The university, the student and industry are intertwined in the symbol representing UCC's business information systems degree. The four-year degree has just come to fruition with its first graduates leaving the campus this summer. And, they are heading for pastures greener, at least in the financial sense - all have found employment. Most had more than one job offer with the record standing at seven.

A clearly pleased and enthusiastic Ciaran Murphy, course director, extols the course's virtues to E&L. The programme is evenly divided between business and information systems. Information technology-based subjects include structured and object-oriented programming, database and network management, Internet development, operating systems and systems analysis and design. Business subjects include business finance, economics, management and financial accounting, marketing and public administration.

"We genuinely put a huge effort into linkages with students," says Murphy. "We have coffee mornings so that fourth years and first years meet. We have a mentoring systems whereby every student is assigned to a member of staff, who will discuss any issue with them other than specific academic issues." A life skills programme has been introduced.

A key aspect of the programme is work placement, which takes place between third and fourth year from April to September. "USIT tells us that we place more students in the States than any other course," says Murphy. Students are placed in Boston, a city which has a large Irish population and a strong UCC graduate association. Students go to companies such as Lotus, EMC, Fidelity and Gillette.

He tells the story of two students on placement last year when the Olympic Games were in progress. A change was needed in a CDROM and the problem was given to the students to solve. They succeeded and two members of the organising committee were flown to meet them so that they could explain the changes and how to work with them.

The course is now entering its fifth year and one of the challenges that Murphy wants to tackle is the gender imbalance. In the first year, 57 per cent of the students were male. Last year, the imbalance was much greater at 75 per cent male. This phenomenon is not peculiar to UCC. Most computing-type courses are experiencing a drop in the number of female applicants.

Murphy has decided to go out to schools, accompanied by fourthyear students, and sell the programme to girls. The students' enthusiasm for the course clearly makes an impression, he says. Next year's CAO season will tell.

Another concern of Murphy's is the fact that 70 to 80 per cent of graduates will end up working in Dublin where Ireland's software industry is largely located. "I understand the importance of clusters but I think something is wrong when one area only is the main focus . . . at least one other indigenous region needs to be involved." And, yes, you've guessed, Murphy has Cork in mind.

The reason two-thirds of the students go to the United States on placement is that he wants to produce entreprenuerial people. But, the course is not about producing graduates for export, he stresses. Last year, 18 students were offered permanent jobs in the US and only three took up the offers.

The nose of the plane on the course brochure is firmly pointed back from the US towards Ireland. The programme has an industrial advisory board, which comprises a mixture of people from software and general business.