mountbellew agricultural college - innovation and learning centre sdp 2016 to... · 2019-02-20 ·...

MountbellewAgricultural College -

Innovation and Learning Centre

Strategic Development Plan2016 – 2021

Mountbellew Agricultural College -Innovation and Learning Centre StrategicDevelopmentPlan2016 - 2021

Mountbellew Agricultural College - Innovation and Learning Centre Est 1904

Strategic Development Plan 2016 - 2021



“The new generation of farmers, who might more accurately be described as agri-scientists or agri-innovators, have the potential to make the step change for sustainable and competitive production in

Europe” Phil Hogan

European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development



Executive SummaryMountbellew Agricultural College(MAC) is one of the leading agriculturaleducation facilities in Ireland.Following exponential growth instudent numbers over the past six yearsMAC is currently running at a surplus,has high student retention and verystrong partnerships with local researchand education institutes. However, withstudent numbers in Agriculturetraditionally volatile and a predictionfor reduced numbers over the comingyears it is vital that MAC implements aStrategic Development Plan (SDP) thatwill ensure relevance and sustainabilityover the next five years and lay afoundation for long term success andstability. This SDP will outline thecritical success factors that will ensureMAC maintains its status as a leadingagricultural college nationwide. MACthrough this process will adopt strategicthematic areas for development andoutline the critical success factorsnecessary to achieve MAC’s vision.

Key recommendations:1. Mountbellew Agricultural College

(MAC) adopts four main strategicthemes under which the collegefocuses its development into thefuture. These are:

1. Excellence in AgriculturalEducation

2. SMART Agriculture3. Experiential Education

programmes –Apprenticeships

4. Out-reach and Communitydevelopment

2. MAC should re-brand the collegeto become the MountbellewAgriculutrual College - Innovationand Learning Centre.

3. Annual registered student numbersshould be a minimum of 850 with amaximum of 1000 from 2016 to2021. Full time equivalents (FTE)should be maintained at maximumlevels.

4. New accredited and non-accreditedcourses should be developed overthe next three years which allowsMAC to maintain student numbersin a changing agriculturallandscape.

5. Mountbellew Agricultural Collegeshould obtain full managementcontrol of the dairy and dry stockfarms with immediate affect.

6. The farms should be upgraded toState of the Art in a five year periodto become the most modernfarming operation in the region.

7. MAC should create a strategicAlliance with the Plant and AgriBio Sciences Centre in the NationalUniversity of Ireland, Galway inareas of research and SMARTagriculture.

Critical to success factors1. Maintain student numbers between

850 and 1,000 per year2. Develop new courses to ensure

relevance to the market demand andthat target numbers are achieved

3. Move from a two tiered to a threetiered management structure

4. Take control of the dairy and drystock farms into MAC

None of the critical to success factorsshould be seen as expendable for anyother. They are interlinked and all highlyimportant to achieve sustainability forMAC over the next decade.

8. The college should develop thefarming operations to become thego to research platform for local,national and international researchpartners.

9. The college should implement anew management structure withtwo managers; one operationaland one academic reporting to thePrincipal of the college

10. MAC should seek funding toappoint operations and academicmanagers to new positions in thecollege. Critical to success will bethe appointment of a sustainabilitymanager over the coming years.

11. Core to the sustainability of thecollege over the coming years willbe the maintaining and strengthenof the strategic alliances withTeagasc and GMIT and thereforethese should receive significantattention and management

12. The college should internallyupgrade the existing campus intostaff office space, studentreactional space, teaching spaceand research laboratories (asrequired).

13. To facilitate this Strategic Plan tobecome a Innovation and LearningCentre that is a leaders in thesector MAC will requireapproximately €3 millioninvestment over a five year period.

VisionThe vision of MAC is to become aregional focal point for the provision ofAgribusiness and EnvironmentalManagement training. This involvesbecoming a leading provider of trainingfor the voluntary, commercial and stateinitiatives in the BMW Region, and toprovide the necessary research capacityto support better rural policy andactions, which will in turn enablepeople to live with dignity and inharmony with their environment.

