IRELAND

Connected Universities

Project Members of the Strategic Partnership

Core partners

CSSI (Confederation of Student Services in Ireland) is Ireland’s Core partner on the European Student Card project.

Vision:

CSSI (Confederation of Student Services in Ireland) leads the community of Student Affairs Professionals in Ireland and supports the holistic development of students as part of their educational experience.

Mission:

To be the primary national body supporting Student Affairs Professionals in Ireland. Collaboration, professional development and the advancement of good practice in research and policy development will inform a positive student-centered focus.

Institutional Structure:

Ireland, under the direction of CSSI, has been involved in the project to implement the European Student Card Project since June 2016. Currently, University College Cork is involved in implementing the pilot phase, with work to involve other Institutes of Higher Education in Ireland ongoing.

For further information on the ESC Project in Ireland, please contact claire.crowley@ucc.ie

Higher Education Institutions Involved

University College Cork

Originally founded in 1845 as “Queen’s College Cork”, University College Cork is one of Ireland’s oldest institutions of higher learning. Ranked in the top 2% of universities worldwide, UCC was twice named Ireland’s Sunday Times University of the Year in 2016, and again in 2017. UCC was honoured to be named the World’s First Green University Campus (Federation for Environmental Education, Copenhagen). During the inaugural UNESCO Learning City Awards in 2015, Cork was named as one of only 12 UNESCO learning cities.

University College Cork currently has approximately 22,000 students, all of whom use the same Mifare Classic ID cards to access several different services on campus. This card has been in use in UCC since 2007, and there is an extensive network of access controlled areas as well as other systems that all depend on this card technology.

There are several student services using the ID card as a means for service delivery, however, for the purpose of the pilot, UCC will concentrate on delivering Library Services to incoming students with a European Student ID card.

We have partnered with the University of Strasbourg for this pilot, and each university will identify a cohort of students who can test access to services using their new ESC-enabled ID card. On presentation an ESC ID card at the library’s main entrance desk, the cardholder will be granted access to the library facilities and many of the facilities within. Library Services that will be piloted are:

– Access to the library and publications within (including daily newspapers)

– Book borrowing – restricted to students remaining in Cork for longer than 2 months

– Open access PCs in the Library and IT Services’ IT labs throughout the campus

– Online resources and past exam papers – once logged into the open access PCs

– Access to Special Collection and Archive materials

– Full use of the Library Helpdesk facilities

– WIFI via Eduroam, or on request of Guest WIFI access if the home institution does not use the Eduroam service

– Booking of the Library Group Study Rooms – to be booked by Library staff on request of the student

UCC students who agree to be part of the pilot will have the holographic logo incorporated on their UCC ID cards. Those UCC students will use that card to try to access student services within the University of Strasbourg.

We are proud to be involved in this project, and in taking a step towards the development of a European student community.