Meet Your VP Education Candidates 2023 - An Interview

“I know the Union's not gonna have a magic wand and just fix all my issues, but I know they can help me work through them.” — This Year’s MSU VP For Education Candidates are Focused on Highlighting Student Voices and Well-Being   

This week we sat down with your MSU VP for Education Candidates for 2023. We delved into some interesting topics and got to know a bit more about who is planning to represent you in 2023/2024. There are currently four candidates running; 

Cal Walsh 

Final Year Philosophy and Sociology  

Experience in MSU: None 

“I was motivated to run for VP for Education after seeing the incredible work done by our current student union in the Where's My Levy Campaign. I got to work closely with the Executive in the preparation and execution of the protests and saw the potential in the student body to be agents of change for the better. I believe that as students here pay the highest fees in the EU it is only right that their Union fight tirelessly to ensure that their time in university is valuable, stress-free, and sets them on a path for success.” 

Gavin Fanning 

Pronouns: He/Him 

Final Year General Science 

Experience in MSU: 2018 – current: Dare Senator, Commuter Senator, Science & Engineering Faculty Representative, Class Representative. 

“I decided to run for this position because I'm passionate about improving the education experience of all students in Maynooth. From my time in University, both as a Student and a Student Rep, I've seen the issues faced by many students and also helped to solve many of those issues, and think that in the role of VP Education I can make every student, be they a commuter, a student with a disability, a member of the LGBT+ community, or even none of the above, has the best time possible in Maynooth.” 

Hannah Keegan 

Pronouns: She/Her 

BA in History and English 2022, currently undergoing Masters in Irish History. 

Experience in MSU: Front Office Team, Finance Team, and Events Office. Awarded Maynooth Student’s Union Staff Member of the Year award in 2022. 

“[I decided to run because] the same issues keep arising from students, the lack of housing and affordable accommodation, access to student spaces, stress caused by on campus examinations. I want to see these issues tackled, and if not solved then at least improved so that the next generation of first year students do not feel like university is an impossible task.  I have the experience from working in the union and dealing with both academic staff and students to help them any way I can. This is extremely important to me and is something I want to continue doing. Having been the student who paid her way through university, I want to see students less worried and stressed about issues that should not be arising during their degree. Students can work part time and still get the degree they want. They should not be punished for that. The lack of postgraduate engagement. Having been a postgraduate student this past year it is evident that there is a need and a desire for more postgraduate involvement and activity, e.g. coffee mornings, postgraduate talks etc. Postgraduate representation, there is not enough representation for the volume of postgraduate students in Maynooth, I believe academic reps should not be limited to undergraduate students, and that each Masters/PhD should have its own representation.” 

Richard Flynn 

No comment received. 

The Interview 

 
CIARA: 
There are four kinds of roles within the MSU paid executive position, so why Education? 

 
HANNAH: 
I suppose I worked in the student union for two years now, so I've worked alongside the current VP Alex, and then I was lucky enough to be kept on last summer. So, I was here when Niall was also VP Education and the role is just, I think it's really front-facing, you know, you get to deal with students first-hand. You're speaking to them directly. And I suppose as well, I was an academic rep in my third year. So, then that gave me the insight into what the role was like. 

And from someone who's done an undergrad and I'm, I'll be finished my postgrad in June. Like, I've seen both sides of the university structure, like the undergraduate and the postgraduate. And I think there's just so much more that can be done to make education more accessible. Because I think at the minute it's, there's a lot of pressure on students and no matter whether you're doing an undergraduate (…) or a postgraduate degree, there is a lot of pressure on students financially, mentally and, and I think there's a lot of things that could be changed ... 
So I think it's just, it's one of those roles that there's always going to be work to do in it. The job will never really be finished. 

 
RICHARD: 
Yeah. So (…) my name is Richard. I'm a postgrad in the Math Department. I've been Maynooth for four years and I've been involved in the SU for, for most of those as, as an academic rap as a senator and other small ways. And that's been a lot of fun. I feel like it's probably the thing I've gotten out of, one of the things I've gotten out of university the most is that experience. And the friends I've made from that. And then I mean, one of the things I've gotten from that is I've seen the work of previous VP Educations. (…) They've shown the ways that they can sort of, you know, sort of make changes and help people in small ways. And I I feel like that's something I really want to do. So that's why I decided to, to run for this position. 