Mission StatementThe specific Mission Statement ofMountbellew Agricultural Innovationand Learning Centre is:To enhance the viability andsustainability of rural communitiesthrough the provision of qualityeducation and training designed tomeet the unique requirements of ruralIreland

The Mission in relation to Teagasc is:To generate and apply new knowledgefor the sustainable development ofagriculture and the food processingindustry to enable it to respondprofitably to consumer demands andrequirements and contribute to avibrant, profitable and sustainablerural economy and society.



The Mission in relation to GMIT is:

To develop life-long learningopportunities through our teaching andtraining, and by supporting regionaldevelopment consistent with nationalhigher education policy.

The Core Values underpinning thismission are:

The philosophy of the foundingcongregation, the Franciscan Brothers is:that every human being is a uniqueindividual whose personal growth anddevelopment is fostered in a respectedenvironment. The college endeavours toserve all people with dignity andequality. All college programmes focuson the recognition of human potentialand the enhancement of naturalresources and the environment as thefoundation of economic and socialactivity. The highest standards ofquality and best practice in training andeducation are a priority in the delivery ofcollege programmes.

The course in Mountbellew AgriculturalCollege followed by the three years inGMIT was an ideal preparation for me toenter the workforce in an area that I waspassionate about but it also laid thefoundations for me to to start my ownbusiness. Ronan Byrne – The FriendlyFarmer and MAC Alumni Strategic core priorities

Mounbellew Agricultural College hascome through a significant period ofgrowth since 2009 and is at a pointwhere strategic direction is required.After consultation with staff, students,external partners and other stakeholdersfour core priorities have been agreedupon which the future development ofthe college should be anchored to. Theseare:



Excellencein

Agricultureeducation

VisionTo continue to

be a leading provider of agricultural

education in the west of Ireland.

To grow our reputation and further increase

standards to ensure well balanced,

relevant and industry ready

graduates

SMARTAgriculture

VisionTo increase the intelligence of

farms and farmers in

Ireland through education and

research. MAC will upgrade its facilities to State of the Art and be a focal point for

public and private research activity in the

region.

ExperientialLearning

Programmes

VisionTo be a leading

provider of industry specific

training programmes for natural resource based micro-

enterprises. The main focus of

these programmes is apprenticeships.

Agri-Food, horticulture,

forestry, craftsshould be

targeted through partnerships

Out-reachand

CommunityEngagement

VisionTo engage

students, almuniand wider

community to:• Promote MAC

values• Knowledge

transfer• Building strong

partnerships• Brand

promotion• Alumni

engagement

Strategic rationale

1. Excellence in Agriculture Education

This theme is built on the historicdevelopment of MAC providingquality agricultural education tostudents throughout the decades.Farming is a core industry in Irelandand has developed significantly tobecome a world class industry inrecent decades. The availability of aquality educated work force that notonly maintains but advances theindustry is critical to its success andMAC will remain at the heart ofeducation for the future farmers andagricultural practitioners.

2. SMART Agriculture

The emergence of the agriculturalengineering industry in Ireland hasseen the country become aninternational leader in agri-technologies in recent decades. Thishas been followed by the new tech-innovations around software andinternet technologies that is enhancingthe farmers ability to accessknowledge which in turn increases theaccuracy of the decision makingprocess. Both Farms and Farmers arebecoming more intelligent and MACneeds to harness the opportunitypresented by the fast paced growth onagri-tech.



This industry is still in its infancywith substantial developmentspredicted in the future. MAC willbecome a leader in thesedevelopments by being the hallmarkfor the technology advancements. Thecollege will become a test bed fortechnology and a leader ofimplementation and educationaround SMART farming andtechnology advancements bothnationally and internationally.

3. Experiential Learning programmes

Modern day education has begun toshift toward experiential learning toprovide a more balanced and capablegraduate. This is particularly the casefor the construction and naturalresource industries. MAC willdevelop a range of apprenticeshipprogrammes in partnership withother education facilities.

