Both mature and second level students participated in the day, with UCD staff present to answer questions before the CAO application closes on February 1^st. Programme stands were set up to give students course-specific guidance. Three sessions were held throughout the day – a morning session for mature students and two afternoon sessions for school leavers.

UCD Registrar, Prof. Mark Rogers, introduced each of the sessions, and this was followed by a presentation from Irish Times correspondent Brian Mooney and talks by UCD staff.

Student Recruitment Manager, Kathy Murphy, explained that the event was held to allow students to get first-hand help with the CAO application process. “A lot of times mature students want to come in, for a one-to-one and maybe have a chat with admissions, and that’s what really drove us and then we decided to open up the second and third session for school leavers.”

Ms. Murphy stated that the mature student session was “extremely well attended” and explained that there was no plan for the event to be held on a larger scale as the lower numbers “meant [students] could come in, sit down and go through their personal queries and they were being answered. That’s very valuable for people who have that type of query.”

Many students from outside of Dublin, as well as several international students, attended the event. “We were surprised, I suppose with one or two coming from both Europe and England because it was only really a session for an hour and a half … it wasn’t an Open Day as such.”

Overall, the pilot event was considered “very successful … and [we] would be encouraged to do it again.”

UCD held its annual Refreshers’ Day event on February 24^th. Ninety-five clubs and societies were represented at the event, which is a continuation of Freshers’ Week, held in Semester One, and is facilitated for the entire student body.

Chairman of the Societies Council, Stephen Whelan stated that “the event was well promoted, and in my opinion was the most successful Refreshers’ Day we have run here on campus. A number of societies are also actively engaged in this year’s Community Week at the minute, which no doubt helped us promote Refreshers’ Day to as wide an audience as possible.”

Whelan went on to highlight the event’s importance in UCD’s social calendar, “Societies and clubs are a vital part of the university experience, not to mention personal development. Refreshers’ Day provides our students from overseas, who are just starting in UCD, with an opportunity to experience firsthand the wide and diverse range of societies and clubs available to them during their time in Belfield. It is also a great chance for people who may have missed out in the first semester to try something new.”

Students who could not attend are reminded that they can join clubs and societies at any stage of the semester.

Health Promotions Committee cooking competition

The Health Promotions Committee (HPC) in conjunction with UCD Students’ Union and Student Advisors have launched the annual student cooking competition. The competition, which has been run for various years by the HPC, aims to promote awareness of ways of making cost-effective, healthy food, with various prizes, including entry into the Student Cookbook, which is handed out to all first and second year students at the beginning of term.

A cooking demonstration took place in the Student Centre on January 23^rd. The final submission deadline is February 2^nd, which ties in with a final demonstration and cook-off on February 14^th.

SU Campaigns and Communications officer Brendan Lacey has endorsed the idea, stating that “it’s something just to show students that there are actually quite healthy meals you can make on a budget and it’s particularly in their interest to come together with one or two friends and make a couple of dishes that are really good for you.”

Lacey went on to say that “we don’t do enough as a community in UCD and that’s something we’re working on, something I’ve always worked on, trying to create a little bit more of an open community feel around UCD.”

The competition is open to all students and staff.

UCD Ad Astra Academy

Sixty-five students have been presented with scholarships from the UCD Ad Astra Academy. The scholarships are awarded in recognition of exceptional achievements and talents in scholarship, sport, and the performing arts. The awards were presented by the President of UCD, Dr Hugh Brady, at an inaugural ceremony in O’Reilly Hall.

UCD Ad Astra Academy scholars receive specialised supports to develop their talents, individual academic mentoring, a programme of specific Academy activities and a bursary covering fee remission, reduction of on-campus accommodation costs, and a stipend.

“The UCD Ad Astra Academy offers unique opportunities and supports to a diverse group of high-achieving and highly talented students,” said the Registrar and Deputy President of UCD and Director of the UCD Ad Astra Academy, Professor Mark Rogers.

“The university recognises exceptional students when they join, as well as those who develop their talents while studying … Through membership of the Academy, students displaying elite potential to international standards in academic pursuits, sports or performing arts are encouraged and supported to develop their talent further.”

