This summer, Dublin Business School’s Students’ Union won their first small victory in the battle for autonomy from their college, Dublin Business School (DBS). The union, now in its third year, showed for the first time its ability to defy college management, after management rejected the request of the union to use a new logo.
Speaking to The University Times, the union’s current President, Dan Ford, recalls: “I’m not sure why we had to go to the college with a new logo, but apparently we did and they said ‘No’, so I just said: ‘Alright why don’t we just do it anyway?’ So we just did it.”
While this may seem a small victory, in the short history of the union it feels more like a turning point on the larger journey towards autonomy and the independence typically enjoyed by third-level students’ unions.
Just four years ago, in September 2013, a group of students were similarly rebuffed when they went to DBS management attempting to set up Ireland’s newest students’ union.
The for-profit American parent company of DBS, Kaplan Inc, rejected the idea of a students’ union. Instead, they compromised with the establishment of a students’ council for the group.
A lack of real support from the college, however, saw the resulting students’ council do very little in the way of change or improvements for students in DBS.
The union feeds directly into student services. It is independent but it works very closely with the college and with the management structure
Ford explains: “The company who own DBS are American, so they said you can’t have a union because there are no unions over there. So instead they set up this students’ council.”
The majority of the time, when this early students’ council went to college management with ideas or requests for funding, they faced rejection and, to a large extent, attempts to be influential were suppressed.
Although not officially classed as a students’ union, the members of the students’ council often acted and called themselves as such. Entertainments Officer of the 2014/15 Students’ Council, Peter Coker, recalls: “It was funny, we had 9,000 students but no one knew DBS had its own students’ union.”
According to Coker, the biggest hindrance on the council establishing itself within the college for the first two years was a small budget. Coker explains that whenever they sought assistance from the college, they were told: “No, because the budget isn’t there.” As such, the council struggled to promote its existence amongst the majority of the student population.
Just before the 2015/16 academic year, it was agreed with the college that the students’ council was to become a full students’ union, under the guidance of psychology student Kim Jennings. Speaking to The University Times, Jennings details that support from the college began to increase during her presidency and after “initial resistance” the college began to understand what was needed and what the union wanted to achieve. Slowly, awareness of the union amongst students increased and engagement picked up, albeit remaining low.
This year, ahead of the union’s third year, Ford, along with Vice-President and Welfare Officer Perri Reed, hope to transform the union into an effective support for students, while also setting a precedent for more autonomy from the college.
But this is difficult, when, according to Ford and Reed, the college – despite acknowledging the importance of having a union – view it as much as a service for the college’s management as it is for students.
Speaking to Shane Mooney, the Head of Student Experience in DBS, Mooney says: “The union feeds directly into student services. It is independent but it works very closely with the college and with the management structure.”
The union is not independent in a typical sense. Nearly wholly reliant on the financial support of the college, it seems that the more the union helps and works for the college, the more finance they get.
I think we are the only students’ union who interview their students
Ford gives one example as to how they are inhibited by this tricky balance, between getting finance from the college while working for students rather than the College: “One thing that we have dealt with a lot recently is the person who is in charge of marketing for DBS as an organisation. [They are] asking us to do little bits and help with Registration week and do things. That’s grand, but we are also running stuff for Reg week and doing stuff for students. We are giving our time to that first and then we will help if possible. Which is also a bit awkward because they are going to add to our budget if we help them.”
Being financially dependent on the college is not the only unusual thing about Dublin Business School’s students’ union. All current union officers are entirely chosen by the college management through an interview process. While Reed makes the case for a hybrid of an election and interviews, Ford disagrees and believes union officers should be chosen by who they represent: the students.
“I think we are the only students’ union who interview their students”, he says.
Ford describes the current system as “stupid”. He believes that the union’s officers are in place to represent students and should therefore be picked by students. Ford contends that, ultimately, the college “ pick people they know and like”.
But Mooney describes the current interview procedure as “a good robust process”, and believes that it works because DBS management has a “very good feel” for its students. By way of comparison, the vast majority of students’ unions choose their officers through democratic elections.
When asked if he thought it was bad practice for the college to choose the union’s officers, Mooney replied: “I wouldn’t necessarily agree. We’re not government funded. Our union don’t have any type of funding themselves so there is a lot of funding from the college. We’re just not at that stage.”
“Ultimately, we are a private college as well though. We don’t have the luxury of the universities, of publicly funded colleges”, he said.
If the union is serious about growth, it will have to tackle the issue of financial reliance on the college. DBS is a business where the bottom line matters. As long as the union is financially dependent, it will remain compliant with college demands.
As eager as management may be to improve the experience of their students through the union, the fact of the matter remains that substantial investment affects the bottom line, which Mooney describes as “very important” to the college.
“Ultimately, the profit and loss account is very important to us”, Mooney explains. “I can see us developing in time but there aren’t separate revenue streams for the students’ union. It’s too young at this stage to develop revenue.”
While current union officers get their tuition fees partly subsidised, Ford wants to see the college introduce more financial support and eventually full-time union officers instead of the resources currently being used by the Student Services Department.
Ultimately, we are a private college as well though. We don’t have the luxury of the universities, of publicly funded colleges
Currently, the Student Services Department has an intern and a Welfare Officer, who Ford feels can easily be removed and replaced with full-time union officers.
While Ford admits that these conversations have been had with the Student Experience Department, there is no guarantee that funding would be given to the union if these positions were to be left vacant.
Regardless, Ford maintains: “One of my goals, personally, is to get one full-time officer and one part time officer next year.”
Yet Ford’s timeframe for securing financially supported officers appears unlikely. Mooney seems to suggest that such a model is still a long way off for the union: “The union don’t have the funding to fund a full-time person, or someone taking out on a sabbatical. It would be nice to have but it’s not there yet.”
Now, as the union attempts to increase its ability to hear and respond to students’ problems, a new students’ council has been set up – in conjunction with college administration – to act as a sort of town hall meeting, where anyone can come and speak. Reed describes the council working as a “safety net” for the union, ensuring that no student’s problems go under the radar.
Reed, however, fears that, because the new students’ council has been set up in conjunction with college administration, administration will try and take too much control over it.
“We obviously want a back and forth two-way channel, but I think their idea is the college comes to the students’ council and then the students’ council deals with whatever problem the college has. Which obviously doesn’t suit us at all”, she explains. Instead, Reed wants the students’ council to be a tool for the union to hear the voices and issues of students, rather than it being a tool for fixing college’s problems.
Reed, however, fears that, because the new students’ council has been set up in conjunction with college administration, administration will try and take too much control over it
Mooney’s conflicting view is evident from his description of how he sees the new Students’ Council working: “The college would come with an issue, with a concern or with a proposal, and the students will give their feedback on that.”
Putting differences between themselves and the college aside, both Ford and Reed are looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead in supporting students and achieving more autonomy.
While a victory over obtaining a new logo may seem small, it is just another step towards achieving real separation from the college. Now, as the union looks likely to join the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) in the future, Ford, Reed and the rest of the union will become acutely aware of all the benefits other students’ unions enjoy from autonomy.