 
CAL: 
I think education can sometimes maybe fly under the, fly under the radar a little bit. I think it's the point at which the university executive really chooses to like, put you under their boot, and in terms of, like Hannah mentioned, class sizes, mental health facilities on campus, exam layout. I really think the university tries to take advantage of us. (…) And because they think they can get away with, kind of bread and circus? Given us a common room, fight with us about student buildings, I think education is the space that, which the fight needs to be taken back towards the university. So that's why I chose to run. 

 
GAVIN: 
So yeah, why I decided to run for education. So again, kind of like Calum, I was looking at all the different roles and I know, you know, I was considering Welfare because it is something that I’d consider, as an access student, to be a field I'd kind of be interested in. I realized the issues I wanted to fight for weren't just Access Student issues. They were all-student issues. So, stuff like accommodation, which is a major crisis now that affects students, uh, you know, commuters, that affects trans students, that affects all like, LGBT students, and it affects, you know, students in different disciplines because they need to be in at all hours. And so, I realized that was major issue I wanted to fight for it because I saw it was affecting students like me, and students who weren't like me.  And found stuff as well like, blended learning was another issue where again it affects access students and students who I've worked a lot with in my like, six years in the college, but it affects all students because without blended learning, if you have a flat tire, you know it might not be a thing of oh, you know, I have a disability and I'm sick and bad every day, but that's still an issue that's still stopping you from coming to college. And it shouldn't be a thing of, we should only support students when, you know, it's life or death / they won't be able to make it to college. It should be a thing of (…) if someone has any issues we should be able to support them, and I think that's why I wanna come to education because I think really there's a lot of issues. I think I can hopefully work to help alleviate those issues. 

 
CIARA: 
Yeah, 100%, I think that's so many people's issues. 
I think you all have a very general common theme, your passions are very much aligned, which is nice to see. 

Now our next question is kind of something that we're asking all candidates (…) but you know you all have experience of some sort kind of working within the Union.  

What does the word union mean to you personally and what do you think the word union means to the student body?  

 
RICHARD: 
Yeah, I suppose (…) obviously the way I've experienced it is, it's, you know, it's the sort of collection of students like working together, trying to help each other. That's what it means to me. That's what I, that's what I hope to accomplish. I suppose when you talk to the average students, I guess if you ask what they think of the Student Union that, you know, the most common answer is going to be, you know, the place where they go to get drinks, get cheap food, that sort of answer. And you know, I mean this, I think there's a benefit in that and that we could, I think as a, you know, as a Student Union, we really need to sort of lean into the fact that (…) they are students, they are, (…) in  probably kind of cringy way, but a more fun side that we kind of need to lean into to, like, get students engaged, involved and sort of, you know, that bringing that sort of side I think is important to like, get students engaged as well as working on these more sort of, uh, straightforward issues. 

 
GAVIN: 
I think [what] Richard touched on there, like lectures and students, I think very much, I've been involved in the Union since 2017. It's where, kind of, when I was speaking earlier, a lot of the issues I've seen from working in the Union, I've run into all kinds of students, and I've seen that we all have these similar issues. And for me, I think, to kind of put one word on it, family, for me, because I think when you're involved in the Union, when you kind of come to the Union, you realize that it's there for you. It's a collection of students like Richard said. But I think it's that we all have each other's interests at heart, and we're all trying to help each other and (…) we're all trying to make sure that we all kind of have the best experience in college, and that we can get through college in a way that's, I think, enjoyable and feel safe, I think, is a major thing. I think a lot of students when they run into issues have a lot of anxiety, get, like, bad mental health, issues developed. And I don't think college should be a place where those issues are developed. And I think the Union, for me, has always been a place where we've tried to make sure that that kind of stuff doesn't happen and it's helped me in that case, anytime I've kind of, I've been suffering with mental health, due to college the union's always been a place I know I could rely on in past years with past officers, past Education Officers I have known, if I'm ever in trouble I can go to them and even just talk it out. You know, I know the Union's not gonna have a magic wand and just fix all my issues, but I know they can help me work through them. I think for the average student again actually Richard kind of hit it on the head, in one regard, that it is a place that provides a service. And I think we do provide a lot of good services in, like, the Info Center and the foyer. I think it is a thing where the other things we do are kind of invisible to the student body. And I think that's something I know (…) that I do talk to my students about, my constituents about. But I think it's just maybe not entirely in the heads of the student body, and I think it's definitely something we need to work on, promotion of that, and maybe even work more on that. I think, you know, in terms of getting out there, in terms of speaking for students, in terms of, almost, highlighting issues to students, I think you know there's like protests coming up, actually around when voting is, around International Women's Day. I think mostly we need to be promoting ideas like this to kind of almost reach out to students and let those students who just see it as another building on campus know that we are there to be this group, this family, that if you come to us, we can help you and, I know again, I'm using the word family because [it’s the] first word that came to mind. It is a bit cringey, I will admit. And, but I think that is really something we need to do, (…) we need to kind of reach out to students and let them know we're here, and let them know that we're already fighting for them. It's not a case of you have to come to us, it's [that] we're already doing so much behind the scenes and we need to almost bring that out from behind the scenes to let them know we're already fighting for you so much. We've got your back. 

