Trinity’s foremost governing body could have its membership cut in half under new proposals presented at College Board today, while the roles of Board chair and provost – long a contentious issue – could finally be separated.
The latest set of proposals from Trinity’s Board Review Working Group – which has been working all year on changes to the makeup of Board – suggests reducing the number of Board members from 27 to somewhere between 11 and 15, as well as the possibility of appointing an external chair instead of Provost Patrick Prendergast.
The group has also recommended the presence of more external members on Board – a contentious issue for some current members – with an “optimal proportion” as high as 40 per cent.
The working group’s recommendations could see the number of student representatives – currently four – reduced to just one in the case of an 11-person Board, and two on a 15-person Board.
Trinity published the set of proposals online today, and will take public submissions on the nature of changes that could radically alter the way Trinity is governed.
The working group – which includes Prendergast, as well as Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union President Laura Beston – says reducing the size of the decision-making body “would lead to a more effective Board overall, supporting more focused and interactive discussion”.
A smaller Board, the document says, would allow more time for greater engagement by individual Board members, and improve the “cohesion and effectiveness” of the body.
On the chairpersonship of the provost – an issue that has been controversial in the past, with Board members unhappy at how Prendergast ran meetings – the group says that “there may be an advantage in instituting a separate Chair of the Board role”.
But it cautions that the role of provost and Board chair are “intertwined”, warning that a new chair would have to “respect and support the Provost’s leadership and representative role within and outside the College community”.
In April, The University Times revealed widespread reservations among Board members about a previous version of the working group’s proposals, with members taking issue with the presence of more external members, and a smaller Board.
The proposals come as the government works in parallel on a major set of legislative changes that could change universities’ governance – proposals heavily criticised by several Board members last autumn.
Last month, interviews by this newspaper with several Board members – some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the contents of confidential documents seen by The University Times – showed many had reservations about how Trinity is seeking to reshape its governance.
Prof Eunan O’Halpin, the Bank of Ireland Professor of Contemporary Irish History and a member of Board, wrote in an email of “several objections” he has to the proposed changes – including “the assumption that an increase in, or perhaps a preponderance, of external Board members leads to better governance in any third/fourth level education institution”.
The problem with the proposals, said O’Halpin – who also published an op-ed on the issue – is that “they assume that outside members will be active and high-minded contributors to business, and that they will give expertise gratis and unconditionally”.
Another member of Board, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said their impression was that College is attempting to make the changes in order to placate the government.
At the time, Beston told this newspaper she will push to retain the four student positions on Board, even if its size is reduced.
“Student representation is very important regardless of the size of the Board”, she said, adding: “We need to have accurate representation of students at that committee. And if you don’t have that many people representing that many areas, you can’t do it properly.”
