Roger Downer, is a man with a mission-putting the University of Limerick on the global educational map. Irish Connections caught up with him and learned that his mission is well under way.

By Dearbhail McDonald.

WHEN AUTHOR FRANK MCCOURT published his memoirs in the best-selling novel Angela's Ashes, not even the award of a Pulitzer prize for Literature and a successful movie deal in recognition of his acclaimed youthful recollections could stem the wrath of the residents of Limerick City, Ireland. Angered at McCourt's depiction of what is now one of Ireland's foremost and beautiful cities, the people of Limerick felt violated by McCourt's portrayal of their community and history as unruly and destitute. Thankfully, Limerick is not merely synonymous with Frank McCourt's well-documented, yet harrowing personal history. And that is because Limerick City, amongst its many accomplishments, is also home to one of the most dynamic success stories in third level education in Ireland--the University of Limerick.

Established in 1972 as the National Institute of Higher Education, the new initiative was awarded full university status in 1989. Despite its relative youth (by traditional university standards at any rate) UL has carved out a distinctive niche within Irelands prestigious education system, whilst providing a crucial outreach to the students and wider community which it serves.

The main campus at UL, one of the most physically attractive on the island of Ireland, serves over 9,000 students, and its affiliated students at Mary Immaculate College brings the overall capacity of the university to 11,000 students. UL is home to the Irish World Music Center, and offers to music stu dents the largest post-graduate music program in Europe. It is also home to a prestigious law program and has a spe cialist center for European studies. Each year, the University of Limerick plays host to American, European and international students who study at the college for individual semesters, and increasingly, at full undergraduate level. UL also hopes to entice even more foreign postgraduate students to take advantage of, and contribute towards its research institutes.

Composed of six colleges specializing in business, education, engineering, humanities, informaticsi electronics and science, UL has successfully chartered its own playing field. The university first established itself as an educational market leader when it pioneered a new format in education with the introduction of its 'co-operative education' initiative. The co-op program represented a break away from the traditional 'talking-head', lecture based style of third level courses that continues to dominate many learning institutions today.

The co-op education program instead places an emphasis on practical, experiential learning coupled, of course, with high quality teaching that Limerick has become renowned for.

Indeed, breaking with tradition is not even an issue for this pioneering institute. Relaxing mid-morning at the Cornell Club in New York, the American University with whom UL has strong affiliations, UL President Roger Downer enthusiastically explains why the University of Limerick doesn't feel constrained by the burden of Ireland's prestigious educational legacy:

"We have always had to be different, and we have always ensured that we are not competing directly with what the other universities are doing. We try to do things that no one else is doing. We are, indeed, a young university, but that is very important because it means that we can do things our own way without being tied down. Our youth is one of our best assets, and that carries its own dynamic. If there is something worth doing, we can generally do so without being curtailed. In fact, one of the most exciting things about our experience is that in many ways we are creating our own tradition."

Roger Downer, a soft-spoken Ulsterman, is also one of the University's greatest assets. After gaining a Bachelor' degree at Queen's University, Belfast, he completed a Ph.D. in Canada where he remained for 27 years, and there secured an insight into the role he currently occupies when he served as a Canadian University Vice-President. Asia beckoned next, when Downer was headhunted to man an eminent research organization in Thailand, but he was ultimately honored to return to Ireland when offered the Presidency of UL. "The really exciting thing for me was in what I inherited", explains Downer, referring to The University of Limerick Foundation that was established in 1989 to provide funding for the University's advancement. The University Foundation is an arms length organization, a partnership between the University, the State, international leaders, corporations, private donors and individuals who facilitate the University's development through crucial fundraising. The University of Limerick Foundation has raised in excess of US$60 million to assist the University. Alumni Chapters in areas like New York and Boston, and supporters of the University worldwide, ensure the University~s continued growth and financial stability. For Downer, the Foundation is not just about finance, it is a means by which philanthropy is channeled to the college, and the means that provided him with the opportunity as President to really envisage a new plateau from which UL can achieve its goals.