 
CIARA: 
Yeah, that's really very interesting. I love that point of, even if people don't know it, you're there. Definitely a nice way of putting it. 

Hannah, do you have anything you want to add? 

 
HANNAH: 
Yeah...I have to say I, I would wholeheartedly agree with Gavin in the sense that, when you asked the question, I immediately thought family, and like, (…)'ve also been here for five years. And in my undergrad and I’m nearly done my postgrad, and I've worked in the Union for two years and I was a member of, like, I was an Academic Rep, so I've seen it first-hand, and I have to say like, it is a big family. The Union is a family, but it's not just the officers that represent it, you know. While the four officers are out on the front lines dealing with the students, it's also the full-time staff that are in the background that are doing the day-to-day runnings. You know, the likes of Paul in Events, and Sandra and Louise in Finance. And like, most students I know from working with her would describe Anne Marie as the light of the front office. You know, she's the front office manager and she really just embodies the Union. And I think that it is nice to have a safe space for students. For students coming in in first year, looking at the Union and they should be able to think oh, the student union is a safe space. I can be myself. I can meet friends there, you know.  They have to know as well that their officers, you know, if elected, they are just students themselves. So they're able to relate to them on that level. And I'm a tutor as well with the Department of History. And I have to say like even with my tutorials, I don't teach them the way a lecturer would teach them. You know, I'm very much, I might be a bit too soft, but I'm very much like, for the students and I can listen to them and I can relate to them because I've been in their position and I think the Union is that for students. It's a safe space and a collective body where people from all different backgrounds can come and share their same experiences. You know, majority of the time, it's always, as Gavin said, financial or mental health and or especially educational needs. You know, you just might come into the union for a coffee morning and most people will talk about the same problems coming up, you know, lecturers not putting up slides, class sizes being too big, not enough engagement, particularly for postgraduate students, there is extremely, like, very little engagement for postgraduate students. So I think that the Union, while it represents all students of the university, it's for me personally, it definitely is just one big family. 

 
CAL: 
Well, I obviously completely agree with everyone, and about like the family aspect of the Union, I think that's incredibly important, especially when college is a very transitional time for people. Kind of, you might start living on campus. You might move to, like move into Maynooth to attend here and that can be a scary prospect, so to have a Students' Union on campus behind you, where it is kind of like a safe haven, kind of like a place you can go and you know you won't be turned away, you know you'll always be accepted. And I think, actually, what is shifting is, in the past year, I think the unions should and did take on an adversarial position towards the university, which I thought was great. 
We talk constantly about the issues that affect students: mental health crises, accommodation crises, even like engagement, like Hannah mentioned engagement in their lectures, that is a crisis for students. Students are being left behind by their lectures, by their lecturers, by lecturers not putting up notes, not recording lectures. Students have to work part time. I think the Union should adopt a much more aggressive position towards the university to fight for the rights of students. I think the most successful, you know, union action I saw all year was the Where's My Levy? campaign, which of course, like, being heavily involved in, I saw like the intricacies of how you kind of amass a people power movement, speaking to everyone on campus. That was like the highlight of their year, that was, that was a time when the Union showed that we are not just a bar. We are not just a place that you do an office quiz or a coffee morning. We will actively go out and stand up in the face of the university for your needs, for your desires, for what you deserve. And so I think if whoever gets elected into the next Student Union continues that adversarial position, continues that fight, I think so many more students are gonna become engaged in the Union. We'll see the Union as a much more valuable body than maybe they do at the moment. That it’s just a place to come and drink and yeah. Yeah. But like, like I said, I agree (…) with everyone's points of that, the Union being a a place of care for all the students. 

