Emer Gerrard | Staff Writer
Capitated bodies in Trinity have reportedly been offered a three-month concession on funding cuts by the College Board. The proposal would reduce the planned 5% cut in funding for 2013/2014 to a 3.7% cut, translating to a monetary reduction of the cut by €16,354. However, the offer does not affect next year’s budget, in which a further cut of 5% is to be made.
Vice Provost, Professor Linda Hogan, suggested the three-month concession at a meeting last week. If realised, this proposition would decrease funding for capitated bodies by €46,547 in 2013/2014 compared with the last academic year’s budget. However, a further cut of 5% is still set to be made in 2014/15. This would put the Capitations budget for 2014/15 at €1,150,920, leaving it a total of €107,130 lower than the 2012/2013 allocation.
President of Trinity College Students’ Union, Tom Lenihan, was unwilling to comment on this proposed concession, stating only that “there have been proposals on both sides and we are working hard to resolve the issue”.
However, he expressed his fear that the capitations cuts announced last term could cause “serious damage” to Trinity’s reputation, “both nationally and internationally”. Lenihan also warned that capitations cuts, which would affect all societies in College, would create a “high risk of losing alumni funding” and undermine the College’s Global Relations Strategy.
Furthermore, Lenihan stressed the detrimental affect the cuts would have on the student experience in Trinity and said that cuts could lead to “students dropping out of college”. Student bodies in College would struggle to provide “student services and support” and “the university will not be able form a coherent goal for the Trinity experience in the new strategic plan that is being drafted”.
The capitated bodies directly affected by the cuts include University Central Athletic Club (DUCAC), the Central Societies Committee (CSC), the Students’ Union (SU), the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU), and Trinity Publications.
Professor Hogan reportedly made the suggestion to grant a concession due to the manner in which the original decision was made. News of the cuts to College’s capitated bodies came in the form of an email last November, almost five months after they had allegedly been agreed upon by the College Board in July 2013. Senior Dean and Chair to the Committee, Moray McGowan, who sent the email argued that while he “had been advised” in the last academic year that reductions might be imposed in 2013/2014, he received “no formal notification of this decision” until 14 November last.
This caused consternation among many, including TCDSU Education Officer Jack Leahy, who argued that “the influence of Planning Group, which operates outside of defined Board and University Council structures without student representation” had led to a situation wherein the College Board did “not appear to have been given the opportunity to scrutinise the recommendation”. He went on to say that “This development in particular threatens the whole integrity of College governance.”
