Democracy For UCD Petition

I am signing this letter to outline some concerns we as students in UCD have. We note a lack of transparency in decisions being made by college authorities and committees that affect our lives as students. For example this year postgraduate fees were increased by 9\% and the rental level for on campus accommodation was increased also. Both these changes were brought in with minimal consultation of the students.

We understand that the Government cutbacks have put the financial administration of this institution under great pressure but feel frustration when funds are spent on what we would consider to be non-essential projects. This is understandable when there arent enough books in the library but large sums of money are being spent elsewhere on for example purple lights on the water tower. There are plenty of other examples I could mention but I think the point is made.

There are a number of things we are seeking in relation to the above.

An increase in library funding to 7\% of the total budget, the level that the library itself considers necessary to meet the needs of students, as set out in its annual budgetary submissions (and backed up by an independent report)

A freeze on Postgraduate fees

A freeze on rent increases for students living on campus

A referendum of students should be held in every faculty to determine whether students themselves are in favour of semesterisation.

Students Union Class reps and Student members of academic council should sit ex officio on their relevant Staff/Student committees. Where no relevant elected student representative exists a proper formal election must take place.

A commitment that the college authorities will not urge the government, in public or in private, to introduce student fees or loans; instead, they should join with the SU in demanding that the government reverse the cutbacks in and provide extra public funding for universities

The terms of any deal made by the college with a private company should be made public in advance of the deal, so that students and academics can judge if the deal does not conflict with basic principles

Transparency in all major decisions made by the college that affect students. IE All decisions made by college committees or authorities that affect students should be published before they come into effect.


The first four demands are self-explanatory but the last three need some clarification.

We are asking you not to call on the reintroduction of fees and to join us in really pressurising this government to reverse the cutbacks as you said we should in your first speech to students. We can get these cutbacks reversed if we are united but we cant unite with you while you promote the introduction of fees or loans.

We are asking for knowledge of deals with private companies because we fear the consequences of an education system that relies too much on private funding. If we had this knowledge we could properly assess how this private investment would impact on our education.

We seek more transparency in the decisions made because we lose so much time in trying to reverse bad decisions, for example last academic year we had unacceptable library hours for half the year while we fought to reverse these cuts.