4. Out-reach and Community Engagement

MAC was founded on the core valueof out reach and communityengagement through the FranciscanOrder. This will continue to placeMAC at the heart of the developingagricultural industry in Ireland andother strategic areas that the collegewould like to show impact in.

Strategic Alignment

Excellence in Agri-Education

CoremissionofTeagasc

LifelonglearningRegionaldevelopment

SMART Agri

Agri R&D is a core priority of Teagasc

SMART is a core Pillar of Harvest 2020’s vision

Excellence, Transformative research for economic need



CourseTitle 2009/2010

2010/2011

2011/2012

2012/2013

2013/2014

2014/2015

2015/2016

CertificateinAgricultureLevel5 56 92 100 89 90 90 76AdvancedCertificateinAgricultureA6/Level5PT(Greencert)

39 41 30 45 50 56 50

AdvancedcertificateinAgricultureDrystock– Level6

- - 43 22 35 31 17

BachelorofScienceinAgricultureandEnvironmentalManagement

23 27 27 31 35 54 43

BachelorofBusinessinRuralenterpriseandagri-business

34 32 42 43 40 36 30

Degree2 56 48 56 60 65 66 86Degree3 33 48 49 49 55 71 60OtherProgrammes 94 75 47 166 150 300 150Distanceeducation(Level6) 190Part-time(level6) 70Newtotal 335 363 394 505 520 704 772

Student numbers targets

Experientiallearningprogrammes

Learning as a core mission

Responding to Industry needs and the labour market

Out-reach and Community Engagement

Previous 7 years numbers



The college has seen a major increase instudent population between 2009 and2016 with over a 100% growth innumbers. This was a national shift toagricultural education driven by therecession and changes in the work forcedemand. The college is unlikely tocontinue this growth rate into the nextfive years and therefore the strategy to2021 will be the maintaining the currentnumbers with continued high retentionrates.

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200 20202009 2016

Student numbers projections

CourseTitle 2015/2016

2016/2017

2017/2018

2018/2019

2019/2020

Certificate inAgriculture Level5 76 90 80 80 80

AdvancedCertificate inAgriculture A6/Level5.5PT(Greencert)

50 50 50 50 50

Advancedcertificate inAgriculture Drystock– Level6 17 20 20 20 20

BachelorofScience inAgricultureandEnvironmentalmanagement

43 50 40 40 40

BachelorofBusiness inRuralenterpriseandagri-business

30 40 40 40 40

Degree2 86 80 70 70 70

Degree3 60 80 80 68 68

OtherProgrammes 150 150 150 150 150Horticulture apprenticeship degree(culmutive) 25 45 70 95

BEngEngineeringdegree 40 70 90

Distance education (Level6) 190 190 190 30 30

Part-time (level6) 70 70 70 20 20AdvancedDairy(level6) 15 20 20 20

ForestryApprenticeships 20 35 55

Artisanfood Apprenticeships 20 35 55

Hetac Level6Blended Learning(BScorBusiness) 25 45 70

Newtotal 772 860 960 843 953

Projected student numbers



Maintaining student numbersThe sustainability and furtherdevelopment of MAC is centeredaround maintaining studentnumbers between 850 and 1000 forthe next five years. With a currentdrop in CAO numbers foragriculture courses nationally and anatural fall off in some courses it willrequire intensive coursedevelopment to maintain studentnumbers. Course developmentshould be viewed as a critical tosuccess activity from 2016 to 2021and resources should be allocated onthis basis.

Target course developmentKey to the sustainability of MAC willbe the development of new coursesaligned to the strategy and in line withthe industry needs. Student numberswill be achieved through existingcourses and where a fall off innumbers is predicted, new courseswill be expected to come online. Theseare:

Bachelor of Engineering -Agricultural Engineering – Level 8This level 8 course will be developedin partnership with GMIT School ofengineering and will developgraduates specifically for theagriculture engineering industry inIreland and internationally.

Rationale

This course is directly aligned to thecore capacities of MAC and GMIT andstrengthens the relationship betweenboth entities.

