PhotograPhic comPetition 2016 winner

Shumithira gandan

CIT Students’ Union MagazineVolume Seventeen, Issue 8

• Union Council Awards 2016• De-Stress Week, 10th - 12th May• Exam Countdown & Tips

• Sporting year in review• Sports & Socs Awards 2016• sparq at CIT

In ThIS ISSUE:

CIT SU & PhoTo SoC CoMPETITIon 2016ThE EnTrIES

1 2 3 4 5 6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

Edward Roche Wilhelmina van der Bent

Orla Sheehy

Uday Gowda

Joel Nixon

Stephen Martin

James Flynn

Stefani Dimitrova

Fiona Vasseghi

Emma Dorman

Mayra Lima

Luke Power

Aleksandra Ananica

Kiran Shaju

Jackie Ni Fhogartaigh

Sean Hales Martin Crowley

3

4 �SU�OfficerS’�AddreSS6 UniOn�cOUncil�AwArdS�

20169 de-StreSS�week

10 - 12 May - First Aid for Stress

10 exAm�cOUntdOwn Study Plan and Success Tips

12 sparq�At�cit14 live�cit,�lOve�SOcietieS

Award Recipients 2016

16 live�cit,�lOve�SpOrtS Sports Awards 2016

17 SpOrtS�yeAr�in� review

18 crOSSwOrd Hard cash prize on offer! Deliver your entries to the SU office

19 phOtO�gAllery eclectic picnic

20 chArity�Online� AUctiOn

Last months Winner: Alan McCarthy, EPS4

ConTEnTS ExPlICIT nEEDS YoU!

If you would like to make submissions to our student

magazine, expliCIT, please call to the Students’ Union or email:

supublications@cit.ie

CIT Students’ Union, Bishopstown, Cork.Tel: 021 433 5274 Web: www.explicit.ie

Email: supublications@cit.ie

CITSU CITSUexpliCIT magazine is published monthly by CIT Students’ Union. The views expressed in the magazine are those of their authors and are not necessarily those of CIT Students’ Union. All articles and pictures are the property of their respective owners and should not be reproduced without their permission.

expliCIT Production, Design & Advertising Keith Brown, E: supublications@cit.ieCIT SU President Shane Falvey E: supresident@cit.ieVP Education John O’Driscoll E: sueducation@cit.ieVP Welfare Ruth O’Leary E: suwelfare@cit.ieEntertainments Manager Mick O’Mahony E: Event@cit.ie

Advertising OpportunitiesCIT has 17,000+ full and part-time stu-dents with over 1,500 staff. Why not use expliCIT to promote your business to this large audience? Our copy deadlines, advertising rates and technical specifications are available from our website www.citsu.ie and upon request from the Publications Office in hardcopy or via email.

CIT SU & PhoTo SoCCoMPETITIon 2016For the second year, the Students’ Union in conjunction with the CIT Photographic So-ciety organised a photographic competition with the prize of reproducing the winning photograph on the front cover of this edition of expliCIT, tickets to the Drama Society Play, “Evidence”, and €50. We received a wonder-ful array of entries, all clearly holding a mean-ing for their photographers and which give us, the viewer, a few moments of pleasure in pen-sively exploring the story behind the image. We have reproduced the entries here, as we believe these artistic endeavours need to be shared with the general CIT population.The winning entry, by Shumithira Gandan, was cited as being “an image that typifies the climate in Ireland, but instead of evoking a sense of cheerlessness, it depicts the ka-leidoscopic beauty that can emanate from a rainy day ”.Thank you to Jackie Ni Fhogartaigh of the Photographic Society who was contributed to the organisation of this competition and to my fellow adjudicators Aoife Kelliher, So-cieties Officer; Kevin Tuohy, Arts Office; Keith Brown, SU Publications Manager; and Mervyn O’Mahony, Communications and Marketing Officer.We look forward to running the competition for the third year next year as this type of activity is in concurrence with the ethos of expliCIT magazine – a student focused mag-azine, by the students for the students.Vicky O’Sullivan, General Manager, SU.

Niamh Fennell

Ben Brown

Ewart Coughlan Eoin O’Callaghan

Winning Entry: Shumithira Gandan

Luke Millar Daniel Brohan

4

Hi Guys,It’s hard to believe that this is our final ad-dress of the current academic year, and as the present Students’ Union Executive. What a year it has been, and continues to be. It is beyond a pleasure to represent you the students of CIT. Together Everyone Achieves More rings true to how we feel about this year. We thank from the bottom of our hearts every single student and member of staff within the institute who has engaged with us this year.

The Students’ Union’s operations are very much like a production, we’re lucky enough to be the face of that production, but as any-one who’s been involved in any productions knows, the ‘front of house’ are doomed if the rest of the crew aren’t performing to just as high a standard. We’d especially like to thank our excellent SU Support staff, Vicky, Mick, Keith, Fiona and Mella for their end-less advice, support and all-round excellent work, we couldn’t have got through the year without them.

We couldn’t be happier with what we’ve achieved this year as a team, which is far greater than we originally envisaged when we took up office last June. Have a plan, aim high, and to be optimistic, while realis-tic is key. Most of all, always remembering why you wanted to be a representative and who you’re representing is of paramount importance. That was easy this year be-cause even if we do say so ourselves, CIT students are a great bunch.

USI CongrESS The Union of Students’ In Ireland’s (USI) Annual Congress took place this year from Monday 21st March – Thursday 24th March. Every delegate did themselves, CIT and the SU proud. CIT SU presented five (the maxi-mum amount allowable) motions, which we felt were relevant to CIT and the national third level environment, as well as to USI as an organisation as a whole. These motions were around the following topics:

1. Work Placements2. Academic Calendar3. Mental Health Training at SU Training4. Regional Training events for SU Officers5. Students’ Union MergersSU President, Shane, was humbled to have been selected by USI Congress Steering as winner of best quote at Congress for his line on President Elect Annie Hoey ‘If she was

anymore connected to the student move-ment she’d be like a magnet on a fridge’ in a speech about why he opposed a motion to limit officer’s terms to two years.

