Associate Vice President Academic Affairs - Dr Reena Cole

Associate Vice President Academic Affairs

Dr Reena Cole is the Associate Vice President Academic Affairs. She is a graduate of the University of Limerick, completing her BE and PhD in Mechanical Engineering and a Grad. Dip and MA in Academic Practice.

Along with being an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering, she was also the Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs for the Faculty of Science and Engineering from 2018. She led the School of Engineering to attain Bronze Athena SWAN award in 2022, and from this work she has developed research in the impact gender has on spatial ability. She also has teaching and research interests in Energy and Sustainable Engineering.

The Associate Vice President Academic Affairs (AVPAA) role is a key leadership role in the University. The post holder is responsible for leadership of academic quality assurance and enhancement and for the management and upholding of academic standards, policies and regulations to ensure that a flexible, responsive and sustainable set of processes and systems is in place at UL.

The AVPAA reviews and develops policies, procedures and processes that support the future development of innovative and flexible programme design.

Significantly, the AVPAA has a leadership role in the recently established Academic Integrity Unit which will set out a sustainable policy and corresponding set of procedures for managing Academic Integrity at the University, which will then be embedded in University operations.

The development and oversight of high quality academic collaborations are a key part of the AVPAA role, as is the area of academic ceremonies, including conferring ceremonies and the management of awards.

The AVPAA role includes line management of a range of professional support units and teams including the Quality Support Unit, the Academic Integrity Unit, the Academic Affairs Team, and the Complaints, Discipline and Vetting Team.