Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) has secured an additional student representative position on College Board to be written into the Higher Education Authority (HEA) bill.
Originally, the HEA Bill was set to decrease the number of student representatives on College Board from four to two and the size of College Board from 27 to 17, however, College was given special status that exempted it from this requirement in January.
Announcing the news on Twitter, TCDSU president Leah Keogh said: “BREAKING: we have been successful in our campaign to fight cuts to student representatives on Board, not only for @tcddublin but for Universities across the country! Confirmed in a call from @SimonHarrisTD, the government will amend the HEA Bill to increase student reps from 2 to 3!”
BREAKING:We have been successful in our campaign to fight cuts to student representation on Board, not only for @tcddublin but for Universities across the country!Confirmed in a call from @SimonHarrisTD, the government will amend the HEA Bill to increase student reps from 2 to 3! https://t.co/4hrfPZEbd4
— László Molnárfi (SU) (@TCDSU_President) June 21, 2022
In a statement to The University Times on the campaign’s success, Keogh said: “After months of lobbying, exhausting both local and national avenues, TCDSU has been successful in our campaign to fight cuts to student representation on College Board, not only for Trinity but for Universities across the country!”
“Confirmed in a call between Minister Simon Harris and SU President Leah Keogh last night, the government will amend the HEA Bill to ‘increase the number of student representatives from 2 fo 3 on all governing authorities, including Trinity’,” she continued.
“Crucially, the student voice will be stronger than initially proposed by the Bill on every university’s primary decision making body.”
She added that TCDSU would “like to thank Students for Change [sic], the Graduate Students’ Union and the Union of Students in Ireland for joining us in applying the pressure.”
In May of this year, College laid out plans to create a supplemental charter in an effort to retain legal autonomy from the government.
The supplemental charter will amend Trinity’s current charter to bring it in line with the law once the HEA bill is enacted.
In an email to the College community, Provost Linda Doyle said: “The HEA Bill, 2022, is currently making its way through the Dáil. The Bill focuses mainly on the role and remit of the HEA but also includes sections on the make-up of the Governing Authority.”
“Certain parts of the Bill are specific to Trinity and we are proposing to handle this through the creation of a Supplemental Charter.”