Shane, John, Ruth and Dave who represent-ed the Executive at Congress would like to take this opportunity to commend and ap-plaud our delegation for their excellent work and participation throughout the week.

CIT SU’s reputation remains strong nation-ally, and was further enhanced throughout congress, may this long continue.

At the Annual Congress the USI Officer Board was elected. The Officer Board 2016/17 will consist of the following:

President: Annie HoeyAcademic Affairs: Jack LeahyVP Welfare: Cian PowerVP Campaigns: Dan WaughVP Equality & Citizenship: Síona CahillVP Southern Region: Niamh Murtagh

CITSU look very much forward to working with the newly elected Officers, for the best interests of students nationally and locally. We wish all of them the very best of luck dur-ing their respective terms in office.

SAfETY WEEkSafety Week was a huge success this year. Some of the highlights of the week were the balloon release in memory of the 166 lives lost on Irish roads in 2015, the car crash re-enactment and also the RSA Roll-over Stim-ulator and Shuttle Bus. A special thanks to An Garda Siochána who gave up their free time for the duration of this campaign to talk to students about road safety as well as personal safety. The aim of Safety Week is to educate students in safety in order to for you all to stay safe. Thank you to all who participated in our events and who helped out during the week.

UnIon CoUnCIl AWArDS 2016The Annual Union Council Awards which was held this year on the evening of Thurs-day 21st April was a great success, marking the outstanding contribution of our Class Reps, as well as presenting a cheque to the value of €7,500 (50% of the funds raised from Raise & Give Week 2016) to Mary-mount University Hospice.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Union Council members for the

continuous work for their classes, the SU and the Institute as whole this year. You have all been truly outstanding, true ambas-sadors of CIT.

Many thanks to the SU Support staff for their coordination of the event. We especial-ly acknowledge and are extremely apprecia-tive of the attendance of Dr Barry O’Connor (Registrar & Vice President for Academic Af-fairs) and Dr Dan Collins (Academic Admin-istration & Student Affairs Manager), who represented the institute at the ceremony.

nATIonAl STUDEnT EngAgE-MEnT PIloT ProjECT We are delighted that CIT was successful in our bid to be one of the pilot colleges for the National Student Engagement Project (NSEP).

Our selection is a testament to the Student-Staff Partnership work continuously being undertaken by the staff and students of the Institute, and their willingness to en-gage in this extremely worthwhile work. This achievement is very much down to the engagement of the Class Reps, Academic staff and Management within both Faculties of CIT, so well done to all....partnership will flourish here at CIT well into the future.

The Students’ Union team - current and incoming, look very much forward to be-ing a part of this pilot project. We have no doubts that its initiation within CIT will lead to a further enhanced experience for all key stakeholders of the institute. We look im-mensely forward to continuously working on this initiative as a Union in partnership with the Student Engagement & Retention Initia-tive and the Institute’s Faculties.

BICS (BoArD of IrISh CollEgES SoCIETIES) 2016The SU were so proud of CIT Societies who represented CIT at Board of Irish College Societies (BICS) Awards ceremony on April 14th. We particularly congratulate Martin Crowley who was recipient of the Best Ini-vidual in a small college award.

EClECTIC PICnICOn behalf of the SU and CIT Arts Office, we would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who contributed to the mini-festival event Eclectic Picnic on Thursday 21st April.

The event was a great success… and thanks be to God the rain stayed away for it.

Scoops, Punchy and the comedian, Al Porter, kept the crowds well entertained.

STUDEnTS’ UnIon offICErS ADDrESS

5

It’s hard to believe this event was only in its second year, we’re sure it will be an event on the calendar for many years to come, given its over-whelming popularity with both stu-dents and staff.

WEST ATrIUM STUDY SPACENeed somewhere to study on Sundays com-ing up to exams? We here in the Students’ Union have managed to get the West Atrium opened on the following dates 8th of May, 15th of May and the 22nd of May. This will be open from 10:00am until 4:00pm. Hope-fully this will help you all with the final push to get through your exams!

EnD of SEMESTEr ExAMSIt’s that time of year again where all of the work, lecturers and study over the semester coming to an end. Studying for an end of semester exam shouldn’t happen overnight, over the next couple of weeks make sure to give yourself the best possible chance and get studying.

We would like to take this opportunity to

wish all CIT students the very best of luck with their end of semester exams!

WorDS of WISDoMExams are all about getting the balance right. Make sure to get a good night’s sleep. All night cramming sessions are a big no-no! Your concentration will be severely ham-pered after doing an all-nighter, it will feel like you’ve been on the lash the night before, so try if at all possible to avoid this.

Eat a good nutritious breakfast! Never go into an exam on an empty stomach. If any-thing your rumbling stomach may disturb everyone else doing their exams!

ExAM DE-STrESSExam De-Stress Week will run from May 10th-12th. We all know how stressful exam time can be. In order to try and reduce the stress even a little bit we have loads planned for this week. Some treats we have instore for you all are: Laughter Yoga, Mindfulness, FREE Massages, Puppies, and even more surprises each day. Be sure to call over to

the Students’ Union in the Main corridor from 12-2pm Monday

– Tuesday and also check the timetable for dates and times of our other events. Re-member to keep calm, drink plenty of water and get a goodnights sleep.

#CITSUBelieveInYou

lIBrArY oPEnIng hoUrSWe are delighted to say that the library will stay open longer on the 13th and 20th of May. Normal closing times for these dates are 5.00pm but it will stay open until 8.30pm to help you that little bit extra during exam time. Many thanks to the library staff for facilitating this. Make sure to let your class-es know.

We wish all students well with their end of semester exams and always remember YOUR SU is here for YOU!

