University Council has approved the structure for a new dual award programme with New York’s Columbia University, with a pilot programme with Trinity’s European studies course to be developed.
Approval was granted to the structure of the degree, with the design for the pilot of the programme to be worked out and brought back to University Council for final approval. Fee levels for students and the possibility of one or two scholarships for Irish students are to be considered before final approval.
Areas in Trinity that are of interest to Columbia University are European studies, English and Jewish and Islamic civilisations. Discussions are well advanced in relation to European studies, with this course to be put forward as a pilot programme for intakes in 2017/18 and 2018/19, with more details to be brought to a future meeting of University Council. In this programme, students must, in their first two years in Trinity, take part in a three-month stay in the country of the main language that they are studying, worth 30 ECTS. Between their third and fourth years, at Columbia University, students must complete a 10 ECTS internship and complete a capstone project, worth 20 ECTS credits.
This is the first dual award programme to be put forward under the Dual and Joint Award policy, which was approved by University Council in May 2015.
The programme will see students spending their first two years at Trinity and their final two years of study at Columbia University as part of their General Studies programme. The two curricula will be separate but complementary and will be delivered sequentially. Students will have to complete 60 ECTS worth of modules.
Concerns have been raised over the double counting of credit for the degree, with the degree now containing, in response, additional content, meaning that students can be conferred two bachelor’s degrees. Columbia already has a similar structure in place with Science Po, the Paris Institute of Political Studies.
Columbia University is an Ivy League university and the oldest higher education institution in New York state and was ranked third in the Times Higher Education US College Rankings 2017.
