In the twinkling predawn hours of January, just days before the spring 2023 semester officially kicked off, a thin smear of pastel pink rose above the horizon as a group of groggy students stepped off an overnight flight and made their way through the Shannon airport, heaping luggage in tow.
Their destination? Cork, Ireland, to study abroad for a semester at Munster Technological University (MTU).
At Endicott, study abroad is a rite of passage that more and more Gulls are choosing to take, and officials have worked hard behind the scenes to make Ireland one of the College’s premier destinations for students.
In November 2022, President Steven R. DiSalvo, Ph.D., joined Dean of International Education Warren Jaferian on a trip to Cork to renew the partnership between Endicott and MTU—a visit that coincided with the partnership’s five-year anniversary and which extends the MTU-Endicott exchange for another five years.
While there, President DiSalvo also cemented a new agreement with Halberg, a firm that places American students with Irish companies for intern abroad opportunities, which will increase the number of Endicott students who gain an international work perspective in Ireland.
Then, this March, Jaferian and Amy Smith, the new dean of the Cummings School of Nursing and Health Sciences, solidified a partnership with Cork’s Mercy University Hospital to allow 10 Endicott students to complete their nursing practicums there. The six-week pilot program kicks off in June 2023 with the expectation that, by summer 2024, the College will send two six-week cohorts of 20 or more nursing students to Cork.
“This gives our nurses a real intercultural healthcare perspective by working with Irish nurses and doctors in a public healthcare setting, which has socialized medicine, and working in particular with disadvantaged patients from the northern part of Cork,” said Jaferian.
The partnership also benefits the Irish healthcare system. With a global nursing shortage, the Irish government currently is importing nurses from around the world. So, according to Jaferian, a steady stream of skilled nursing students will not only help patients and help nurses get a unique new perspective, but Endicott students will also have the opportunity to work in Ireland for a longer period if they choose.
This growing relationship between Endicott and these Cork-based institutions is part of a larger plan to integrate international components in the College curriculum and offer global opportunities to broaden the impact and marketability of our talented Gulls.
To that end, this year also heralds a new partnership between the Colin and Erika Angle Center for Entrepreneurship and the Rubicon Centre, MTU’s on-campus incubator supporting entrepreneurs and start-ups with innovative product, service, or technology ideas.
“There’s a multitude of ways we could interact,” said Paul Healy, General Manager at the Rubicon Centre, whose staff work across all faculties and facilitate competitions, innovation challenges, and hackathons. “Once students cross the threshold here, they’re not students anymore. We call them entrepreneurs.”
For engineering students Noah Therrien ’23, Zach Mazur ’23, Nate Mousseau ’23, and Clay Stocker ’23, whose business WeighMaster Nets won Spark Tank in April, that means heading to Cork in the fall to nurture their business with the expert help of Rubicon’s entrepreneurs and in-house start-ups.
“With a trip to Ireland, I will be deferring some employment opportunities, so this is a huge risk that the group is taking in hopes of getting our product on the market as quickly as possible,” said Mousseau.
Fortunately, Cork is just the right place for business and entrepreneurial ventures.
As the European Union’s only English-speaking country and Ireland’s second-largest economic hub, Cork has drawn more than 190 multinational firms like Apple, Meta (Facebook), Eventbrite, Amazon, Logitech, IBM, PepsiCo., as well as seven of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.
“Our motto is ‘succeeding together.’ So, our philosophy is to succeed together with students, international partners, our local, national, and international community, and with our industry and enterprise collaborators,” said Michael Loftus, MTU’s Vice President for External Affairs. “We think that creates a very rich and fertile ground for American students to come to an entity that is so connected with so many different activities that create a world of opportunities.”
‘We create memories’
MTU is a six-campus system throughout Cork and Kerry, with the largest campus just a quick bus ride to Bishopstown, right on the outskirts of Cork.
That’s where you’ll find MTU President Maggie Cusack, herself a new transplant to the city.
A scientist specializing in biominerals, Cusack spent most of her career at the ancient University of Glasgow before joining MTU in 2021, when the university was founded after a merger between two regional technological institutes.
“As someone looking at the city anew, Cork is a really friendly, warm city, and it’s completely different from any other city I’ve lived in,” she said. “It’s situated in just an incredibly beautiful county, where there’s such a huge variety of scenery and amenities. Food is outstanding as well as the cultural opportunities for music and outdoor activities. I just think it’s fabulous.”
