Paul Glynn | Staff Writer
College is reportedly poised to reduce the amount of funding allocated to the Foundation Scholarship by 10% within the next year. In a document submitted to the College Board for recommendation in June 2013, the Planning Group in College said it was deliberating options for how to achieve a cutback of €222,500 on the cost of Scholarship for the 2014/15 academic year onwards. This document, Planning Group Report Number 9, also recommended the cuts to the College’s capitated bodies, as well as reductions in the cost of the College Postgraduate Awards and the Entrance Exhibition Awards for incoming students.
According to the Planning Group Report, a number of options were considered for how to “meet the required 10% reduction (€222,500) in the cost of Scholarship from 2014/15 onwards”, with the overall aim of achieving a targeted budget reduction in the non-Faculty and non-Chief Operating Officer area of €2,002,500 per year. However, the Planning Group did not come to a consensus on which specific options for cost reduction would be implemented.
Amy Worrall, Secretary to the Scholars, commented on the recommendation, saying that: “The Planning Group Report Number 9 suggests that the Planning Group sought to find a 10% cut in the cost of Scholarship, which to my knowledge was not taken any further as there was no consensus on how the 10% cut could be achieved.” She added that: “Unless the issue has been re-opened then the Scholars’ Committee are unaware of the matter, but would hope that the Scholars would be consulted if measures to cut costs were to be considered.”
When asked to comment, Bernard Mallee, Director of Communications and Marketing in Trinity, at first denied that any decision has been made to cut the scholarship fund. In further correspondence he was unwilling to give details on the options under consideration, but offered a quote from a Trinity spokesperson saying: “Trinity is examining a range of revenue-raising measures to continue funding Scholarship which has long been integral to our academic mission”. Details of this spokesperson were not shared as “it is not university policy to directly comment on material circulated to members of the Board for their consideration.”
The issue of Scholarship benefits has recently been under considerable scrutiny. At a meeting in May, scholars voiced concerns about the decision to move the free accommodation for students in their first month of Scholarship off-campus to Trinity Hall in Dartry, as a result in a shortage of campus-based accommodation.
Furthermore, in an interview with The University Times last September, Dr. Patrick Geoghegan, Senior Lecturer and Dean of Undergraduate Studies, claimed that although there was “nothing on the table” regarding reductions to Scholarship funding at the time, he did not rule out the possibility of such cuts in the future.
Geoghegan, who was charged by the College Treasurer’s Office with the task of reducing the College Central Funds (Cista Communis) – part of which subsidises the Scholarship – by 10%, stated in the interview that there was “no fair way” of cutting the Scholarship fund, “especially for those already elected, as promises were made to them”. He suggested that the annual salary of €253.95 would “not be the worst thing to lose” when assessing where to make cutbacks. Geoghegan also assured that there would be extensive consultation with Scholars, as well as meetings with the Scholar Committee, should there be any need for cutbacks in the future.
A number of cost-efficient measures have already been taken by College concerning the Scholarship. A fine of €30 for students who register for the Scholarship examinations but do not sit them and fail to withdraw before the withdrawal deadline was agreed upon by the Undergraduate Studies Committee in April, and the entitlement to free Commons now extends to lunch on Friday instead of continuing to the Friday evening meal.
Photo by Andrew Murphy
