Waterford Institute of Technology

History

At the time of the founding of the RTC, there were two other third-level institutions in the city, St John’s Seminary Waterford News and Star which notes the closing of the St John's Seminary in 1999 and De La Salle Brothers teacher training college, but both had been closed.

Waterford politicians made strenuous but unsuccessful efforts to locate a university in Waterford at the time of the formation of the Queen's University of Ireland in the 1840s. The cause was led by Thomas Wyse, Waterford’s then Member of Parliament, who was perhaps chosen unwisely as he was not influential in Parliament, having strong Napoleonic links (he married a niece of Napoleon I of France), being a Catholic and leaning towards an independent Ireland. Galway, a much smaller city at the time, won out over Waterford, perhaps because of the necessity for geographical dispersion or to bolster the Irish language. Wyse wrote in the round on the matter in his text "Education reform or the necessity of a national system of education" (London, 1836).

The Institute was founded in 1970 as Regional Technical College, Waterford. Once founded, the regional technical college grew very quickly as a result of the obviously strong regional need for tertiary education. In 1997 the college adopted its present name by order of the Minister for Education Niamh Bhreathnach, with Dublin Institute of Technology being the only other institution with the "institute of technology" title at the time in Ireland. Following a change of government and enormous political pressure on behalf of other regional technical colleges, especially Cork Regional Technical College, all other regional technical colleges were renamed similarly by Minister for Education Micheál Martin.

Since 2001 Institute has conferred its own awards at all levels from Higher Certificate to PhD, subject to standards set and monitored by the Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC) which was established by the Government in June 2001, under the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act, 1999. In October 2005 the institute was selected by The Sunday Times newspaper as the "Institute of Technology of the Year" in Ireland.

The institute now has a student population of approximately 6000 full-time students and 1,000 part-time students. The Staff currently consists of approximately 470 Full-time academic, 300 part-time and 300 support staff.

The institute formally applied in 2006 for university status in accordance with the Universities Act, 1997, and the process of examining the case for redesignation has commenced. In January 2007 Dr Jim Port was engaged by the government to carry out a "preliminary assessment" of the institute's case.

Campuses

The Institute has 5 campuses: Main Campus, College Street, Carriganore, the Applied Technology Building and the Granary.

Main Campus

The main campus is located on the R680 (the old Cork Road). It was established in 1970 and houses the majority of the institutes departments. The Engineering, Science, Business and Health Science Schools are located on this campus. The buildings on this campus are: The original ’69 building which contains the main administration offices along with the Schools of Science & Engineering, the ’77 building housing the Business School, the Luke Wadding library, Walton IT Building, O'Connell Bianconi Nursing Building, Tourism & Leisure Building, the “T-Block" now the FTG rooms which is also where the Centre for Technology Enhanced Learning is located. The Dome Bar,College Hall & Fitness Suite are adjacent to the main building and there is also on-site accommodation "College Fields" apartments.

College Street Campus

The College Street Campus is located 5 minutes from the City Centre. The Humanities and Lifelong Learning & Education schools are officially located here, but are in reality spread between this and the main campus. There is also an on-site College Library. The buildings were purchased from the Good Shepherd Order of Nuns. The one time convent houses a Pugin-designed chapel which is used for concerts and ceremonies. WIT Conferring ceremonies take place in the Chapel on this campus every year.

Carriganore Campus

The Carriganore campus, or West Campus, is located outside the city near the Waterford Bypass. It is the goal of the Institute that this campus become the college's main campus in years to come. So far it has the TSSG Building, the ArcLabs Research and Innovation Centre (also containing TSSG staff), the National Biodiversity Centre, Carriganore House (an old mansion now home to the Macular Pigmnent Research Group) and the WIT Sports Campus. Many of the intervarsity rugby, soccer & GAA matches take place here.

Applied Technology Building

The Applied Technology Building, which is on lease from IDA Ireland, is located in Waterford’s Industrial Estate. This is just a 2-minute walk from the back of the main campus. While thought by most students to be a “spill-over” of the main campus, due to its close proximity, it is officially a separate campus. It houses engineering workshops and technology based facilities as well as the Careers Centre and the Engineering Research area.

The Granary

The Department of Architecture and Architecture Technology is located in the old Waterford Museum of Treasures. This building is on the Merchant's Quay, very close to the city centre and the historical heart of the cifty.

Organisation

The Institute is divided into 6 schools and their various departments. A full list of these is below.

Schools and Departments of the institute

Research Groups 2014/2015

School of Business

School of Engineering

School of Health Sciences

School of Humanities

School of Science

Research Centres 2014/2015

Student life

The Institute has over 30 sports clubs and upwards of 25 societies registered each year. The WIT GAA Club is the best known and most successful with its hurlers having won the Fitzgibbon Cup on nine occasions and the Camogie team Ashbourne Cup winners eight times. Lots of other sports such as basketball, rugby, soccer, kayaking and horse riding are supported at the institute also.

A significant portion of the institute's students live in Campus Accommodation, which adds to the levels of participation in the social and cultural life of the college. These include Riverwalk and Manor Village.

Like many other Irish universities and institutes, the institute has an increasingly international student body. The institute has had strong links with many European universities for many years and has more recently grown its links with American and Asian universities. There is a large Brazilian contingent of students each year also.

There is an active Students' Union in WIT. Every full-time registered student in the college is a member of the Students' Union. They are also affiliated to the Union of Students in Ireland.

Notable former students