DCU Students' Union
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DCU Students' Union is the democratically elected body which represents Dublin City University DCU Students at College level.
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[edit] About
Its primary role is to provide a recognised representative channel between students and the University authorities. All full and part time undergraduate and postgraduate students of DCU are members of the Students' Union. The DCU Students Union has twelve elected officers who are elected on an annual basis. All students are entitled to vote for the President, Education and Welfare Officer/Deputy President, Campaigns and Information Officer/Vice-President, Accommodation Officer, Equality Officer and the Clubs and Societies Officer. Only Postgraduate students are entitled to vote for the Chair of the Postgraduate Committee and the Post Graduate Education Officer. Students are entitled to vote in the election for one of the following convenors (Faculty Representatives) depending on which faculty they belong to: Business Convenor, Science and Health Convenor, Engineering and Computing Convenor, Humanities Convenor. The President and Education and Welfare Officer and The Campaigns and Information Officer are Sabbatical Officers while the other Students Union representatives are ordinary students. The President and the Education Officer (Vice President) are members of the DCU Governing Authority. Cllr. Clare Daly, a Socialist Party candidate in Dublin North, is a former two-term President.
Class Representatives are normally elected at the beginning of the Academic year in the annual Class Representative Elections. Each class elects at least two members of the class to represent their views to the Students' Union and the University. Each class representative attends Union Council every two weeks. Union Council is the mechanism by which the Union Executive is run. The Class Representatives liaise with their convenors. The class representative also has the opportunity to sit on the programme board of their degree.
The current Sabbatical team includes Charlene Connolly (President), Eoin Byrne (VP Education and Welfare) and Mikey Robinson (VP Campaigns and Information). Their offices are located in The HUB, DCU's dedicated student centre.
[edit] National Representation
DCU Students Union is not a member of the Union of Students in Ireland as they disaffiliated in 2002.
DCUSU is however a member of the Forum for University Students' Unions (FUSU), a less formal consultative forum who's purpose is "To facilitate the exchange of information and discussion of ideas between the Unions, leading to the formation of common policy and the planning of co-ordinated campaigns." It should be noted, however, that in ten years of existence, FUSU has failed to plan even a single co-ordinated campaign and has no contact address, no staff, no website and is not recognised by the Irish government.
The Forum for University Students' Unions (FUSU), has been criticized for splitting the student movement into University students and Institute of Technology students.
There are currently no plans by the DCU Student Union to rejoin USI.
[edit] Students' Union Funding
The Students' Union is funded through the Student Finance Committee. The SFC is a committee made up of students and a University Representative. The SFC employs an Administrative Officer who, along with providing support to Clubs, Societies and the Students' Union, acts as the SFC's Secretary. The SFC oversees the finances of its two subcommittees (the Societies and Publications Committee and the Sports Club Committee) as well as the Students' Union. The SFC receives audited accounts for the three bodies annually. On an annual basis (or in some cases every two years) the subcommittees and the Students' Union prepare Capitation Proposals, which are submitted to the SFC which awards funding to the three bodies based on their implementation of previous proposals and other factors.
