Education

SETU: ‘On the road to becoming a leading global technological university’

South East Technological University delivers courses across multiple disciplines with the largest concentrations across health and welfare, business and engineering

SETU is a multi-campus unitary university with campuses in Waterford (pictured), Carlow, Wexford and Wicklow. Photograph: iStock

Colin Gleeson
Tue Apr 30 2024 - 02:40

Name: South East Technological University (SETU)

Location: Waterford, Carlow, Wexford, Wicklow, Kilkenny

Established: 2022

Students: 18,247

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Overview: SETU is a multi-campus university in the southeast of Ireland. With a vision to transform the southeast into a thriving region, SETU provides a diverse range of third-level courses to students globally, fostering skills and knowledge for students.

The university’s five-year strategic plan 2023-2028, Connecting for Impact, has put SETU “on the road to becoming a leading global technological university with a transformative impact on the community, the southeast of Ireland and beyond” a spokeswoman for the university said.

“SETU’s ambitions over the coming years are to establish itself as the anchor institution for the ongoing development of the southeast.”

The university employs more than 2,000 staff. It currently delivers courses across multiple disciplines with the largest concentrations across health and welfare, business and engineering.

It also has strong traditions in the areas of sports coaching and rehabilitation, marketing and content creation, cybersecurity, computing and software development, and other specialist areas such as sustainable farm management and agribusiness.

The value of research in building social capital, creating more supportive communities, informing government strategies and policies is fully recognised by SETU with research and innovation forming one of its priority objectives within its strategic plan.

“This means increased options for enriching and transformational postgraduate research opportunities,” the spokeswoman said.

“SETU works continuously to create new educational opportunities for people in the region, contributing to developing the skills and capacity of the regional labour force, and driving regional innovation, which in turn will create high quality jobs and will help improve the quality of life for everyone.”

Campus: SETU has campuses across the southeast of Ireland in Waterford, Carlow, Wexford, Wicklow and Kilkenny, bringing higher education, research, investment, ideas and opportunity to each community.

Its campuses provide state-of-the-art buildings and facilities in areas of study such as nursing, aerospace engineering, culinary arts hospitality, software and gaming development, TV and radio broadcasting, and sports coaching and rehabilitation.

It also has world-class laboratories and training facilities to provide learning opportunities for students who receive hands-on training in these disciplines.

The university said it is committed to creating environments that are welcoming and transformative, both for local and international students of all ages and backgrounds, as well as staff, researchers and partners.

The Carlow campus has 16 buildings covering about 37,500sq m, playing pitches and car parking. The campus is about 30 hectares.

It also houses the new €15 million South Sports Campus, which is a world-class outdoor multidiscipline training facility, which includes six new LED floodlit playing pitches, a 1.6km looped walking trail, a 400m athletics track and a pavilion building.

Sample course:

The bachelor of arts in content creation and social media is aimed at students interested in tapping into the €20 billion global influencer market.

Over the course of the programme, students will learn to become experts in social media theory and practice. There are diverse courses on offer including creative video, celebrity studies, psychology, data analytics, podcasting and work experience.

The course aims to help students professionalise the practice of connecting with people so that it transforms from a hobby to a career. It does this by educating them in how to think more smartly about their online practice.

The dedicated SETU Studentpad student accommodation search service (setustudentpad.ie) lets students search for housing, apartments and digs in Waterford, Carlow and Wexford.

* This article was amended on 02/05/2024 to correct an error.

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson is an Irish Times reporter

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