I will give members some background information on the direction we expect agricultural education to take and the major issues facing agriculture over the next five to ten years. I will also set out what the school of agriculture, food science and veterinary medicine does at the level of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and its interaction with industry.
In recent years, major changes have taken place in agriculture at a global level. Traditionally, agriculture is viewed as being concerned with food and fibre. Fuel is a third important issue facing agriculture at the production and educational levels. Globalisation has also become important at the production and marketing levels in agriculture. Consumers have an important role in that they are seeking healthier foods, ready-to-eat products and functional foods. As a third level institution, University College Dublin must be proactive and anticipate the areas in which changes will take place in the next five to ten years. This is not an easy task.
The school of agriculture, food science and veterinary medicine wants to establish strong links with industry and ensure the quality of graduates it produces meets its requirements. In recent years, specifically in 2004, we undertook a significant review of our programmes. A substantial proportion of industry was involved in this process in determining the type of competences our graduates would need. I will return to this issue.
The school is also aware that students must be able to compete with other students both nationally and internationally. An increasing number of graduates will probably move into international markets. One of the issues facing the school of agriculture, food science and veterinary medicine is that students interested in agriculture are becoming increasingly heterogenous. Whereas almost all our students came from an agricultural background 30 or 40 years ago, that position has changed significantly in the meantime. The school has changed to meet the needs of these students and now produces a large number of graduates in different programmes.
In addition to an omnibus entry programme, the school offers nine undergraduate degree programmes. For example, an animal and crop production programme, which relates to what would have been described in the old days as general agriculture, focuses strongly on the production system. The school also offers more specialist programmes such as animal science in which students focus less on production and more on science. We are also introducing a new programme, animal science with equine science, to allow students to major in equine science. The school also offers programmes in food science, engineering technology, food and agribusiness management, applied environmental sciences, forestry and horticulture. In the face of challenges elsewhere, the school is examining what are known as steady state numbers in the programmes. It has undertaken considerable marketing and has between 600 and 700 students across the agricultural programmes.
In 2005, the school introduced a new system, led by the registrar, called UCD Horizons. Under this system, the four-year agriculture programme will have 12 modules per annum, including core and elective components. In the elective programme, we are interested in allowing students to choose areas such as business outside the bachelor of agriculture science degree programme. There are good reasons for offering students this choice.
In terms of the skills and competences of graduates, as these are bachelor of agriculture science degree programmes, it is our information from elsewhere that foundation scientific principles are needed to underpin each programme. Specific technical knowledge in a specific area is also required. Written and oral communication skills are necessary. We need graduates to be able to solve problems, think creatively and be analytical in their evaluation of a particular problem. They must also take ownership of particular projects.
It is clear from the review we have undertaken that students need strategic and business planning. This area has not featured in programmes but the school is considering its introduction. The most important requirement for employers is to have life-long learners. Graduates who start work with an employer are beginning their careers and need something else. We have started to focus more on learning outcomes, by which we mean ensuring graduates are able to explain, interpret and analyse specific problems. We are examining innovative ways to impart this type information to them.
The school has carried out a number of reviews into what happens to its agricultural science graduates. We are satisfied that they are held in high regard in industry and are well fitted to take up employment immediately after graduation. Between 60% and 70% of graduates enter employment directly after graduating, while the remainder return to postgraduate studies either at masters or PhD level or take time out to do some travelling.
The presentation sets out several of the areas graduates of the school enter. Some join business, do postgraduate courses, become advisers, take jobs in the area of nutrition, communications, journalism and so forth. This is testament to the fact that our graduates are well equipped to enter employment after graduation.
The second matter about which I wish to speak is postgraduate studies, for which in the region of 30% to 40% of students opt to undertake. During the 12 to 18 months of a taught master's degree course students increase their depth of knowledge but carry out very little research. A research master's degree course is a self-learning process in which students do more research than in a taught master's programme. Such courses are also completed within 12 to 18 months.
A third category of postgraduate course is a PhD course, a doctorate in philosophy, in which students get involved in significant research. The value of a master's course is that students can delve deeper into a particular area which gives added value. They learn to critique the findings in other literature much better. They also get a chance to hone their communication and writing skills. Accordingly, their employment prospects are greatly enhanced. In recent years most of the graduates employed by the Department of Agriculture and Food have either a master's degree or a PhD, which shows those qualifications have added to the value of the students concerned. PhD studies allow students to become much more specialised. The area of knowledge they study is narrower and more in-depth.
In its restructuring process UCD has set up a number of graduate schools which will offer students further specialised courses during their four years' PhD study. Like other courses to which I referred, this structured PhD course will have a credit based system associated with it. There will be a formal transfer mechanism to the final stages of the course. Each of the students on this course will have to develop their own research and professional development plan which provides further training.
One of the services we offer is continuing professional education. We can provide courses to order. If an individual involved in industry or the Department of Agriculture and Food asks us to provide upskilling courses for staff, we can produce them. We can offer courses for educational purposes and credits for those individuals who wish to build up a number which will eventually take them on to a master's degree. We can run courses at times to suit the recipients. In almost all situations the preference is for courses to be offered over a short period of time such as one or two weeks. I will not go into this area in detail but several examples are provided in the handout of courses we developed to suit the Department of Agriculture and Food or industry.
We have significant national and international links. I have focused on the national links, one of which is with Teagasc. We are involved in a number of joint research programmes. Many of our graduates become involved in the Walsh fellowship programme operated by Teagasc and we find them to be really good. We have signed a memorandum of understanding with Teagasc to help develop the programme. We also have significant links with the Department of Agriculture and Food, other Irish universities and, as I mentioned, interaction with industry in getting feedback on our work or, in certain situations, having some of our graduates work with industry during the period of their master's course. This can be extremely beneficial for both the university, graduates and the industry.
I will conclude on that point. If there are further questions, we will try to answer them.
Deputy M. Moynihan took the Chair.