NUI Galway failed to get approval from the Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland (AOTI) for a BSc in occupational therapy that was to begin there today because the course has yet to meet established international standards, ireland.comhas learned.
Twenty-five students had been scheduled to begin the course today. However, in light of the AOTI's refusal to grant official accreditation, it has not gone ahead as planned.
In the absence of approval from the AOTI, graduates completing the four-year degree course would not have been licensed to practice occupational therapy in the State.
NUI Galway said it was "surprised and shocked" by the decision, which they learned yesterday, to withhold accreditation.
The AOTI has said it regrets the effect the decision has had on students who were enrolled ahead of the approval and accreditation process being completed and indicated that it will continue to work with NUI Galway in an effort to ensure the university achieves the required standard.
The process of official accreditation can take up to two years, with the AOTI carrying out numerous assessments and site visits before granting its approval.
In the case of NUI Galway the approval process got under way in January of this year. In August the college was informed by the AOTI that the green light had yet to be given for the course.
In a statement, NUI Galway said that "at no time did the University have reason to believe that the Association was considering refusal until it received a letter on August 27th" after places on the course had been offered and accepted.
"The University was extremely surprised at the indication from the AOTI that it was unable at that time to grant approval to proceed and it immediately engaged with the Association to meet any outstanding concerns."
According to the NUIG statement, the university and AOTI representatives met at the beginning of September to "address and clarify the outstanding concerns" of the Association.
On the recommendation of the AOTI, the University engaged an external expert to work on and submit a revised proposal, with a view to accommodating the students who had already accepted places on the course for September 2003.
This revised proposal was submitted to the AOTI on September 10th and the decision to withhold approval for this year's programme was given to the college on Thursday.
The AOTI have indicated that additional proposals from the university were unsatisfactory which is why the body felt it had no choice but to withhold accreditation at this stage.
The Association has granted the necessary approval to new courses starting this year in UCC and the University of Limerick. Previously, courses were only available at Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Ulster.