Best Wishes,

Shane, John, Ruth, Dave, Rebekah, Kate,YOUR SU Executive

Front - Left to Right; Christine Walsh (3rd Year ,Business Management), Kathryn Stoyle (3rd Year, Social Care), Ruth O’Leary (SU VP Welfare), Rachel Kiely (2nd Year, Tourism).Back - Left to Right; Matt Donovan (3rd Year, BIS), Jacqui Moriarty (1st Year, Business),

Denise Coughlan (4th Year Business, SU VP Education Elect), Shane Falvey (SU President), John O’Driscoll (SU VP Education), Dave Brady (SU Projects Officer, SU Communications

Officer Elect).

Best of luck

in your exams!

Supervised study at the West Atrium is available 10am ‑ 4pm

on these dates:

Sun 15th MaySun 22nd May

study sundays

Westatrium

6

Union Council Awards 2016The Students’ Union held the Union Council Awards

recently, at which Class Reps were presented with Certificates of Merit in recognition of their volun-

tary contribution to campus life by Dr Barry O’Connor, Registrar & Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dr Dan Collins, Academic Administration & Student Affairs Manager. Class Reps have been at the core of the Union’s growth and development and play a key role in the commu-nication process between students, staff and the SU. They have contributed greatly to to the national recog-nition of successful student engagement in CIT as evi-denced by the fact that CIT has been selected as one of five institutions to pilot the National Student Engage-ment Programme by the HEA, QQI and USI.Shane Falvey, Ruth O’Leary and John O’Driscoll, the SU Sabbatical Officers, presented six Class Reps, who had been nominated by their class members, with awards in recognition of their ‘Outstanding Voluntary Contribution’. Barry Cahill was awarded the Cork Institute of Technol-ogy’s Presidential Citation recognising his exceptional and outstanding service to the Students’ Union at Cork Institute of Technology.

6

Gemma Harris

David Buckley

Katryn Stoyle

Fiona Walsh

Wihelmina Van Der BentMatt Donovan

Barry Cahill receiving the Presidential Citation

7

A donation of €7,500 was presented to Marymount University Hospice who was the chief beneficiary of CIT Rag Week 2016 by the Students’ Union, Societies Office, Arts Office and individual students.

8

TIPS To EnSUrE ThAT YoUr TEnAnCY IS EnDED CorrECTlY AnD gETTIng YoUr fUll DEPoSIT BACk.• If you have a lease agreement, check

it to see if there are restrictions on when you can terminate the tenancy. A lease is a legally binding contract for a fixed term, usually one year, so if you leave before it ends you are breaking the lease; you could lose your deposit and also be liable for the rent for the remainder of the lease

• If notice of termination of tenancy can be given ensure you do so in writing and that you give the correct period of notice according to the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 and make sure to keep a copy

• Make sure that all rent and bills are paid up to date and that the trans-fer of accounts, such as ESB, is ar-ranged in advance

• Clean the property thoroughly and take dated photographs of every room.

• Remove all of your belongings• Return the keys• Your landlord does not have to return

your deposit on the day you leave but it must be returned promptly. Thresh-old suggests that 14 days is a rea-sonable timeframe for the return of a deposit under normal circumstances. A landlord may only keep some or all of a deposit to cover rent arrears, bills or the costs of repairing any damage above normal wear and tear

• You should request receipts for any deductions made from your deposit

• Keep records of all correspondence with your landlord/agent

• Provide your landlord with a forward-ing address

€630 To ThE CUh ChIlDrEn’S UnITThe 4th year Tourism students held a Lunchtime Dance-A-Thon on the 19th of April in aid of the CUH Children’s Unit. The Nexus Student Centre was trans-formed into a sea of red with many students and lec-turers participating to raise an overwhelming €630 for such a small year group. The lunch time event in-cluded 4th year Tourism students encouraging other students and staff to join in on the fun by showing off their best dance moves and most importantly do-nating to a very worthy cause. A successful element to this event was the Snapchat Selfie competition, One4All vouchers and CIT hoodies were awarded to Jeff Jones for the most creative male selfie and Nicole Geaney for the most creative female selfie, congratulations to both participants! A lot of planning and organising went into this event and it would not have been successful without a key number of people who we would like to say a huge thank you to, includ-ing our Course Co-ordinator Ruth Farrell, Mr. Adrian Gregan - Head of Tourism and Hospitality, Students’ Union, Nexus Market, CUH Children’s Unit, CIT DJ Society and of course all students and members of faculty who participated on the day.

Exam Countdown Your Study Plan: Weeks 11 to 13Draw up a Study plan to help you study effectively and minimize stress.

Some questions to ask yourself before designing a Study Plan:• What grade do I WANT to achieve?• What is the format of the exam?• Do I know the marking system?

Your study plan: Dos & Don’ts • Divide your workload into manageable chunks. Budget your time realistically; allocate study time into several manageable chunks – 60 minutes at a time. Remember to take 10-15 minute breaks • Set clear and specific learning goals for each chunk of time • Pay attention to how much time you are spending on specific study tasks and stay on track with your study plan. • If you are already behind, try to prioritize,

Study ActivelyActive studying means you have to be engaged with the content. Don’t just rely on reading and re-reading your and assignments. Make the extra effort to get it into your head!

What works: Active StudyHere are some suggestions for getting more actively involved:• Review your material, explain it (without looking) in your own words and out loud (if possible) and then check to see if you are correct• Teach the material to a classmate • When you have to teach and explain a concept to someone else, you are actively understanding and interacting with the con-tent. Have your classmate ask you questions for further explanation • Construct a practice quiz for each chapter in your study guide

• Say the answers out loud, not in your head. Put a mark beside challenging problems. Go back and redo those that you did not get correct • Look for sample midterms and exams to also access practice questions. Different textbooks on the same subject may also have practice questions at the back of each chapter • For courses with problem sets, practice solving the problems • Upon solving the problems, try to explain an answer for each problem out loud! If you are just regurgitating memorized solu-tions, you aren’t prepared to handle new problems on a test. Put a mark beside those problems that gave you trouble. Review the solutions for these questions. Follow this method until you finish a round with no marked problems

Study Groups

Studying with a group of classmates can be very effective.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

ASC promo flier PRINT.pdf 2 04/04/2016 17:22:44

concentrating on the material most likely to appear on the exam. •Prioritize to ensure that material weighted more heavily in the exam gets sufficient study time;• Study sessions should have enough variety in terms of topics and activities to prevent boredom and loss of effectiveness• Weapons of Mass Distraction; Mobile phones, Facebook, Instagram, SWITCH OFF.

