Dr. Attracta Halpin:

I thank the Chairman and members of the joint committee for inviting me here this afternoon to address the committee on this topic on behalf of the National University of Ireland, NUI. It may be helpful to the committee if I give some background information first. I will start with some general information on the National University of Ireland and explain the relationship between NUI and RCSI. I will outline the process through which programmes at RCSI-Bahrain have been approved by NUI and are continually monitored. I will mention the growing importance of internationalisation for Irish universities and the steps taken by NUI to support the NUI institutions in their international engagements. I will refer specifically to the extremely difficult situation which developed in Bahrain in 2011 and the serious human rights concerns that had to be addressed. I will conclude by setting out the NUI senate’s view of RCSI’s educational provision in Bahrain and of the response of the college to the difficulties experienced there.

The National University of Ireland is a federal university. It constitutes the largest element of the Irish university system, with campuses spread across the country and in the region of 70,000 students enrolled. Established under the Irish Universities Act of 1908, the university received its charter in that year. NUI was restructured under the Universities Act 1997 and now comprises four autonomous constituent universities - UCD, UCC, NUI Galway and NUI Maynooth. Under its founding legislation and charter, NUI is empowered to recognise programmes of study and award its degrees and other qualifications in other higher education institutions which are granted the status of ‘recognised colleges’ of the university. Over the course of its existence, 13 higher education institutions have, at various times, been granted the status of recognised college of NUI. The NUI constituent universities are fully autonomous self-governing institutions, with each constituent university having its own governing authority. Degrees and other qualifications of the National University of Ireland are awarded by each of the NUI constituent universities. These degrees and qualifications enjoy high standing and wide recognition nationally and internationally. Overall, we estimate that there are more than 300,000 NUI graduates spread across the globe.

Recognised colleges of NUI are also autonomous, self-governing entities, responsible for their own strategic and operational management. However, in the case of the recognised colleges, NUI is the awarding body. NUI-recognised colleges are required to seek approval from NUI in respect of their degree and other programmes and these programmes are subject to ongoing academic monitoring by the university.

In approving and monitoring programmes, the concern of the NUI is to ensure that they are comparable in standard and quality with the programmes offered in the constituent universities, that their quality is maintained and enhanced over time and that the integrity and reputation of NUI awards are secured.

The central forum within the National University of Ireland, representative of all the NUI member institutions, is the NUI Senate. The senate is chaired by Dr. Maurice Manning and, as registrar of the NUI, I act as its secretary. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI, has been a recognised college of the NUI since 1977. Since then, the NUI has approved programmes of study at the RCSI and awarded degrees and other qualifications to RCSI students on satisfactory completion of those programmes. The relationship between the NUI and the RCSI has developed and grown stronger over the intervening period. Recent legislation has renewed the legal basis for the relationship between the NUI and the RCSI. The Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act 2012, which commenced in November 2012, defines both the NUI and the RCSI as designated awarding bodies under the Act. However, the Act also provides for the RCSI to continue as an NUI-recognised college and for the degrees and other qualifications awarded by the RCSI, where approved by the NUI, to be NUI degrees and qualifications. Accordingly, the RCSI remains a recognised college of the NUI and the NUI’s quality assurance policies and procedures continue to apply to RCSI programmes. The working arrangements between the NUI and the RCSI take full account of the new legal framework underpinning the unique relationship between the two bodies.

The NUI has had an involvement in Bahrain since 2006, when the Senate approved the delivery of two master's programmes offered by the RCSI’s Institute of Leadership in Bahrain and Dubai, as well as in Ireland. NUI master's degrees were conferred for the first time in Bahrain in January 2008 on the students graduating from those programmes. In 2008, the RCSI council decided that NUI recognition would be sought for all programmes delivered in RCSI-Bahrain. Following that, applications for the approval of programmes were received and processed by NUI in accordance with its normal policies and procedures. RCSI-Bahrain was officially opened by President Mary McAleese in February 2009. Later that year, the senate approved the extension to Bahrain of the RCSI undergraduate medical programme, the BSc degree in nursing and a further MSc programme. Since then, the extension to Bahrain of several other NUI qualifications based on RCSI programmes has also been approved. NUI degrees and other qualifications have been conferred on students at RCSI–Bahrain annually since 2008. The approval of programmes and the awarding of qualifications of the National University of Ireland in RCSI-Bahrain are wholly dependent on the status of the RCSI, a recognised college of the NUI. RCSI-Bahrain is viewed by the NUI as a transnational location where RCSI delivers programmes approved by the university. Most RCSI programmes offered in Bahrain have previously been approved for delivery in Ireland, but in a few cases approval for delivery in Dublin and in Bahrain has been simultaneous.

The process for the approval of programmes by the NUI is well developed, rigorous and consistent with European standards and guidelines for quality assurance in higher education. Applications submitted to the NUI for the approval of new programmes or for significant changes to existing programmes, whether delivered domestically or internationally, are assessed by independent peer review, undertaken by external experts. The reports of the programme assessors are processed within the NUI and recommendations are made to the Senate regarding programme approval. In the case of the RCSI, as Professor Kelly has mentioned, we have a working group, which is the main forum for the conduct of academic and other business between the NUI and the college. External examiners are appointed annually by the NUI to oversee taught programmes leading to NUI qualifications at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. They play a vital support role to the university in assuring and enhancing academic standards and the quality of teaching, learning and assessment at home and abroad.