The Mystery Of The Disappearing Levy – MSU Survey Shows Students’ Satisfaction At All Time Low
Double, double toil and trouble;
Money burn and cauldron bubble.
Fill it up with student cheer,
In the caldron lie student fears,
Students gathered, grunt and jeer,
Their levy is nowhere near.
This Hallowe’en, the scariest thing on our radar was the decline of student satisfaction. Students marched to Rivertown on Tuesday 25 October in search of fulfilment of broken promises and the disappearing levy.
March To Riverstown
At 11:11 on Tuesday 25 October, students gathered outside John Hume again as their concerns continued to be dismissed. This time the 1,500 students marched across campus to join Niall Daly, President of the SU, in support as he went to hand a petition over to the President of the university. Students were also joined by various USI representatives and alumni as the disgust of Maynooth students is felt by students nationwide. This petition was signed by approximately 4,000 students demanding that the promised student centre be built.
The SU tells us that the university President was off campus at this time and did not receive the petition herself, but Dr Tony Gaynor, the Director for Governance, received it in her place.
The MSU’S Student Experience On-Campus Survey
The MSU’s survey reached a total of 2070 submissions. From this survey, it's apparent that student experience on campus is less than ideal.
The survey featured five questions which asked students to rank their experience from 1 being poor to 5 being excellent. The results are as follows.
Please rate your level of satisfaction with existing buildings and facilities on campus – 2.24/5
Please rate your level of satisfaction with Maynooth University’s short-term interventions on campus – 1.79/5
Please rate the following statement: “I feel like my needs are met at Maynooth University” – 2.28/5
Please rate the following statement: “Maynooth University has effectively communicated with its students on meeting their needs” – 1.64/5
How likely are you to recommend Maynooth University to a friend? – 2.72/5
These results clearly illustrate that students’ needs are not even close to being met.
When asking students what improvements they wished to see on campus, a majority said increased parking, student centre and increased seating in John Hume.
The SU will be presenting these results to the university in the belief that these figures cannot be ignored. The SU and wider community at the university refuse to let this blow over. Students and the SU continue to demand transparency until they find an answer to the question on everyone's mind (and protest sign): ‘Where’s the levy gone?’. Left unanswered, and with student satisfaction remaining incredibly low, it appears to be the greatest haunt hanging over Maynooth University. So, where is the levy gone? If it is not in student parking, facilities, spaces, or anything that benefits the student body, where has all the money gone? As of now, the search continues.
Want to share your thoughts? Contact us!
