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On Monday 10 February, members of the UCD Students’ Union (UCDSU) convened in the Fitzgerald Chamber for the sixth regular meeting of Council, coinciding with the opening of nominations to run for full-time or part-time executive roles for the SU for the 2025/26 Academic Year.
Council Issued Warning Over 'Improper Conduct'
The council got underway shortly after 6pm, the chamber addressed by Chair Niall Torris on a serious conduct note. Torris, without delving into specific details, told the chamber that a “feeling of safety” is very important during council proceedings, noting the central pillar of a “principle of good conduct.” Torris cited specific examples of improper conduct; “Hissing”, “Giving of the finger to other members during council,” and “glaring” before adding that he was “horrified to see this behaviour.” He stated firmly that if the conduct continued, he would be “speaking to the individuals directly” and the individual/s responsible would be ruled out of order. He concluded by saying, “This is about safety for all members,” before drawing attention to the first order of business for the night.
UCDSU President Miranda Bauer and Welfare Officer Ciara Donohue gave a presentation about UCDSU Executive Elections 2025, coinciding with the opening of nominations on Monday morning at 9am. The pair interchangeably talked through the various roles and positions available and how to enter and run a campaign. Candidates must receive 150 signatures prior to March 7, with postering and campaigning due to kick-off on March 24, with voting taking place on April 1st, 2nd and 3rd. They encouraged students interested in running to reach out to them for more information.
Motions on Notice
Motion on Class Representation for Architecture and Planning College
Stephen Mullen, the Architecture and Planning College Officer, proposed a motion to mandate the redrawing of class representative constituency boundaries for City Planning and Environmental Policy (CPEP) and Landscape Architecture (LA) students. Currently, due to each class being too small to make up its own constituency, the two classes have one class representative for each stage between them. The current rules dictate that in order to have its own class representative, the class must have at least 45 students.
Mullen’s motion mandates the UCDSU President and the Architecture College Officer to “urge the Returning Officer to group together LA stages 1 & 2, LA stages 3 & 4, CPEP stages 1 & 2, and CPEP stages 3 & 4 instead of grouping differing courses with stage as a commonality.”
The mandate, which was seconded by Landscape Architecture Stage 4 Class representative Conni Dawson, was passed by council, with nobody speaking against it.
Motion of Support for the Postgraduate Workers’ Organisation
Graduate Officer Kylie McCardel tabled a motion to reinstate a policy that had expired in January 2025, in which UCDSU would be mandated to support the Postgraduate Workers’ Organisation (PWO).
McCardel called on Jack McNicholl, a stage 3 PhD candidate in Mathematics and acting head of the UCD branch of the Postgraduate Worker’s Organisation, to further clarify the essence of the motion and of the PWO in general. McNicholl stated that the motion would continue to push to change the status of PhD candidates from students to staff. He added, “It would be useful to be able to get access to resources, access to room booking facilities, access to boards,” so as to be able to directly challenge UCD staff and administration.
The motion was clearly carried after being put to a vote.
Items for Discussion
Discussion on Proposed Students’ Union Climate Action Policy
A proposed new SU Climate Action Policy was discussed by council, with ideas for any potential additions or removals of articles in the policy welcomed. The policy is currently in draft stages, and is being led by Environmental Campaign Coordinator Erin Hoare, alongside Campaigns and Engagement Officer Saskia McCormack-Eiffe. The Climate Action Policy would focus on implementable direct actions in the daily runnings of the Students’ Union and UCD.
The current focus areas of the policy are supporting climate action organisations, promoting a circular economy (such as the bi-annual ‘Great Donate’ and student food bank), ensuring environment-conscious postering and leafleting practices, and upholding sustainable practices regarding food and packaging waste. The policy would also focus on the sustainability of the spaces and equipment used by the Union, such as the commuting distance to booked spaces and their energy ratings, ensuring spaces for executive council members on relevant boards, and the creation of a green procurement committee. Finally, the policy would ensure that the Students’ Union will “strive to promote and support small and/or local businesses whenever possible” and “endeavour to collaborate with brands that have a commitment to sustainability.”
Discussion Surrounding Education for Sustainable Development
Environmental Campaign Coordinator Erin Hoare also brought forward an item for discussion to ask the council about their experiences of learning about sustainable development in UCD. She started the discussion by claiming she has had “four introductory lectures about the Paris agreement in the last week.”