Study groups should:• Not be the sole method of study and they are not for everyone• Be a form of ‘active learning’ – the strongest kind of learning• Not let one member of the group dominate• Meet no more than 2-3 times a week for no more than 60-90 minute periods• Establish responsibilities for each group member• Design rules dealing with respect for each member• Provide contact information for group members

Study groups should help you and your group members:• See the material from a different perspective • Stay motivated and commit more time to study• Share/compare notes and study tips• Pick up new tips and material from your peers• Quiz each other on factual material

Academic Success Coaching is a project of the Student Engagement and Retention Initiative, Office of the Registrar and VP for Academic Affairs, Cork Institute of Technology

EXPLICIT APRIL INSERT.indd All Pages 26/04/2016 12:01:34

Exam Countdown Your Study Plan: Weeks 11 to 13Draw up a Study plan to help you study effectively and minimize stress.

Some questions to ask yourself before designing a Study Plan:• What grade do I WANT to achieve?• What is the format of the exam?• Do I know the marking system?

Your study plan: Dos & Don’ts • Divide your workload into manageable chunks. Budget your time realistically; allocate study time into several manageable chunks – 60 minutes at a time. Remember to take 10-15 minute breaks • Set clear and specific learning goals for each chunk of time • Pay attention to how much time you are spending on specific study tasks and stay on track with your study plan. • If you are already behind, try to prioritize,

Study ActivelyActive studying means you have to be engaged with the content. Don’t just rely on reading and re-reading your and assignments. Make the extra effort to get it into your head!

What works: Active StudyHere are some suggestions for getting more actively involved:• Review your material, explain it (without looking) in your own words and out loud (if possible) and then check to see if you are correct• Teach the material to a classmate • When you have to teach and explain a concept to someone else, you are actively understanding and interacting with the con-tent. Have your classmate ask you questions for further explanation • Construct a practice quiz for each chapter in your study guide

• Say the answers out loud, not in your head. Put a mark beside challenging problems. Go back and redo those that you did not get correct • Look for sample midterms and exams to also access practice questions. Different textbooks on the same subject may also have practice questions at the back of each chapter • For courses with problem sets, practice solving the problems • Upon solving the problems, try to explain an answer for each problem out loud! If you are just regurgitating memorized solu-tions, you aren’t prepared to handle new problems on a test. Put a mark beside those problems that gave you trouble. Review the solutions for these questions. Follow this method until you finish a round with no marked problems

Study Groups

Studying with a group of classmates can be very effective.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

ASC promo flier PRINT.pdf 2 04/04/2016 17:22:44

concentrating on the material most likely to appear on the exam. •Prioritize to ensure that material weighted more heavily in the exam gets sufficient study time;• Study sessions should have enough variety in terms of topics and activities to prevent boredom and loss of effectiveness• Weapons of Mass Distraction; Mobile phones, Facebook, Instagram, SWITCH OFF.

Study groups should:• Not be the sole method of study and they are not for everyone• Be a form of ‘active learning’ – the strongest kind of learning• Not let one member of the group dominate• Meet no more than 2-3 times a week for no more than 60-90 minute periods• Establish responsibilities for each group member• Design rules dealing with respect for each member• Provide contact information for group members

Study groups should help you and your group members:• See the material from a different perspective • Stay motivated and commit more time to study• Share/compare notes and study tips• Pick up new tips and material from your peers• Quiz each other on factual material

Academic Success Coaching is a project of the Student Engagement and Retention Initiative, Office of the Registrar and VP for Academic Affairs, Cork Institute of Technology

EXPLICIT APRIL INSERT.indd All Pages 26/04/2016 12:01:34

NOMOBILESiPODSEXCUSES!

ON/OFF IT DOESN’T MATTER

If you are caught with an electronic device, ON or OFF = PENALTY + FINE

New Message from CIT

FINEYou have received a

PENALTY

My ExAM SUCCESS ChECklIST4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

“ ”I’m not telling you it is

going to be easy — I’m telling you it’s

going to be worth itArt Williams

11

Wake up early so that you do not need to rush through having breakfast and getting ready.Check the venue and time of the exam to make sure that you have not confused the day/time/venue.have a balanced breakfast and eat nothing risky (probably not the best day to have a super-hot curry). Bananas are always a good option.Before leaving home, check that you have every-thing that you will need – ID, stationery, calculator etc.head to the exam with plenty of time. A lot of unexpected events can happen on your way there and you do not want to be late!If there are people around who are panicking, avoid them. They are not doing you any favoursGo to the toilet before the exam starts. Exams can be quite long and there is no time to waste.Read all the questions carefully before starting and quickly plan how much time to allocate to each.Start answering the questions that you feel most confident about. There is no need to answer the questions in order.If your brain freezes, just start writing anything and you will soon start remembering more details.Don’t spend more time than you planned on a particular section/question or you might run out of time to answer other questions and gain those extra marks! Also, leave any questions that you are unsure about for the end.Don’t be afraid to ask the examiner if you are not clear on a question.Use every minute of the exam and if you have time left, review your answers before handing back the paper.Stay calm, you have done your study and worked hard. you have nothing to fear.

Igniting asparqs visit

Debate, discussions, questions, answers and all manner of comments – the meeting rooms in the Students’ Union office were hives of activity this April when the Student Centre, in partnership with the Strategic Student Engagement and Retention Initiative, ran a series of sparq at CIT meetings and workshops.