In addition to raising the academic profile of the University Downer himself has additional altruistic goals that he hopes the university will achieve. The university is set to expand, but will do so in terms of its own ideology and for Downer that boils down to quality. A simple mission statement insists that UL is set to "redefine the way in which Universities teach and think, change the way in which we conduct research, the way in which we manage and in the way we reach out to disadvantaged communities.

To this end, Downer has just recently had a five year strategic plan approved an ambitious project that will most likely be Downer's own outstanding legacy to the students and city that he serves. As part of the strategic plan, UL hopes to devise a series of programs to enable its students to survive comfortably the difficult transition from high school to university, and at the same time place the burden of responsibility for their education more squarely on the students themselves. The university aims to make students more efficient in providing content by embracing new technologies such as CD ROM and the internet as well as traditional methods of presentation, so that in true Socratic fashion the contact time between student and teacher is maximized. Downer has even taken the step of appointing a full-time Dean of Teaching to mark the dawn of this new era in teaching.

Roger Downer is only too aware of the simple fact that no one University can be good at absolutely everything. And so, in a characteristically pragmatic fashion, UL has identified a number of areas in which it already excels, and in which it aspires to become the best in the world at. Research is one of the prime components of the university's mission, and UL has identified no less than five areas in which it intends to have internationally acclaimed research institutes by the conclusion of its five year plan. UL hopes to create world class institutes dedicated to the fields of materials research, and to the ever-burgeoning I.T. and Biotech sectors. The attraction of significant government funding and the establishment of active relations with local, national and international corporations have catalyzed the pursuit of these specific goals. Interaction with the state and companies at such a productive level, it is hoped, will lead to further job opportunities for UL graduates. UL also hopes to commission an institute dedicated to the concept of work; specifically researching what creates productive workforces and how traditional sectors interact and differ from newer sectors and technologies.

The final area in which the University of Limerick is determined to expand lies in the creation of a ground breaking full research institute - the first of its kind in the world -committed to the concept of Borders. Explains Downer, "Societies are divided by borders, borders that we are familiar with such as territorial borders...trade boundaries, cross-border boundaries (referring to the North and South political and cultural divide within Ireland) etc..... But invisible boundaries, intellectual boundaries, and religious boundaries also divide societies there is even a digitaldivide. We hope to develop an institute dedicated to providing an understanding of what divides society, and ultimately to intervene - to invent the means to eliminate those boundaries. Borders, both real and imagined, have played a large part in the unfolding Irish political and social narrative, but Downer hopes that this maiden institute will be the best of its kind in the world. Roger Downer has attracted funding for a remarkable 24 new research positions in order to implement his ambitious plan - his plan to be the best in the world and to bring this concept and others to Limerick.

Conscious of the importance of education, one of the most important elements of UL's mission is its outreach program. Ireland fortunately has one of the most advanced education systems in the world, but Downer cautions that more important than sustaining its prestige is the need to make it accessible. "In spite of the success of the Celtic Tiger, there are still poor people in Ireland. Poor disadvantaged communities, as in Limerick, where children living in rundown housing estates are heirs to thirdgeneration employment. These children don't have access to third level education, they don't aspire towards it because children from disadvantaged parts of Limerick onto the University campus where, once a week, they are trained by Limerick football club, the local profes sional soccer squad. The members of the Limerick team are heroes to the hordes of 10 and 11 year olds who have never even witnessed the inside of a university. In exchange, the kids must carry out their homework duties and commit to their performance at school. "We give them this huge incentive to hit the books occasionally. but even more. My dream is that in a few years time we will see kids from those very neighbor hoods walk through the doors of our university. It is at that tender age that dreams are formed, that the seeds of ambition are sown. We have to start at that level, be flexible to their needs. And I will be as proud as punch when those kids graduate.... I would rather be judged on what comes out of our university rather than on what comes in." Judging by what already has emanated from UL, Roger Downer has every good reason to be proud of Limerick University - now, and in the years to follow.