The agriculture engineering industry inIreland has developed significantly inrecent decades with global leadingcompanies emerging (i.e Keenans,Samco, Tanco, DairyMaster andMchales). Surveys of the industry haveshown a definite need for graduates ofthis type as staff shortages rankedsecond only to regulation as a constrainton growth in the industry.

Projected start date: September 2017

Initial student numbers target: 40

Bachelor of Science in Horticulture -Apprenticeship – Level 8.

This course will be developed with theSchool of Science in GMIT. Thehorticulture industry in Ireland has acurrent work force of 6,500 people and afarm gate value of €400 million. Thisindustry is split into two sectors of Foodproduction and Amenity (gardennurseries).

Rationale

This course builds on the MAC andGMIT alliance and GMIT recently signedan MOU with Tennessee University whohave core competency in plant sciencewhile the science department hascurrent abilities around natural sciences.



MAC recently (October 2015)surveyed horticulture companiesnationwide and found that 75% ofcompanies feel positive about theindustry and expect growth into thefuture, and 65% of the companies seerecruitment of qualified staff as abottle neck in the industry. There areno apprentice course available at thislevel presently and horticulturecourses are predominantly on the eastand south of Ireland.

Projectedstartdate:September2017

Initialstudentnumberstarget:25

Bachelor in Forestry and Forestryproducts – Apprenticeship – Level 8

This course will be developed inpartnership with GMIT and GMITLetterfrack campus. The graduates ofthis course will have expertise inforestry and also the added valueproducts industry that forestrysupply.

Rationale

The forestry and forestry productsindustry is a net exporter of productsout of Ireland and has an annualworth of €2.3 billion and a job marketof 12,000 people.

These jobs are rural based in there majorityand therefore aligned to both MAC andGMIT strategies. Forestry is anunderserved industry by educationconsidering the value it provides to theeconomy and there is no offering in thewest of Ireland.

Projected start date: September 2017 orSeptember 2018

Initial student number targets: 20

Bachelor in Artisan Food –Apprenticeship – Level 8

This course will be developed throughpartnership with the GMIT School ofTourism and Arts. Graduates will bedesigned to work in the popular andgrowing artisan food industry.

Rationale

GMIT have a strong track record inculinary arts and food while MAC havebeen expert educators in agriculture formany years. The artisan food industry is acombination of these industries to addvalue and develop alternative businessmodels for farm gate operations. There arecurrently circa 350 companies in the artisanfood industry in Ireland with a €615million value to the Irish economy andsupporting 3000 Irish jobs.



This sector has seen significant growthin recent years and projections by BordBia are for further growth. As theindustry is still newly emerging it hasyet to gain the attention of theeducation system and therefore nofocused courses on artisan food havebeen established.

Projected start date: September 2017

Initial student number target: 20

PartnershipsA further critical to success factor is thedevelopment of existing and newpartnerships. MAC has a solid track recordin partnership building and this should be acore focus and be resourced appropriatelyinto the future. The two core partnershipsarewith Teagasc andGMIT.

Teagasc

The strategic alliance with Teagascis the one of the most importantpartnerships for the college.

Galway Mayo Institute of Technology

The partnership between GMIT andMAC has been in place since 1998. Thispartnership should be viewed as thecritical to success for MAC andcontinued for a five year minimumperiod and into the foreseeable future ifpossible. The relationship between bothentities should be around existing andnew education programmes.

The Teagasc funding system is central tothe MAC success and therefore thepartnership must be maintained.

Recommendations for the partnership

• The Principal remains the key contactpoint for the partnership, however asthe middle management functionemerges it should be included in theacademic and operational aspects ofthe relationship.

• MAC to prepare an annual report forTeagasc to communicate the SDP andits implementation through the 2016 to2021 period.

• MAC should present the SDP in itsentirety to Teagasc seniormanagement and MAC shouldemphasize the SMART farm and thepotential research capabilities thecollege will have to nurture furtherengagements.




