ITT Dublin to be amalgameted with DIT

sickpuppy32

ITT Dublin and IT Blanchardsatown to be amalgamated with DIT is a recommendation from the an bord snip nua. i actually think this might be a good thing in light of DITs current effort to become a university.

sickpuppy32

3. Amalgamation of DIT and two Dublin-based IoT’s
The Group is of the view that two IoTs based in Dublin (Tallaght and Blanchardstown)
should be amalgamated with the existing Dublin Institute of Technology to achieve
economies of scale. A single large IoT in Dublin would reduce the risk of duplicate
investments in research infrastructure and teaching staff. The amalgamation would also
offer the opportunity of restructuring the delivery of teaching Programmes and promote
specialisation of high-quality teaching.
The cost of central administration and services for a sample number of IoT’s amounts to
between 10% and 11% of overall costs. The Group targets a 50% saving in the
- 67 -
administration costs of the two smaller institutes involved, which would yield savings of
€2m annually.
The more efficient use of infrastructure as a result of the amalgamation of the institutions
e.g. using the surplus lands at Tallaght (which is well-served with transport links) would
lead to additional savings.

good news i think

DancingDaisy

I'm unsure if I agree with the idea. I can see the logic behind it, but I think that there is a need for the small class sizes and such that Tallaght provides, and if the amalgamation was to occur, this benefit would disappear.

I have done quite well in college, however, if the college had been of the size that these three colleges will be when amalgamated, I would not have done as well. I'm am very intimidated by large groups of people, and even when in a classroom or lecture hall situation I panic. I have always been like this. It was the main reason I attended Tallaght.

I doubt that I am the only person like this.....

the_syco

Big classes = fail idea, esp in a college environment.

DancingDaisy

I agree with most of what sugarman says. i just know that I would not have survived a college experience like the one being proposed. I feel that what may benefit the governments coffers is going to seriously damage the opportunities of many young people today. I feel that the report will to a certain extent cut off the country's nose in spite of it's face. It will hopefully make the country financially viable, but I have never been happier to have finished college as I was when reading the report yesterday.

Gonzo

im about to go to ITB in September, i really hope ths isnt true, if it is true woudlnt it take a few years for this to take effect before they would close ITB and have a new building ready in Tallaght? I really hope i can still get my 4 years of education in Blanchardstown.

LightningBolt

The business faculty is pretty much operating at full capacity at the moment. Well at least it was when I finished last year. There was very little scope for lectures to rearrange classes due to a lack of available free classrooms.

jon1981

the_syco wrote: »

Big classes = fail idea, esp in a college environment.

while i agree with you, it works fine for universities

sickpuppy32

Gonzo wrote: »

im about to go to ITB in September, i really hope ths isnt true, if it is true woudlnt it take a few years for this to take effect before they would close ITB and have a new building ready in Tallaght? I really hope i can still get my 4 years of education in Blanchardstown.

i cant see them closing the blanchardstown or tallaght campus's , both are new building with plenty of spare development land around them, plus they cater for the massive population of west dublin. What i see more likely is grangorman getting sold and some of the older facilities in the city center been moved to tallaght or blanch. I can actually see it been a good thing for the place

Teferi

jon1981 wrote: »

while i agree with you, it works fine for universities

I'd disagree. Everybody I know that goes to a Uni hates the large sizes and they say that the lectures are harder to listen to, they are more likely to not pay attention and that the lecturers generally just drone on regardless of the noise in the class, it's harder to ask questions etc.


I don't necessarily think an amalgamation with other IT's would lead to larger classes.

Zillah

jon1981 wrote: »

while i agree with you, it works fine for universities

No it doesn't! They get by, yes, but there are tons of drawbacks to larger classes. Having studied in both UCD and ITT I can tell you that the smaller class sizes in ITT made a massive difference.

FuzzyWuzzyWazza

I couldn't imagine being in a class of 250 - 350 students, you get no interaction with the lecturer as they are just overwhelmed by the class sizes, but at least there is no room for this kind of class in Tallaght

EDIT: yet!

unreggd

What does this mean course wise, like, course in DIT, not in ITT?

I'd feckin love to do the Photography degree in my hometown Tallafornia

DrumSteve

sugarman wrote: »

The facillites are just a joke, especially for us engineering students having to travel up to whitestown industrial estate for classes. Most of us have to walk it as we dont all have cars, we miss lecture and break times because of it. We get pissed upon at times. Its just retarded and im sure lecturers are just as pissed off as we are at this stage.

Oh, the memories...

Tom Dunne

Gonzo wrote: »

im about to go to ITB in September, i really hope ths isnt true, if it is true woudlnt it take a few years for this to take effect before they would close ITB and have a new building ready in Tallaght? I really hope i can still get my 4 years of education in Blanchardstown.

I would say it is most unlikely that they would close ITB and relocate everything to ITB.

For one, as others have pointed out, ITB is relatively new in comparison to DIT/ITT.

Secondly, both ITT and ITB were setup to cater for the local populations - no point in dragging people from Tallaght to Blanchardstown and vice versa for classes. Kinda defeats the purpose.

I would imagine it is more along the lines of administrative procedures, including procurement, HR, that kind of stuff. Possibly even some academic amalgamation too, as the courses between each colleges tend to be similar.

Having worked at both ITT and ITB, I think there is a lot of overlap, add in DIT to the mix and you get triplication of some services.

One of the most glaringly obvious from my perspective are the IT systems used to record marks/grades etc. All three use the same software (Banner), hosted in the same physical location, but pretty much separate. That's three different licenses for the same piece of software. Just one example where there could be scope for cost savings.