CIT’s president remains on track with MTU plan

The president of Cork Institute of Technology remains committed to the planned Munster Technological University, despite his incisive criticism of the Health Education Authority’s (HEA) blueprint for such a third level institution early this week.

Dr Brendan Murphy has been a driving force in plans for the proposed multi-campus MTU, which envisages the amalgamation of CIT with Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) and Institute of Technology Tralee (ITT).

But Dr Murphy appeared to be on a collision course with the HEA this week, after he branded the authority’s criteria as reflecting “a lack of understanding of the concept and mission of a TU found in many other countries”.

However, a spokesperson said that Dr Murphy was “setting out his stall” on the matter, and that the criticism did not suggest that there was any question-mark over the CIT president’s commitment to the MTU proposal.

“Dr Murphy did not want to let the publication of the HEA criteria go without comment. He feels the criteria are too narrow and reflect a lack of understanding of what a TU is, as it is understood internationally,” the spokesperson said.

The Cork academic had said the HEA criteria fell short of the framework of a “new type” of university, and seemed “designed to protect an outdated and introspective model”.

Central to the philosophy at CIT has been the institute’s relationship with business and entrepreneurs, which, among other notable achievements, was a significant factor in the decision of cloud computing firm EMC to establish a base in Cork, according to Dr Murphy’s spokesperson.

“CIT has had an effective approach to interaction with industry and business, across the board, not just at PhD level, and Dr Murphy felt that the flexibility necessary to answer the needs of industry may not have been facilitated by the HEA criteria,” she said.