Studying Abroad opportunities & International Students

According to President Murphy, increasing UCC’s global ranking is a key priority in coming years (Flynn, 2011). Being an active participant in the Erasmus programme, UCC hosts over 2400 international students in a typical academic year. Results of a recent survey of 209,000 international students from 238 universities in 16 countries shows a 94% satisfaction rating from these international students, ranking UCC’s International office first in Ireland. (Perry, 2013)

A number of steps have been taken in order to ensure that all visiting Students receive the utmost attention and assistance possible. It is crucial that these Students feel at home in Cork and find the tranistion as easy as possible. Sudies show that there are three different theories involved in intercultural contact: Stress and coping, culture learning and social identification (Professor Stumpf lecture slides). Adjusting to new surroundings can place a great deal of stress on an individual so learning how to cope with these life changing situations is vital in order to be fully content in oneself. UCC accomodates for this change by creating an environment of support which facilitates an easy assimilation process for International students.

Byram & Feng (2006) note that “studying abroad is a fast growing phenomenon, urged on by ease of travel, political changes, economic need and by cultural interaction”. In todays global society adding an international dimension to a degree can add a competitive advantage which can help employers distinguish graduates from one another. Simultaniously to hosting International Students, UCC offers a significant range of partner Universities worldwide that its own registered Students can study at while obtaining full academic credit. By studying abroad, Students can gain an insight into how Students live in other countries and how it compares and contrasts to Student life in Cork. They can drastically improve their spoken language skills while also learning about different traditions and cultures.

Pictured above: A sample of some of the Countries in Europe that UCC Students can complete a study period/ work placement in.

Each year approximately 200 UCC students travel to partner institutions in virtually all countries of the EU. Along with this, UCC offer a wide range of links with North America and certain parts of Asia, giving Students an array of options to choose from.

By studying abroad students gain an imense amount of knowledge that can be used in the workplace while strengthening key transversal skills. Employers are also more likely to be impressed by graduates who have completed a period aboard in a foreign University due to the new skills they have acquired. A new study done by the European Commission (2014) on the Erasmus Programme “shows that 92% of employers are looking for personality traits boosted by the programme such as tolerance, confidence, problem-solving skills, curiosity, knowing one's strengths/weaknesses, and decisiveness when making a recruitment decision”. Participation in the Erasmus programme is a highly popular choice for young people with many Students even basing their CAO choice on these findings as they know the linguistic, intellectual, cultural and social values of the period spent abroad will be of great benefit to them in later life (International Office, 2015).

Conclusion

As we have already outlined across our four main areas of discussion, student life in UCC has altered significantly over the years due to catalysts such as technology, increasing numbers of both domestic and international students, student support and continually growing international ties with partner universities. How indeed the future of student life in Cork will look will again depend highly upon whether the university can succeed in reaching its target objectives relating to these same factors, which are dependent upon each other if UCC is to collectively move forward as a university. For instance, with public support for colleges across Ireland dwindling, there has been an increased impetus on attracting more fee paying non EU International students to the college. Whether or not UCC student health services receives the funding it needs to cope with increasing student numbers will depend heavily upon whether a non EU international student number quota is met, unless of course private sector funding is leveraged in the coming years. Should this target be met, student life in UCC should be further boosted by a wave of international and intercultural influence which will benefit the Universities student population, with UCC perhaps becoming one of the most ethnically, linguistically and culturally diverse campuses in Ireland.

From an infrastructural perspective, as student numbers increase yearly, demand for new lecture theatres, equipment, and as we discussed accommodation is also sure to increase. This will invariably result our state of the art campus expanding should funding be made available, however if not, the other outcome may lead to increased competition for residential and student housing causing prices in an already expensive property market to increase further, making UCC an unviable option for students looking to move to Cork. Lastly from a technological perspective, the future of student life is more obviously apparent, as if one thing is certain it is that technology itself and student’s use of it will not regress or revert to traditional approaches. Technology is now consuming every aspect of student life, even dating, with apps such as Tinder causing many students to simply ignore traditional dating practises. In our first day as first years in UCC, President of the university Dr. Michael Murphy told a packed Boole 4 lecture hall that statistics show one in five of us will meet our future husband or wife in our time at UCC. However the popularity of apps like Tinder can be seen to have unfortunately contributed to the wave of social isolation that the internet has provided, meaning that from not attending lectures due to the availability of notes on Blackboard, to missing the chance to meet the love of your life because your head is buried in your phone, swiping through online dating profiles, the quality of student life can be said to have fallen significantly from a true interpersonal point of view.

In conclusion, the future of student life in UCC can therefore be seen to face many challenges and may perhaps end up going down one of two paths depending on how these challenges are overcome. The first being a university with significantly more international ties and students which will expand and grow, whilst prioritizing student support for mental health issues exacerbated by the social pressures which constant digital interaction in the 21st century has heralded. The second being a regressive approach causing the antithesis of the first situation due to a lack of funding and proper support for students and education surrounding unhealthy internet use. In reality, whether the university progresses or not will depend on a lot more than what we have discussed in this project, however crucially, the quality of student life will depend on how the university deals with the issues which we have raised.