• MAC should request an annualreview of the MAC and GMITpartnership consisting of GMITPresident plus representative andthe MAC Principal plusrepresentatives.

• The Principal should manage thisrelationship and the academicmanager should work closelywith the various heads ofdepartments when this positionbecomes a reality.

• Any research activity requestsfrom GMIT should be approvedby the newly created researchcommittee in MAC.

• MAC should not commenceactivity with other partners insimilar sectors without informingor getting verbal approval fromGMIT.

National University of Ireland,Galway

The main purpose of therelationship between NUIG andMAC is for MAC to become aresearch service provider to NUIG.This relationship will be with thePlant and Agri Biosciences Centre(PABC) and the main contact pointwill be Professor Charlie Spillane.The PABC is developing large scalecapacity in the area of agri researchand will require a farmingplatform to conduct large scaleresearch. MAC is strategically bestplaced to provide this capacity andshould aim to do so.


• The MAC research committee willbe empowered by the MAC boardto decide on project engagementsand the conditions on a projectbasis

• MAC sign an MOU with NUIG fora five year period

• An annual review is undertakenbetween both parties and this ispresented to the MAC board forapproval.

• Financial arrangements are on aproject basis and purchase ordersmust be raised by NUIG prior toany work undertaken.

Management strategyIn order to achieve the targets setout in this strategic developmentplan the third critical to successfactor is the development of themanagement strategy for thecollege. Currently there is a largegap in the management structurewith one senior manager (ThePrincipal) and then circa twentycore operations and teaching staff.



This system lacks the critical middlemanagement that will be chargedwith achieving the targets set out. Inthe current system the burden ofdevelopment lies solely with thePrincipal which is over reliant on thegood-will and energy of this personwho is required to amass substantialout of contract hours. This should beviewed as an unsustainable approachto college development.

CoreStaffMiddlemanagement

Strategicmanagement

Principle

Operationsmanager

Admin staff

Canteen staff

Sustainabilityofficer

Academicmanager

TeachingStaff

Technicalstaff

Farmmgtcommittees

Proposed new structure

The proposed managementstructure will move the current duallayer staffing model to three tieredsystem that introduces a newmanagement function. The dualapproach was likely to be sufficientat the 2009 student levels of circa330. However with numbersreaching and maintaining at 800 to1,000 a shift in the managementsystem is

essential. The restructure of themanagement system should be thefocus over years one and two of thecurrent SDP as the ability to executeon the targets set out is heavilyreliant on resources.

New position creationThe redevelopment of themanagement structure requires thecreation and funding of three newpositions over the first two years of theSDP. These are:1. Operations manager2. Academic manager3. Sustainability officer

Implementing the new managementsystemThe target should be to implementtwo of the three positions in year 1.The priorities are the middlemanagement layer of operations andacademic managers. The cost of thesepositions combined should be circa€120,000 per annum. Funding for thepositions should be from theoperating surplus of the collegecombined with financial backing foryear one and two from the closeststakeholders. The positions shouldbecome shelf financing in year threethrough the development of newprogrammes and increased activityand efficiencies found by the newmanagement structure.

The new management system will betasked with developing the thirdposition and accessing funding overtheir initial two years, ensuring thatby year 3 the full structure isimplemented.



Financial StrategyThe MAC latest set of auditedaccounts by DHKN Limited showsthe college moving from deficit of€ - 29,173 (2013) to a surplus of€34,025 (2014) and €90,000 (2015).Key for the future is to maintain orgrow surpluses.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI)Financial KPIs are essential to theefficient management of the collegesfinances. The two most relevantKPIs are related to labour andgeneral overheads. To date theseare:KPI’s 2014 2013

Staff 64% 63%

GeneralOverheads

35% 41%

These KPIs show the decrease inoverheads between 2013 and 2014resulted in the college running atsurplus. The target KPIs for the nextfive years for both of these functionsare:

Staff 63% of turnover

GeneralOverheads 30% of turnover

This will provide a trading surplusof 7% annually. These KPI’s willonly be achieved if the studentnumbers are maintained at therecurrent levels as overheads inparticular will not pro-rata changewith student numbers unlikestaffing levels. Allowances in thestaff KPI should be made in yearsone and two to

allow for the middle managementfunctions to become viable.

