In the final meeting of UCDSU’s Council of the year, discussions were held surrounding e-bikes on campus, the upcoming constitutional referendum, and UCD’s response to UCDSU’s demands surrounding IBSA (image-based sexual assault).
Reporting by Alice Keegan, Mary O'Leary, & Orla Mahon.
In the final meeting of UCDSU’s Council of the year, discussions were held surrounding e-bikes on campus, the upcoming constitutional referendum, and UCD’s response to UCDSU’s demands surrounding IBSA (image-based sexual assault). Financial reports from UCDSU were also presented and discussed.
There were also goodbyes and plenty of reminiscence, with members of Council closing their reports with their favourite memory of the year.
Constitutional Referendum and By-elections
A referendum is to be held on the proposed new UCDSU Constitution. Voting in the referendum is set to take place from Tuesday 21st April to Thursday 23rd April.
Students will vote on the questions, “Are you in favour of the new UCD Students’ Union Constitution as proposed by Union Council?”
Alongside this, by-elections are to be held on the vacant College Officer positions.
Nominations are now open for the following positions on the Union Executive: Smurfit College Officer; Business College Officer; Social Science College Officer; Agriculture, Food & Veterinary Sciences College Officer, & Architecture College Officer.
These positions had previously received no candidates in the Executive Elections, which took place in March.
Nominations for the remaining College Officer positions will close on the 14th of April at 2pm.
University Response to Student Demands in Relation to Image Based Sexual Abuse.
UCD has put out a draft response to student demands in relation to the recent IBSA (image-based sexual abuse), which was prestented at council this evening.
The response stated that the University is seeking to learn from recent events, in order to ensure that their policies, procedures and protocols are as well adapted as possible to address IBSA. Speaking directly on the matter, the University stated it has been unable to progress an internal investigation as it was reluctant to do anything which would prejudice any criminal investigation, and it identified the Gardaí themselves as the “appropriate investigating authority.”
The response did note that UCD plans to establish a Coordination Group to oversee “all streams of action to take lessons learned from sexual violence and IBSA.” UCD referenced other points of contact for support and guidance, such as UCD Counselling Services. It also mentioned meetings between staff of the School of Medicine and students, a commitment to publishing a “University-wide response plan specifically for IBSA” in addition to an interim report on measures taken at the end of the academic year, and finally a review of its Dignity and Respect Training for employees and students, particularly in relation to handling issues relating to IBSA.
Reflecting on this, UCDSU President Michael Roche stated that there has been “a lot of good progress.” They are opening it up for feedback, and are not necessarily going to endorse it but may accept it. The Union have also written to the Oireachtas regarding the issue, and they hope to establish a universal best practice framework. Acknowledging that there was some wording which they would have preferred to be different, Roche stated that “frankly we weren’t going to fall out over language.” He noted that the overall agreement in terms of implementation, will be very similar to the Encampment Agreement, and it is up to the next year's team of sabbatical officers to oversee it.
Discussion Surrounding E-bikes
Current Electrical Engineering Stage 3 Class Rep and Engineering College Officer-elect,, Cian Spillane, presented an item for discussion surrounding the use of e-bikes on campus. Spillane cited the ‘reckless’ use of e-bikes on campus as a cause for concern, and enquired the sabbatical officers whether UCD had any plan in place to address this behaviour. UCDSU President Michael Roche noted that the concern hasn’t been flagged to sabbatical officers, but expressed that it would be something worth investigating. Roche noted that e-bike using wheelchair ramps could present difficulties for students with accessibility requirements.
Motion on Up-to-date Information on Financial Supports
Social Science College Officer Hannah Watson presented a motion on the accessibility of information related to financial supports on UCDSU’s website. The motion mandates the Education Officer and President to check the information on UCDSU's website about financial supports available to UCD students, to ‘ensure the information is easily accessible, extensive, and up-to-date’. The motion was carried with no speakers against.
Motion on Engaging Public Transport and Active Travel Projects in the Greater Dublin Area
A motion was carried on public transport in the Greater Dublin Area and its impact on UCD students. The motion, put forward by City Planning and Landscape Architecture Stage 2 Class Rep Mateusz Polinski, mandates the sabbatical team ‘to work with relevant authorities and other organisations such as AMLÉ in the pursuit of improved public transport services and active travel infrastructure for the UCD community’.
RateMyModule.ie
A presentation was given to Union Council by, UCD student Raffael Richter, who presented a new website he launched this past February called ‘RateMyModule.ie’. The website works similar to sites such as ‘RateMyProfessor’ which allows for students to search, rate, and review available modules at UCD. The rating system allows you to separately rate the workload, difficulty, teaching, fairness, and interest of the module which then generates into an overall average module rating. The modules also contain a short syllabus with the professor, the department it is in, the number of credits it is, when it is being held, and additional notes on any necessary technical requirements that students might need.
Richter expressed in his presentation that, “students shouldn’t have to choose modules without complete information”. His solution is this rating system, which is designed to be completely anonymous and easy to use so as to protect the privacy of its users. He expressed that this site will work on most electronics including phones, ipads, and computers.
RateMyModule also has an encrypted security system based domestically within Ireland. Anonymity and security seem to be at the forefront of website access and the Student Union’s concerns regarding this website. Currently the site has a reporting system for hate speech and slander which directly notifies Richter who reviews reports personally. There is also currently a privacy policy and profanity filter which is meant to block the possibility of such hate speech circulating. Modules on the website are specifically curated to UCD as the site is intended for UCD students only, so to sign up for RateMyModule you will need to sign up using your UCD Connect email account.
Moving forward, Richter plans on working with next year’s SU Education Officer, Jessica Klein, to promote and circulate this site for UCD student use.