Ad Astra Scholarships are awarded to students when they accept a place in an undergraduate programme or as they progress through their studies at the University, based on subsequent performance.

400 students from various disciplines across five American universities will be given the opportunity to use free e-books as part of their academic studies. This pilot initiative, which has already proven successful in schools such as Indiana University, aims to provide a straightforward, cost-efficient way for students to attain access to academic reading materials.

The Associate Vice-President of the University of Virginia, Michael McPherson, welcomed not only the economic, but also academic advantages of using e-books instead of printed textbooks. Mr McPherson noted that through the use of e-books, “instructors can annotate portions of the text for all students to see, and can enable students to share their annotations with the class”.

Students involved in the scheme will be provided with e-texts formatted by McGraw-Hill, which can then be accessed by the Courseload reader from any computer, smartphone or tablet. The Courseload software also allows for students to print a hardcopy of the e-text for a fee, should they wish to do so. Should the pilot scheme prove successful, the universities involved will consider introducing this model on a permanent basis, with students paying a discounted fee for access to the software and the materials it provides.

The students taking part in this pilot scheme are currently studying at the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Virginia, Cornell University and the University of California Berkeley.

UCLA keeping theft at bay

In response to high rates of laptop theft at the University of California, Los Angeles, a new, free and updated form of security has been introduced to protect students from further theft.

The decision was made in response to statistics released by the University’s Police Department, UCPD, which stated that 160 laptops had been reported as stolen by students in 2011.

This security software is made up of a variety of new features, such as a GPS tracking system, which is activated and controlled by the individual student themselves. When a laptop is stolen, the owner can activate an alarm on the laptop, which causes a siren to resonate from the sound system when it is turned on.
The owner also has the option of locking down their laptop from another computer if they feel that their personal information is at risk.
The new software provides for laptops that are mislaid by displaying the owner’s contact information on the login screen, in an attempt to assure the return of the laptop to its original owner.

Though the new software can be downloaded free of charge by students and staff alike, the university will pay $5,000 a year for its upkeep. This fee is currently being covered by the Office of Insurance and Risk Management, who are expected to continue covering the costs for the next number of years.

Mr Adams is confident that as the number of users of the software increases, the less UCLA will be targeted by thieves.

UBC Vancouver seeks to strengthen its non-academic misconduct policy

UBC Vancouver has begun to implement new procedures to ensure that their students act responsibly not only in their studies, but also socially. The decision was made in light of the success of a new approach to discipline, which has already been implemented on the campus of UBC Okanagan.

This new approach to discipline bypasses the formal hearing procedure that exists under the current model, providing students with the opportunity to accept responsibility for their actions themselves. Students will now liaise with a representative from the Vice President’s Student Office, where they will be given the opportunity to consider ways to make amends for their actions. University Counsel at UBC, Hubert Lai, is confident that ninety per cent of cases will be capable of being dealt with under this model.

However, more severe cases will also be provided for under the newly created ‘President’s Non-Academic Misconduct Committee’. This committee, whose members consist mainly of students, will take on a much more investigative approach into the issues at hand than the previous hearing committee, which took on a ‘prosecutor – defender’ format.

Although the majority of academics at UBC have welcomed the new procedures, students have expressed concerns that under these new procedures, those who display more remorse will be shown more leniency. “Who knows if they will be stimulated to do exactly what they did again?”, questioned a fourth year student at the college.

It is hoped that the new policy will be formally introduced in September 2012.

UCD’s St Vincent de Paul society, in conjunction with the Students’ Union, is taking part in ‘Operation Christmas Child’, a worldwide project that began in 1993 to help disadvantaged families during the holiday season.

There will be a Christmas tree in the Student Centre, and one in the Library Building. On the trees there will be tags with the name, age and gender of a child, to indicate what type of gift would be suitable. Students will be able to take a tag and place a gift under the tree for the child in question.

Auditor of UCDSVP Colm O’Mahony explained that the presents “go to kids in disadvantaged areas and it can really help; not only will it help the kids, but also help reduce the financial burden of parents. Christmas is expensive enough, and if you don’t have a lot of money coming in this can really help people”. The gifts will go to children in the south inner-city area.

