Archive for Pat Hume

The Return of the Hume Doctoral Scholarships?

Posted in Education, Maynooth with tags , , , on October 2, 2024 by telescoper

This morning it was drawn to my attention that the TSI Building on Maynooth University campus was surrounded by fences and barricades. A colleague then explained that they were there because the President was delivering her latest Presidential Address in one of the lecture theatres there. I was sadly prevented from attending this inspirational event by having better things to do, but naturally assumed the obstacles were in place to prevent people from leaving before the end. It seems however that campus security were worried there might be “protests”. I’m told that there was a kind of protest, with people displaying placards but it was quite a low-key affair.

So what was the subject of the protest?

You may recall that a few weeks ago, while this blog was still banned from campus, I posted an item bemoaning the sudden decision by University Management to scrap the John and Pat Hume Doctoral Scholarships for PhD students at Maynooth University. Well, this decision created an angry response at Faculty and Departmental meetings across campus, as did the President’s obvious intention to keep any discussion off the agenda as much as possible.

It seems that today the President announced a retreat and the Hume Fellowships will continue this year after all. After exhausting all the alternatives, they have at least decided to do the right thing. At least that’s what I’m told. I wasn’t at the speech and there has been no official communication about it to all staff.

There are many reasons to be glad if this programme continues. On the other hand, reversing the decision does not mean that we should pretend it was never made. Every time the Management does something dumb, and is forced to retreat, more of its credibility is eroded. In due course I plan to post the results of a Staff Culture and Climate Survey that was carried out in 2022. I mentioned this here. These results were obtained recently via a Freedom of Information request as they are so bad – especially concerning the performance of the University Executive – that they were buried for two years. The sad thing is that, two years on, the Culture and Climate at Maynooth have deteriorated still further thanks to episodes like the Hume Scholarship fiasco.

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Farewell to the Hume Doctoral Scholarships

Posted in Maynooth with tags , , , on September 13, 2024 by telescoper

If you are a final year student and were thinking of applying for one of the John and Pat Hume Doctoral Scholarships in order to fund a PhD at Maynooth University, then don’t bother. University Management – as usual in the case of anything without consultation or discussion – has decided to scrap the scheme. How this squares with the ambition to increase PhD numbers stated clearly in the Strategic Plan is anyone’s guess. Why it has been decided to aim a wrecking ball at Maynooth’s research activity is another question. Clearly it’s not shortage of funds: the University accounts reveal huge surpluses and just this week yet another administrative position with a six-digit salary (enough to fund at least 5 PhD students) was advertised. We can’t expect to have research students and a legion of overpaid bureaucrats, can we?

John Hume (a Maynooth alumnus and co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize) died in 2020 and Pat Hume (John’s wife), who died in 2021; the John and Pat Hume Scholarships were created in their honour. The decision to extinguish that honour just a few year after their deaths is just crass. Let’s hope the inevitable backlash will bring about a change of mind. This blog may be banned on campus, but word will spread.

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