Almost 2,000 GMIT students conferred with awards

Almost 2,000 GMIT students were conferred with awards at the annual GMIT Conferrings in Galway and Mayo this month (November), concluding with the Mayo campus conferrings on Friday, 27 November, in the Royal Theatre Hotel, Castlebar.

The first conferring ceremony took place at the GMIT Letterfrack campus, Connemara, on Friday, 13 November, when 83 final-year students were conferred with degree awards in Furniture Design, Technology, and Manufacture. Just under 1,600 students from the two Galway city campuses were conferred with awards in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Galway city, on Thursday and Friday, 19 and 20 November. These awards cover disciplines in Business, Creative Arts & Media, Engineering, Humanities, Applied Languages & Communications, Tourism and Arts, and Science

318 students of the Mayo campus were conferred with awards on Friday, 27 November, in the Royal Theatre, Castlebar, Co Mayo. These awards are in disciplines such as Business, Humanities, Technology, Nursing & Social Care and Outdoor Education.

On congratulating the Graduating Class of 2015, the President of GMIT, Dr Fergal Barry, set the graduates one final question, asking them if they believed it was time for World Bank, European Investment Bank or NDFA financial support and a borrowing framework for the Technological Higher Education Sector and Institutes of Technology sector, sighting the development of the RTCs in the early 1970s as the case study and how that approach almost 50 years ago has made a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of Ireland.

Dr Fergal Barry welcomed, as a start, the recent announcement by the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) of a €200m PPP Capital Development programme for the higher education sector, stating: “GMIT will be making every effort to secure the funds it requires to leverage the innovation and knowledge resources that the 2,000 graduates of the Class of 2015 from GMIT have experienced during their time with GMIT to greatest effect, to tackle the negative trends in employment share in the region and to tackle the projected population decline in the region."

Michael Hannon, GMIT Registrar, said: “GMIT is extremely proud of the success of our graduates year on year. Research indicates that in excess of 80% of our graduates are either in employment or further studies six months after graduating and I expect that figure to increase further this year due to the renewed confidence in the economy picking-up. I wish all our soon to be graduates every success in the future and look forward to engaging with them through our alumni network.”

This year, the first graduates of new programmes were conferred such as the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Film and Documentary, Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Fine Art (part-time),  Bachelor of Science in Quality for Industry;  and Bachelor of Arts in Human Resource Management (part-time).

A number of postgraduate awards were also conferred in Business, Accounting, and ACCA Professional , Tourism & Arts, Ard Dioplóma san Ealaíon/Máistreacht Eolaíochta i nGaeilge Fheidhmeach agus Aistriúchán,  Engineering - Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering), Master of Science/Postgrad Diploma in Environmental Systems,  and Science & Computing - Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.