DCU 'PAC's' them in - Electronic applications to Postgraduate programmes
4 October 2004

Dublin City University, together with the Postgraduate Applications Centre (PAC), today announced a new pilot application procedure for postgraduate students. In a process similar to the Central Applications Office (CAO), applicants for postgraduate taught courses at DCU can now apply online through the Postgraduate Application Centre (PAC) based in Galway.

DCU is the first university in Ireland to accept online applications for postgraduate taught programmes under this scheme. The new system has been set up as a pilot project and will accept applications from Monday 4 October 2004 for entry to third-level taught programmes in 2005. Applications for postgraduate research study will continue to be dealt with by direct application to DCU.

DCU President, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, said that the new initiative was in keeping with DCU's overall commitment to the practical application of technological advances. "This new system is particularly useful for overseas candidates and the university welcomes any development that makes applications and admissions procedures more effective. The move is clearly away from a paper-based system to an electronic one, which is appropriate for the technological age".

PAC is a limited company which is currently responsible for the processing of applications to the H.Dip. in Education in the four constituent universities of the National University of Ireland (NUI) . It is evaluating the possibility of expanding the scope of its operations based on this pilot.

According to Joachim Barnett, Student Enrolment Officer at DCU, the new system will enable DCU to respond to each individual applicant in a more efficient way through the use of email and the PAC website (www.pac.ie). "In an increasingly competitive postgraduate market, it is important for potential candidates to know the status of their application, and this electronic system will facilitate this. It will also enable the university to assess applications and make decisions more expediently". He adds, "Over the last three years, significant strides have been made in establishing online and scanning technologies to assist institutions in processing applications to undergraduate programmes through the CAO. It was a natural extension to look at applying these technologies to postgraduate programmes, and DCU is delighted to be working with PAC on this pilot scheme".

Under the scheme, candidates will apply online to the PAC, but will send supporting documentation such as transcripts and references by post to the PAC. These will be scanned in and stored electronically with the online application. The combined electronic record will be available to DCU by the next working day.

As the application passes through the various stages of processing at DCU the status of the candidate's application is updated. They are notified by e-mail to check their account on the PAC website (www.pac.ie) to determine the latest status of their application.