The appointment of Dr Ferdinand von Prondzynski as DCU's new president marks a sea-change for the university. The institution, which was dominated for so long by its founding president, Dr Danny O'Hare, is now entering new waters.

The fact that the new appointee is a lawyer, in a university that is without a faculty of law, may raise a few eyebrows outside the institution, but on campus the announcement is being greeted with enthusiasm.

There is also considerable relief that an appointment has at last been made. Last summer DCU suffered a setback when the preferred candidate for president withdrew for personal reasons. A second recruitment drive was launched. Prondzynski was invited to apply and emerged as the favourite.

DCU's incoming president is, for the moment, professor of law and dean of the faculty of social sciences at the University of Hull. At DCU, image is a major issue. Talk to staff and they'll tell you that the public perception of DCU is that it is an institution devoted to science and technology. The reality, they say, is somewhat different. "DCU has changed a lot in its 21 years," comments a highly placed member of staff.

"We offer a range of humanities subjects, including law. I hope that Professor von Prondzynski's appointment will result in a more balanced perception of what we offer."

Polish by birth, Prondzynski is a graduate of TCD with a PhD from Cambridge University. When he takes up his new job in July, he will be returning home - he came to Ireland with his family in 1961 and attended Headfort School, Kells, Co Meath. His mother lives near Mullingar, Co Westmeath. He is married to novelist Heather Ingman and has two children.

Described as a warm, friendly "people-person", Prondzynski is said to have a keen intellect and good management and leadership skills. He boasts excellent research credentials, too. He is regarded as an authority on employment law and industrial relations: he is the author of a major work on Irish employment law, Employment Law in Ireland, and is also an expert on European law.

Before he was appointed professor of law at Hull, he lectured at TCD's school of business studies. He has also worked for Dresdner Bank and Cadbury Schweppes. He is a director, too, of the British-American Business Council. Staff are enthusiastic about the fact that their new president is only 45 years of age. The stipulation in the Universities Act that third-level presidents hold office for a period limited to 10 years caused many people to fear that only the relatively elderly - that is people 10 years or fewer from retirement - would apply. Clearly, this is not the case.

Ferdinand von Prondzynski is coming to DCU at an interesting time. The university, which boasts a student of enrolment of 10,000, is feeling bullish. The campus has changed out of all recognition in recent years - with almost £100 million of physical infrastructure due for completion by 2001. This is largely thanks to the work of Danny O'Hare, who, in a suprise move, announced his retirement in November 1998.

Before his early retirement, O'Hare was the State's longest serving college president - he'd been at DCU since its beginnings as the NIHE in 1980. Meanwhile, Professor Albert Pratt is standing in to fill the gap between the O'Hare regime and that of Prondzynski. Importantly, the university enjoys close links with industry, and DCU graduates have traditionally enjoyed excellent employment rates.

When Prondzynski arrives in DCU, he's likely to be thrown in at the deep end. The Universities Act 1997 places a range of duties on university presidents. Work on a new strategic plan for DCU is about to commence - it will be Prondzynski's responsibility to chart DCU's way over the coming decade.

Under the terms of the Act, the "chief officer" is required to prepare such a strategic plan. It is understood that DCU is lagging behind most of the other universities in this work - it has been awaiting the arrival of a new president, says a source.

Under the terms of the Act, the new president will also find himself establishing quality assurance procedures, to include regular departmental evaluations. This is a new departure in Irish universities, but coming from Hull University, Prondzynski has first hand experience of the controversial teaching and research assessments which are taking place in British universities.

According to Prondzynski, it's vital that Irish universities move quickly to develop their own forms of assessment. "I would like to see DCU in there, making progress quite early," he says.

Equality is another major issue which must be addressed by the new president. DCU is now legally required to prepare and implement an equality policy. The college has an excellent record in the area of third-level education for the socially disadvantaged, but in terms of gender equality among academic staff, the position is dire.

Of significant interest to DCU's female academic staff is the fact that the incoming president is joint-editor of a major EU publishing project on equality law in EU member states. The university's women academics are hopeful that the new president will address this issue as a matter of urgency.

The sad fact is that DCU is unable to boast a single female professor or associate professor. A report on gender equality for DCU's executive and governing authority shows that only 17 per cent of the college's senior lecturers are women. At the bottom end of the scale, however, women account for 55 per cent of the assistant lecturers. Women, too, have the lion's share of contract appointments. At lecturer level, 13 per cent of men and 32 per cent of women are on contracts.

"We want to to see gender equality as a part of a changed agenda," says a female academic. "We don't want to see the issue end up in the courts."

This is unlikely. "The universities have a special duty to ensure that they are promoting equality and they need to be above reproach," the new president says. "I intend to ensure that equality issues are taken very seriously." Research is an area in which the university is making great strides. However, DCU (along with UCD) received a slap in the face when it was turned down for research money under the HEA's £4 million support for science and technology research programme, in 1998. Embarrassingly for DCU, both Athlone and Carlow ITs were awarded money under the scheme.

Last summer, however, DCU received a whopping £22.5 million in the HEA's £180 million Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions. This was the second largest amount awarded - only UCD got more (£24.5 million).

Of considerable current concern to DCU, and indeed to all the universities, is the Government's forthcoming decision on the Technology Foresight Report. Should the Government opt for the establishment of stand-alone biotechnology and information and communications technology (ICT) research institutes, the research capabilities of the universities will be adversely affected, it is widely feared.

DCU has strengths in both biotechnology and ICT. There is a concern that the college could suffer outflows of researchers. Research capability apart, this, it is argued, would ultimately dilute the quality of teaching there.