On Monday 4 November, Council convened in the Fitzgerald Chamber for the third regular meeting of the academic term, excluding an emergency council that was held on Wednesday 23 November.
On Monday 4 November, Council convened in the Fitzgerald Chamber for the third regular meeting of the academic term, excluding an emergency council that was held on Wednesday 23 November.
Council opened with two presentations; one pertaining to UCD Student Feedback, and the other concerning the charity Movember. Following the two presentations, two motions were then presented.
Firstly, a motion to mandate the SU President and the Education, Graduate, and Business College Officers to lobby UCD to move the Smurfit Graduate Business School from the current campus in Blackrock to Belfield Campus was heard. The motion, proposed by Finance PG Class Rep Hemanand Chandrasekaran, also sought to repurpose the Blackrock campus “for more suitable faculties that can benefit from the peaceful environment it offers.”
Secondly, council was presented a motion from Welfare Officer Ciara Donohue, mandating that her position lobbies the university to make consent training mandatory for all students. The motion, which had previously passed a number of years ago but had expired, was resubmitted with a brief speech.
UCDSU Strategic Plan
The UCDSU Strategic Plan 2023-25 was brought to council as an ‘Item for Discussion’. The Strategic Plan outlines the long-term goals for the SU, ensuring continuity between rotating sabbatical teams on the key needs of UCD students, and restrengthening the Union in facing challenges for students in a post-Covid environment.
‘Class Reps’ vs ‘Class Ambassadors’
A further ‘Item for Discussion’ at council concerned the use of the official term ‘Class Representatives’ (Class Reps) to refer to those students elected by their peers to represent them in the UCDSU Council, as opposed to alternative terms such as ‘Class Ambassadors’ which are also widely used around UCD.
As the proposer of the item wasn’t present, UCDSU Education Officer Tia Cullen took the floor to express the necessity of agreeing to a common term in order to avoid confusion. A couple of members of council spoke for the maintenance of the term ‘Class Representative’, arguing that there were no real reasons to change the term and that its name truly described the role of these students: to represent their classmates.
UCDSU President Miranda Bauer, in view that the proposer was absent and considering that no more discussion was needed, triggered the Procedural Motion 9B, ending the debate and continuing with the following discussion topic.
Officer Reports
All campaign coordinators, part-time officers, and sabbatical officers reports’ were passed unanimously. Chairperson Niall Torris noted that Law College Officer Aisling Moloney’s report was submitted late. President Miranda Bauer noted the passing of the new ‘Self-Certified and Additional Considerations Policy’ at Academic Council, which will replace the current ‘Extenuating Circumstances Policy’.
UCDSU Charity Partner
As is tradition every year, UCDSU was expected to announce its new charity partner. This year's selected partner was the Student Housing Support Fund, a subsection of the UCD Student Assistance Fund that is available for low-income students who are paying rent.
UCDSU Welfare officer Ciara Donohue argued that the Student Housing Support Fund goals and values aligned with those of the Union, and that the fact that the charity actions directly benefit UCD students was a key factor in the SU decision to partner with them. However, Disability Rights Coordinator Shauna Young spoke against this decision, arguing that the new partner was “more of a fund than a charity”, and that many UCD students cannot apply to it as you must be a SUSI recipient, posing the question that another option should be considered.
UCDSU President Miranda Bauer stated that no charity partner was ever going to be able to reach every student, and that the direct effects of the Student Housing Support Fund in the life of students was noted again. After Bauer’s intervention, Deputy Chair Cillian Murphy triggered Procedural Motion 9C, referring the matter to the next meeting as an Item for Discussion to allow for further discourse on the matter.
UCD Students For Sustainability Funding Call
Council next noted a funding call under the Students for Sustainability Scheme.
The scheme, supported by performance funding from the Higher Education Authority. UCD, as one of Ireland’s Sustainable Development Goals Champions for 2024-2025, will award multiple parties between €500 and €1000 as part of a total allocation of €10,000.
The scheme is “open to many types of applications” which are led by students or societies, address a real-world sustainability challenge, and have a “strong potential for impact - on the student community, on campus, in the wider world”. Examples of potential projects include starting new initiatives on campus, running an awareness campaign or having a workshop with external speakers. Applications are due by Wednesday 5 February 2025 and will be subject to review by an assessment committee and an evaluation process.
UCDSU President Miranda Bauer spoke briefly on the topic and encouraged members of council to read the document. There were no questions on the matter.
UCDSU Budget
Chair Niall Torris updated council on UCDSU Budget proceedings, which were last discussed at council meeting two, where representatives overwhelmingly rejected the proposed budget and sought clarity on a number of issues from the Board of Directors.
The chair stated that he had sent on a finalised list of questions to members of the Board and to Chief Operations Officer of UCDSU David Fitzsimons, and that “three weeks were given to them to reply” ahead of Monday’s council meeting. Torris stated that he has received no communication from members of the board, but has spoken via email with Mr Fitzsimons.
As far as the chair understood, the board of directors delegated authority to draft the budget to Mr Fitzsimons and to the UCDSU Finance Manager. According to the chair, Mr Fitzsimons had intended to speak to members of council on Monday evening but was on annual leave and was unable to attend.
Torris expressed his deep concern over the budget matter pertaining to the lack of communication from the Board of Directors, stating “as chair of a governing body I’m very uncomfortable with this,” continuing, “I have a disconcerting feeling about this.” The chair concluded that he would continue to try contacting members of the board to encourage them to attend council.
All-Student Email Technical Difficulties
Campaigns and Engagement Officer Saskia McCormack-Eiffe informed council that the weekly emails from the union to the entire student population has been diverted to students’ spam folders as a result of a recent Gmail and Yahoo update. As such, she presented a new “Newsletter” for students to sign up for in order to receive Students’ Union updates whilst she works with UCD IT Services to try and fix the issue.
Splitting of Business College officer
Noted as an item for approval, Business College Officer Pearse Wang and Graduate Sabbatical Officer Kylie McCardel presented to council the proposed splitting of the Business College Officer role into two positions. The split would see the creation of a separate “Quinn Business College Officer” and a “Smurfit Business College Officer”. Already agreed by the executive, council voted overwhelmingly in favour of this split.
Contributing Writers: Oisín Gaffey, Lucy Warmington, Adam Schmitz, Juan-Carlos Luque López