About Atlantic Technological University
Atlantic Technological University (ATU) was established in April 2022 following the merger of three institutes of technology – Galway-Mayo (GMIT), Letterkenny (LYIT) and Sligo (IT Sligo).
With over 22,000 registered students across eight campuses stretching from Galway to Donegal, the university offers 600+ academic programmes from pre-degree to doctoral level including postgraduate, employee upskilling and apprenticeship courses.
At Atlantic TU, students will develop as global citizens recognizing and building awareness of the opportunities and roles they can play in developing sustainable regional and global economies. From collaborative international research to overseas study and work placement opportunities, ATU students will be part of a global community with a mindset that reaches far beyond the west and northwest of Ireland.
Survey Live: 14 February - 6 March 2023
Each participating institution selects a specific three-week period during February and March to open the survey for their students. This allows the national survey to take account of local events and other demands on students’ time in order to increase the benefit of the survey at local level – “national survey, local impact“.
Meet the Survey Team
Dr Deirdre McClay
Teaching, Learning & Student Engagement
Dr Deirdre McClay works in Teaching, Learning & Student Engagement in ATU Donegal and is available to answer any questions you may have in relation to the survey.
Contact Email: deirdre.mcclay@atu.ie
Edward Grant
SU President ATU Donegal
Edward Grant is the SU President for ATU Donegal and is available to answer any questions you may have in relation to the survey.
Contact Email: supresident.donegal@atu.ie
Éanna McDermott
VP Education & Communications Officer ATU Donegal
Éanna McDermott is the VP Education & Communications Officer for ATU Donegal and is available to answer any questions you may have in relation to the survey.
Contact Email: eanna.mcdermott@atu.ie
Jacinta Ryan
Assistant Registrar/Admissions Officer
Jacinta Ryan is the Assistant Registrar/Admissions Officer for ATU Galway-Mayo and is available to answer any questions you may have in relation to the survey.
Contact Email: jacinta.ryan@atu.ie
Colin Kearney
SU President ATU Galway - Mayo
Colin Kearney is SU President for ATU Galway - Mayo and is available to answer any questions you may have in relation to the survey.
Contact Email: suoffice.galwaymayo@atu.ie
Jamie Byrne
Deputy President for Education ATU Galway - Mayo
Jamie Byrne is Deputy President for Education for ATU Galway - Mayo and is available to answer any questions you may have in relation to the survey.
Contact Email: sueducation.galwaymayo@atu.ie
Saoirse Kennedy
Student Success Officer
Saoirse Kennedy is the Student Success Officer for ATU Sligo and is available to answer any questions you may have in relation to the survey.
Contact Email: saoirse.kennedy@atu.ie
Dáire Martin
SU President
Dáire Martin is the SU President for ATU Sligo and is available to answer any questions you may have in relation to the survey.
Contact Email: president@atussu.ie
Videos
Most impactful use of the survey data for ATU Donegal
In response to ATU Donegal student reports of diminished concentration during long and sedentary lecture periods an initiative called Exercise Brain Breaks (EBBs) is to be trialled with academic staff and students.
Exercise Brain Breaks facilitate the restoration of neurotransmitters in the brain, increase arousal and stimulate neural connections creating a more opportune environment for student learning. In addition to benefits in cognitive functioning, EBBs improve mood, self-efficacy, student engagement, and increase physical health and motivation.
This initiative is co-designed to promote and enhance staff-student partnerships.
Most impactful use of the survey data for ATU Galway-Mayo
An excel dashboard to allow easy access to open-ended questions from StudentSurvey.ie has been developed.
- ATU Galway-Mayo encourages the use of StudentSurvey.ie feedback to, among others.
- Highlight good practice in individual Schools that other Schools might learn from.
- Highlight areas where students might feel particularly challenged to see what supports we might be put in place.
- We encourage Schools and programme boards to use the StudentSurvey.ie feedback to inform School Reviews and Programmatic Reviews.
- Highlight areas for enhancement.
- To inform new retention initiatives.
Visualisation and Quantitative Analysis
In an effort to make StudentSurvey.ie data more accessible to as many as possible across the Institute and to promote the use of StudentSurvey.ie student feedback in decision making and future planning, ATU Galway-Mayo has developed a data model to visualize and analyse our StudentSurvey.ie data using the R programming language. The quantitative analysis, which allows benchmarking of scores across academic units within ATU Galway-Mayo and with all Institutes of Technology, consists of:
- High-Level Index Plots
- Likert Plots of Individual Survey Questions
- A traffic light system
- Trends over time
In an effort to communicate the StudentSurvey.ie data to the staff we have:
- Presented to Institute management and have asked Heads of School and Department to discuss the student feedback at School and Department meetings and to refer to the data when undertaking self-evaluation and School reviews, programmatic review etc.
- Presented to Academic Council.
- Made the visualisation available to staff via SharePoint.
- We have included prompts to refer to StudentSurvey.ie data in templates for completing Self- Evaluation reports at School and programme level.
Most impactful use of the survey data for ATU Sligo
Prior to the launch of 2019 Survey ATU Sligo ran a “You Said We Did Campaign” as a means to provide feedback to the students and re-iterate that their voice is listened to and the importance of contributing to the survey.
- Extended Library Opening Hours
- Increase in Social Spaces for Groupwork
- Increase in Maths Support Tutors and availability
- Increase in work placements on courses
- Increase in Support to Online Students