UCD Welfare Officer Rachel Breslin is overseeing the project. “I know that students are really willing to help … they love to help people that were their own age once, and have been through Christmas, and know what a special time it is for children”.

Extra-hour study spaces will be provided for students in the lead up to and during the upcoming Christmas exams. The plan is scheduled to commence on December 5^th and close on December 21^st.

The study area will be located in the Student Centre, in either the Astra Hall or the Blue Room, with approximately thirty-five seats being available to students from 11pm to 3am on weekdays and from 8pm to 1am on weekends.

The initiative was that of Students’ Union Education Officer Sam Geoghegan, who is “delighted” with the implementation of the extra study facilities, “hopefully students use it, it’s been a big push; it will be in the exam guide, which will be published in study week too, just to emphasise the importance of it”.

Geoghegan is currently in talks with the library regarding the possibility of announcing the facility alongside the regular announcements which notify students that the library is closing, “if you want to continue studying you can go on there and there’ll be toilet facilities, vending machines and security and safety”.

A member of the Student Centre staff will be present throughout the evening. The SU are going to be covering the costs of staff, “not all of the staff costs, they’re giving us a very considerable discount. Obviously the Student Centre are not going to pay their staff members into the all hours without getting a little back”.

UCD have formed a contingency plan for end-of-semester exams should extreme weather conditions, public transport strikes or a medical epidemic interfere in the smooth running of end of semester exams.

Students’ Union Education Officer Sam Geoghegan explained the reason behind their requesting such a plan be made, “the main point last year was the lack of communication and no-one really knew what was going on and it was such exceptional circumstances last year; if it happens again we want to be better prepared.”

According to The Contingency Plans for UCD Registry for End-of-Semester Exams, “a group of key staff should convene as soon as the risk of examinations becomes known, the examinations process and dates are considered under serious threat when the non-attendance rate of the examination hall rises above five per cent”.  The group would then decide if and which examination sessions should be cancelled, allowing for a minimum notice of four hours to students and staff “if practical and possible”.

It will be decided this week whether Students’ Union representatives will be a part of this group, although SU President Pat de Brún stated that “regardless of whether we sit on it, we’ll be privy to the conversation in an official capacity”.

The Queen Elizabeth Engineering Prize was announced on November 17^th at London’s Science Museum. The ceremony announcing the £1 million prize was attended by Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and Leader of the Opposition Edward Milliband.

Prime Minister David Cameron expressed delight at the Queen putting her name to the prize,  which he hopes “will carry the same stature as the Nobel Prizes”.

The prize, which is not exclusively for UK citizens, will be awarded every two years for “a groundbreaking advance in engineering which has created significant benefit to humanity”. President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Lord Browne, will chair the awarding trust.

Dean of the UCD School of Engineering and Architecture, Professor Gerry Byrne remarked on the significance of the prize, stating that it represented a “development in the effort to raise the profile of engineering in society. Engineering is the leading driver in the development of modern technologies which enhances the quality of people’s lives daily … this prize is enormously significant and a tremendous step forward”.

Through the recent publication of the University of California Office of the President’s (UCOP) results of a routine risk review of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) campus health centres, it has come to light that the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Centre has not been storing vaccines at the temperatures recommended by their manufacturers.

The vaccines, which were distributed between January 2007 and August 2011, were possibly rendered ineffective due to the way they had been stored, however, there is no reported cases of them being harmful. The vaccines were distributed to over 12,400 students, both past and present.

According to a University spokesperson, all affected students and alumni have been sent email notifications about the vaccines as a precautionary measure. The students in question have been invited to be re-vaccinated at no additional cost. However, they were all advised to seek advice from their doctor prior to the re-vaccination, to take a blood test and to confirm that they have not developed immunity from the vaccines. Many students are calling for UCLA to pay for the blood test along with the second vaccine.

The University accepts responsibility for the improper storing of the vaccines but could not confirm why the situation had not come to light sooner.

Students from the University of California Davis partaking in a peaceful sit-down protest as a part of the Occupy Wall Street movement on November 18^th were pepper sprayed at close range by a police officer in an attempt to break up the protest.