She asked the council if they had much experience in being educated on sustainability in UCD, and specifically asked if any members present had been made aware of the sustainability toolkit that has been launched on Brightspace. UCDSU Education Officer Tia Cullen added a question from the podium, asking what sustainability “actually means” within education and wanted to hear what students from a range of courses had learnt about it.
The union’s LGBTQ+ coordinator mentioned that as a Stage 3 computer science student, they have had no education on sustainability. Landscape Architecture Stage 4 representative Conni Dawson mentioned that in her course there had been a lot of discussion about AI, but that the energy use behind AI and the ethical issues associated with it were merely dismissed. AI was a recurring theme mentioned by students.
A representative for Stage 2 of Classics, History, and English said disappointedly that their class had not learnt anything about the history of the environment. Niall Daly, class representative for Masters in Management Consulting, said that his course had received no education on sustainability. The only speaker to say that they had received education on sustainability was a student in social justice, who jokingly suggested that their lecturers should be spread across other schools as they were tired of hearing the same sustainability education repeated.
Questions on Notice
Question Regarding Campaign Strategy of November Constitutional Referendum
The UCDSU constitutional referendum from November 2024 was once again brought up; a question was asked as to what were the main challenges of the referendum campaign, which failed to meet quorum and hence did not pass, as well as why sabbatical officers had not campaigned despite being mandated to in a previous council.
The Campaigns and Engagement Officer Saskia McCormack-Eiffe reiterated that despite the motion to allow sabbatical officers to campaign being approved by the returning officer, and then council, the returning officer later “changed their mind” and the decision to allow sabbatical officers to campaign was overturned. McCormack-Eiffe stated that at the time, there was no Independent Appeals and Disciplinary Board (IADB) to appeal the decision to. Three new members have since been elected to the IADB at the last session of SU council.
Question Regarding Late Grades and Missing Assignment Feedback
Speaking on an issue raised in a previous council, Education Officer Tia Cullen told the council that if they are having any issues regarding grades being delivered later than they should be, they should contact their module coordinator and if unresolved to get in touch with her. Council members had previously mentioned that they were not receiving midterm grades before taking final exams.
Officer Reports
All sabbatical officer reports and college officer reports were clearly passed. Notably, Graduate Officer Kylie McCardel announced her success in securing a waiver of an anticipated 38% increase on fees for a postgraduate course. Most officers also used their time to encourage students to run for their positions for the next academic year.
Items for Noting
Education Officer Tia Cullen informed council of a number of different surveys and focus groups for discussion that would be of benefit to the Council. She noted the QQI AI Survey, which offers an opportunity to inform future policy, which is open until this Friday, February 14. Cullen and Niall Daly spoke about the SAP T&L Student Soundboard Event that is taking place on Monday 17 February at 1pm in Newman E115. The event is a collaboration between Teaching and Learning and the Students’ Union and seeks to discuss students’ experience with using Brightspace and other virtual learning environments in UCD. Cullen then noted a meeting of the HEA Student Survey Focus Group set to take place at 12pm in the Harmony Studio on Tuesday 25 February.
SU President Miranda Bauer then noted a documentary screening that has been organised by the Union’s partners CATU on Thursday 27 February at 7.30pm in Mounttown Community Centre.
Motion not on Notice
Bring Go-Ahead Bus Routes Back into Public Ownership
The President tabled a motion not on notice regarding Go-Ahead Bus Routes, which is a motion that has been drafted in collaboration with Dublin City University (DCU). The motion would mandate the Campaigns and Engagement Officer to advocate for the transfer of Go-Ahead routes back to public operation, and would mandate the Sabbatical Team to engage with policymakers, students’ unions and community groups, most notably with DCU Students’ Union, ‘acknowledging the collaborative efforts by which this campaign was started and the implications for both DCU and UCD students.’
Bauer noted that 20% of the emails in her inbox in the past week have been complaints regarding Go-Ahead bus routes, a privately owned branch of bus routes, under the umbrella of the National Transport Authority, but not publicly funded like Dublin Bus. She noted that if nationalised, the bus routes should continue to be scheduled as they currently are, and referenced the unreliable S4 and S6 buses as the routes most affecting UCD Students.
Without much deliberation, the motion was clearly carried. DCU Students’ Union are set to pass this motion at their Council meeting on Tuesday 11 February in conjunction with tonight’s approval from UCDSU Council.
The next ordinary meeting of UCDSU Council is scheduled to take place on Monday 24 February 2025.
Contributing Authors: Adam Schmitz, Oisín Gaffey, Lucy Warmington