Financial (Immediate action areas)A recommendation is todepartmentalise the canteen in MACand it should be reported as a separateProfit and Loss unit. Presently thiscanteen department is subsidised byother operations in the college andactions are required to bring this costcentre inline in order to achieve theoutlined KPI’s.

CanteenThe canteen in MAC is currentlyrunning at a trading deficit. The mostrecent trading figures for the canteenshow a income of €54,233 with a foodcost at 63% and overhead cost of at21%. This allows a margin of 14.9%before staff costs. This model isunsustainable and will contribute topoor KPI’s and action is required. Theideal business model for the canteen toreach breakeven is:Ingredient costs 35%Overheads 25%Staffing 40%This model would require thefollowing actions:• Portion control and waste

management systems put in placefor ingredient cost control

• Creating budgets for otherassociated costs relating to thecanteen

• Creating a variable staffing levelsystem that reflects activity andincome

• Review any possible additionalrevenue streams



Infrastructure strategyPresently the infrastructure at MAC isbelow optimal levels to ensure apositive staff and studentenvironment and state of the artlearning facilities. One of thestrengths of the college is that there issignificant unused spaced that can bedeveloped for other uses over thecoming years. Improvements in theinfrastructure are required over thenext five years and in order to achievethe strategic objectives. Theinfrastructure of the college should:• Provide a positive learning

environment with appropriatestudent recreational facilities

• Provide a positive workenvironment for all staff

• Have State of the Artdemonstration facilities to aidlearning

• Be attractive to prospectivestudents

• Be optimised to achieve theoverhead KPI

Teaching and learning SpaceThe college requires the upgrade ofspace into state of the art classroomspaces. These rooms shouldaccommodate circa 80 students andhave full audio visual capacity.Currently the requirement foradditional classroom space is 150students and this can be achievedthrough the conversion of existingareas and funding should be soughtthrough various capital andinfrastructure bids that are offeredover the coming years. This will be theresponsibility for the new operationsmanager and in time the sustainabilitymanager.

Student learning spaceA weakness of the campus highlightedby staff is the lack of a learning orlibrary space for student. This shouldbe addressed through the establishmentof a student learning centre. In order tokeep overheads within the KPI outlinedit is not appropriate to have a staffedlibrary in MAC and therefore a shelfregulated and comfortable learningspace would be more suitable for theMAC students. The conversion ofexisting space would be ideal for thisand redecoration into a learningenvironment would be sufficient.

Samplestudentlearningspace

Staff spaceThe staff space currently being used ismostly appropriate for use, however someoffices and staff recreation area needupgrading to state of the art in the durationof this SDP. The goal for staff areas will beto:• Ensure all offices are decorated to high

standard with full digital infrastructure• Staff communal areas should be

upgraded and modernised (i.e. tea room)



• Staff offices and communal areasshould be centrally located and not inisolated extremities of the maincampus building

Demonstration areasIt has been widely acknowledged thatthe farming facilities in Mounbelleware not at a modern level for educationpurposes. The farms are currently heldand controlled by the FranciscanBrothers and this is seen as a bottleneck to development. Thereforestrategically the fourth critical tosuccess factor for MAC is to take fullcontrol of the farms into MAC andupgrade the farms to a State of the Artlevel over the duration of the SDP.There is a willingness from theFranciscan Brothers for this change atpresent.

Farm’s legal structureThe proposed legal structure for thefarm’s handover to implement a longterm lease arrangement between theFranciscan Brothers and MountbellewAgriculture College. This leasearrangement will require MAC topurchase the stock off the existingfarm owners and pay a yearly fee forthe lease arrangement. This method isseen as the most strategic method togain control of the farm andimplement necessary changes to bringthe farm to the level required toexecute on the Strategic DevelopmentPlan.

and to create new legal entities andfull ownership of stock and othernon-land or farm building assets.

