Most computing degrees have a certain business content but in the Institute of Technology in Tralee, Co Kerry, they have gone one step further with a four-year ab initio degree in computing with enterprise studies.
"What we have done is we have taken that business content and added a percentage to that and focused it very clearly on enterprise studies," explains Seamus O'Shea, head of science and computing at the institute. Business subjects such as accounting, business administration and management are focused clearly on setting up an enterprise, and enterprise accounts for 25 per cent of the programme.
"It was set up with enterprise studies with a view to contributing to the development of the software industry in the southwest region. Research studies at University of Limerick show that 15 to 20 per cent of courses who graduate from courses like this, with a strong enterprise component in them, will set up their own businesses within five to 10 years of completing the course," says O'Shea. Based on the UL survey, O'Shea estimates that that there will be five to six start-up enterprises in five to 10 years, with each graduate generating an employment of 40 to 45 people.
The college also has links to the Kerry Technology Park, which has incubation units for start-up enterprises and adjoins the new college campus, which will open in September, 2001.
The course has work placement of six months in the third year. The enterprise section gives them an additional skill set and they can be intrapreneurial, within the businesses they are working for.
The points started out at 350 and are expected to stay between that and 300 this year. This year the course will cater for 45 students, whereas in its first two years it had a smaller intake until the course was perfected. Students comprise mainly of those straight from Leaving Cert and there are few mature students. There is a 30 per cent female participation rate, which is along the lines of the national average for computing courses, says O'Shea.
A survey of second-level students by the institute showed a marked difference between what male and female students are attracted to in a computing course. Females had a strong preference for computing with languages, business or multimedia, whereas the males surveyed had a stronger preference for computing with networking or computing with no add-ons, says O'Shea.
The course is 40 per cent practical and 60 per cent theory, and, says O'Shea, students applying for the course would want to have more interest in the computing side rather than the enterprise side of the course as 75 per cent of the content is after all, computing.
