Dr Orla Flynn takes over as GMIT President amidst Covid fight

GMIT welcomed the arrival of Dr Orla Flynn as President of GMIT on 18 March in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Institute, like other higher education providers across Ireland, is focusing on protecting the health and wellbeing of its 7,000 students and 700 staff while working hard to ensure continuity of business and education provision across all campuses in Galway and Mayo.

Dr Flynn has been in communication with both students and staff since taking up her post over two weeks ago, with video and email updates on public health advice, mental health supports, changes to course delivery & assessments and academic integrity.

“These are exceptional times and the health of our students, staff and communities is our top priority while supporting the various teams across the Institute who are striving to maintain core services for staff and students alike. I want to acknowledge the sterling efforts that have been undertaken in this regard by everyone in GMIT to date”, said Dr Flynn.

Cormac MacDonncha, Chair of the GMIT Governing Body, says: “I am very pleased to welcome Dr Orla Flynn as the new President of GMIT. She arrives at a time where the Institute has seen a significant improvement in our performance in recent times on many fronts and is now poised for some very positive developments. She has the right capabilities to lead the team as we navigate through these very challenging times and on to new successes. On behalf of our students, staff and Governing Body I would like to acknowledge the excellent work being done by the entire team at GMIT in rising to meet the unprecedented challenges facing us".

In a video address to students this week, the new GMIT President advised students to take heart that this challenging time will pass.

“These are unprecedented times but they will end. I want to reassure you that we are here to support you through your final few weeks of this semester.”

“There will be no onsite summer examinations held in GMIT. Instead, we are bringing in amended approaches to assessment and will let you know more detail as soon as we can.”

“Please keep an eye on our student FAQ page  which has links to great sites that will help you maintain your physical and mental wellbeing.”

ENDS

About Dr Orla Flynn:

Dr Orla Flynn joins GMIT from Cork Institute of Technology where she held the position of Vice President for External Affairs for the last six years. Dr Flynn has 20 years’ experience in education management roles at CIT where she led the CIT Crawford College of Art and Design for eight years following successful periods as Head of School of Humanities and Head of Department of Media Communications. Prior to this she was a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Computing at CIT for 13 years.

Dr Flynn holds undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in Mathematical Physics and Computer Science from University College Cork, an MA in Management in Education from WIT, and a PhD from the University of Limerick.

She is currently a director on the boards of HEAnet and Cork Midsummer Festival.

ENDS

Issued by Regina Daly, GMIT Communications & Press Officer

Tel. 00 353 (0)91 742826 (office) / 0879618355 (mobile)
regina.daly@gmit.ie  www.gmit.ie/news 

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