Devising and Implementing a Suitable Graduate Education Platform for Dublin's Institute of Technology (DIT)

Graduate education platforms have received general acclaim as key components in the future structural development of third-level and fourth-level education in Europe. In Ireland the Higher Education Authority (HEA) has endorsed the restructuring of postgraduate education to incorporate the training of research students in key generic and transferable skills. This provides enhanced suitability for employment of research students in industry and the professions, rather than the educational sector. In addition, graduate programmes must provide improved structured support for research supervisors including training, particularly in respect of mentoring skills. This paper examines the challenges associated with the identification and implementation of an appropriate graduate platform model for a large, internationally recognized Institute of Technology, which offers a spectrum of academic programmes. The pros and cons of two models--a structured, institute-wide, non-discipline-specific platform and multiple, discipline-specific platforms--are highlighted. The difficulties attached to establishing comprehensive training programmes for students and staff with an underlying cross-disciplinary, inter-institutional framework are examined. Models currently being adapted by other Irish institutions are also critiqued. Finally, the ability of these educational models to meet the requirements of the industrial and professional sectors is explored. The question of whether graduate-level platforms have been created as higher education's proposed solution to a non-academic employment problem is also discussed. (Contains 1 table.)