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Su elections this year’s SU election candidates in profile
Above: education officer election candidates sharon ryan and dannii curtis exchange nomination signatures
Siobhán Carr p9
Ciarán Sweeney P20
Broadsheet P3
photo joanna o’malley
Cian Carton News Editor UCD President Professor Andrew Deeks has initiated an internal review process on the structure of disciplines within the university. This could see major structural changes as part of the reform in pursuit of the institutions objectives laid out in the UCD Strategy 2015-2020. UCD staff were sent an internal discussion paper, entitled “Defining Disciplines and Aligning School and College Structures.” The report provides a comprehensive review of the system of disciplines in UCD set forward to open discussion within the university about suggested reforms. The university’s academic structure is currently made up of a two level form, consisting of 38 Schools and 7 Colleges. The document, obtained by the University Observer, was referenced in the President’s Bulletin #49 which was sent out on the 13th January to all UCD staff members. In it, Deeks explains that Objective 3 of the Strategy 2015-2020 is to “Consolidate and Strengthen our Disciplines.” This will be carried out through “external comparison and internal discussion.” External comparison resulted in the creation of the 9 page discussion paper, and marks the beginning of a period of internal discussion within the university.
faculties set for mergers and reforms The discussion paper reiterates the target of having each discipline within UCD being ranked within the top 100 in the world by 2020. This will be achieved through “external benchmarking and internal discussion.” The document explains how UCD wishes to have a reputation as a research-intensive university. On a global basis, the document notes how research-intensive universities are seen to have traditional discipline names, supported by a flexible interdisciplinary structure which allows for innovation. It warns against UCD following the trend of “new universities,” which are seen to use “trendy” names for its disciplines. There is a strong emphasis on how the names of schools must be “understandable to a global audience,” for traditional disciplines are “readily translated and understood around the world.” The UCD College of Human Sciences is one of the largest colleges in the university, and incorporates the Schools of Economics, Philosophy, Psychology, Politics and International Relations, and Sociology, amongst others. Human Sciences has a wide variety of definitions. The report states that UCD’s definition of it means “Social Sciences +” and is described as
“very confusing to outsiders.” Similar concerns are aired about the College of Arts and Celtic Studies. It contains most of the Schools which offer modules as part of UCD’s BA in Arts programme. The term “Celtic Studies” is neither internationally recognised, nor used by some of the “most distinguished schools in the area.” The College of Business and Law could be set for a major change. The paper states that no leading UK university has a similar structure, while no Business or Law schools within the top 100 use this structure. Most universities have either a standalone Business School, or one within a College of Social Science. Of the top 6 UK law schools, three are standalone facilities, while the others are part of a College of Social Sciences. Placing the Law School within a new College of Social Science may be the most likely move for UCD. Colin Scott, Principal of the College of Human Sciences, previously served as the Dean of Law in UCD from 2011-2014, before being appointed to his current post. Structures which were seen to be of a conventional standard included the College of Science, and the Schools of Economics, Education, and Philosophy. Slight alterations seemed to be
the preferred options for the Schools of History and Archives, Chemistry and Chemical Sciences, and Mathematical Sciences. They could be brought into line with the titles of the Schools of “History,” “Chemistry,” and “Mathematics.” Individual members of staff, schools and colleges were invited to make submissions on the document, by discussing the “pros and cons of possible options” or offering alternative ideas. This process closed on the 16th February, and is set to be reviewed at a meeting of the University Management Team (UMT) on the 3rd March. The key focus in the report on external benchmarking centres on international rankings, with repeated references to the QS World University Rankings made throughout the document. In 2014, UCD maintained its position in 139th place in the QS rankings, the same as in 2013. Reporting on the rankings, RTÉ noted that they play a large role in attempts to attract international students. The QS rankings consider 6 main factors, and attribute a certain weight to each one. Academic reputation is valued the highest at 40%, while the student:faculty ratio and citations per faculty both carry a weighting of 20%. Employer
reputation makes up 10% of the ranking, with 5% going for each of an institution’s international staff and student ratios. In contrast to QS, UCD fell sharply in the Times Higher Education World Rankings, down to the 226th-250th bracket for 2014. It was ranked in 89th place in 2009. Deeks was quoted at the time as saying that “a table with big swings each year generates more attention than one that changes slowly. Yet universities, by their nature, change on a long time scale.” The document is evidence that his attitude has not changed, given that the Times rankings are not mentioned in the paper. Faculty reform is just one part of the major plans set out in the UCD Strategy 2015-2020. Announced on the 11th November 2014 by Deeks, alongside Jan O’Sullivan, Minister for Education & Skills, the plan set out ten key objectives to turn UCD into an institution that is know for its “world-leading disciplinary and interdisciplinary research.” It attracted national media attention for its aim of becoming a top 10 university for “global engagement” by 2020.