 
CIARA: 
Yeah, absolutely, [that] kind of leads me into, I guess my next question. It's very interesting that everybody has this general consensus that it's like a family and that you're fighting for students. We're currently hearing these two kinds of things from students that we're talking to at the moment on the elections and it's either that, you know, they don't know what's going on in the Union and that for some, especially certain minority communities and the Black community in Maynooth, feel like they're not included and represented and seen by the Union.  

So, how do you plan, if you're elected, to make [the SU] more inclusive, and to make it more transparent in its communications to students? How do we make students see that it's about more than a cheap pint and food? 

 
HANNAH: 

I might jump in there.  I think obviously social media is a huge thing now. It is massive in our generation and that's just a fact. Like even talking to people about campaigning, a lot of people have moved their campaigns online since COVID and there's not as many people going around talking to people face-to-face about the issues. So, social media engagement is a huge thing, and I think more needs to be done with it. Definitely. You know, we've seen in the past year the effects that Tiktok can have or, not even Instagram as much anymore, but posting videos about what the Union is doing. What is happening? and keeping students up to date. But I do think there has been a bit of a divide since COVID between student engagement  and the Union, and I think it needs to be not advertised more but pushed more. You know, we need to get out there and talk to the students, the students and clubs and societies need to know that they can use these spaces, that the Union is a place for everyone to go, you know, that they can use the bar, that they can hold their AGM's or their weekly meetings, you know, in our spaces. I think just from working in the front office for the last two years, the number of students who come in and they don't know that they can book a space here or they don't know that they can hold a coffee morning, you know, and while this information is on the website, it's not getting across the students. You know yourself as students, you're not gonna go looking for things really. If it's there in front of you, fantastic. You'll see the information. But otherwise, you're not going to see about it or hear it and I think that there needs to be a push for that. You know, we need to advertise our services more and we need to show that we are an inclusive body for all the students representing the students as students, because we are students at the end of the day ourselves. And we know that unless we see the posts and unless we see the activity, then we don't know, we don't see or hear about it at all. 

 
CIARA:  
100%. 
Yeah, I was a big fan of MSU Vlogs when they did that, loved those. Bring them back! 

GAVIN: 
I think definitely, it's a case of not only spreading the message, but repeating the message, I think, is something we need to do. It's that repetition. It's not just throwing up one post about it being like, hey, guys, that happened. It's constantly reminding students cause, like there's 15,000 students, you need to kind of keep repeating the major messages to make sure they hear them and kind of even maybe finding more forums through which to do that, because I think, especially if it's, like, with minority groups, it's finding a forum through which they interact because maybe we're just kind of looking at it from one dimension. And I will admit that that the current executive is [a] very white executive. And so I could definitely imagine that that's an issue that's not being covered, like, as well with myself. If I wasn't there, I'm, like, the only registered access student in the executive (…)  there's [only] one other. If I wasn't there, there'd only be that one other. So I can imagine then that disability issues would not be covered. 
So definitely, it's like trying to get in touch with those groups and get in touch with representatives from those groups, activists from those groups and ask them, hey, how can we communicate with you? You know, you kind of go to the leaders of those groups and be like, hey, how can I interact with the people you represent? 
Because I know a lot of times when it comes to disability issues, people will come to me, like at Senate meetings and at executive meetings and be like, oh, Gavin, what you think about this from the access standpoint? And I'm genuinely not elected to represent them. I represent science students, but still, it is the case of not just being stuck in those boundaries of oh, we have to kind of do things XYZ, like it is using our resources and kind of using our heads in a way and being like, how can we better reach out to students, and so I think definitely, kind of, going forward, and in terms of spreading the word, it needs to be on the ground as well. I know even with our officers, they're very busy. I know that's even why we have part time jobs. So you have people like me who are in lectures, we're on the ground, who can talk to students. I think it's just finding more ways. And I think even working smarter, not harder. So kind of utilizing that. I know we're members of USI which has a referendum that's coming up. If we stay a member and see if we can reach out (…), if they could help us spreading messages. 
I think a lot of it is going to be on the ground and kind of making those connections, that network of students. So, I think that would probably be the take I have on how we can better spread the message. I think it is just kind of really putting the foot down and really just keep talking about it, because even I've had situations on campus where someone's been like, oh, you know, I was involved in a situation where a student thought that the SU ran the Access Office, and I had to kind of correct them on that. So it is like, in fairness, with students coming back from COVID, they have a very warped perception of what campus is. So I think it is just teaching students and kind of letting them know like what campus is and just even if it is stating the basics, you know, you might hear [questions where] you'd be like sure everyone knows that, but there's 15,000 students. It's only increasing. So I think we really just need to be, like, you know, we're trying to cover all students. 
And if that means, you know, saying the same things a couple times, making sure that message gets out there, I don't care, because it means every student knows that we're fighting for them, and we're successfully fighting for them. You know, we got those demands met. So yeah, I'd say that's me on that point. 

