SETU celebrates new annual Foundation Day 2024 on Carlow Campus

South East Technological University (SETU) Carlow launched Foundation Day 2024, a new annual tradition commemorating the University’s establishment across the region. As part of the celebration, SETU hosted the conference entitled ‘Connecting for Workforce Skills’ at its Kilkenny Road campus in Carlow on 27 May.

The conference is one of three that took place across the region for Foundation Day 2024 and was chaired by Dr Helen Murphy, Head of School of Education and Lifelong Learning at SETU. ‘Connecting for Workforce Skills’ links with SETU’s strategic plan 2023-2028, Connecting for Impact, which includes goals for regional collaboration in business and industrial development in the south east. SETU’s plays an important role in addressing workforce skills needs and can do so by working closely with its industry partners to understand skills gaps and areas for growth. Additionally, this means collaborating with SETU’s colleagues in the further education and training sector to generate and facilitate new and alternative pathways to education for learners that ultimately links them to economic areas of opportunity.

Speaking at the conference, Professor Veronica Campbell, President of SETU, said, “For today’s Foundation Day 2024 conference, we chose ‘Connecting for Workforce Skills’ as a theme as this, by its very nature, is fundamental to SETU’s offering. Our vision is to be a leading global technological uiversity that will transform the region, and one of the ways in which this can be achieved is a student-centred education ethos and a commitment to lifelong learning, access, equality, and inclusion.”

She continued, “SETU has developed several partnerships in further education and training sector (FET), and through these collaborations, we have supported transformative community education, widening access and participation. Collaboration with FET is not something that is new to SETU. We welcome large numbers of students from FET to our campuses. Tertiary provision, for us, marks a deepening of the existing partnerships that were already in place with our ETB colleagues, creating pathways for students to start their studies in a local education and training board and graduate from a higher education institution, with the dual benefits of both campuses throughout.”

Prof Campbell added, “To further enhance our FET partnerships, SETU’s strategic plan commits to a programme portfolio that meets regional skills and educational needs, developing new discipline areas to address regional demand. In the area of tertiary provision for FET, we launched two new honours degree courses in business and software development. Next year, we will continue expand tertiary offerings in business and in IT, as well as offering degrees in tourism and hospitality, and in the health sciences.”

At the conference, keynote speaker, Mairéad Crosby, Regional Director South East at Ibec and a graduate of SETU’s Master of Business Administration, delivered an insightful overview of the current workforce situation in the south east; examining its characteristics, challenges, and opportunities.

Mairéad stated, “SETU plays a vital role in the continued growth and prosperity of the South East of Ireland, especially as the plans set out in Ireland 2040 for sustainable, regionally-balanced development are implemented. As we respond to the key challenges facing the country, including greater international competition for investment and the transition to a low-carbon society, the development of human capital and knowledge is key to sustainable progression.”

She continued, “At Ibec, we proudly support SETU in their mission to drive regional growth and note the importance of ‘Connecting our Workforce Skills’ as today’s theme. SETU represents the changing face of further and higher education and research and provides the opportunity to enhance its socio-economic impact while addressing the skills, education, and research needs of the economy.”

This was followed by a panel discussion. The panel included Eileen Curtis, Chief Executive of Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board (KCETB); Pierre Peiclier, Vice President of Sun Life; Roseline Dalton, Learning and Development Specialist at Jabil Healthcare and Chair of South East Skills Forum; Pamela Culloty, SETU graduate; and Miriam Dempsey, SETU Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) graduate and Logistics Manager at Walsh Whiskey.

The panel’s focus was to consider how SETU can position itself to help address the workforce skills challenges faced by the region, and in doing so, support the region to achieve its true potential with access and inclusion for all communities.

The conference also featured a think-tank session in which staff and students engaged on the theme of ‘Empowering People to Thrive Amidst Change – Communication and Decision-making at SETU’. These sessions will provided feedback and discussion on SETU’s progress, achievements, and future priorities.

For more information on SETU’s strategic plan 2023-2028, visit setu.ie