Common Law Masters Student and Disability Rights Campaign Coordinator Kylie McCardel is running to be UCDSU’s next Graduate Officer. Her manifesto focus of accessibility and student support, coupled with her bold plans to fight for students, make McCardel a strong candidate.
26-year-old Common Law Masters student Kylie McCardel is running to be UCD Students Union’s next Graduate Officer. The current Disability Rights Campaign Coordinator hopes to put accessibility, student welfare and visibility at the forefront of the role as she seeks to take over from current Graduate Officer Marc Matouc.
She showed a strong and confident knowledge of UCDSU internal workings.
Having been the Union’s Disability Rights Campaign Coordinator for two years, McCardel has played a significant role in lobbying for the availability of lecture recordings and online class materials, as well as being heavily involved in the creation of UCDSU’s ‘Green Paper on Disability Reform submission’.
McCardel has played a significant role in lobbying for the availability of lecture recordings and online class materials.
McCardel states that there has been significant buy-in for lecture recordings from multiple colleges throughout UCD, but admits “it’s not school-wide”. “There has been some positive movement”, nonetheless.
The Green Paper proposed by the Irish Government, seeks to ‘Replace the multiple existing welfare schemes with a single scheme’, placing ‘Disabled people in one of three tiers, depending on their “capacity to work”. UCDSU submitted a proposal which concluded, ‘the Green Paper must be scrapped and a new proposal reflecting the lived experience of disabled people must be put forward’.
If elected, a priority for McCardel would be to “Lower the Fees” for postgraduate students. She references the “extortionate” tuition fees paid by postgraduate students attending UCD, citing the School of Medicine in particular, with many of their courses charging close to €30,000 per year. McCardel hopes to work with the minister for Education within the Irish Government, as well as with UCD President Orla Feely and Bursar David Kelly to try “negotiate a fee freeze”. She states that “Direct Action” is on her agenda for next year if she is elected.
She states that “Direct Action” is on her agenda for next year if she is elected.
Secondly, McCardel promises to “Fight for Postgraduate Workers” if elected. She believes that the current PhD stipends are “disgustingly low”, standing at just €22,000. The current stipend was increased by €3,000 in 2023, but it is“less than minimum wage” and is “still not enough money to live on”. The current government are “ignoring a very important group of people”, and McCardel believes that she is the candidate to “fight for what they want”.
McCardel believes that she is the candidate to “fight for what they want”.
McCardel seeks to “Increase Student Supports” if elected as Graduate Officer. One example of such support is “puppy therapy”. McCardel wants to bring in the therapy to help students with their exams and to allow them to “mentally de-stress” by interacting with “something that’s just so pure”. Going further, she hopes to collaborate with animal charities such as Dogs Trust to facilitate the therapy, which she hopes might also lead to an uptake in adoptions.
One example of such support is “puppy therapy”.
As well as puppy therapy, McCardel wants to extend the current undergraduate exam support system to the postgraduate field: “There are so many things that are different from every other University, so it’s important to extend that support to graduate students”.
The Smurfit Campus is an integral part of the discussion when it comes to Graduate Officers, as the Blackrock site is home to roughly 1,300 postgraduate students. If elected, McCardel would be in favour of dividing her time between the sites; “two days a week, for example at Smurfit”, with the remaining three days of the week spent in Belfield. A physical presence in the other campus is crucial for McCardel, as it would be the “best way to hear what people’s issues are”.
She believes the contributions of this year’s Graduate Officer Marc Matouc have been “invaluable” as she looks to build on the platform which he has created, hoping to “increase the amount of buses that come”. However, like many current postgraduate students, McCardel does draw attention to a lack of engagement with the Belfield-based graduate community, arguing that “the Graduate Officer does not have the remit of just one campus. You have to keep both campuses in mind to bring them into one”.
“The Graduate Officer does not have the remit of just one campus. You have to keep both campuses in mind to bring them into one”.
The welfare support which McCardel proposes would be replicated in Smurfit. For example, period products “are currently not available on Smurfit campus”, an issue which she would like to change. Similarly, making “trans tape” available on both campuses is “so important” so that students don’t have to make their way to Belfield for such essentials.
With regards to the conflict in the Middle-East, McCardel issues her strong support for the continuation of solidarity for Palestine. She believes that UCD, as an institution, “needs to take a stance”, and highlights the brilliant work done by UCDSU this year, praising the current Campaigns and Engagement Officer Miranda Bauer. McCardel would continue the work done by this year’s Union in pressuring UCD to cut ties with Israeli Institutions and would continue to support the practices of the BDS movement on campus.
McCardel issues her strong support for the continuation of solidarity for Palestine.
The current housing crisis in Dublin is adversely affecting the student population, and as such McCardel would push for “more affordable housing” on campus. Much like her attitude towards lobbying for tuition fee freezes, McCardel advocates for rent freezes and actively endorses the use of “Direct Action” and “sit-ins or occupying buildings” to get the message across. In one fell swoop, McCardel calls out the University as she says, “You have people spending thousands on business class flights from our own money, and we're not getting any benefits”.