Name: Marion Coy

Occupation: President of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and Chairperson of Institutes of Technology Ireland for 2008

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Where are you from?
Glenamaddy, Co. Galway.

What is your earliest childhood memory?
When my brother Jarlath was a few weeks old and was in his basket, it came tumbling down the stairs. We still have a photograph of him smiling with his black eye. I was about 3 years old.

How many siblings do you have?
I’m the eldest of seven children - four brothers and two sisters.

Where did you go to school/college?
Presentation Convent, Tuam, as a boarder and U.C.G.

Was there a teacher or lecturer who had a particular influence on you?
Sr. Dorothy Somers in Tuam. She taught me Maths and Science. Wonderful teacher who believed that maths and science were accessible to everybody. In UCG, Professor Gearóid O’Tuathaigh. He arrived there while I was a student. Suddenly history became a far more complex and fundamentally interesting area of study because he brought his fine intellect and passion to his lectures.

What attracted you to work in the Institute of Technology sector?
From the beginning, I saw the Institutes as places where students could achieve more than they ever thought they had in them. I like the professional orientation and the recognition that professional education was just that - education and not simply training.

How did you arrive at this point in your career?
The Institutes are great places to work because you are given scope to develop and change. I’ve always been interested in development and change in education so in GMIT I had a chance to do lots of different jobs. As a result, I came to believe that there would be no artificial boundaries placed on my career development. My appointment as President in 2002 proves that the IoT system is very open to people from any background progressing.

What are the main challenges of your position as President of GMIT?
GMIT is first and foremost a place where students learn and develop. All challenges are around improving their opportunities. The Institute also has a special role as centre of regional development. I hope that I will continue to ensure that communities and businesses see GMIT as a resource for them. I need to ensure that GMIT always looks beyond itself to what people need. I hope I will both lead and respond to change.

What are the challenges of your role as chairperson of Institutes of Technology Ireland?
As chairperson of IOTI, I want to ensure that all students of the Institutes have the best quality education and opportunities to progress as far as they desire. A big challenge for the Institutes now is to ensure that we help those at work who want to continue their education. This will help to ensure that those at work in Ireland today have jobs in twenty years time. I want the Institutes as a group to be heard so that the lessons we have learned about our students and our regions are reflected in national policy.

What does a typical workday involve for you?
This is a difficult question as I don’t think I have a typical day. I try to steer the fleet that is GMIT - an organisation like this is not a single entity. I have two campuses in Galway and others in Castlebar, Letterfrack and Mountbellew. The organisation is like an orchestra. It’s made up of highly talented individuals and groups and I have to provide the leadership and coordination in a way that encourages creativity, new thinking and a culture that will not settle for second best.

A lot of my time is spent meeting people from inside and outside the organisation. It is important that I act as the ‘face’ of the Institute. I’ve discovered a huge interest in the story of the Irish Institutes of Technology in other countries. They are anxious to learn from our approach to professional higher education and from our success in increasing participation.

I don’t think we appreciate in Ireland the extent to which we have developed a truly innovative approach in this field. There are very few places in the world which have developed the degree of progression that is possible in Irish Institutes of Technology. Institutes make it possible for students to recognise their latent talents and to develop them. This is the envy of many other countries.

What do you enjoy most about your work?
What I enjoy most about the job is that it is fundamentally concerned with facilitating human development.

What do you like least about your work?
What I like least is the extent to which I am obliged to operate a parallel universe associated with unnecessary complexity. I’d like to create a world that echoes Einstein’s call that we should make everything as simple as possible but no simpler!

What is the best thing that has happened to you in the past year?
In the last year from a work perspective, GMIT became Institute of Technology of the year for the second time since I became President. The most important part of the citation from my point of view was the very positive comment by students and graduates about GMIT. I do have a personal life and for me the best part of last year was watching my three (now adult) children make confident progress in their lives.

Are you a workaholic?
I think I probably am but others would have a better view on this. I like working and I am never bored by the job.

What do you do to chill out?
I read. On the best and worst days of my life and everything in between, I have always found another world and another me in fiction, poetry and drama.

Are you married?
Yes I’m married for 27 years. Definitely one of my better decisions.

Do you like living in Galway?
Yes, I like living in Galway. The good points far outweigh the minor irritations but I would like to have access to broadband at home.

What plans have you for the future?
The Gods make no entries in our diaries. I do plan for the future but with a recognition that I need to be prepared to change my priorities. In education, you are always looking to the medium and long term.

Have you a pet hate?
Nothing comes to mind except my own impatience.

Have you a role model?
I have a number of role models. I was heavily influenced by two extraordinary women: my grandmother and my mother. I admire Professor Enda McDonagh’s thoughtful reflection on what it means to be human and his capacity to relate this to living life in the here and now.

What in the world would you most like to change?
The quality of childhood experience. Each childhood lasts a lifetime. How we treat children in every part of the world needs a great deal of attention.

Have you a message for educators?
The best educators are those who have a passion for people and learning.

Have you a message for policy makers?
Look at what is happening to young males and see what we can do to help. Be prepared to take risks in education.