Professor Irene Sheridan
Head of Extended Campus, Munster Technological University
Dr Deirdre Goggin
Recognition of Prior Learning and Work Integrated Learning, MTU Extended Campus
Connections between enterprises and universities have the potential to yield benefits for all. Managed correctly, these partnerships for progress yield significant societal advantages.
“When we engage with enterprise, everybody wins,” notes Professor Irene Sheridan, Head of Extended Campus at Munster Technological University (MTU). “We benefit by learning about the opportunities and challenges of enterprise, which helps make our teaching real and relevant. Enterprise benefits because it has access to our forward-thinking talent, facilities and research groups.”
Enterprise’s role in their region
Finally, the region wins, too. That shouldn’t be downplayed, explains Professor Sheridan, because The Technological Universities Act 2018 — which defines the functions of Ireland’s Technological Universities — stresses that institutions should pay particular regard to the needs of their regions.
“‘Enterprise’ doesn’t simply mean big and small profit-making businesses,” says Professor Sheridan. “It includes organisations in the public sector, not-for-profits, charities, hospitals and other educational institutions. We work closely with all of these to exchange knowledge, promote social and cultural links and foster societal wellbeing.”
We wanted to create a coherent
offering with a single point of contact.
Broad range of interactions with enterprise
Nevertheless, the broad range of interactions between MTU and enterprise can have national and international impacts. Relationships are carefully cultivated and are two-way streets. “They usually start in small ways,” says Dr Deirdre Goggin, a member of the MTU Extended Campus team. “It might involve an organisation contacting us with a research and development query or about supporting lifelong learning in the workplace. The relationship can grow when they realise we have research and innovation strengths in other areas. Over a longer period, our individual interactions and collaborations develop into long-term partnerships.”
Listening carefully to customise solutions for enterprise
However, cautions Dr Goggin, when enterprise engagement is conducted by a university as an ‘add-on,’ it risks becoming siloed, and the potential for interactions across campus can remain unfulfilled. To prevent this, MTU manages its enterprise relationships in a deliberate way that integrates value across all departments.
“We wanted to create a coherent offering with a single point of contact,” says Professor Sheridan. “An organisation can then be immediately linked to the right people. We’re also proactive, going out to industry to say: ‘We’ve accomplished this with an organisation, and we could do the same for you.’ It’s about being dynamic and flexible and listening to, not lecturing, our partners to understand their needs. We can then customise solutions and courses accordingly so that the campus can extend into the workplace and, equally, the workplace can extend into the campus.”
