Joachim Barnett commenced in the role of Admissions Manager in Graduate and Professional Studies in March 2020.  Joachim and his team are responsible for the management of the prospective student lifecycle, from the point of initial enquiry to orientation/onboarding onto postgraduate programmes and other professional education offerings at undergraduate level and Micro-credentials.  Admissions is also the single point for non-EU applications to taught programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level.  

The operation of the applications management systems is a core component within the admissions function.  Joachim and his team are committed to ensuring that this “moment of truth” is a positive experience and the transition from prospect to student is a smooth and transparent application journey. The effective operation of this unit is highly dependent on close collaboration and contributions from key stakeholders throughout the university. 

Originally from Dublin, now living in Ennis, Co. Clare, Joachim has 30 years' experience in the higher education sector holding senior management positions in Dublin City University (DCU) and the University of Limerick (UL).  He also worked for a period at the National University of Ireland (Galway).  For most of his career Joachim has worked in student admissions both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He has implemented alternative further education pathways onto undergraduate programmes in DCU and UL. 

Joachim is keenly interested in how systems add value to the admissions function for both staff and prospective students.  He has overseen the transition of many paper-based processes to online and electronic formats at local and sectoral levels. In UL, Joachim led a sectoral project to develop an electronic screening and assessment system as part of the national project for the Higher Education and Access Route (HEAR) and Disability Access Route to Education (DARE). The national project received the Taoiseach Award for Excellence in Public Service.  At DCU, he led the transition of the application management system for taught postgraduate programmes into the Postgraduate Applications Centre (PAC).  Based on the successful implementation of this system at DCU, other educational institutions similarly adopted the system.