grading error could spell issues for ucd Roisin Nicholson - Staff Reporter UCD Registry has issued an apology to Politics students who received the wrong provisional grades from their semester one examinations. The issue emerged this week when an email was sent from the School of Politics and International Relations to potentially affected students. The error was expect to affect grades in three large politics modules; Introduction to International Politics (INRL10040), Introduction to Irish Politics (POL10010), and Comparative Politics: Continuity, Conflict, Change (POL20020). Professor Ben Tonra, head of the School, stated that upwards of 900 students were registered in all modules and that around 270 were affected by the fault. The error was largely due to a technical issue that could potentially affect the rest of the University. Tonra explained that the grading error was caused by a procedural issue that the school had faced for some time.
He outlined that the procedures for collating grades made use of two different IT systems, Blackboard and Gradebook, for which grades cannot be transferred directly. Instead, grades were exchanged manually, until tighter budgets meant that the School needed to implement a more effective system. This new system was first put into place for the previous semester. Tonra stated that the error resulted in a problem in “training and communication” with the new procedure. Furthermore, that they “experimented to try and deal with the problem we had been having,” and that the “experiment was not a success.” The fundamental issue is not limited to the School of Politics, with Tonra noting a university-wide problem with IT. He stated that it was “an issue we’ve got within the University with our IT systems not talking to one another.” Tonra
claimed that it was a problem that the Registry is seriously looking into. UCD Registry could not confirm the claim that it was examining integration issues between Blackboard and Gradebook. The website for UCD Registry describes Gradebook as a “web-based modular assessment grading entry system. It is designed to enable staff to enter marks and grades directly into the Banner Student Information System.” Banner, a system utilised by UCD staff members, contains all the details of “programme structures, courses and modules as well as student data.” UCD staff must request online access to it. Blackboard is a virtual learning system that connects staff and students, where learning materials and announcements are made available. A spokespersonal for UCD Registry said that the release of provisional exam results served two purposes. Firstly, it is there for students so
they “can take the action they need to take before the beginning of the next semester.” It also gives time to rectify the results, should there be any mistakes, in situations caused by “grade entry errors.” She said that the School of Politics had identified the grade errors and rectified them in advance of the final results. Speaking about the overall effect on grades, Tonra stated that he could not “imagine there would be any major deviations in the final grades,” which were confirmed last Thursday. He also revealed that steps were being taken to prevent such an error occurring again, which includs tutors manually going through all grades for their tutorials with the module co-ordinator. He said that this was an issue that was mainly confined to modules with large registration and many assessment components. Some students showed concern about a change in their Grade Point Average (GPA) before the final results
were released. Daire Campbell, a second year Politics student, stated that he was “a bit stressed and a bit worried” about his results going up or down, and the effect that this would have on his GPA. The grading error could become an issue for students applying for Erasmus and other exchange programmes, as stage GPA is taken into consideration. If the error results in a change in a student’s GPA they would then have to change their application. The closing date for applications was listed on the School’s website as February 13th, a day after the final results came out. This left affected students with very little time to alter their applications. This situation could affect the eventual degree that they are awarded, as students who complete Erasmus or another exchange scheme transfer their degree into an international degree.
February 18th 2015 Volume XXI issue 6 universityobserver.ie
FR John Misty The US Singersongwriter on the joys of life’s banalities
Rebekah Rennick otwo p14
Fashion & Style a look at the new spring/summer line from Hot mess
Lucy Coffey Otwo P21
Know your wine
the essential Student’s guide to wine david corscadden Otwo P7
Éilis Ní Dhuibhne
The celebrated writer on feminism the Irish Lanuage Patrick Kelleher otwo p26 february 18th 2015