The police officer’s reaction to the peaceful protest in the University of California shocked onlookers, with over a dozen videos of the encounter being uploaded to the Internet within the day. UC Davis has recently agreed to cover the affected students’ medical costs.

According to a student who attended the protest, “I didn’t even hear a warning for the spraying, just by the students telling us all to turn around, and then we turned and we were sprayed, just like that. One of the cops was yelling at a guy saying he’s going to spray him in the face and then grabs him in the face and sprays him. They grabbed one of the protesters and sprayed it directly in his mouth. We were there peacefully, the tents were down, they had no reason to spray us”.

Following the actions carried out by police who were called in by UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi, Chancellor Katehi has been called upon to resign.

The release of a letter to the INMO from Secretary General Michael Scanlon regarding a review of the proposed pay cuts for 4th year nurses on placement marks what may be the end of a long struggle for both the nurses involved, and their resistant governing body. Activism began in February of this year to attempt to reverse the proposal to cut on-placement nurses’ pay from 200 euro a week to nil, a move which UCDSU Campaigns and Communications Officer Brendan Lacey described as “student nurses from UCD being turned into student slaves”. The original proposal was drafted by the previous government as a hurried attempt at cost-cutting, and was described by the INMO, according then Campaigns and Communications Officer Pat de Brún, as “Mary Harney’s parting shot”.

The letter from Secretary General Scanlon to the INMO reveals that Minister for Health, Dr James Reilly, concluded that undergraduate pay during the 4th year placement would be cut to sixty per cent of relevant staff nurse salary scale for the 2011/2012 academic year, to be cut a further ten per cent in the year following. Although this will no doubt be welcomed by some as a considerable improvement from the original proposal, not to mention a rare victory for student lobbying, it might more realistically be viewed as a still insignificant figure when placed in context of both the hours these students are expected to work, and legal liability placed on their shoulders.

In contrast to any other work placement, the 4th year nursing placement puts students in what can be an incredibly letigious position, in which they are required to take responsibility for the continous physical welfare of their patients. It is worth noting that these student nurses are effectively ‘students’ in name alone; they are placed under the same pressures, have the same responsibilities and work the same hours as their fully-qualified counterparts. Indeed, the very fact that they are forced to operate in a system in which under-paid students are given the same burden of care, and furthermore, the same accountability as qualified nurses, speaks to the quality and the priorities of the health system itself.

Add to this the mandatory night shifts, twelve-hour working days and the mammoth figure of a thirty-six week placement, and one would be forgiven for thinking that even the revised pay reduction is still an appalling cutback to what are, in essence, our frontline services. However, the argument must be raised; why should nurses get paid a weekly stipend at all? The final year is a placement, an essential application of real-world skills without which their eventual qualifications would be weakened. Hospitals are willing to take on inexperienced would-be nurses, for better or ill, and provide an educational service in exchange for the student’s participation and working hours. Why should nurses be paid to recieve education, without which they would not be qualified to work in their chosen field? What differenciates, in prinicipal, this stage of their education from a comparible final-year Science student working twelve hours in a lab? Does that too not constitute ‘slave labour’?

Perhaps the primary difference is that hospitals (with one notable exception) are external businesses, unconnected to the University or the USI. Is it unacceptable to have students (most commonly post grads) work ungodly hours for minimal pay only if their work cannot aid the university, or even bolster both the university’s reputation and its coffers?

Where this argument falls down, however, is in the incomparable nature of the work expected of a nursing student and any other ‘working’ student discipline. Pay structures, in every occupation, take risk into account when calculating reward. Not only is the work of our student nurses essential, admirable, and valuable in and of itself, it represents an infinitely more labour-intensive working day than not only any other student placement, but the majority of ‘real-world’ profession. Furthermore, the legal liability these young men and women must be conscious of represents a very real working ‘risk’ for which they must be fairly and adequately compensated.

As such, the proposed cutbacks, although an unquestionable improvement from the frankly insulting Fianna Fail scheme, still represents an inadequate remuneration for the young men and women who pursue this essential position, while targeting the vulnerable providers of frontline services that we so entirely depend on, but that the Government believes will be too preoccupied and too over-worked to be in a position to actively resist. As such, it is worth noting that as welcome as the amendment to the previous proposal is, it still represents a further burden placed on those from whom we already expect so much.

