Class Reps, Faculty Reps
PSA needs you
The PSA works closely with the Students' Union Education Officer Aoife Finnerty to have class representation for Postgraduate Students.To get involved, you can become your class rep / Faculty rep. You will then sit on the Class Reps Council & the PSA Class Reps working group.THE PSA NEEDS YOU. (Finger pointing at you)
Let the PSA know exactly what your class wants and needs. Its very little work and its so important to ensure your class and collegues have a voice.
Every second Tuesday there is class reps council in CSG01. To get involved as a class rep or join the working group then please let me know on psapresident@ul.ie
A special note to Postgrads on Class Reps
Often Postgrads don’t feel like the Class Reps system is for them. However Masters and Postgraduate courses need Class Reps too, just as much as their undergraduate counterparts, if not more. Although Postgrad classes tend to be smaller, it’s just as important for a small class to have one concentrated voice and one contact point, as it is for a large one.
The Class Rep is tasked to represent the views of his or her class and present those views to the Course Director and Graduate Committee. If your Department has a Graduate committee, the Class Rep is usually the perfect person for the job as the two roles compliment each other immensely. Each MA programme in the Departmen t of Politics and Public Admin for example is required to elect or select one representative to sit on this Committee. The Graduate Committee has four main functions: 1) to formulate policy 2) to evaluate and monitor postgraduate teaching and research student supervision 3) to respond to external process that impact postgrads and 4) to exchange information. By not having a representative at Class Reps Council or on the Graduate Committee, decisions are being made without your classes opinion being counted and without real student focus.
The traditional idea of a Class Party may not appeal to a lot of Postgrad students; however there are many forms of Class Parties! For example the “Class Party” can be a meal out in the city with or without faculty members of the relevant department, it can be a wine reception in the PSA Common Room followed by an event or a night out in the city.
Finally the hoodies may not or may not appeal to a Postgraduate class; however there are a number of alternatives. It’s possible to look at personalised formal shirts, ties, mugs etc.
Being a Class Rep IS for Postgrads too!