound, PR and

administration.

With all the fun and romance of this special magical play, we look forward to a stunning production from this accom-plished and successful group of students. Come along and

feel the breath of summer!

Tickets are priced at €6, and student concession price is

€4.

For tickets, please contact Fiona Fearon, lecturer in Thea-

tre Studies, at the Humanities Office, 042 9370496.

Another First for DkIT.

Dundalk Institute of Technology scored another first at the beginning of February when they hosted the 2008 Environ Colloquium at DkIT . It was the first time the Environ Colloquium was ever hosted in Dundalk. And 300 scientists attended DkIT to take part in this important confer-ence. The programme for the event included 96 oral scientific research presentations & 65 sci-entific research poster presentations all based on aspects of environmental science of particular significance to Ireland. The keynote address was given by TV personality Duncan Stewart and plenary lecture by Ken Irvine from TCD. A number of papers and posters were presented by members from the National Centre for Freshwater Studies located in DkIT Department of Ap-plied Sciences.

The National Centre for Freshwater Studies (NCFS) and Department of Applied Sciences hosted the event on behalf of DkIT. Dr. Suzanne Linnane, Dr. Siobhan Jordan and Dr. Valerie McCarthy spearheaded the organisation of this event and their high levels of professionalism, dedication and attention to detail resulted in a highly organised and enjoyable for everyone involved. The event was podcasted by Liam O’ Gogáin and you can tune in and attend the event at on the In-stitute web site: http://ww2.dkit.ie/about_dkit/podcasts/dkitalk A number of pictures of the

event can be viewed on the DkIT web site and summaries of all the talks are available at: www.environ2008.ie

Submitted by Dr. Brian Dunlevy of Department of Applied Sciences at DkIT

Recruitment Fair Recruitment Fair

Careers Awareness Week - February 2008 - DkIT.

Dundalk Institute of Technology are holding their annual Careers Awareness Week from Monday 18th February 2008 to Friday

22nd February 2008. There will be something in it for everyone throughout the week! 20+ employers, Career Workshops, Com-

pany Presentations. Graduate Talks ... and more.

This will provide our Students/Graduates with an opportunity to make a significant first impression on their future employer! Or an

occasion to research the jobs market and gather useful information on companies' recruitment and training policies.

Useful Tips

Preparation is key

Think of yourself as a consumer shopping for the right career.

Carefully select the exhibitors and then find out what they can offer you. What kind of careers do their students go on

to?

Think of all of those questions that might not be answered by reading brochures or by searching a website.

Make notes so that you've got all the details you need to follow up contacts when you get home.

Treat the careers week as a fact-finding mission, and don't forget that this is your opportunity to ask questions.

Exhibitors (2008)

ACCA

CPA Institute

ICAI

Irish Taxation Institute

Quinn Hotel

Coca Cola

State Street / IFS

Crowne Plaza Hotel

InterTradeIreland

Abbott

and more ...

Together, the exhibitors will represent a wide range of manufacturing and service industries, offering extensive career options to

students and graduates of DKIT.

Company Presentations (2008)

Accountancy Professional Bodies

Crowne Plaza Hotel

and more ...

North South Ministerial

Conference sample the

delights of DkIT Hospitality

Department.

The recent North South Minis-terial Conference saw the DkiT Hospitality department show-case their world class skills and professionalism. Above are sam-ples of the hand made petit fours including the edible Con-ference logo, the ‘just’ desserts that the Ministers from North and South enjoyed and left is the buffet that sustained the press staff on the day. See on the next page the students who artisan-ship and expertise made it all happen. Congratulations to Alan McCabe and the dedicated band of Staff and students at in the Hospitality Department in

DkIT.

Publicity coup for Event Management students. In what can only be described as a stroke of genius, the students of the Cultural Studies year 3 class managed to piggy back on the very high profile North South Ministerial Conference held at DkIT and maximise the publicity impact . As they strove to get coverage in the media for their Guinness World Record Hugathon attempt, there was a risk that the Meeting of the Minsters from North and South might overshadow it. Not so, they managed to get national coverage not to men-

tion sympathy as evidenced by the article published in The Examiner on February 8th last.

