Hannah Ryan | News Editor
The University Times has learned of a decision made by Provost Prendergast to house all newly elected third-year Scholars in rooms in Trinity Hall for the foreseeable future. The decision was reportedly made without any committee-based procedure, bypassing the Working Group on Residential Accommodation, nor was the Scholars’ Committee consulted on the matter.
This move comes despite assurances made to the Scholars last May that that their relocation to Trinity Hall would only persist for the 2013-14 academic year, while Houses 38 and 40 on campus were being renovated.
An anonymous Scholar also informed The University Times of an email sent by Provost Prendergast to the previous Provost in March 2011, criticising plans – which were then under consideration – to move postgraduate Scholars to accommodation in Trinity Hall. In this correspondence, Prendergast drew attention to the lack of consultation with the Scholars on the matter and stated: “This has important ramifications – and would remove one of the great attractions for scholars continuing their studies in Trinity.”
He continued, “It does send out a negative message, especially at this time of crisis when we are defending our core mission of education and research.
“While I understand well the need for accommodation for international students and the importance of offering rooms to attract them…does it need to be achieved at the expense of our best and brightest students?”
The Scholars have written a letter to the Provost this week protesting the most recent plans, signed by Secretary to the Scholars Amy Worrall and the Scholars’ Committee, following the creation of a sub-committee to discuss the issue.
The letter outlines the legal responsibility of College to allocate roughly 10% of rooms to students with medical needs and disabilities, as well as the requirement of ensuring that all accommodation allocation procedures are transparent. It further states that the only other “concrete or explicit” obligation in existence as regards accommodation is that towards Scholars.
Asserting that last year, “precedent was broken by moving newly elected Scholars to Trinity Hall”, the letter goes on to demand that any plans for Scholars “alternative to campus accommodation” must “go through either the Working Group on Residential Accommodation and/or the Estates Committee, with appropriate Scholar representation present.
“It has always been tradition, custom and practice to accommodate Scholars on campus,” the letter states. “Indeed, before campus accommodation was available to women, the only female students permitted to live on campus were female Scholars.”
Furthermore, the letter points out that housing Scholars in Trinity Hall deprives incoming first years of these rooms, and the “safe and enclosed living space” that they provide. This risks harming the college’s retention rates and thus its standing in international university rankings:
“Junior Freshmen, many of whom are living away from home for the first time…have a greater need for such accommodation. In comparison to Senior Sophisters who are more capable, after three years in College, due to their networks, friendships and experience, at finding safe and suitable accommodation, Junior Freshmen do not have this experience.”
Speaking to The University Times, Ms Worrall said: “College should not be looking at the Scholarship as a financial liability. They should be proud of it.”
“With the first application deadline for the CAO past, it looks like Trinity applicants are down 40%. We can’t keep banking on our reputation. We have amazing societies and sports clubs…we have this fantastic scholarship, and no advertisement of it,” Ms Worrall continued, pointing out that this is in contrast to UCC and UCD, which are successfully advertising significantly smaller scholarships (the Quercus Scholarships in UCC and the Ad Astra Scholarships in UCD).
In a statement to The University Times, Provost Prendergast said:
“Accommodation for academic, administrative and residential purposes in College is under increasing pressure. As the University expands and student numbers grow, the city-centre landlocked campus is unable to provide for all of these needs adequately.
“Specifically in relation to scholars, the decision to continue housing newly elected scholars in Trinity Hall was made as there are positive benefits such as the promotion of a community of scholars and increasing the diversity of students in Trinity Hall, in addition to enabling more final year students to have a chance at living on the main campus for one of their undergraduate years.
“It is a decision that will be reviewed again. I take the overall matter of the scarcity of student accommodation very seriously and I am pleased to announce that we have accommodation plans for 300 new student residents on the main College campus. The overall issue of accommodation for the growing student population will also be considered in a strategic review of student accommodation that will be conducted in the next academic year.”
While acknowledging the possible benefits of housing some Scholars with first- and second-years in promoting the Scholarship among these students, Ms Worrall was critical of the “disingenuous” way in which the Provost’s decision was made.
Photo by Gearoid Gibbs
