Archive for August, 2023

Defend Democracy at Maynooth University

Posted in Education, Maynooth with tags , on August 3, 2023 by telescoper

A few weeks ago I mentioned on this blog the appalling decision by the President to scrap elections to the Governing Authority of the University in favour of having representatives chosen only by The Management. This contempt for democratic processes is just one example of the increasingly authoritarian administration of the University. Can anyone justify the complete disenfranchisement of the staff of the University from the governance of the University? Or that an executive body should itself select the board to which it is supposed to be accountable?

Within the last week, an article appeared in the Independent that contained the following:

A university spokeswoman said the governing authority “is reflecting on the recent feedback from some staff about the process for establishing a new governing authority”. The new governing body was to be put in place later this year. “The governing authority is scheduled to meet on August 22 to consider the most appropriate way forward on this issue,” she added.​

Independent, Sunday 30th July.

Note the use of an “anonymous spokeswoman”. I have no idea who this person is, nor who gives her authority to speak on behalf of the governing authority. This state of affairs is symptomatic of the complete detachment of The Management from the rest of us at the University. The story suggests that the University is going to consider different options for appointments to the new Governing Authority. Perhaps it should have considered a bit more before trying to ram through a massively unpopular process that has brought the management into such disrepute that its poor governance is now appearing regularly in the news media?

Anyway, in my opinion the only sensible approach is to restore elections to the Governing Authority. I’m not the only one to think this. In fact there is a petition raised by the Union IFUT:

We call on Maynooth University to reverse their decision to instigate selection and to restore the democratic election process for all five staff representatives on the Governing Authority.

It goes on to say

The decision by MU’s Governing Authority and senior management to replace democratic elections with a selection process, whereby they assume, with the assistance of a private recruitment firm, the responsibility of handpicking staff representatives, is an attack on basic principles of democracy and good governance.

I agree with this wholeheartedly, and have signed the petition. I encourage you to do likewise. You can sign it here. And please spread the news of the petition as widely as you can. This is a battle we can’t afford to lose, as experience suggests it is the thin end of a very sinister wedge.

I’ll just add a more general point. If The Management thinks that the deliberate alienation of its staff is a recipe for a successful high education institution then it has another think coming. Perhaps it should consider working with its academics rather than against them?

A Marxist University Strategic Plan

Posted in Education, Politics with tags , on August 2, 2023 by telescoper

I asked an AI text generator to write a University strategic plan using language inspired by revolutionary Marxist ideology. 

–0–

Title: A Revolutionary Blueprint for the Liberation of Academia

Introduction:

In a world plagued by capitalist exploitation and class struggle, our University stands as a potential beacon of hope, empowering the masses through education and disseminating revolutionary knowledge. This strategic plan aims to dismantle oppressive structures, challenge the prevailing bourgeois ideology, and create a training ground for future Marxist revolutionaries.

1. Mission Statement:

Our mission is to cultivate a class-conscious academic community that aims to dismantle the prevailing capitalist neoliberal order, liberate the proletariat, and build a socialist society based on equality, justice, and collective ownership of the means of production.

2. Curriculum Reform:

a) The fundamental aim of our curriculum will be to decolonize knowledge, expose the hidden power dynamics embedded within it, and weave an emancipatory narrative from a Marxist perspective.

b) Introduce mandatory courses on critical theory, historical materialism, and class struggle that challenge dominant paradigms.

c) Ensure that the curriculum reflects the experiences and ideas of historically marginalized groups, giving voice to their struggles and promoting solidarity among all oppressed peoples.

3. Faculty and Staff:

a) Establish strict selection criteria to ensure that faculty and staff align with our revolutionary vision and principles, actively engage in anti-capitalist research and activism, and prioritize pedagogical engagement.

b) Encourage the formation of faculty and staff unions to safeguard against exploitation, regularly review salaries to ensure equitable compensation, and provide opportunities for professional development.

c) Encourage the recruitment of scholars from historically oppressed communities, diversifying perspectives and challenging dominant knowledge production.

4. Campus Community:

a) Create safe spaces for open discussions and political organizing, fostering an environment that encourages class-consciousness, solidarity, and resistance.

b) Establish student support systems that address financial burdens, mental health struggles, and any form of discrimination or oppression.

c) Promote democratic decision-making processes in all aspects of university governance, where students, faculty, and staff have equal voices in shaping the university’s direction.