The newly approved Students Services Amenities Fee (SSAF) Bill will finally be put in place by Australian universities at the beginning of the 2012 academic year. The bill was set up to repeal the Howards government’s Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU) legislation passed by the Senate. This will allow Universities to charge students for their use of recreational facilities, services and amenities.

The charges for the services can go up to $263 per annum depending on the amenity in question. The previous system in place was run under the VSU legislation, which stipulated that universities had to fully fund the services which their students had been using. Many services, including welfare, suffered a major blow from this.

La Trobe Students’ Union President Adrian McMillan has expressed delight over the introduction of the SSAF, “after five years in the wilderness, student services and representation at Australian universities can start to be rebuilt”. Universities will negotiate with the Students’ Union through the Student Services Committee with regards to how the money shall be used. Sports facilities, as well as the University campus, will benefit from the SSAF.

English Universities Seek To Lower Tuition Fees

According to government sources, universities in England are considering lowering tuition fees for their students. The Office For Fair Access (OFFA) has revealed that approximately twenty-eight institutions across England have shown interest in reducing the fee to £7,500 or if possible, lower. Of these twenty-eight, eight universities have already submitted plans to achieve this goal.

The Chief Executive of university think-tank million+, Pam Tatlow, has stated: “It is hardly surprising that some universities are now considering amending their bursary schemes and that OFFA is seeking to ensure that this process is managed within a timeframe.” Any university with plans to lower their tuition fees must submit plans to do so before the 4^th of November deadline.

In April of this year, universities set their bursary and fee levels; at this stage, forty-seven universities announced their intention to charge the £9,000 maximum standard fee. However, the government changed the current system in place, with ministers telling universities that if they charged less than £7,500 admission fees, the universities could bid for a portion of 20,000 full-time undergraduate places.

Students who applied to UCAS courses that had an October 15^th deadline will be given the opportunity to change to a revised package or stay with their current one. All other applicants will be notified directly if their university of choice decides to change fees to allow them to change their UCAS preference before the January 15^th deadline.

Digital Public Library of America Complete by 2013

The Digital Public Library Of America (DPLA) created by Harvard staff members is in the midst of major developments. The operation is making quick progress and should have a full operational online database set up by April 2013.

The DPLA accepted two significant donations from separate organisations in Washington D.C. last week, and has established relationships with similar organisations striving for the same goal.

The Sloan Foundation and Arcadia Fund contributed $2.5 million each to the project. The total $5 million will cover the costs of the DPLA’s attempt to collect digitised works from various locations.

University Professor Robert C. Darnton has described the DPLA as ‘unstoppable’. As well as long-standing partnerships with the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institute the DPLA will work with the Europeana Foundation, which works to collect digitised works across Europe.

The Executive Director of Europeana Jill Cousins has stated that “by this combined effort on two continents, Europeana and the DPLA hope to promote the creation of a global network with partners from around the world’.

This year has already come to the inevitable point when sabbatical officers are coming under fire for promises that, for whatever reasons, have not been fulfilled. Stephen Darcy has been subject to harsh criticism after two, or approximately one and half, acts failed to perform at the ‘Cheesefest’ concert last month. Some of the students who voiced their disappointment on the Ents Facebook page complained that the compensation of a five Euro refund or two six Euro drinks tokens on the night was not adequate, and that a full refund or a guarantee of admission to the promised follow-up show should instead have been offered. Others resorted merely to name-calling.

The crude insults that come alongside genuine complaints and constructive comments are unavoidable in all walks of life, but access to internet forums and Facebook pages have invited an unfortunate deluge of the former rather than the latter. Former Entertainment Officer Jonny Cosgrove received a similar backlash during the furore surrounding last year’s UCD Ball, however given the greater number of students who felt hard done by, his online ordeal was of a more extreme nature and the comments were also painfully personal.

The internet boasts endless advantages for anyone wishing to communicate with the public, but it is also a distinctly double-edged sword. Anyone promoting a society or event to the UCD student body must be fully confident in the quality of whatever they are bringing to their attention, as any flaws or unfavourable aspects will soon be pointed out by the many critical eyes online, and a personal insult or two may be thrown in for good measure. Those without a suitably thick skin would be better off not putting themselves out there.

