Dr. Caroline McMullan:

I am the associate dean for teaching and learning in the business school at DCU. That means I look after all of our taught programmes and the quality of the student learning experience.

I am also a senior lecturer in risk, crisis and emergency management. I thank the committee for inviting me to come before it today to share my view of how the reduced funding for higher education has had an impact on the work we do as academics within the seven Irish universities and, in my case, within DCU. I will reflect on the three areas that have been impacted by the underfunding for higher education but first I will say that the impact on students has been greatly reduced because of the efforts of the university and academic and administrative staff to shelter students from the impact of these cuts as far as is possible. However, we are at a point where this is becoming increasingly difficult.

I will begin with a focus on quality. The poor staff-student ratios within the sector mean that quality cannot be sustained in the long term, no matter how much we try to reduce the impact on our students. The cuts have resulted in reduced subject choice within programmes, larger class sizes, less opportunity for small group tutorials, a reduction in the number of assessments being completed and fewer pieces of work of a formative nature. Instead, greater emphasis has been placed on terminal assessments, such as examinations, which are summative in nature and focus on checking if students have reached the specified learning outcomes rather than guiding their development along the way.

Enhanced funding would allow for greater innovation and diversity in terms of the learning opportunities, enhanced feedback on assessments at several points during the semester and even more industry and community-based projects for our students. DCU Business School, since its foundation, has been focused on industry and community engagement. We have always been recognised for our proactive approach to the development of programmes that we need at a national and regional level. However, time pressures now mean we have little time for developing new, innovative programmes. This lack of development can be absorbed in the short term but is not compatible with the medium to long-term economic and social well-being of the country. Our university strategic plan commits us to being a research-intensive university. This means the research we complete is fed into our classrooms on an ongoing basis. This is absolutely vital in order to expose students to cutting edge theory and practice.

Our students study research undertaken in an Irish setting and not just, for example, US-centric material. Teaching and research quality are inextricably linked. Sacrificing research to cope with unfunded increases in student numbers is a false economy. This approach is not sustainable if we are to produce graduates who can perform on a global stage. It is important to remember that there is a direct relationship between the quality of our university graduates and the quality of our national institutions and services. We need the resources required to produce the quality of primary and secondary school teachers, nurses and doctors, engineers, social workers etc. that our citizens deserve. Finally with regard to quality, I must mention the urgent need for investment in the infrastructure of our universities. Our buildings, classrooms and technology are in need of maintenance in the short term and upgrading in the medium to long term.

I am proud of our participation rates in higher education in Ireland and I too ask that all decisions on future funding preserve this important right for our citizens. However, it is important to remember that equality of access does not always mean equality of opportunity. Many of our students require specific supports because of special learning needs and competing pressures in their personal lives. The reduced level of funding, at a time when we have more students than ever entering via Higher Education Access Route, Disability Access Route to Education and Access programmes, along with post-experience students, means increased time must be allocated to this element of our work at a time when we are already stretched. Improved student-to-staff ratios and additional specialist services will allow us to support all students to reach their full potential. We need to invest in our campuses so we can extend the capacity of our classrooms and so that students do not have to travel excessive distances each day because of a lack of student accommodation. We need to do so now so we are prepared for the opportunities which can come from the increased student numbers projected as a result of Brexit and as a result of our own demographic profile. Let us be ready to meet the challenge and not struggling to manage a crisis.

I will highlight the impact that the continued lack of funding and other restrictions has had on the overall success of Irish universities. We are often set incompatible objectives. We are asked to secure additional non-Exchequer funding to sustain high-quality teaching and research, yet we are asked to do so without additional staff and with inflexible human resource management protocols. A more balanced workload model is required if we are to have time to bid for and win international funding for all our activities. To conclude, I ask that the committee works with us to fund higher education to the appropriate level. It is clear that we have a mutual desire to have a higher education system held as an example of good practice across the world. The implementation of the Cassells report is an important step in the achievement of this ambition and I endorse it wholeheartedly.