 
RICHARD: 
Yeah, I agree with what the others have said. I think one thing I want to add, something that I would like to work on, is sort of pushing how the, the Academic Rep system can be used to as a tool for communicating [with] students. You know, we've always seen Academic Reps as like, a key part of community, of you know, the VP for Education can't know about every issue on campus, but the Academic Reps can see those issues and communicate back up to the faculty members and to the VP. But the question shouldn't just be going one way. 
And we, we've seen that with, over the last couple weeks, with the the launch of the student survey, there was a real mass mobilization of active reps to get the word out [about] that and tell students about that. And I think hopefully we'll see something similar with the, the elections next week, pushing that to students, letting them know that it's happening and that's, that's a really powerful tool that we have, and we can really see how that can be used in different ways to communicate what the SU is doing out to, out to students, out to the, the members. 

 
CAL: 
I think the, not, obviously, the sole solution, but I think one of the solutions to maybe engaging, especially with minority groups on campus, is fighting for their material conditions, fighting for an improvement in student spaces. I, I know Where's My Levy took up pretty much the whole of last semester. And to have those demands met was great. If those demands were extreme enough, still up, still up for debate, still up for questioning that we could have asked more of the university, but regardless. Above Phoenix, above the Phoenix Café when I was in first year, pre-COVID, that was a predominantly Black space, [and people of colour] that was then ripped away from them. I didn't see huge amount of fight about that, like there was there was some, like, inklings of what are we gonna do about it? How are we gonna fight back after this? Where's My Levy, completely understandably, took that over but I think the material conditions for students on campus are the single most important issue. When you're talking about raising engagement and awareness, the services that are provided by the student union are great for the people who spend more time around the student union, [but] how do you get more people to spend more time in the student union? It's that you’re seen to be fighting for their cause. You’re seen to be working towards improving their material conditions on campus, and it's not about, like, having a common room with 10 microwaves. It's about, like, talking, changing the education system in, in Maynooth to be more student-friendly. It's changing the mental health spaces on campus where we can accommodate students’ issues that arise from their material conditions, from the cost of living, from the cost of, you know, food. And I think there's more to be done for the poverty of the student [than is] currently done by the SU. I remember when I was in college on my Erasmus, there [was] essentially a food bank opened by the SU where they would take in food from local shops that was (…) just about to expire. Maybe, like, it was late in the day for a bakery and students could come in who might feel a little bit ashamed that they, maybe, can't afford food. Student Unions should provide improvement in students’ lives in the most basic ways because you can't engage politically, you can't enjoy, kind of, a coffee morning in the Student Union if you can't afford to get to college. 

 
CIARA: 
Yeah, 100%, for sure ... those little changes make such a difference. So, maybe now we're gonna get into some more specifically education questions... 

 
So, what does it mean to you guys to have ‘students as partners’ in their education? 

 
CAL: 
I can come in first. I know I've been kind of hanging around waiting last, I don't want that to be, like, kind of a pattern. 
For students to be partners in education, I think, is even too small of a step, students are, students should be single priority when it comes to the academic side of the university. I and everyone that I'm speaking to on campus, the first thing that they say to me is we pay their wages. 
And why? Why are we not accommodated? 
Over everything else, lecturers are providing a service, [for which] we are paying the highest fees in the EU. Students should not be partners with their lecturers and their faculty heads in education. They are the people paying for a service, paying for a crucial service, paying for a life-changing service, and for them to not be accommodated by all lecturers, by all faculty heads to the furthest extent, I think is, is nothing short of criminal. 

 
CIARA: 
Yeah, some faculty are actually also students. It's a bit of a dual role. I think that's something that's missed is that it's not a total divide between staff and students. And you know if we're getting into it, people also deserve equal working, just conditions as much as we deserve proper student conditions. So how would you say that for students who are already in a way, are being partners in their education like, Hannah, I believe you said you were teaching some classes.  How would you kind of then define that? 

