Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) has voted to increase its transparency by making College meeting agendas and minutes public.
The union will now push for records of meetings with sabbatical officers in attendance to be made available to union members in an attempt to increase accountability.
The motion was proposed by second-year PPES representative László Molnárfi and seconded by TCDSU President Leah Keogh.
Speaking in favour of the motion, Keogh said: “Transparency is obviously really important to the college and then, obviously, for us, and sometimes I wonder how to make the arguments we’re making in these meetings reach all of you guys. I think this is a really tangible way.”
She added: “The minutes of SU council are the only ones that are public at the moment. Many committees we sit on, and there are plenty – more than 20 hours a week – minutes aren’t even taken. I think this is a really good first step.”
Molnárfi told council: “College has become increasingly bureaucratic over the past couple of decades. Part of this is because of corporatisation. Part of this is that there’s an obfuscation as to how decisions were made in College and abroad.”
The motion itself said: “Oftentimes, it is unclear from the written report what the Sabbatical Officers’ said at meetings, if anything, and what the reaction to these interventions were. As such, Sabbatical Officers’ can not be held to account in some cases, and there is a lack of transparency.”
It asks that “the Sabbatical Officers’ lobby College for more transparency by advocating for the publication of all College meeting minutes online and for better availability of annex documents online for College meetings”.
This evening, council will also vote on whether to oppose a full return to in-person exams this semester.
A motion will be brought forward that, if passed, would mandate TCDSU to work with the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) and the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) to create a policy which would require all lectures to be recorded.
The motion would see the three lobby groups work to “find a solution for handing over copyright of recorded lectures to lecturers”.
