TALLAGHT: Though on the outskirts of Dublin and in the foothills of the mountains, Tallaght is at the centre of learning, Anne Byrne reports

'When I was in short trousers I used to cycle out from the city to the country and some time after arriving in the country, I would arrive at Tallaght Village." Dr Columb Collins, director of Tallaght IT, says Tallaght may now be joined to Dublin, but it is not a suburb. "Effectively, it's a city, with all of the facilities associated with a major city: county council headquarters, a theatre, a large hospital, a range of education facilities at primary, post-primary and third level, the Square, a cinema complex and an almost-completed football stadium (for Shamrock Rovers)," he says. The LUAS track, which is well advanced, will provide easy access to the city centre.

Collins, like college staff and students, is keen to emphasis the positive. "Tallaght has an image problem. People think it's a dump. It's not," one staff member asserted trenchantly.

The college itself is now 10 years old, full to capacity with 2,500 full-time students and 1,600 part-time students, and poised to begin another major building programme. Although it began life as a regional technical college, it was built in the 1990s and escaped the awful architecture that characterised the other RTCs. Built two decades later than most, it was seen as a flagship project, with quality of buildings and facilities to the fore.

Collins says the college has recently been able to further enhance the current building by the purchase and display of 100 works of art (with funding of £66,000, under the National Development Plan). These were officially unveiled on February 8th and add splashes of colour to the walls of the main corridors.

The new building plan will allow the college to expand beyond its current borders, into further land purchased from the Dominican Priory. The priory and the local Church of Ireland clergy have been good neighbours and friends to the college over the years. St Maelruan's Church of Ireland community hall is made available to the college for ceremonies such as graduations while the Dominicans provided space for college staff before there was a building.

More than 90 per cent of the students come from south Dublin. Collins says the provision of accommodation on site, in the future, is envisaged.

Access programmes target students from nearby socio-economically disadvantaged areas, with formal links to six schools. This programme will be widened to include Dublin 12, which is also under-represented at third level. Mature students only account for 2.5 per cent of the full-time student body and the college seems unlikely to meet the Government target of 15 per cent by 2006. The college was built to accommodate disabled students, notes access officer Maggie Ryan, so there are no the same access issues, older colleges experience.

Tallaght IT has established a reputation for itself in the sciences and engineering. The pilot plant in the new National Pharmaceutical Centre has been equipped and will soon be ready for use.

In March 2000, a department of humanities was established and it is here that the college will offer its first ab-initio degrees next autumn (BA in European studies; BA in applied languages). Having entries on the degree side of the CAO list appears important to staff, though the college already offers a variety of add-on degrees. The humanities programmes on offer are diverse: from audio-visual media to culinary arts to theology.

There are concerns that seven of the college's programmes registered AQA in last year's CAO list of cut-off points. This means courses accepted all qualified applicants. Acting registrar Mike Aherne says applicants need to understand that this does not devalue the courses - the courses are of the same high standard as they were in the past. Supports have been put in place for students who may come in with lower points and need some additional help, particularly in the area of maths for engineering programmes. There is some evidence, from the numbers sitting January exams, that the dropout rates may be lower this year. It has ususlly averaged 10 per cent.

At the higher end of the academic scale, the college has "30 postgraduate students and growing", with strengths in areas such as cellular biotechnology, smart materials, bioprocess engineering, rapid prototyping, computing and electronics, according to Eamonn Tuffy, head of external services. Funding has been secured from Enterprise Ireland, the Technological Sector Research Programme, and recently, under PRTLI, in a partnership with DCU's National Institute of Biotechnology. As with other ITs, there have been problems securing money for capital investment, so space is at a premium.

COLUMB Collins says one of the distinguishing features of Tallaght IT is its strong part-time programme. "Every one of the part-time students is following a programme that also exists in full-time mode. They are doing national certificates, diplomas and degrees. We are very committed to supporting part-time students, as we see lifelong learning as being the next challenge for this institute and for higher education as a whole.

"I believe that we need to move to a totally credit-based system. Funding mechanisms largely support full-time year-long students only at present." Students at Tallaght IT gain HETAC qualifications. Last autumn, four ITs were given their own awarding powers for certificates and diplomas. Collins says there are pluses and minuses regarding centralised qualifications and that it is not a major issue for the college at present. The focus is on the new development plan and new facilities.

The students' union currently resides in a seven-year-old prefab, with two pool tables and little else, but deputy union president Trevor Wilson is upbeat. He says the college has lots of thriving clubs and societies and uses the facilities in the area, such as gyms, pitches and disco-bars.

With a small student body, Wilson says Tallaght IT offers a very personal experience to students. However, he has a number of concerns about facilities: the canteen is too small, the library is not extensive. The union helps fund childcare for students in need, but the college needs a crèche, he adds. He is looking forward to the advent of the new student centre, but laughs as he says it may distract students from their studies.