Of course if you put yourself in the public eye, then you have to be prepared to take the eventual criticism that is destined to come your way. Some of it will be deserved, some of it will not. Yet there is no doubt that many students take on sabbatical or extra-curricular positions without quite realising the intensity of the job that they have taken on. Just last week Stephen Darcy admitted that he didn’t realise how much criticism of Ents would have an impact on him personally, while Student Union President Pat de Brún acknowledged that he is finding his second sabbatical year “extremely challenging” and has had to put some planned projects on the long finger as a result of financial restructuring taking up more of his time than he had originally anticipated.

Yet there is a different sort of demand upon those who take on high-ranking positions within societies or the Students’ Union while still studying; they must balance their studies alongside their extra-curricular responsibilities. Getting involved in a society or club at UCD can be the most enriching element of a student’s college life, but it can also lead to the most stressful times of the year becoming even more acutely pressured.

Poor exam results are a disappointment only for a student themselves, or at most also for their parents and perhaps a particularly concerned tutor. When a society event or SU initiative fails to go as planned or receives a poor reception however, there is the potential to disappoint tens, hundreds or even thousands of students. There is also often the legacy of revered predecessors to live up to; auditors who managed to secure notably renowned speakers, captains who brought their teams to new levels of success, SU officers who championed national campaigns. This is not to say that the pressure of extra-curricular activities is greater than a student’s academic obligations, but it does entail a different, and perhaps unanticipated, sense of expectation.

Our Students’ Union, societies and clubs can only continue to succeed and improve with both the devotion of those who dedicate themselves to these organisations, and the continued surveillance of the student body’s critical eye. Criticism can be constructive, and is undeniably necessary, but those who are tempted to voice their discontent in a crude manner should first consider if their comments will do anything to improve the situation they disapprove of, or if it would be more productive to simply get involved and attempt to make the necessary changes themselves. Those who reach the highest echelons of non-academic activities however, must also consider whether they really are prepared and able to commit themselves to what can be the most demanding, but also most rewarding tasks that they may encounter during their time at university.

The Union of Students In Ireland (USI) is working with the organisation See Change and with Students’ Unions across Dublin to beat the Guinness World Record for ‘most people to contribute to a story’ in an effort to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.

On October 26^th, students from participating colleges in Dublin will come to Trinity College between 10am and 8pm to sign a line in a scroll donated by the Irish Times. The story will be one surrounding mental health, with each line being projected on a screen for clarity.

A Guinness World Record Official will be present throughout the day to monitor progress and notify the students as to whether their efforts were a success.

See Change is an organisation that works to reduce the stigma around mental health. The organisation will be helping to pay the cost of the initiative.

UCD Students’ Union Welfare Officer, Rachel Breslin, will be organising a time and place where UCD students who want to participate will gather before going in together.

Breslin stresses the importance of attending the event, “it would be great if we could get all the SUs in Dublin sending people because it shows that we’re all co-operating and that mental health is something we can work together towards”.

Asian Placements Offered to Irish Graduates

One thousand placements in Asian companies, colleges and language schools are being offered to Irish business students. Chairman of the programme, Fred Combe, likened the scheme to a Masters programme which injected Irish talent into Asia.

Combe believes Mandarin to be the “language of the future”, which is why those partaking in the programme will be intensively involved with the language for nine months. Beijing, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Malaysia and Dubai will all play host to Irish graduates.

This is part of the scheme to expand the Farmleigh Fellowship Program initiative; international companies have offered €400,000 and the Government has offered €200,000 as a part of the expansion.

The scheme is run through University College Cork (UCC) with Denis O’Brien, Liam Casey and Terry Clune all being key sponsors.

Co-founder of Singapore-based pharmaceutical company DPS, Gerry Creaner stated that the Irish “already know how to do business in Europe and the US, the next generation must learn how to do it in Asia”.

Businessman and sponsors, Denis O’Brien, echoed Mr. Creaner’s sentiments, stating that Asia was the “next United States”.

