In This Section
Q1. What is the Students' Forum?
A. The Students' Forum is a body formed from the students of 深夜亚洲福利久久 College Cork to deliberate on issues that were referred to it by the Governing Body. It follows in spirit the good practice model of the Irish Citizens' Assembly and is influenced by the research work of Involve (UK鈥檚 leading public participation charity).
This model provides a platform for a cross-section of the student body to hear presentations from experts and civil society groups and to engage in rational and reasoned discussion, and to then make recommendations to the Governing Body on the options available.
Q2. Why are there 68 Members?
A. 68 is a statistically significant number for a community of 28,000 of full-time, part-time and distance learners.
Q3. Who are the Members?
A. There are 68 Members of the Forum. They are chosen by Stratified Random Selection/Sortition.
Marginalisation happens in representative politics and other types of assemblies because they are elected. On the other hand, there is considerable literature on sortition, which involves the selection of representatives by lottery, which is what is being implemented here. This removes biases that result in marginalisation, therefore there should be less need to worry about marginalisation and representation of particular groups. Given the randomness of the process, there will be proportionate numbers of women, DSS, etc. picked.
Members were chosen at random based on
% Headcount by College/Area X Mode of Study (UG, PG, Distance, Visiting etc.)X weighting FT/PT (FT=x1, Weighting for PT = .5) + protected seats (Ethnic minorities & sanctuary scholars)
Q4. How can I apply to be a Member?
A. As the selection process is completely random, there is no way for an individual to apply to become a Member. A student selected via the process will receive an email invitation to take part.
Q5. Is there any other data available on the 68 Members?
A. As provided for in the Resolution approving the establishment of the Student Forum, the 99 students and substitutes must be registered for an approved course.
Q6. Why are members of advocacy groups excluded from Forum membership?
A. Prior to the commencement of the selection process for members of the Students' Forum, it was decided that members of advocacy groups on the topics to be considered, would be excluded from membership of the Forum.
Q7. Will the Forum be accessible for people with disabilities?
A. During the establishment of the Forum, the Student Forum Secretariat outlined the requirement to be compliant with Sections 27 and 28 of the Disability Act 2005, and asked that all staff be made aware of provisions in this regard. This included making it clear that the Forum would ensure that all its working material would be fully accessible in the event that a person who is differently abled is randomly selected.
The Forum Secretariat made every effort to ensure that the services are accessible and responsive, as far as is practicable and appropriate, to all people who are differently abled.
Q8. How will the meetings be run?
A. The point of a Forum is to provide for informed discussion and debate, to allow all sides of the argument to be heard, and to hear the opinions of the Members. Generally speaking the format for the meetings is as follows:
- Introductory remarks by the Chairperson
- Expert presentations
- Presentations from civil society and advocacy groups (if relevant)
- Consideration of submissions by Members of the public (if relevant)
- Question and Answer Sessions and Debates
- Roundtable discussions
Following these discussions, all matters before the Forum are voted upon and recommendations based on the majority view of the Members are put forward to the Governing Body/Students' Union of UCC.
The Governing Body/Students' Union will then provide a response to each recommendation of the Forum and, if accepting the recommendation, the Students' Union will indicate the timeframe it envisages for the holding of any related referendum.
Q9. Do Members get paid for attendance?
A. All members receive a 鈧�100 remuneration, full catering and a letter from the Office of the Deputy President & Registrar to excuse them from class on Monday 10th October 2022.
Q10. Where will the Forum be based?
A. If it is on-line it will be based on the MS Teams Platform. If it is to be held in person, a location will be notified to members however, as many UCC students study remotely, a blended approach will be taken.
Q11. Will other matters be referred to the Forum?
A. The Forum will also be asked to consider such other matters as may be referred to it. As such, it is our understanding that it would be a matter for the Governing Body/UCC Students' Union to refer any additional matters to the Forum.