DCU Students' Union (DCUSU) is a students' union representing Dublin City University (DCU) students, all of whom are automatically members, with elected leadership. DCUSU, which is governed by a written constitution approved by the members and DCU's Governing Body, is also involved in the provision of some services to students.
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Role
The primary role of the Union is to provide a representative channel between students and the University authorities. All full-time and part-time undergraduate and postgraduate students of DCU are members of the Students' Union.
All DCU students are members and students of Oscail (DCU Distance Learning) can join for a fee. Members of the Executive remain members for their term of office even if they cease to be students. DCU's associated colleges have their own student representation.
Constitution and referendum
DCUSU is governed by a constitution. The current (2008) revision of the constitution was developed from a major review in 1992. Amendments to the constitution may only be passed after a referendum of the student body.
The 2005 version of the constitution proved controversial, some believing it to contain loopholes and inconsistencies. The Constitutional Review Committee, a standing committee of the Union's Council, committed itself to a major overhaul of the constitution to be put to referendum in 2008 to coincide with the Union General Elections, and this being done in April 2008, the revised document was passed by a significant majority. This revised Constitution has since proved controversial and is under review once more with an aim for a new constitution to be put to vote in semester two of the 2009-2010 academic year.
On 23 February 2011, a draft of a revised constitution was submitted to the Union Council, which voted to accept the new constitution. A referendum of all Students' Union members took place that month on whether to accept or reject the new DCUSU Constitution. The new constitution was passed with 859 "yes" votes to 369 "no" votes and went into effect in the 2011/2012 academic year.
Union Council
The Union Council is the presiding body of the Union, to which the Union Executive (comprising the officers) reports. The Council is mostly made up of Class Representatives, normally elected at the beginning of the Academic year in annual elections. Each class elects at least two members to represent their views within the Students' Union and the University. Each class representative attends Union Council, approximately every two weeks during term time. The Class Representatives liaise with faculty convenors, and also sit on the programme boards of their degrees. The Union's officers are also members of Council. The Council elects a Chairperson and Secretary each year, as well as a Returning Officer and an Accommodation Officer, and members of certain committees, including the Electoral Committee.
Union Executive
The Union has an Executive Committee of eleven officers, who are elected on an annual basis. All students are entitled to vote for five of these posts: the President, Education and Welfare Officer/Deputy President, Campaigns and Information Officer/Vice-President, Equality Officer and the Clubs and Societies Officer. Only postgraduate students are entitled to vote for the Chair of the Postgraduate Committee and the Postgraduate 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, Education and Welfare Officer and the Campaigns and Information Officer are Sabbatical Officers while the other officers are ordinary students. The President and Education Officer (Deputy President) are appointed ex officio as members of the DCU Governing Authority, and the former sits on the University Executive while the latter also sits on Academic Council (where they are joined by the Faculty Convenors). The President, and other members of the Executive, also sit on a range of other DCU bodies, for example the Faculty Convenors all sit on the Teaching and Learning Committee within their own faculty. The Union's executive and administrative offices are located in The HUB, DCU's dedicated student centre.
The Executive is required to prepare a budget for DCUSU each year, which is submitted to Union Council for approval.
Funding
The Students' Union is funded through the Office of Student Life (OSL), which is overseen by an Executive, a committee made up of student and university representatives. The OSL employs a Manager of Student Life who, along with providing support to Clubs, Societies and the Students' Union, acts as the OSL Executive's Secretary. The OSL oversees the finances of the Societies Life Committee (SLC) and the Club Life Committee (CLC), as well as the Students' Union. The OSL receives audited accounts for the three bodies annually. On an annual basis (or in some cases every two years) the SLC and CLC and the Students' Union prepare Capitation Proposals, which are submitted to the OSL which awards funding to the three bodies based on their implementation of previous proposals and other factors.
National Representation
DCU Students' Union is a member of the Union of Students in Ireland. Having voted to disaffiliate in 2002, a referendum which took place in March 2013 where the student body had voted to re-affiliate with USI was declared void by then Students' Union President Paul Doherty. He questioned the constitutionality of the vote, alleging that the students' union executive did not run an information campaign for the referendum. This nullification was criticised by USI, which blamed a "small cohort" in DCU for the nullification. While a referendum on USI membership in February 2014 was passed by only one vote, an overwhelming majority of students voted to remain affiliated with USI in December 2016.
DCUSU was a member of the Forum for University Students' Unions (FUSU), a less formal consultative body whose purpose was "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." FUSU has been criticized for being an organisation in name only, as it has no contact address, no policy documents, no staff or elected officers and no constitution. In 2007 it attempted to gain formal recognition from the Minister for Education - this request was refused.