Past Student of the School of Business and Humanities Mark Lowth of the Danucci Luxury chocolate range also got a men-tion as did the work of our hospitality students..;

The Examiner, Friday, February 08, 2008 :

Ministers get in the mood at cosy political get-together IF PROOF was ever needed politicians spoil all the fun, it came in a cavalcade to Dundalk Institute of Technology. Students there were earnestly applying their expensively educated intellects to feverish preparations for a world record at-tempt at the most hugs in an hour — an event to be staged in their common room next Tuesday — when along came the suits to render their efforts obsolete. For so much verbal hugging took place between the members of the North South Ministerial Council before, during and after their gathering that a boa constrictor would have pleaded for mercy. The two sides, 11 ministers from the Government and 11 from the Northern Ireland executive, met among flowers, choco-lates, dinner and soft music — a setting that lacked only dimmed lights and Barry White for mood-making. Delegation members had chosen their wardrobe carefully as a good courting session demands, with Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan going for a Lady in Red evocation in a striking scarlet ensemble, while the North’s first minister Ian Paisley wore his heart on his sleeve — or at least on his tie which was bedecked with Union Jacks. “I have to keep my nationality to the fore because some people would like to wipe me out,” he explained chuckling, then going for a Hallmark moment by divulging his granddaughter had given it to him. While we hear Mr Paisley and his deputy first minister, Martin McGuinness, dislike their nickname, “the chuckle brothers”, with an intensity they used to reserve for each other, they did nothing to shake off the tag by cosily sampling together the fare on offer from local producers. Among the delights from Dundalk chocolatiers, Danucci, were a tongue-in-cheek range of confectionery celebrating famous Belfast landmarks — orange truffle for the Shankill Road and mint green for the Falls Road. Marty and Ian chuckled happily together and then moved on to the stand from the Tiernan Family Farm, strolling away with big slabs of cheese — no doubt eyeing each other’s up to see which was the biggest. The students didn’t help their own cause, laying on a dinner thick with descriptions to make the coldest heart melt into layers of caramelised sweetness. But they can take some comfort from the fact the ministers won’t make it to the common room next week to steal their thun-der in the record hug attempt. No, they’re only meeting instead under the guise of the British-Irish Council in Dublin next Thursday — which just happens to

be Valentine’s Day.

DkIT Rag Week 2008. Charity leg Waxing. Photos by Conor Boland.

Briefly describe your Business Idea using the Beer Mat Below:

Name

Student Number

Area of Study

Year of Study

Email

Mobile

Entries can be submitted via email to beer-mat@studententerprisedkit.ie or ad-dressed to Mary Larkin, Student Enterprise

Intern.

All business ideas will remain

Confidential!

Attention, Department of Computing!

Information on Library Services will be available

in your Department on the following dates, times

and locations:

Tuesday 19th February

Wednesday 20th February

11am to 1pm in S218

(IT Learning Centre)

Inaugural Meeting of the DkIT

Bicycle

Users

Group 11 am Wednesday 20 February 2008

Clermont Room in the Library

All welcome!

DkIT Library presents

“Irish Folk life and Irish History”

a talk by Dr Jonathan Bell

7.30 pm Wednesday 27 February

in the Slievefoye Seminar Room

This talk will examine the changing relationship between his-

torical research and folklife studies, outlining the absurdities

and insights of scholarship in both subjects, but showing how

they have enriched our understanding of Irish history and

culture

Jonathan Bell worked in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum between 1976 and 2006, and

was Acting Director of the Museum in the period leading up to its merger with other museums

to form the National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland. He has published a number of

books and articles on aspects of cultural theory, social organisation and material culture in

Ireland, Scotland and elsewhere.