Semester in Dublin
The roaring Irish economy witnessed in 2007 by the first Semester in Dublin Program students from ILR has changed dramatically.
That's alright, said Professor Clete Daniel, director of Off-Campus Credit Programs for ILR.
"During a time of global economic decline, it's equally interesting," to study the European Union and the international economy, he said.
This fall, 13 ILR juniors and seniors will enroll in classes at the Quinn School of Business at University College Dublin.
In June, Daniel travels to Dublin to discuss the possibility of deepening and expanding the ILR and Quinn School collaboration.
It could grow to include faculty exchanges, student exchanges and distance-learning classes jointly conceived and taught by faculty from the ILR and Quinn schools, Daniel said.
"We think that students at both institutions would benefit enormously from greater exposure to the combined expertise of our faculties," he said.
The Dublin program is part of the stronger focus ILR has placed on international education in the past 10 years, Daniel said.
"If students don't understand the international dimension, they're simply not adequately educated in industrial and labor relations," he said.
The Dublin study abroad program, paired with the credit internship program which Daniel also directs through Off-Campus Credit Programs, afforded unique educational, professional and personal opportunities to 41 percent of the ILR School’s graduating seniors in 2008.
That level of participation is likely to also be reflected in this year's class of graduates, Daniel said.
Part of the beauty of the Dublin program is that ILR students do not sacrifice momentum, quality or credits, Daniel said.
Credit from the Quinn School is indistinguishable from credit earned at ILR, he said, which is particularly important for transfer students, he said.
All Dublin program students are required to take "European Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management" and "Multinationals in the Global Economy: Managing People."
As of this fall, students will be allowed to take electives outside of the Quinn School, including the university's law school, said Brigid Beachler, associate director of ILR Off-Campus Credit Programs.
Outside the classroom, she said, students also see how the European Union has influenced Ireland.
For instance, many Dublin businesses cater to Poles, Beachler said.
When Poland joined the European Union, Ireland was one of the few union members to welcome its workers. An estimated 60,000-plus Poles live in Ireland.
Infrastructure such as roads and subway stations has been modernized in Ireland through European Union contributions, Beachler said.
Students from 70 colleges and universities worldwide study at the Dublin university. A total of 26 ILR students studied there in 2007 and 2008.
More information about ILR’s Dublin program is available at http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/dublin/.