Farm strategic developmentA full farm plan has been created withthe following core aims of the dairyand dry stock farms:1. Provide a State of the Art learning

platform for students2. Create a research platform for

national and international research3. Become a go to knowledge

platform for Irish agriculture

Dairy FarmAt the farm level business objectiveswill be to:1. Implement a Key Performance

Indicators (KPI’s) system for thefarm with a plan to achieve State ofthe Art standards

2. Operate a dual herd forcomparative purposes

3. Use the dual herd to research farmmanagement practice andperformance

4. Run the farm on a commerciallyprofitable basis



Dry stock farmThe business objectives of the dry stockfarm will be to:1. Implement a Key Performance

Indicators (KPI’s) system for the farmwith a plan to achieve State of the Artstandards

2. Consider education requirementsduring farm planning to ensuremixed enterprises and stock fordemonstration.

3. Bring to a profitable status

Dairy Farm KPIs

KPI Current Target

Calvinginterval 395 360

6weekincalfrate 51 90

Calvespercow 0.88 1

Calving's percow 2.9 4.5

Mortality – atbirth5

5 0

%ofheiferscalvedat22-26months

95 100

Quantityofgrassutilised

8 14

Daysatgrass 180 300

Turnoutdate March30th

Feb15th

KPI Current Target

Stockingrate 0.85 1.73

Liveweightproducedkg/ha

342 580

Grossoutput€/ha €1,023 €1,500

Variablecosts€/ha €738 €538

Grossmargin€/ha €285 €962

Fixedcosts €/ha €1,158 €500

Netprofitexcludpremia €/ha

-€873 €462

Dry stock Farm KPIs

These key performance indicators are forthe period 2016 to 2021. Each categoryhas target incremental improvementsduring this period.



Investment StrategyFor MAC to implement the StrategicDevelopment Plan significantinvestment will be required over thenext five year period. Estimates of theinvestment will be outlined here alongwith areas requiring investment.

LabourMAC is adequately staffed at anoperational level as staffing will varywith the student numbers. Howevercritical to success is the implementationof a new management system with anew management layer between corestaff and the Principal. The target inthree years is for this new managementto be shelf sufficient, however in themeantime investment will be required tofinance this management structure.

Investment per year: €150,000Total over three years: €450,000

College buildingsThe college buildings need to beupgraded to State of the Art standard asoutlined in the Infrastructure strategyand the upgrades needed are:• Create new staff offices, work and

common areas in the upstairs space• Upgrade all classrooms to become

high standard learning spaces.• Upgrade computer laboratories and

library spaces.• Upgrade student and staff

recreational and canteen space tomodern standards.

Investment per year: €150,000Total over five years: €750,000


Demonstration areasMAC plans to develop a number of newcourses throughout the next five yearperiod. These courses described asexperiential learning (apprenticeships)courses and various topics relating tonatural resource industries will requirepractical demonstration areas. As MACdevelops these courses, investment intothe appropriate infrastructure will berequired. Areas identified for investmentare:• Student demonstration laboratories for

engineering, science, artisan foods,apprenticeships and research.

• Student Innovation acceleration andincubation space. This space will aidstudents in developing theirentrepreneurial skillsets.

• Machinery and animal demonstrationunits (separate purpose to the farmoperations).

Investment per year: €200,000Total over five years: €1,000,000

FarmsMAC have created five year plans for boththe dairy and dry stock farms. These planswill allow MAC to take full control of thefarms and upgrade them to the highestpossible standards. Investment is requiredfor:• Purchase of stock• Implementing lease agreements• Upgrading of both farms to state of the

art.

Total over five years: €1,000,000

Total Investment required for MAC 2016to 2020: €3,200,000


Mountbellew Agricultural CollegeMountbellewCo. Galway

Phone: 0909679205Email: [email protected]

Web: www.mountbellewagri.com

mountbellew agricultural college - innovation and learning centre sdp 2016 to... · 2019-02-20 ·...

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