5. Research and Activism:

a) Encourage and support research that critically examines capitalist exploitation, exposes the contradictions of the system, and offers alternatives for a just socialist society.

b) Forge alliances and partnerships with grassroots organizations, labour movements, and other revolutionary groups to nurture a culture of activism and revolutionary praxis.

c) Prioritize research that positively impacts working-class communities, seeking solutions to their pressing problems and involving them in the research process.

6. Community Engagement:

a) Forge strong ties with working-class communities, initiating outreach programs that offer educational resources and promote social mobility.

b) Establish partnerships with trade unions and labor organizations to provide students with opportunities for practical learning and connection to real-world struggles.

c) Collaborate with progressive organizations to advocate for policy changes that address socio-economic inequalities and pave the way for a socialist transformation.

Conclusion:

This strategic plan strives to create an academically rigorous, politically conscious, and inclusive environment that nurtures critical thinking, challenges capitalist hegemony, and empowers students, faculty, and staff towards the emancipation of the working class. By implementing these measures, our University will become a bulwark of Marxist education, fostering the next generation of revolutionaries who will shape a society based on justice, equality, and liberation.

The Battle of Mission Drift

Posted in Education, Maynooth on August 2, 2023 by telescoper

Here is a concise description of the effect on the morale of academic staff at Maynooth University of the current strategy of expanding the number of senior administrators at Maynooth University at the expense of resources for teaching and research.

Autumn Repeats

Posted in Education, History, Maynooth with tags , , , , , , on August 1, 2023 by telescoper

It’s August already, which means it is time once again for the repeat examination period to begin. Maynooth University has produced this nice good luck message for those resitting so I’ll pass it on here:

I was a bit surprised when I first arrived here that the August repeat examinations are called the Autumn Repeats. After all, they start on 1st August which is generally regarded as summer rather than Autumn. The term is, I think, a relic of the old Celtic calendar in which the start of Autumn coincides with the start of harvesting, the old festival of Lúnasa being when people celebrated the Celtic deity Lugh, who would bring a good harvest or who, if not satisfied, could bring his wrath in storms that would mess everything up. Lúnasa is the name for August in modern Irish; Lá Lúnasa is 1st August, a cross-quarter day lying (approximately) half-way between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox. The festival is marked in the modern calendar by a Bank Holiday on the first Monday in August (Lá Saoire i mí Lúnasa) which is next Monday (7th August), so I have a long weekend to look forward to!

Anyway, the repeat examinations start today and go on for ten days or so, except there are none on the Bank Holiday when the University is closed. As it happens, my first paper is on Saturday, so I won’t be able to collect any scripts until Tuesday 8th, on which day I have two further examinations, so I’ll have three different sets to deal with.

Every year at this time I mention the difference between the system of repeats in Maynooth compared to other institutions with which I am familiar, especially in the UK. Students generally take resits when, because they have failed one or more examinations the previous May, they have not accumulated sufficient credits to proceed to the next year of their course. Passing the resit allows them to retrieve lost credit, but their mark is generally capped at a bare pass (usually 40%). That means the student gets the credit they need for their degree but their average (which determines whether they get 1st, 2nd or 3rd class Honours) is affected. This is the case unless a student has extenuating circumstances affecting the earlier examination, such as bad health or family emergency, in which case they take the resit as a `sit’, i.e. for the first time with an uncapped mark.

Here in Maynooth, however, the mark obtained in a repeat examination is usually not capped. Indeed, some students – though not many – elect to take the repeat examination even if they passed earlier in the summer, in order to increase their average mark.

Some people don’t like the idea of uncapped repeats because they feel that it would lead to many students playing games, i.e. deliberately not taking exams in May with the intention of spreading some of their examination  load into August. There’s not much sign of students actually doing that here, to be honest, for the reason that the results from the repeat examination period are not confirmed until early September so that students that deploy this strategy do not know whether they are going to be able to start their course until just a couple of weeks before term. That could cause lots of problems securing accommodation, etc, so it doesn’t seem to me to be a good ploy.

I’d welcome comments for or against whether resits/repeats should be capped/uncapped and on what practice is adopted in your institution.

Euclid First Light Video

Posted in Euclid, The Universe and Stuff on August 1, 2023 by telescoper

Following on from yesterday’s post about the “first light” images from the European Space Agency’s Euclid mission, here is a little video highlighting the brilliant work done by the instrument teams over the last month .

P.S. You can find some Irish press coverage of the first light images here.