Fiona Gribben | Senior Staff Writer
President of Dublin Institute of Technology Students’ Union (DIT SU), Glenn Fitzpatrick, has spoken in favour of the Heads of the Technological Universities Bill published earlier this year, which will permit Institutes of Technology to merge to form Technological Universities. However, Fitzpatrick has also stressed the importance of such developments remaining student-focused throughout and is currently planning a Technological Universities (TU) Conference to this end.
The Bill, announced in January, follows recommendations made in the Hunt report, which mandated the consolidation of the Institute of Technology sector and the establishment of several multi-campus technological universities.
Speaking on behalf of Dublin, Blanchardstown and Tallaght Institutes of Technology Students’ Unions, Fitzpatrick said the development will give students the opportunity to experience new world class universities while maintaining the ethos of the Institutes of Technology.
However, the proposed mergers have been described by some as “cost-cutting”, with the status of University being used as a marketing ploy to attract foreign students who pay much higher fees. Fitzpatrick said he is concerned with the recent focus on the merger being “good for industry and good for the economy”; while this will be a positive outcome of the process, he points to the fact that the mission statement of the TU does not contain a single mention of the word “student”.
He added, “We look forward to engaging intensively with [the] government and the Institutes themselves to ensure that the new universities – in terms of the courses and student services they will be providing – are of the highest possible quality.”
The date of the planned TU Conference has been pushed back from March 26 to an unconfirmed date in April, in an attempt to secure guest speakers who possess authority on the subject, are major stakeholders in the mergers, or will be responsible for the implementation of the Bill.
The proposed mergers have been described by some as “cost-cutting”, with the status of University being used as a marketing ploy to attract foreign students who pay much higher fees.
Fitzpatrick has identified Simon Marginson, Professor of International Higher Education at the Institute of Education, University of London as an ideal speaker. An expert in his field, Professor Marginson was first to coin the term “Technological University”. Ruairí Quinn will also be invited to speak but if he is unavailable Fitzpatrick hopes Joanna Tuffy TD, elected Chair of Education and Social Protection Committee, will be in attendance.
Dublin, Tallaght and Blanchardstown ITs have expressed interest in merging to form the Dublin Technological University (DTU). This merger will be the most straightforward and is likely to be implemented during Minister Quinn’s tenure. Other likely mergers include the Institutes of Technology in Cork and Tralee and also Waterford and Carlow.
The governance of the proposed DTU will be an important point raised at the conference. Fitzpatrick is adamant that the proposed university have a fully independent Students’ Union which would be fully resourced and a key stakeholder in the DTU community. The DIT President envisages a panel discussion on the issue with speakers including current Union of Students in Ireland President Joe O’Connor and representatives from the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and Teachers’ Union of Ireland.
Following the preparation of legally binding documents between each individual establishment interested in merging, concerning their assimilation into a single institution, the institutes that have agreed to merge will then submit an application to become a Technology University.
Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn has said that the legislation will pave the way for mergers and allow for “technology universities” to be become “new higher education institutions,” representing an “essential milestone in the modernisation and reform agenda for higher education institutions”.
Fitzpatrick is running for the Vice-Presidency of Campaigns in this year’s USI Officer Board elections. The main issue Fitzpatrick is tackling in his campaign is the reform of Students’ Unions; he is keen to ascertain how well resourced, influential and democratic individual unions are and, from there, put in place measures to improve the strength of the Irish Students’ Union movement overall.
