UCC to delay introduction of €65 conferring fee

STUDENTS at University College Cork have welcomed the cancellation of a controversial planned €65 fee for graduates attending summer conferrings.

However, college management said it will still be seeking to impose a charge for attendance at the events in the academic year starting next autumn.

The idea was first suggested late last year as UCC authorities sought to significantly curtail costs, with an €80 charge initially proposed.

However, following representations from UCC Students Union (UCCSU), a reduced fee was announced to the student body on April 1. But in a letter emailed to all students yesterday, management said it was deferring the charge for students graduating this academic year following student union representations and acknowledgement of the late notification to final year students. It said details of the fee and arrangements for 2010-2011 conferrings will be notified to all students graduating next year in due course.

UCCSU president Eoin Hayes said while the deferral was an initial victory for those graduating this year, work will continue to try and eliminate or reduce the fee proposed for future conferrings. “It is still a source of huge disappointment that the university has been placed in a position where it needs to charge for something as sacred as conferring ceremonies. The Government expects universities to operate on skeleton budgets and in turn the universities expect students to subsidise them,” he said.

An Oireachtas committee heard last week that the Higher Education Authority is finalising a report for Education Minister Mary Coughlan on how third-level colleges are spending money raised from the €1,500 service charge they impose on undergraduate students. The fee is intended to cover non-teaching services, but student representatives have claimed the money is subsidising lecturers and other core education services.