Trinity College - Dublin

Trinity College - Dublin
Evelyn Dina & Nicole Vaughan

After an overnight flight from Boston into Dublin, our group arrived at Temple Bar Inn and had a delicious breakfast. We prepared to walk down the road to our first visit - Trinity College. We were greeted by Simone Cameron-Coen, Civic Engagement Officer, and later met with Aine O’Gorman, student at Trinity and member of the Environmental Society. Our group was excited to receive a tour of campus and eat in the dining hall while we learned about the history, traditions, and student activism of Trinity College.

Trinity College’s campus is centrally located in the heart of Dublin City, where it’s historical infrastructure is connected to the city through the college’s main arch. The college prides itself in a world class education, international partnerships, and research. In its 425 year span the college has still held on to many traditions across campus, from the college buildings, faith-based traditions, and even a daily “commons” for the college’s scholars. Through its tradition of scholarship and fostering a liberal education, the college aims to enhance learning experiences through providing various student opportunities within research, student societies, and community engagement.

Through our conversations with Simone, much of the discourse regarding Trinity College within the community revolves around the perception of the institution being elite, exclusive, or not necessarily welcoming for those within the city of Dublin. Simone explained that much of the discourse has been controlled by the historical religious tensions that existed between the Protestants and Catholics. Catholic families had clashed with the Protestant religion that existed at the forefront of Trinity’s mission, therefore isolating those who did not align with that faith.

Our group also had the pleasure of meeting Simone’s son, Jack, who is a student at Trinity in his second year. Jack spoke to some of the civic engagement work he participated in through the St. Vincent De Paul organization that collaborated with youth groups in the city. Jack and his peers participated in leading workshops and activities for the youth in Trinity’s surrounding city; one particular example was the collaboration of a pantomime that allowed the children to participate in the creation and production of a parody-like show for the community. It was obvious that Jack was building meaningful relationships with the youth of Dublin through his work.

Though we had little time to dissect Simone’s role on campus through her work as the Civic Engagement officer, her enthusiasm and dedication for community relationship building was important for a college that continues to wrestle with historical and current perceptions of elitism and exclusiveness. Because of such perceptions, it seemed as though there was still work that needed to be done in terms of creating new pathways for bringing the Dublin community to the Trinity campus. By providing civic engagement opportunities, and empowering students to connect with their surrounding community, it was clear that there were intentional efforts to further build and sustain a working relationship between Trinity and the City of Dublin.

Aine and Simone both described their experiences and knowledge of the Student Union. In Ireland, the Student Union (SU) is different than Student Government in the US. Trinity College has a Student Union and a Graduate Student Union, for postgraduate students and research students. Every student is automatically a member of the SU. Currently, the SU is holding a referendum to decide whether or not students should be able to opt-out of this automatic membership. In addition, we were surprised to find out that the student accommodations tended to be for students who were very involved with societies or the Student Union and mostly in their third and fourth years.

The biggest issue currently facing the students at Trinity is the implementing of €450 flat fee when a student has to repeat their exams. The students occupied the dining hall for two days; they blocked off the main gates of campus at one point and the Book of Kells as well. The college made this decision without the input of students. During this time, the provost was in the United States. After a phone call, the provost agreed to meet with students to hear their claims. Aine described the three demands of the SU: 1. Scrap supplemental fees; 2. End increases in the international fees; and 3. Have affordable accommodations (residence halls). While the protests have ended, the students are still upset that this decision was made without their input. The meeting with the provost is sometime in the next week.

We also learned about the Environmental Society through Aine, an active member. They have their own space in one of the buildings on-campus which was previously a women’s space in 1904. They host a variety of events on-campus to demonstrate the simplicity of being environmentally conscious. Some of the members also sit on the sustainability committee of the college. The sustainability committee has encouraged Trinity to stop investing in fossil fuels and create a plastic-free campaign, where students can purchase a glass at the pub and receive discounted drinks. At Trinity, the students are the ones holding administration accountable for the sustainability goals outlined in their strategic plan.