Keith Wood visits UCD

Students studying the Rugby Management Scheme of Sport and Exercise Management took part in a question and answer session with former Lions and Ireland hooker Keith Wood earlier this month. Woods’ visit marked the introduction of the first module of the Rugby Management Scheme.

Director of the UCD Centre for Sport Studies, Dr John Shuttleworth, explains the purpose of the programme, “this unique programme is for professional players seeking to upgrade existing qualifications, players planning retirement at the end of this season who wish to remain in rugby in a management capacity, and those rugby club management personnel wishing to enhance their management skill set”.

He continued to say that the programme, which is supported, amongst others, by the IRFU and Leinster Rugby, “also supports community rugby club management which relies on a range of personnel, both volunteers and professionals, who may wish to take advantage of one or more modules focused on their specific role within the club”.

The programme is compatible with Irish players as well as those from other nations, who want to develop their studies before or after retirement.

Following the 2011 general election, Katie Hughes examines the various education policies of the parties and argues that there is a new dawn on the horizon

With the general election and the surrounding hype coming to a close, there is a general feeling of what’s done is done and who’s elected will bring change. However, it must be remembered that these elected politicians are going to determine our higher-education futures as well as those of current second-level students.

Despite the student proportion of the electorate standing at only a fraction of that of the general population, it was held in high esteem by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) who went so far as to launch a national campaign encouraging students to vote in last week’s general election.

Given that the majority of the voters are graduates or simply people unaffiliated with the third-level system, they would not be voting based on a party’s educational policies; they would instead be voting based on the parties beliefs regarding taxes, the health system and unemployment.

With the expected outcome of the voting prior to the election being a Fine Gael-Labour coalition, it is those parties’ policies regarding education that were the most scrutinised in the lead up to polling day.

It was admittedly the Labour Party who initially abolished third-level fees in 1995, and who are still decidedly against their re-introduction – so much so that they signed a pledge with USI promising to not back down from this stance should they enter into Government. They continued to say that they will strive to bring the current registration fee back down to €1,500.

With a reformation of the means test and a proposal to reform the grant system by transferring the burden to the Department of Social Protection, which they believe will “reduce the bureaucracy associated with student support”, the Labour Party hope to make the system more equitable.

However, the policies of Fine Gael are different on all accounts. With the idea of completely abolishing the registration fee and replacing it with a graduate tax, the party aspires to make entry into third-level education a more feasible option for second-level students regardless of their background.

Fine Gael’s graduate tax plan is a new one, and one that, if introduced, will more than likely be met with various reactions from students of different disciplines. The proposed system would require a graduate, who entered university free of charge, to pay back 30 per cent of the cost of their degree through a special graduate tax. The money from this tax would be directly put back into the education sector.

The downside of the graduate tax plan is that the cost of studying different disciplines has various amounts: while a Business degree costs €8,100, a medical one comes to a total of €22,000. Paying back 30 per cent of €8,100 is significantly less substantial than the €6,600 medical graduates would be required to pay.

What a uniform registration fee does, is allow students freedom of choice when it comes to selecting their degree – the knowledge that they will have heavy taxes to pay if they choose a more expensive university pathway could deter students in pursuing their ideal career path.

Fine Gael are less detailed with regard to their policies on the grant system, simply promising a “more cost-effective” system through a Payments and Entitlements Service. Though if their initiative to abolish the registration fee comes to fruition, there would not appear to be much need for their proposed “one-stop-shop” grants system.

Fine Gael coming into power would also severely compromise the status of the Irish language in society, and hence requirements for entry into universities. However, they do state that Irish would only become an optional Leaving Certificate subject following “consultation” on several matters including the overhaul of the second-level curriculum and teacher training methods.

With a new government in power and the beginning of the 31st Dáil, we are most definitely coming into a period of transition and reform in all aspects of the education sector.

This can be referred to as the government of the students’ generation, with both USI and UCD Students’ Union informing their members of every aspect of the election from registration to the voting itself, meaning that there is no one but ourselves to blame if student voices were not heard.

With the first graduates of free third-level education beginning to be elected to the Dáil, a new beginning for third-level education and politics could be on the cards. But it is up to students to keep their voices loud and audible, as it is their future that this new government will shape.