Profile Of Dublin City University

Profile of Dublin City University (DCU):

Dublin City University (DCU) is a university situated in the Glasnevin/Santry area of North Dublin. DCU can trace its origins back to 1838 when it was set up as the Glasnevin Model Farm. It became the Albert National Agricultural Training Institution in 1853 following a visit by Prince Albert, and later became the Albert Agricultural College. At one stage, between 1926 and 1978, the Faculty of Agriculture of University College Dublin (UCD) held ownership over the land now occupied by the college.

The modern university was created in 1975 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin. It started enrolling students in 1980 and was elevated to university status in 1989. The university currently has approximately 6000 undergraduate students, over 2300 postgraduate students and an academic staff of over 300. The founding president of the university was Dr Danny O'Hare, who retired in 1999. The current president is Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski.

DCU is situated on an 85 acre (344,000 mÐ'І) site, approximately 3 miles (4.8 kilometres) from the city centre. With the exception of the old Albert College Building, DCU has an entirely modern campus, the oldest buildings of which date from after the opening of the university in 1979. The Henry Grattan Building was the first new building to be completed in 1981 along with the adjoining restaurant. Many other buildings have been added since that time, with work still ongoing on certain projects. Indeed, the new Nursing School was only opened during the summer of 2004. The total area of the main campus is approximately 50 acres (202,000 mÐ'І) and is bordered by Collins Avenue, Albert College Park, Ballymun Road, Hillside Farm and St. Aidan's School. There are another 35 acres (142,000 mÐ'І) at St. Clare's Sports Grounds on the west side of Ballymun Road. This part of the campus also includes the Sports Pavilion. There are also another 10 acres (40,000 mÐ'І) situated along Griffith Avenue which has been recently acquired by the University. Entrances to the main campus are from Ballymun Road, to the west, and Collins Avenue, to the north.

As a university, the primary function of DCU is the education of its students. There are, however, many more important functions that DCU performs. DCU is a major hub of research, with the university being hosting over three dozen national centres and laboratories, including the National Centre for Sensor Research (NCSR), the Research Institute for Networks and Communications Engineering (RINCE), the Centre for Future Diagnostics and Health (CFDH) and the Plasma Research Laboratory (PRL). DCU is also well known for its excellent relationship with enterprise. This allows the university to listen to what enterprise is looking for in graduates and tailor its courses accordingly, in order to give its graduates as many marketable job skills as possible. The most obvious example of this policy of collaboration is the INVENT centre. INVENT specialises in fostering links between emerging technologies developed by university researchers and the financial and entrepreneurial resources of industry and business. INVENT also streamlines the process of creating new companies for students who wish to get ahead in the business world. No discussion of DCU's secondary functions would be complete without mentioning The Helix. The Helix is one of Ireland's newest and largest multi-venue theatres. It was opened in 2002. It's purpose is four-fold; to create revenue for the university, to increase the prestige of the university, to give Ireland a truly world class multi-venue theatre facility, and to celebrate the diversity of performance type and culture both from within Ireland and around the world.

As DCU is a university it has a different organisational structure to a normal business. (The diagrams that show these structures can be found in the appendix.)

The President of the College, currently Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, is responsible for the day to day running of the college. He