Our visit at Trinity was a great way to introduce us to higher education in Ireland. We learned about the power student unions can have, the rising concern for student fees across the country, and the importance of access to education. Through the connections made at Trinity, we were able to better understand access, student support services, student activism, civic engagement and how they influence and affect higher education institutions across the country.

University College Cork (UCC)

University College Cork (UCC)

https://www.ucc.ie/en/

Leanne D. & Megan A.

It was now day four for the group of graduate fellows from Merrimack College. In the early morning, we all indulged in a fabulous Irish B&B Breakfast at the Garish House in Cork. Sweet pancakes, whisky porridge, and tea galore! We all quickly ravaged our feast of plenty, afterwards we slowly meandered towards the University College Cork (UCC). At the entrance, we were greeted by Dr. Martin Galvin, the Research Support Officer for Community Academic Research Links (CARL). He took us on a brisk and speedy walk through the hogwart-esque campus. According to Dr. Galvin and many other guest speakers, they all spoke proudly of UCC’s humble beginnings and current progress. UCC began with 115 students in 1845, and now has an astounding student population of over 21,000. UCC is also very proud to be ranked in the top 2% of universities in the world and the world’s first green flag campus for sustainability.

We began our UCC journey by stopping off campus at the International Office. We were soon greeted by Karen McSweeny, the Visiting Student Coordinator for U.S. and Non-EU visiting students. With over 3,300 international students (15%), representing 103 countries, the international office aims to be a one-stop-shop for all international concerns. In Ireland, international students can be comprised out of three groups: Non-EU, ERASMUS, & Visiting Students. For student employment opportunities, only degree-seeking international students are eligible. Interestingly enough, Apple Inc. is the largest employer in all of Cork.

Post-arrival, international students will attend a three-day orientation and participate in Welcome Week for a smoother transition  into the academic, social, and immigration expectations. Looking for new friends? Try out the speed friendship night or join in over 100 different student-funded clubs and societies! While, academic integration is important. UCC tends to utilizes an lecture-style way of teaching with average classroom sizes of up to 200 to 400 students, which equates to less opportunities for social interactions. In addition to support international students, study abroad is also housed under the International Office. Depending on a student’s major, study abroad is compulsory by the 3rd year.

Areas for potential growth would be student assessment and communication. The international office currently does not have the resources to conduct a more formal student survey to gauge overall student satisfaction. It seemed that most student feedback was collected from word of mouth or from a ULink Peer Leader. Communication and visibility was also a challenge. The International Office’s student traffic has recently decreased, likely because of class registration which has been moved online. Also, locating effective methods of communication with the students has been difficult as platforms, such as SnapChat are not a reliable source for distributing information.

We quickly moved along with the next session from Ann King, the Athena SWAN Project Officer. The Athena SWAN Charter recognises and celebrates good practice in recruiting, retaining and promoting women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) in higher education. This was in reaction to the “Leaky Pipeline,” which is the progressive attrition of women at the senior stage of the career ladder. The Athena SWAN takes advantage of incentivizing with an award system and funding, both institutionally & departmentally. An institution must apply through self-assessment and a 3-year action plan and are in contention for three possible accreditations: Bronze (Identify challenges & action plans, Silver (Measure of progress), and Gold (Self-sustaining gender equality). Through the HEA’s compliance, all Irish institutions must apply and achieve an athena award by 2019 and an silver award by 2023. Ann King argued that this goal, while had good intentions, was not feasible given the amount of time and energy that had to implemented to even achieve a bronze status. At UCC, their 3-year action plan consisted of 52 actions, improving policy and practices for gender equality, and also improving the working environment. For example, pregnant female staff now have access to priority parking. The hope that this increased awareness towards equality and diversity will have an rippling effect for future social justice movements.