Cusack also noted that what makes MTU an alluring hotspot for Endicott students is Cork’s growing reputation as a business hub as well as a combination of social Irish culture and a countrywide passion for sports.
“That’s really important—the opportunities for sports and culture and academic endeavors. And everything around innovation and entrepreneurship I think is absolutely outstanding. Ireland has done incredibly well having such a healthy industrial base. And part of that health is the diversity, so there’s a huge range and fantastic opportunities for students.”
Gerard O’Donovan, Head of Faculty of Business and Humanities at MTU, echoes Cusack’s sentiments.
“What’s also interesting about MTU is that a lot of universities segregate international students into separate cohorts—we don’t do that,” he said. “We ensure that they meet new people from different cultures, and I think that ensures that we have a more diverse and rich university ourselves.”
O’Donovan explained that Endicott students at MTU don’t just show up to class on their first day in Cork, but enjoy a week of culture, with scheduled activities to ensure they have an understanding of Irish culture, cuisine, tradition, and folklore.
“It’s all about the warm Irish welcome,” he said. “We create memories.”
Just as Endicott is known for its award-winning internship model, Gulls in Cork will find a similar approach at MTU, which leverages its proximity to a wealth of multinational companies.
“We have a strong relationship with those companies in relation to work placement, real-life cases and internships, guest speakers, and curriculum development,” O’Donovan said. “Again, there are opportunities for Endicott students to come here to participate in those activities—we don’t differentiate an international student from an Irish student.”
Aside from the opportunities in sports, entrepreneurship, and industry, Endicott’s hospitality students will find much to learn in Ireland, which is renowned for dairy and beef production as well as its lush climate and countryside home to more than 137,000 working farms.
Similar to Endicott’s La Chanterelle nontraditional classroom and restaurant, MTU’s hospitality management program combines practical elements of hospitality management with key management skills. Gulls will find modern demonstration and production kitchens, IT and front office laboratories, a demonstration theatre, training restaurants and bar, well-equipped classrooms, and more.
“We also give students exposure to farm-to-fork, and sustainability is a big issue now. Hospitality is also about meeting local producers, understanding the food chain and how food is produced, and how it has remained sustainable,” O’Donovan explained. “If you’re a culinary student, you’re going to be working in a hotel or in a restaurant. You’re going to get real-life experience and mentoring.”
In the EU, and out of their comfort zone
For students who study abroad in Cork, the accommodations couldn’t be better. Single rooms, plenty of space and privacy, a location right downtown, a fully equipped kitchen, a porch. The list goes on. In fact, Endicott has reached a new deal to expand accommodations in Cork to house a growing number of students interested in studying abroad.
Matt Bant ’24 was one of them.
Bant originally thought studying abroad would be too expensive until he learned that students going to Cork receive a $5,000 scholarship plus group round-trip airfare. “It was no more expensive than Endicott,” he said. (And while MTU students are not required to have a meal plan, Gulls abroad can use their meal plan the same as they would on Endicott’s campus.)
For student-athletes like Bant, opportunities for rugby and soccer are also on the table.
Student-athletes can keep up with training at MTU’s facilities and even join the school sports team. Similarly, performing arts students will have opportunities to sing, dance, and act at the MTU Cork School of Music.
Vivienne Sayers, an exchange student from MTU, remembers stepping onto the Endicott campus for the first time in 2022 and being amazed by a few cultural differences.
She noted with a laugh that many American students often wore pajamas to class—something that never happens in Ireland—and they felt comfortable vocalizing their opinions and struggles with mental health.
“That openness offers a safe space for people. So, if they’re saying it in class, it makes it okay for other people to say it in class as well,” noted Carmel Jordan, an International Officer at MTU.
It’s those cultural differences—and being in a new environment—that foster personal growth and expand horizons.
Exercise science major and Endicott soccer player Jason Brodeur ’24 studied abroad to become a better soccer player and “come back with a better understanding of European culture as a whole,” he said.
Brodeur’s extra goal for the semester? “Getting to loads of soccer games and making friends with the local Irishmen.”
When in Cork, after all.
Learn more about Endicott’s study abroad program.