 
CAL: 
For students who are also teaching and also students at the same time, I think they deserve a Union as quickly as possible. They deserve a union to be able to express and recognise and engage with, not a kind of, like, just, we're together and we can kind of rally and lobby for different things as, like, students of all lengths and breaths deserve representation on campus where they can go to faculty heads. The line, of course, is being blurred between, kind of, student and teacher at the moment. But it all goes back to the governing authority of the university, the people at the head of the non-Student Union side, dictate down towards everyone who works for them what the conditions of the education will be. I think providing postgraduates with a proper, well-funded, strong Union will only help the other undergrad students or maybe some postgrads who don't teach, will only help them in having their having their needs represent properly. 

 
CIARA: 
Yeah, thanks for that. Hannah, I know you were gonna say something? 

 
HANNAH: 
I, my career (…)and just because I am a tutor myself, like I was lucky enough that I got a scholarship to come back this year. But that just covers my fees. (…) So, I'm working then the rest of the year and I don't get anything else for it. It's just my fees done and then all the other costs, like bills and rent, everything adds up. But I have to say, from being a tutor, it is fantastic that the university hires tutors that are students, because again, I can't, like, reiterated it enough, but we are students representing students. So, like, every departmental meeting that I have with the Department of History. I have 24 first year students, I teach two classes a week, and they're a great bunch of students, and I was lucky enough to keep some from semester one who also decided to pick me for semester two. So, I was very happy with that. But there [are] open channels of communication, now that's just my experience with the history department, and also the English department. But there are open channels of communication there. I did have a student come and tell me that they did not have tutorials as a part of their course, and I think this is a huge issue because, like I tell my students, it is none of my business if they don't go to their lectures. If they do go to their lectures, that is entirely up to them. But tutorials are the one place where they will benefit the most from you, learn the most information. Again, it comes down to class sizes being too large and that is something that students and the university need to look at, because I do feel that if you're sitting in an English lecture with 400 students, you're going to tune out at some stage. You're not going to take in all the information, and if the lecturer is just clicking past slides and not really putting up information on them, then you're not taking, coming away with a whole lot from that. Whereas when I see my students in my classes, there's only 12 of them and I make them talk and they do, they benefit really well from it, and you see it in their grades. But I do think there is a good level of communication between us as students and the Department of History.  But that is just one perspective (…) But I do think as a tutor it is good to have that representation because I've been an undergraduate, I've been in their shoes, I've been the broke college student more times than I can count and I still am. And you're relating to them on a level that the lecturers can't. So then when you go to a meeting and you sit there and you say, well, my students are highly concerned about having to doing an on-campus exam after going through COVID and, for me myself, I have a health condition and coming back from COVID, an on campus exam was absolutely like, out of the question, because sitting in an exam hall that may or may not have people with COVID in it, you know, and there have been two or three hundred of you, it's just, for me, it's a bit absurd. But I do think that students as tutors are a good representative body and it's good to have that experience, like the amount of emails and talks you have with your students about what can be done, what can be changed, and then, if you have been an academic rep or you have been a tutor, you have that relationship with the academic staff that you can talk to them about the issues and you're not going in as a total stranger, I suppose. 
Sorry, that was very long winded. 

 
CIARA: 
Do you guys have anything to add there? 

 
RICHARD: 
Yeah, yeah, I can definitely relate to all of, a lot of, a lot of what Hannah was saying. I'm also a postgrad. I've done a lot of tutoring and lab demonstrating for first and second years and I've worked with lecturers in, across different departments. I will say I think something I definitely have noticed from that experience is that I see a lot of lecturers just, they treat students, especially the first years, they just think of them as children basically. 
There's a real lack of respect for their students and you know, whenever your students have issues, they meet the lecturers. There's always sort of suspicion with students. It's like, I've missed this lecture is like, [the lecturer thinks] you're probably just skipping it. If I couldn't get the assignment done, [the lecturer thinks] you’re probably just too lazy to do it. You know, I've, I've worked with a lot of students. I spoke with them, and I found that's just not the case. Like students know they are here to get an education. But college is a lot of work, and you will always run into issues. You know no student will get to their entire degree without, you know, something will come up and they can't go to a lecture, they can't get an assignment done. There is always going to be a need for, you know, to get help. And there's a real issue where lecturers just, like, treat students that way, it discourages the students from going to get that help. We need to see a real change in how lecturers treat those students, in order for your students to, uh, to thrive. To get through their degrees. 