While Athena SWAN is a much need initiative, it is not without flaws. Even Ann King acknowledged the fact that the Irish charter needs to address equality more broadly, and not simply barriers to progression that affect only STEM and gender. Concepts such as ethnicity, race, or sexual orientation has not yet been fully addressed on a national or local scale within higher education.

Our third stop of the day was to the Lewis Glucksman Gallery, where we met with Fiona Kearney, the founding director, and Tadgh Crowley, the Senior Curator. This Gallery is located in the center of campus is an institution that promotes the discursive relationships between art and the academic disciplines. This Gallery is named in honor of Dr. Lewis Glucksman, an investment banker who was awarded an honorary doctorate by UCC for outstanding contributions to finance, banking, and philanthropy. With the support of his wife Loretta, they both supported cultural and educational projects in the United States and in Ireland. Loretta currently serves as the Honorary Patron of the Gallery. In her current role, Fiona has been instrumental in bringing attention and collaborative action to a wide range of issues, that she gladly discussed with us today.

The Glucksman Gallery focuses on Contemporary Irish Art that attempts to provoke thoughts through the exploration of cultural, social, and political issues. Recent exhibits have included Living Loss: The Experience of Illness in Art, Gut Instinct: Art Food and Feeling, and a new and upcoming exhibit entitled Outposts: Global Borders and National Boundaries, which we discussed more in-depth about today. This past year the Glucksman Gallery had three groups collaborate them, the Irish Traveller Community, a group of refugees seeking asylum, and a group of Staff members from UCC fighting for their right to chose abortion. These groups took part in special programming titled access programming, or programming encouraging those without tractional roots to take part in the arts as part of the National Strategy.

The Traveller Visibility Group and the Cork Traveller Women’s Network came together to begin the process of designing a logo that they hoped would capture the true face of their community. They strongly believed that this logo should capture the spirit, history, and aspirations of Traveller Women. The UCC Star Society (Student Action for Refugees) has been working with the Glucksman Gallery for the past nine months to develop programming for the children living in Direct Provision and Scout and Browning Groups. Student Volunteers and Staff members have worked collaboratively to develop workshops using multiple approaches and mediums. Finally, members of the UCC Staff for Choice group worked to create large scale banners and signage that will be used in upcoming marches on the Eighth Amendment. The UCC Staff for Choice group will be using their artwork at marches and gatherings for the referendum coming in May of this year. Going forward the Glucksman Museum would like to see their collaborative programming expand beyond the confines of the museum walls to include the entirety of the campus.

Following our visit to the Glucksman Gallery we made our way over to the UCC Student Centre to Meet with Dave Carey, who works with the Peer Assisted Support service (PASS) Office. ULink Peer Support is a service offered by UCC for all first year students that specializes in student counseling and one-on-one support. To begin our conversation Dave offered an explanation to how this peer mentoring system worked. At orientation, all undergraduate first year students are matched with a peer support learner who is a current UCC student studying in the same program as them. In the case of mature students (ages 23+), students with disabilities, and international students, peer leaders are assigned on a different basis, using different criteria. This leader offers guidance to the student through the orientation process, showing them what life at UCC is all about. Following the conclusion of orientation, the Peer Mentor, will continue as a confidential ear, providing practical, emotional, and social support, as the student acclimates to their first year at UCC.

In our discussion with Dave, we reflected upon the finer details of running a Peer Support Service. Currently Dave manages 350 volunteer mentors. These mentors go through an intensive two day training prior to Summer Orientation. During this training students receive instruction on how to support students through personal dilemmas, how to communicate proficiently, and how to proactively refer students out as need be. Prior to the start of Orientation, mentors receive an additional day of training. Responsibilities include, monthly one-on-one meetings or debrief with Dave, check ins with students, and reflective meetings among coordinators. While Dave explained extensively about the ULink Peer Support Services, he only briefly touched upon the Niteline Free listening service that is also staffed through his office. Leaving us to question the programs longevity.