Anyone who has ever attended a program advisory committee meeting knows that it can be a mix of exciting inspiration and terrifying fear that one’s programs are not doing enough to prepare one’s graduates. While members of the business community will often give helpful, positive commentary on the knowledge the institution’s graduates bring to the professional environment, they may also pose a problem that the traditional university was never designed to handle: teaching skills in the first or second year of study that will still be cutting-edge and desired by industry at the time of graduation.
Beyond Programs: Leadership Lessons from Ireland’s Inclusive Universities
During a recent sabbatical studying inclusive postsecondary education in Ireland, I visited four universities—University College Cork, Trinity College Dublin, Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, and Mary Immaculate
Ashley Rodrigues
July 20, 2026