 
GAVIN: 
Yeah. And I think definitely this is a really important issue. I've had a lot of students and, even before the campaigns, or just over the years, students are scared. If I missed lectures, and then if I asked for help, all the lecturer is gonna do is judge me, I'm not going to get that help or, if I miss an assignment, it's all over, I'm just going to get kicked out. It's like, you know, we're talking about, we're paying the highest fees and how, you know, students (…) feel like they're not getting the service they deserve. And a lot of cases aren't getting the services they deserve. If you, like all students, are almost being held for ransom, that they're giving up this money and then they're like oh, I need to go to this, and terrified to step out of line. And the thing is, they're not stepping out of line. There's a million issues to legitimately miss a lecture. You know, I've had mates in wheelchairs who, you know, use a motorized wheelchair and the battery died and they couldn't make it to class. You know, I've had to walk to class and I use the stick a lot of the time. I've literally had to hobble in on the stick, barely drag myself in. Luckily, I had a good relationship with the lecturers and I know that they'd understand if I was, half an hour late to class, I was coming from whatever, I could make it, but I know a lot of students would be like, no, I couldn't go. No, they'll be upset with me.  

I work with the Access Office and work with incoming students, I see in a lot of meetings (…) that kind of secondary school mentality of being like, yeah, this person is in charge of me, this person is there to discipline me if I do wrong, has always very much permeated through because I think now, even though students are, like, are final years now and I think still, there's that worry there. And it was there before COVID. And I think it's only been amplified, students being terrified to look for support. So, I think it is something we need to reach out to students [about]. Let them know, if you're having trouble, come to us, we'll talk it out. I've had very good experiences with lecturers where I have reached out to them as I have been struggling and they have understood, and I will acknowledge what Richard has said, (…) it is from my experience (…), you know a little bit of experience with every department in Science and a little bit less experience with the other faculties. But still having seen it either through word of mouth or kind of working with people. 
Most lecturers, nearly all lecturers are like that. They will help you. They will support you. But I have heard a number of bad experiences people have had and I think really what happens though, is that it goes up, it's at the higher levels and it I don't think it's malicious. I think it is just the viewpoint that the university has towards education. I would agree with Cal where it needs to be a thing of, we need to be in charge of it. We are paying the wages, but I think it is just a different viewpoint, I think that kind of gets permeated down. And even, I think, when you apply that viewpoint, it can be very, you know, mechanical. It can be very hey, you need to meet the quota. And again, there's a million reasons students can't meet quota, and it doesn't just have to be the fact that they have lives outside of college, college can't be full time. So we have to work part-time to afford college. (…) Really just being from Waterford, where I'm from, that's such a big commute up. You have to either get accommodation, which is absolutely horrific to try to get, or you have to commute for multiple hours. And it's the thing of literally just being from a bit far away from the university, you can't come to this college. We want to view Maynooth as the place to go for education. If we're like, oh, if you're from like, further away, you shouldn't come here. Then it's just the place you go to college only if you live in Kildare. And I don't think the university wants that. I seriously think the Union doesn't want to see that for the students who are going here, because if the university’s thinking that, then the students are getting a substandard education and we're fighting an uphill battle then, to get them to just even give us the most basic stuff. 
Again, a bit long winded. I do apologize, but in terms of the students being in control of education, I think it's majorly vital because it's their education, they're paying the money. And again, a lot of students feel like they’re being held at ransom. 
 
CIARA: 
Do you think that students are getting value for money? 

 
CAL: 
OK. Very simply, of course not. Of course. They're the highest fees in the EU, for what we're getting here? It's criminal. 
Yeah, yeah, I can't imagine less value for money in terms of everything that we've talked about today, it is clear that students are being shafted. 
 
HANNAH: 
I'm working three jobs currently to pay my way through college, and I did it as well for my undergrad and it's horrible and it does take its toll on your academic achievements (…) No, definitely not value for money, too much pressure that students shouldn't have part-time jobs, you know, sending threatening emails saying you shouldn't be doing it. It's like, no, the only way to go for most students is to pay for it. So working. Yeah. No. 
  