Facilitated using the expert skills of Simon Varwell from sparqs (Student Partnership in Quality, Scotland), students and staff of the Faculty of Engineering & Science experienced the sparqs student partnership approach on Monday April 4th, 5th & 6th. This followed a similar day with the Faculty of Business and Humanities in October 2015. A wide range of topics were discussed by 30 staff and class representatives including curriculum, quality, feedback and assessment and the teaching and learning experience at CIT.

On Tuesday April 12th, Simon met staff from CIT’s student support services where the sparqs model of partnership was introduced. This was followed by a planning session with the Students’ Union and the Strategic Student Engagement & Retention Initiative for future activities. Wednesday April 6th involved a visit to the Crawford College of Art and Design to introduce the sparq at CIT project, followed by an afternoon workshop with teaching staff and students at the National Maritime College of Ireland.

“I like the models of partnership – has given me a lot to think about”

“Everyone seems to be on the same page.”

“Would 100% recommend it!”

“This shows there are better ways to communicate with

lecturers”Quotes from staff and students in the Faculty of Engineering & Science

National Recognition

The highlight of our student engagement activities came at the end of the month when CIT was announced as one of five institutions nationwide to pilot the National Student Engagement Programme in conjunction with the Higher Education Authority, Quality & Qualifications Ireland and Union of Students Ireland. A national working group, including members of CIT staff and Students’ Union, will be established to develop the programme. Our friends from Sparqs (Student Partnerships in Quality Scotland), will act as consultants to the project.

CIT enjoyed a special mention from the Higher Education Authority’s CEO Tom Boland; ““The student engagement initiatives at CIT have had a tangible impact,” says Tom Boland. “On any visit to the campus, you can see evidence of how students are meaningfully engaged in decisions affecting their learning. A number of the student retention and support initiatives that are now in place came about directly because of suggestions made by students themselves. This is the type of meaningful student engagement that we would like to see on campuses across Ireland.” This national recognition of CIT’s successful student engagement activities is a wonderful endorsement of the partnership and commitment of CIT’s Students’ Union, the Strategic Student Engagement and Retention Initiative and the wider teaching and learning community at CIT.

For further information about sparq at CIT or to discuss ideas for possible sparq

at CIT activities please contact: Shane Falvey, SU President: supresident@cit.ie or

Cliona Hatano Student Engagement & Retention Officer: Cliona.Hatano@cit.ie.

See also http://sparqs.ac.uk

Table TalkGathering momentum, sparq at CIT did not end there. On Tuesday, April 12th, CIT’s very first TableTalk event in conjunction with the Faculty of Business & Humanities was held. A mixture of 24 class representatives, 8 faculty staff, and 8 facilitators had themed discussions in small groups based on student experiences at CIT. A delicious lunch was served in the Training Restaurant at the Tourism & Hospitality building and a special thank you is due to the staff and students of the restaurant. Feedback from the lunch was overwhelmingly positive with 100% of the attendees reporting they would recommend the event to a colleague.

“Listening to students, meeting students, hearing new ideas for improvements, hearing positive

feedback”.

“Do the same again, it was a great experience!”

“It was very beneficial to give ideas, to see each other’s views and just to simply

get to know the staff and students of our courses & depts.”

Quotes from staff and students in the Faculty of Business & Humanities

layout.indd 2-3 25/04/2016 08:36:24

12

Centre’s Union

Igniting asparqs visit

Debate, discussions, questions, answers and all manner of comments – the meeting rooms in the Students’ Union office were hives of activity this April when the Student Centre, in partnership with the Strategic Student Engagement and Retention Initiative, ran a series of sparq at CIT meetings and workshops.

Facilitated using the expert skills of Simon Varwell from sparqs (Student Partnership in Quality, Scotland), students and staff of the Faculty of Engineering & Science experienced the sparqs student partnership approach on Monday April 4th, 5th & 6th. This followed a similar day with the Faculty of Business and Humanities in October 2015. A wide range of topics were discussed by 30 staff and class representatives including curriculum, quality, feedback and assessment and the teaching and learning experience at CIT.

On Tuesday April 12th, Simon met staff from CIT’s student support services where the sparqs model of partnership was introduced. This was followed by a planning session with the Students’ Union and the Strategic Student Engagement & Retention Initiative for future activities. Wednesday April 6th involved a visit to the Crawford College of Art and Design to introduce the sparq at CIT project, followed by an afternoon workshop with teaching staff and students at the National Maritime College of Ireland.

“I like the models of partnership – has given me a lot to think about”

“Everyone seems to be on the same page.”

“Would 100% recommend it!”

“This shows there are better ways to communicate with

lecturers”Quotes from staff and students in the Faculty of Engineering & Science

National Recognition

The highlight of our student engagement activities came at the end of the month when CIT was announced as one of five institutions nationwide to pilot the National Student Engagement Programme in conjunction with the Higher Education Authority, Quality & Qualifications Ireland and Union of Students Ireland. A national working group, including members of CIT staff and Students’ Union, will be established to develop the programme. Our friends from Sparqs (Student Partnerships in Quality Scotland), will act as consultants to the project.

CIT enjoyed a special mention from the Higher Education Authority’s CEO Tom Boland; ““The student engagement initiatives at CIT have had a tangible impact,” says Tom Boland. “On any visit to the campus, you can see evidence of how students are meaningfully engaged in decisions affecting their learning. A number of the student retention and support initiatives that are now in place came about directly because of suggestions made by students themselves. This is the type of meaningful student engagement that we would like to see on campuses across Ireland.” This national recognition of CIT’s successful student engagement activities is a wonderful endorsement of the partnership and commitment of CIT’s Students’ Union, the Strategic Student Engagement and Retention Initiative and the wider teaching and learning community at CIT.

For further information about sparq at CIT or to discuss ideas for possible sparq

at CIT activities please contact: Shane Falvey, SU President: supresident@cit.ie or

Cliona Hatano Student Engagement & Retention Officer: Cliona.Hatano@cit.ie.

See also http://sparqs.ac.uk

Table TalkGathering momentum, sparq at CIT did not end there. On Tuesday, April 12th, CIT’s very first TableTalk event in conjunction with the Faculty of Business & Humanities was held. A mixture of 24 class representatives, 8 faculty staff, and 8 facilitators had themed discussions in small groups based on student experiences at CIT. A delicious lunch was served in the Training Restaurant at the Tourism & Hospitality building and a special thank you is due to the staff and students of the restaurant. Feedback from the lunch was overwhelmingly positive with 100% of the attendees reporting they would recommend the event to a colleague.

“Listening to students, meeting students, hearing new ideas for improvements, hearing positive

feedback”.

“Do the same again, it was a great experience!”

“It was very beneficial to give ideas, to see each other’s views and just to simply

get to know the staff and students of our courses & depts.”

Quotes from staff and students in the Faculty of Business & Humanities

layout.indd 2-3 25/04/2016 08:36:24

13

14

lIvE CIT, lovE SoCIETIES

Full list of societies: http://societies.cit.ie

Tel: 021 433 5759

fB: facebook.com/CITsocietiesTwitter: @CITsocieties

Web: http://societies.cit.ieInstagram: citsocieties

Would you like to have your society featured in expliCIT?Simply email your submission to: supublications@cit.ie

Volunteers Abroad Scholarship recipients:Áine O’Leary, Enniskeane; Máiread Breen, Glenbay; Lisa Mitchell,

Ballinteer; Aaron Horan, Billie-Rose McCusker, Ballincollig, Kathryn Stoyle, Blarney; Ian O’Sullivan, Hollyhill and Alexsandra Ananica.

Group picture of all the Winners of CIT group and individual societies awards

The Irish Red Cross Society winners of the Risam Uíle award, Lorna Costelleo, Joshua Volfango, Monika

Hajkova and Daniella Janssen. Individual Award recipi-ent Celeste Burdon from the Open Mic Society. Best

Fresher Jenny Whyte of the Mental Health Society and Best New Society Breaking the Silence Chairperson

Rebecca Donnachie.

Presenting the Chemical Engineering Society as the Best Academic Society. Chairperson Michael Gilroy, Treasurer

Leanne O’Reilly and 1st year rep Leona Sheehan

SOCIETy OF ThE yEAR Photographic

BEST ACADEMIC SOCIETy Chemical EngineeringBEST NEW SOCIETy Breaking the Silence

MOST IMPROVED SOCIETy Guild (PC) GamingSUPREME EVENT

Musical Society – ‘Bare’BEST SMAll EVENT

Postgraduate Society – ‘Rag Week Table Quiz’RíSAM UIlE AWARD

Irish Red CrossSUPREME AChIEVEMENT IN SOCIETy & COllEGE-

WIDE ACTIVITIES Martin Crowley, Guild (PC)

Gaming, Anime and Manga, Drama and Origami

INDIVIDUAl AWARDSCeleste Burdon

Open MicNiamh Egan

DanceJackie Ní Fhogartaigh

PhotographicKathlynn Punch Anime & Manga

Thierry Zoller International Students

BEST FREShERJenny Whyte

Mental Health

CIT Student Societies & Activities Award Recipients 2016

Pics by Darragh Kane

15

MUSICAl SOCIETy

PhOTOGRAPhIC SOCIETy

AnD ThE WInnEr IS… *DrUM roll PlEASE*The BICS awards took place on the 14th and 15th of April in the oh so fancy Radi-son Blu Hotel, Limerick. Photographic So-ciety, Guild (PC) Gaming Society, Breaking the Silence Society, Martin Crowley and Jenny Whyte all put their best foot forward and did us proud representing CIT this year at the awards! CIT did not leave empty handed at this year’s awards either. Martin Crowley emerged victorious in his category bringing home the title of Best Individual to CIT for the second year in a row!BICS stands for Board of Irish College Societies, a national organisation provid-ing a national platform for societies. Every year BICS hold an award ceremony to award the best of the best with prestigious titles (and bragging rights). Only commit-tee officers can go on to BICS to repre-sent. They compete with societies in other colleges across the country and battle it out for the crown. Societies compete for Best Society, Most Improved Society, Best New Society, Best Event, Best Fresher and Best Individual along with other awards such as best poster and best publicity campaign.

Every person and society I have ever met at BICS has completely blown me away! It’s a wonder how they ever decide who wins these awards with all the phenom-enal work these amazing students do! Speaking of amazing students, did you know you’re one of them? Don’t nod your head, or laugh. You really are! You just may not know it yet but societies are just the place to find that out.Now is the time, to think about joining a committee for the year ahead. Lots of societies will be having their Annual Gen-

eral Meetings (AGM) before finishing for exams, so why not try something new? I’ve been involved in society committees since joining CIT in 2012 and I have not regretted it once. The skills you learn here are not taught in the classroom and not to mention the life-long friends you make!Challenge yourself, call in to the societies officer Aoife for a chat (she’s right next to Students’ Union) or drop her an email at aoife.kelliher@cit.ie It’ll be one of the best decisions you’ll ever make, trust me!Megan Cronin

BICS 2016

As we reach the end of the college year 2015/16, the CIT Mu-sical Society would like to thank all of our members for their participation. We have had an extremely successful year as we found ourselves going from strength to strength. Our year includ-ed events such as the Irish Premiere of “bare”, Table Quizzes, Ensemble Singing Workshops, a performance in “Spotlight: Jazz at the Pav”, “Out on Stage” in Cyprus Avenue, Bake Sale, Carol Singing, Flashmobs, a Singathon and attending the first ever Musical Theatre Intervarsities competition held in UCD. This year alone we are the proud recipients of the Supreme Event at the CIT Society Awards and also three awards at the Intervarsities competition, Best Overall Production, Best Chorus, Best Female Performer (Katie Porter). We held our AGM on Tuesday 19th of April and the 2016/17 com-mittee was elected. Welcome Chairperson - Anna Rose Hen-nessy, Secretary - Maggie Keating, Treasurer - Conor O’Boyle, P.R.O. - Katie Porter. A huge congratulations and thank you to the outgoing committee, Chairperson - Katie Porter, Secretary - Liam Cuthbert, Treasurer - Tara Downes, P.R.O. - Anna Rose Hennessy, Production Manager - Shannon Hurley, O.C.M. - Patrick Lehane and 1st yr O.C.M. - Muireann Joyce-Hearne. Our year wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Aoife and the Socie-ties Office. We are very grateful for you! Don’t forget to log on to facebook, twitter and instagram to keep up with what we’re doing over the next few months. Have a happy, healthy and musical summer!

