UCET Northern Ireland Forum

Chair: James Nelson (Queen's University Belfast); Vice-Chair - Patricia Eaton (Stranmillis University)

UCET(NI) began its life as an independent body - the Northern Ireland Universities' Council for Teacher Education (NIUCTE), which was established in 1998 with the following remit:

• to present a professional higher education voice on matters affecting teacher education in Northern Ireland.

• to provide a higher education consultation body to which governmental and other bodies may refer in relation to teacher education in Northern Ireland.

The membership consisted of a nominee from each of the five university sector institutions engaged in teacher education in NI:

• St. Mary's University College
• Stranmillis University College
• The Open University (NI)
• Queen's University, Belfast
• The University of Ulster

UCET(NI) meets formally three times in each academic year as part of the national cycle of UCET meetings. Its chair is ex-officio a member of the UCET Executive Forum. It has sought to lobby Government, in the context of the new devolved structures established in Northern Ireland in 1999, on a range of teacher education issues.

Chair