RICHARD: 
Yeah. And I definitely think no, absolutely not. I can speak to my own experience as a postgrad, postgrads have higher fees than undergrads and it's often harder to get financial support than it is for the undergrad. They just don't, they just don't carry over to postgrads and it really discourages people from pursuing educations at that level. So, absolutely not. 

 
GAVIN: 
And yeah, no, I think, to put it simply, if we're paying the highest fees, we should have the highest education in Ireland or in Europe (…) If Erasmus students are coming over here, it should be simply like not, oh, I think Ireland's lovely, [it should be] I want to get the best education, I'm coming to Ireland, but it's not. It's Ireland's really nice, shame about the education I'm going to get when I get here. But you know, the country is really beautiful, and I just had to come. I had to sacrifice my education to come here. 
I think no, even myself as a student with a disability, people will actually turn to me and say Gavin, it's really lucky for you, you're on disability benefit because you can afford college. And I think the fact that that's there (…) like the fact that [college is] that expensive and it's that tricky that that even like enters people's minds. And that's said to me for like years by different people and it's, it's horrific like and I, that doesn't reflect on them. It reflects on the system. 

 
CIARA: 
100% yeah, people are coming for the pints and leaving for the terrible quality of living... 

 
What does it mean for you guys that there's no candidates running for ... so many of the education-centred Senate roles, you know, like our Part-Time Course Senator, Postgraduate Senator, St Pats College Senator? 

 
RICHARD: 
OK. So yeah, yeah, the issue of, you know, senator positions not being filled, it's like an ongoing issue, that Part-Time Course senator, I don't think it's been voted my entire time as a student here. A lot of those positions, they were so created [to recognise] Oh, this is a group of students that the Union does not engage with, and we will create that position to encourage the students to engage more, and then the positions are just remained unfilled. So that's clearly not the way to go about it. (…)There's (…) 8 or so senator positions [and] they almost always go unfilled and therefore they're aimed at, like, a specific group of students that you that does not engage with the Union. And we really need a change of strategy for how we engage with those students because it's, it's not working, what's happening right now. 

 
GAVIN: 
I agree with Richard, there's been positions that, since their inception, haven't been filled. And I know it's been, like, there's been [outreach] done as members of the executive as well. I know we've done advertising for Senate positions during the elections. I think we need to do more. I think we need to reach out to people. We need to explain more while it is to them. I think as well, by-elections do happen in October and I've seen from my time in the Union a lot of people will run in those by-elections but (…) I think we should still be aiming to fill the elections now. 

And I think it is a case of, you know, rather than students coming in first year and being like, oh, I'll take that role, it should be students who've gone through first year, who’ve seen the work the Union has done. And I think, I hope to see them filled, maybe in later by-elections. But I think it will. It will hurt us because we need as many voices there as possible. We need many different diverse voices. And being a senators helps a lot of students get into student politics and get into learning how to voice their voices. I know it's how I did it. I know it's how many students did. So I really think it's something we really need to push on. 
And I know I was on the ground as student as well (…) as part time officer trying to promote that and I really just hope to see that later on those get filled. But definitely, it's something that I do want to see get filled. It needs to be filled. 

 
HANNAH: 
 I suppose for me personally, as a postgraduate, like part of my campaign and my manifesto is that postgraduates need to be represented more and there needs to be more engagement made with them. You know, there's only one. There's a post, one doctoral postgraduate representative and then one for master's students. And for the volume of master students and PhD students that we have, that is significantly underrepresented. OK, you need class reps just as the academic reps are vital to the undergraduate program. 
Academic reps (…) also would be a vital asset to the postgraduate program and I think it is a big thing whereby we do need to promote the positions; if the positions are remaining empty then it may just be a case of going to that course, if the lecture is on at a specific time, going to the class and asking would anyone be interested in filling this position. You just need to go out and do it because I think if we only rely on social media and not, as Gavin said, being on the ground and going and asking people then it's never going to be filled. 

 
CAL: 
Yeah, I think the, the on the non-filing of Senate positions shows the perceived impotence of the Union. And of, maybe of the Senate structure in general, that, that is felt across campus. And I feel like students feel that if they become academic reps, which obviously is an incredible, is an incredible honour, is incredible duty towards the rest of the people in your, in your course, and I think if, if the academic reps feel empowered to enact change on campus through maybe a bit more of a radical union like, you could argue we have quite a radical union at the moment, fighting for students rights. I think whoever is gonna fill this position, I think we're all poised towards making the union a stronger representative for students on campus, to enact change for individual students.