A PICTUrE SAYS A ThoUSAnD WorDSThis year in the photographic society has been an amazing year. We are honoured to have been in your presence for some of your biggest achievements this year and capturing these as memories. We have helped capture some of your moments- silly moments, fun moments and proud moments and we hope to capture many more. This year we have even made our own achievements. We have run two successful exhibitions (Into the Wild and Movement) and we are so thankful for everyone who took part. Our exhibition this semester was something we never thought was possible before. We broke away from the typical framed photo on the wall look and we went for a statement piece. Our photos hung from the ceiling with the wonderful decorations of cranes and butterflies from the Origami Society around the room which brought the whole scene to life. We also had a running slideshow of a lot of our pictures from throughout the year. All proceeds for this exhibi-tion went to Crumlins Children Hospital. This year also we took a step further by creating our very own calendars which can be purchased in the societies office for €5 and we will continue selling next semester. We have been on some amazing trips around Ireland and even abroad and we have hosted many of our own workshops every week where people can have fun and learn something new. We do have one very big achievement too this year which is a combination of all of our hard work and that is winning “Best Society 2016” and an individ-ual award to our chairperson Jackie Ni Fhogartaigh. We couldn’t have done it without all of you. Everyone in CIT who showed up to some of our meetings or trips or who invited us to their events or who came to support ours. We have way too many people to thank for such a great year.We hope to see you all again next semester with new ideas and new moments to capture. Until then just know that wherever this quote came from it is a powerful one –

“ ”life is like a camera.

Focus on what’s important and you will capture it perfectly

CIT BICS representatives

16

by Miriam Deasy,Sports Officer

From left to right: Conor Skehan, Stephen Quinn, Oisin O’Driscoll, Jay Stacey, Pearse O’Flynn, Liam Treacy, Vladimir Belujsky, Gary O’Donovan, Tim Ryan, Cathal Keane, All sports Award recepients.

Excellent Guest Speaker, John Caulfield, was in top form following Cork Citys recent run of victories at this year’s Sports Awards and reminded athletes “to keep believing in yourself, avoid distractions and that you’re playing days really are the best days of your life”.Twelve individual awards, as well as a “Fresher of the Year” award were presented (full details attached) by Dr Barry O’Connor, Registrar & Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dr Dan Collins, Academic Admin-istration & Student Affairs Manager, to Club members who had led by example all year and done more than their share to put CIT Sport on the map.

The “Graduate Achievement” award recipient Mary White shared her own personal journey and you could hear a pin drop as she effectively shared her message that despite being so engulfed by sport to not for-get your family and friends along the way. Uniquely and remarkably CIT had ten athletes selected on Irish Col-leges teams this year for basketball, boxing, camogie, hockey and soccer, and each athlete was given a token to mark this achievement. An “International Achievement Award” was presented to rower Gary O’Donovan who has outstandingly qualified for the Rio Olympics.There was a tremendous buzz of anticipation as the Club awards were revealed with both the Racquetball and Sailing Clubs being recipients of “Risam Uile” awards and the Camogie Club being named “Club of the Year”. All three Clubs are worthy recipients for their outstanding commit-ment and achievements over the course of the year.

Sports Awards 2016

Pics by Darragh Kane

Norma Buckley, Cara O’Neill, Fintan O’Leary, CIT Sports, Mary White, Recipiant of CIT Graduate Prize, Miriam Deasy and Eric Marah, CIT Sports Dept.

Dr. Dan Collins, Academic Administration & Student Affairs

Manager; Aisling Killela, Bank Of Ireland; Jack Caulfield, Cork

City FC and Dr. Barry O’Connor, Registrar and Vice President of

Academic Affairs presenting the Club of the Year Award to The

Camogie Club.

Ursula O’Sullivan, Rachel O’Mahony, Belin Reyes, Ross O’Connor, Richard Nolan, Liam Tracey, Laura O’Riordan and Ciara Meere, CIT Power Lifting Society

17

lIvE CIT, lovE SPorTS Would you like to have your club featured in expliCIT? Simply email your submission to: supublications@cit.ie

Sporting Year In review 2015/16

In the 2015/2016 academic year, the Insti-tute had a number of outstanding achieve-ments including:AThlETICS: Outdoor T&F Ladies Division 2 Winners, Indoor T&F Ladies Relay-Silver. Munster Road Relays – Men 3rd & 4th, Wom-en 2nd & 3rd. IUAA Road Relays – Men 7th, 14th & 22nd, Ladies 6th. Cork City Marathon Relay – Both Male and Female 3rd. BADMInTon: Reached Intervarsity plate semi-final BASkETBAll: Men’s Team finished 4th in the Colleges Leagues. Ladies reached final of the league narrowly losing out to WIT. 3 Play-ers selected for Male and Female All Ireland Colleges Team. Men’s Club member selected for team Hibernia. BoxIng: 2 Gold & 3 Silver Medals at Inter-varsities. 2 Members selected for Irish Col-leges team. CAnoE: 15th Overall at Intervarsities, mov-ing up 3 places from last year. CAMogIE: Purcell Cup & Division 2 League Winners. 2 members received All Stars.DArTS: 7th overall in Division 2, Spring 2016.EqUESTrIAn: Club Member made it to the second round of show jumping at the Nation-al Intervarsities fooTBAll-lADIES: Reaching All Ireland Giles Cup Quarter Final. Won the Division 2 All Ireland League. fooTBAll: Mens Fresher 2 All Ireland Win-ners.hoCkEY: Men’s plate winners in Intervar-sity Competition, gaining promotion to Cup for next year. Women’s team plate finalists. Member selected for Irish Colleges team. 1 Member awarded her 200th Cap.hUrlIng: Reached the quarter final of the Fitzgibbon Cup. Fresher Division 1 All Ireland Hurling Champions.

