23rd August 2000

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At a time when IT and computing skills are at a premium, the University of Ulster is having to turn away two out of every three applicants to its postgraduate courses in Computing and Information Systems.
And it’s not because of a lack of talent: "We just don’t have the resources to meet the massive demand for these kinds of skills," said Course Director Dr Bill Johnston.

"In fact, we’ve just added another 100 places to the course - but it still isn’t enough. I have 1500 applications on my desk for just 500 places"

Applicants to the courses – which run at both the Jordanstown and Magee College campuses – come from a wide variety of disciplines - from accountancy to nursing – and bring a wealth of experience to their new career path. “You get a more rounded kind of person from a reskilling course,” said Dr Johnston.

“Employers like people who’ve come through our computing conversion courses. They see those graduates as having proven adaptability - and adaptability is of greater importance in a potential employee’s profile than their first degree topic or result.”

“ These are exactly the kind of motivated, skilled people that we need to encourage to enter the computing field and bring their abilities to bear on meeting the IT skills shortage we face.”

And despite the demand for these kinds of committed trained people, DENI provides only five student grants for the conversion course, with the EU supplying a further 14 – just 19 places out of 500.

“The fact that the majority of our students on these courses are self-funding is a further indication of their commitment and determination,” said the University’s Dean of Informatics, Professor Norman Black.

The news comes as Minister for Further and Higher Education, Dr Sean Farren, released details of how Northern Ireland’s education sector is moving to meet the IT skills gap.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ulster, Professor Gerry McKenna, praised the Minister’s strong support for local higher education but emphasised that the demand for more university places in Northern Ireland would need to be met if the province was to be competitive in the digital society. He said today:

“Dr Farren’s knowledge of the needs of higher education and the pressures we face has been refreshing and a tribute to devolved government. Higher education is a gilt-edged investment and in his support he accepts this”.

Professor McKenna emphasised that in addition to producing a graduate workforce in all areas of computing, the University was helping to address the skills shortages in new technologies by re-skilling graduates in other disciplines through high level conversion courses.

For further information, please contact:

Press Office Department of Communication and Development
Telephone: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk