This year's certificate and diploma graduates at four of the State's institutes of technology in the south and west could be receiving awards from the colleges themselves rather than from a national awarding body.

Ed Riordan, new assistant registrar at Cork Institute of Technology, says this development marks a sea change for the four institutes involved. They are Waterford IT, Cork IT, Galway-Mayo IT and Sligo IT.

"We are in the final stages of making it happen," Riordan says. "The Minister for Education, Dr Woods, issued the ministerial instructions for delegated authority this summer.

"Now it's a matter of negotiating with the Higher Education and Training Awards Council and trying to get it done in time for this year's graduates," he says.

Graduations are usually held in late October.

Riordan, recently appointed to the position of acting assistant registrar at Cork IT, is also involved in developing the college's academic quality assurance system.

The system was published two years ago, in three volumes; it's now time to take stock, he says.

Riordan began his career teaching in Dundalk IT, before going to Cork IT in 1980 as a physics lecturer.

He is no stranger to negotiation and change, having served as president of the TUI during the time of the Education Convention (1992-94).

"As colleges develop more intensive academic programmes, there must be more formal planning and formal review," he says.