kArATE: Female Team Kumite Silver, Indi-vidual Female Kata Gold. Club members on mixed college teams for female team Kata won Gold and Silver. Club member on mixed college team for male team Kata won Gold. kArTIng: Number of drivers placed in top 10, placing 3rd in the league overall. Kickboxing: 1st Place Mens +94kg at the Irish Open and quarter finalist in the Men’s -63Kg.MMA: DCU Submission Comp – 1 Gold, 1Silver & 1 Bronze. Cork Martial Expo – 1 Gold & 1 Bronze. PoWErlIfTIng: 3rd Overall at Intervarsi-ties as a result of 26 people placing from 1-5 in the age & weight class. Following national single lifts four members qualified to compete in the World Single lifts. rACqUETBAll: Intervarsities – Overall Winners with 3 Gold, 2 Silver & 4 Bronze, plus women’s intervarsity champions. Munster In-tervarsity Champions. To date five National Competitions, won 4 open doubles titles. 1 gold, 2 silvers & 3 bronze in singles.roCk-ClIMBIng: 1st & 2nd Place in Boul-dering Competition. roWIng: Top 20 in the Men’s under 23 Lightweights at the Munster Indoors Cham-pionships. Club member qualified for Rio Olympics. 1st Place in the Intermediate Sin-gle Scull at University Championships. SAIlIng: Won the National Student Yacht-ing Championships. Have qualified to repre-sent CIT & Ireland at World Championships in France in November. IUSA “Club of the Year”. Easterns 2nd, Intervarsities 2nd. 4th at Irish Match Racing Nationals. Hosted a number of events throughout the year. SoCCEr: Mens: 2 Members selected for Irish Colleges & Universities team. SUrf: Club Overall 15th & 17th position out of 30 Colleges and Universities across Ireland

18

Prize: €30 Deliver completed entries to the SU shop.Last months Winner: Alan McCarthy, EPS 4

AcroSS 3 Reckon, compute (9)8 Morally wrong or bad

(4)9 Omnipotent (8)10 Angora (6)13 Teacher (5)14 Middle (7)15 Canine mammal (3)16 Clear a path! (7)17 Punctuation mark (5)21 Revenue (6)22 Of Europe and Asia (8)23 Untidy state (4)24 Difficult job or task

(4,5)

DoWN1 Any retreat (9)2 Resist (9)4 Sudden fright (5)5 Intricate (7)6 Company emblem (4)7 Ballet skirt (4)11 Brass musical instru-

ments (9)12 Unable to relax (3,2,4)14 Shy (3)15 One who shoes horses

(7)18 Wash out (5)19 Atmosphere (4)20 Bucket (4)

crossword

sponsored by www.citsocieties.ie

Name:

class: Mobile Tel:

Books Newly Available

at CIT Libray...Research design : qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches / John W. Creswell.

The handbook of European intellectual property manage-ment: developing, managing, and protecting your com-pany’s intellectual property / edited by Adam Jolly.

Team players and team work: new strategies for develop-ing successful collaboration / Glenn M. Parker.

Marketing in the moment : the digital marketing guide to generating more sales and reaching your customers first / Michael Tasner.

Communication skills : a guide for engineering and ap-plied science students / John W. Davies and Ian K. Dunn.

The circuit designer’s companion / Peter Wilson.

Mechanical behavior of materials: engineering methods for deformation, fracture, and fatigue / Norman E Dowling.

Progress in filtration and separation / edited by Steve Tarleton.

What is Asthma? Asthma is a common and potentially serious chronic disease that imposes a substantial burden on patients, their families and the community. It causes respiratory symptoms, limitation of activity and flare-ups (attacks) that sometimes require urgent health care and may be fatal. how common is Asthma?Asthma is the most prevalent health condition among young Irish adults. Ireland has the fourth highest prevalence of Asthma world-wide. More than 1 person a week dies from Asthma. Management of Asthma.Do you use your reliever inhaler more than twice a week? If so your Asthma is not well controlled. Asthma cannot be prevented or cured but the clinical manifestations can be effectively controlled with ap-propriate treatment. There is a worldwide drive to make Asthma management more personal to the patient and it involves devising a personalized Asthma Management Plan and self-monitoring. The Asthma Society of Ireland have an excellent website which provides a lot of information for patients. (www.asthma.ie)

AsthmA

Asthma Clinic in the CIt medical CentreAn Asthma Clinic takes place every Monday afternoon

in the CIT medical centre. It involves performing an Asthma Control Test, full history and examination and

devising an Asthma Management Plan.there Is no ChArge for thIs ClInIC.

Dr. Aileen Scullion and Dr. Caroline Faul

19

Photo Galleryeclectic Picnic

Laurie Casey, Éadeen Samuels and Brian Kenny, CIT Circus Society

Punchy – our own CIT student, singer/songwriter performing

Michelle Burke, Tower, Taylor Aherne, Mallow and Trisha Makowska, Carrigtohill

Eimear Ryan, South Tipperary and Aoife Brennan, Kilkenny

Scoops

Al Porter

Pics by: Darragh Kane

All proceeds will be donated to:

Haiti Orphanage Project Espwa

CIT SU proUdly preSenTS

ChArITy

Make Your Bid!

Up for grAbS...ConCerT TICkeTS, hoTel STAyS &

reSTAUrAnT voUCherS

16th - 20th MAy 2016

poST yoUr bId!

‘Like’ CIT SU Facebook page‘Like’ our Auction post

AUCTIononlIne

fACebook.CoM/CITSU