More than 300 military officers and enlisted personnel today received their qualifications at the conferring of academic awards on members of the Defence Forces by South East Technological University. The ceremony, which took place at SETU’s Carlow campus is the largest annual military graduation in the State from a higher education institution.
Awards this year range from the Master of Engineering in Ordnance, Munitions, and Explosives Engineering, to bachelor’s degrees and higher certificates in Leadership, Management, and Defence Studies.
At today’s ceremony, President of SETU, Professor Veronica Campbell, commented, “On behalf of the SETU community, I want to congratulate each and every one of our over 300 graduates from the Defence Forces who are receiving awards today. A special congratulations to those long-serving and retired members of the Defence Forces who completed programmes via the Recognition of Prior Learning process. I want to commend the enormous commitment you have made to engaging in higher education alongside the important work that you carry out in your professional careers.”
Speaking on SETU’s work with the Defence Forces, Prof. Campbell continued, “Our collaborative partnership with the Defence Forces has grown from strength to strength since it began in 2012. To date, over 2,000 military personnel have received awards from SETU. It is our privilege to play a part in supporting the educational attainment of Defence Forces members through the exchange of knowledge and academic development. In April 2023, SETU and the Defence Forces renewed our Memorandum of Agreement, originally signed in 2012. The signing was particularly significant as it is the first official agreement between the Defence Forces and our new university. I look forward to working together on future opportunities to grow our collaboration in line with SETU’s vision for the region, and with the Defence Forces own strategic objectives.”
Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Lieutenant General Seán Clancy, commented, “I am very proud of all today's deserved recipients. These awards are a culmination of what has been a very challenging and rewarding process for all today's recipients. Lifelong learning is one of the key tenets of a career in the Defence Forces. The Defence Forces values and promotes education opportunities and supports the concept of “life-long learning” whereby personnel are encouraged to up-skill and re-skill continuously so that they can adapt to the complex and changing demands of military deployments and to deliver effective military capability.
Finally, I would like to thank SETU’s President, Professor Veronica Campbell and her dedicated team of academics and administrators for their work in the delivery of high quality education experiences to members of the Defence Forces.”
For more information on SETU’s conferring ceremonies, visit SETU Conferring of Academic Awards Ceremonies.