The Higher Education Authority (HEA) Bill was passed by the Oireachtas last night.
Speaking today, Minister for Higher Education and Research Simon Harris said: “The higher education sector has been transformed since the Higher Education Authority Act, 1971 was first put in place 50 years ago.”
“In 1971, there were approximately 20,000 students in higher education and this has increased to over 200,000 students in the present day. Higher education has become more accessible to all sectors of society, and more adaptable to meeting the State’s social, economic, and labour market needs.”
The Department of Further and Higher Education states that “this legislation will significantly reform governance legislation for higher education”, allowing for “the reconstitution of governing bodies to strengthen institutional governance”.
Previous legislation dictated that the number of members on a governing authority be “not less than 20 and not more than 40”. Now, it “will be amended to provide for 19 member bodies”.
This will include a chairperson, chief officer, three student representatives, five other internal members and nine other external members. Previously there would have been a minimum of a chairperson, chief officer, three students, nine other internal members and six other external members.
In a Seanad debate concerning the bill, Senator Paul Gavan said that “there are many proposals in the bill that reduce the autonomy of institutes without any clear relationship with transparency or accountability”.
He added that he has “yet to hear or see a convincing justification for dictating such rigid governance structures, such as the mandatory 19-member limit on governing bodies”.
Senator Gavan also expressed that “previously, ministerial or external nominees have had a strong bias towards business and corporate appointments”.
Minister Harris responded, saying that “the purpose is to have an external majority and to bring a skill set onto a board. I do not think the Senator meant me directly but he said ministerial representatives tend to favour business”.
Previously, the new bill had been amended to have three instead of two student representatives on governing bodies and change these “student members” to “student union representatives”.
This was after Senator Alice-Mary Higgins said in a debate that “the bill refers to a student member on the boards of governance. There is a danger this will be a backwards step. The Universities Act refers to elected representatives of students’ unions.”
In response to Senator Higgins, Harris said: “I am clear in my policy intent that the representatives of the governing authority should be those elected by the students of that authority. Contrary to what I see sometimes on social media and read on posters, I have no interest in hand-picking people to be student representatives on governing authorities.”
He added that Leah Keogh, last year’s Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) president, “convinced me to change my mind about the number of seats that students’ unions should have on the governing authority from two to three”.
“That was a sensible decision with the rationale explained to me concerning the difference between undergraduate and postgraduate students.”
The bill will now be sent to the president to be signed into law.
