Ninth Level Ireland

“Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) has warned first years to remain vigilant online after fresher group chats were infiltrated by an imposter advertising position for models and personal assistants. TCDSU Welfare Officer Leah Keogh told The University Times that a single phone number had been posting messages in freshers Whatsapp groups, and had also impersonated individual students …” (more)

[Sárán Fogarty, University Times, 9 October]

“It looked to be a typical college party: a small group of students crammed in a kitchenette, cheering on as a shirtless guy arm-wrestled a laughing young woman. No one wore masks. The scene was posted on Snapchat by one of the partygoers, a first-year student at Cornell University, along with a selfie with a mocking caption …” (more)

[Troy Closson, New York Times, 2 September]

“The news was announced on UCD’s Twitter account on the morning of August 27th, and at the time of reporting the change of date for registration has not been directly communicated to students. A follow up tweet stated that the academic calendar will be updated by 2pm on the 31st of August, and that all timetables will be available at that time …” (more)

[Heather Reynolds, University Observer, 27 August]

“The National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway) has contacted An Garda Síochána over the harassment of a student on campus. In a video posted to Twitter on Wednesday, a man can be seen shouting racial slurs and other abuse at the student, who filmed the incident and shared it online …” (more)

[Jack Kennedy, Trinity News, 14 August]

“Being on Twitter has been a huge learning experience for me. There are so many brilliant teachers and scientists on the platform that I would never have come across if I had adopted the attitude that it’s all just people taking photos of their dinner. Oh for the good old days, you might say, before that totalitarians escape! …” (more)

[Tales from Academia, 10 June]

“UCC are investigating after some online posts were made targeting a number of female students. A probe has been launched after over 20 women had their pictures posted on an Instagram account which appeared to run a competition where viewers could rate them based on their looks …” (more)

[Gavin O’Callaghan, CorkBeo, 3 April]

“Students of University College Cork (UCC) are calling for a fair approach to upcoming final examinations which are due to be sat online. UCC students are continuing to study from home as measures taken by the Government led to the further closure of universities across the country …” (more)

[Breda Graham, EchoLive, 1 April]

Change.org is emerging as a significant forum of protest for those dissatisfied with the state of Irish higher education. Here are petitions for the last month:

‘No Detriment’ Policy for Technological University Dublin (31 March)

“No detriment” Policy for UCD (31 March)

“No Detriment” policy for the Waterford Institute of Technology (31 March)

“No Detriment” Policy for Trinity College Dublin (31 March)

Show Compassion: Refund UL Students no longer using on-campus accommodation 2019/20 Sem. 2 (30 March)

Protect Academic Freedom at University College Dublin! (30 March)

“No Detriment” Policy for Cork Institute of Technology (30 March)

“No Detriment” policy for Maynooth University (30 March)

‘No Detriment’ Policy for Dublin City University (30 March)

“No Detriment” Policy for University College Cork (30 March)

Establish a “No Detriment” policy in UL (30 March)

Ulster University: Introduce a ‘safety net’ mitigation system for summer assessments (27 March)

Queen’s University: Introduce a ‘safety net’ mitigation system for summer assessments (26 March)

To ensure students are given Rent relief given the Covid-19 situation! (25 March)

Queen’s University: Give Students the Option to Keep Current Grade as Final Mark (25 March)

10% added to Degree Classification for Final Year Students in COVID-19 Pandemic (24 March)

Urging Ulster University to reconsider the tuition fees for the year of 2019/2020 (23 March)

Maynooth University Student Accommodation Refund (23 March)

No online exams for QUB Students (19 March)

Suspend Student Accommodation rent for those who have had to return home due to COVID-19 (19 March)

Extend the History Dissertation Deadline at QUB (16 March)

Airlift Indian Students from Ireland (16 March)

Kylemore Reinstate Staff during Coronavirus #BoycottKylemore #BoycottKSG (13 March)

Queens University Belfast- Shut Down Lectures (12 March)

Close NUIG, Keep Sult Open (9 March)

Petition for Online Teaching in QUB under COVID-19 Threat (7 March)

Stop Unionists interference in QUB students voice. Support Grian Ni Dhaimhin as President (3 March)

Stop the 12% rent increase in UCD (2 March)

End the Sectarianism towards Protestants and Unionist Students at QUB! (1 March)

DCU Students’ Union urge the University to reverse its decision to increase rents by 4% (1 March)

“A leading virologist has pulled back from speaking to the media about the spread of coronavirus after she was targeted by online trolls. Dr Lindsay Broadbent posted on Twitter over the weekend that she is stepping back from commenting publicly on the health crisis in order to preserve her own mental health …” (more)

[Lisa Smyth, Belfast Telegraph, 16 March]

“Dublin City University (DCU) has denied any cases of coronavirus on its campus after rumours circulated on social media that a student had contracted the disease. The rumours started after an image of an ambulance, which appeared to be on DCU’s campus, was posted on Instagram and then shared on Twitter …” (more)

[Emer Moreau, University Times, 3 March]

“Being able to find, assess and place new research within a field of knowledge, is integral to any research project. For social scientists this process is increasingly likely to take place on Google Scholar, closely followed by traditional scholarly databases. In this post, Alberto Martín-Martín, Enrique Orduna-Malea, Mike Thelwall, Emilio Delgado-López-Cózar, analyse the relative coverage of the three main research databases, Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus, finding significant divergences in the social sciences and humanities and suggest that researchers face a trade-off when using different databases: between more comprehensive, but disorderly systems and orderly, but limited systems …” (more)

[LSE Impact Blog, 3 December]

“A review of a law students’ WhatsApp group called ‘Tits and Filth’ has uncovered no evidence of disparaging references to female trainee solicitors, the Law Society has said. The body, which trains and represents solicitors, launched an investigation into the group after receiving complaints from several members …” (more)

[Conor Gallagher, Irish Times, 14 October]

“The Law Society of Ireland has said there were no references to female trainees in a messaging group that is being investigated by the solicitors’ training body. It comes after a number of messaging apps were blocked as it was reported that inappropriate content was posted onto a WhatsApp group entitled ‘tits and filth’ …” (more)

[Cate McCurry, Belfast Telegraph, 14 October]

“A trainee solicitor has said she feels disgusted that female students are being objectified by their male counterparts. The Law Society has launched an investigation after ‘highly offensive’ messages were found to be circulating in a Whatsapp group among some first-year law trainees at Dublin’s Blackhall Place …” (more)

[Irish Examiner, 12 October]

“News in today’s Guardian that ‘US essay mill firm targets new students through WhatsApp’ does not really surprise me – I’m sure essay mills have many clever ways to attract the attention of students who choose not to write their own essays. What does surprise me is the price, it is £7 per page (just over €8) …” (more)

[Careful With That Axe, Eugene, 8 April]

“Maynooth University’s Department of Law has apologised to a student following a reply they received on Twitter. The response a student was given when they asked about the exam timetable has received criticism online …” (more)

[Irish Examiner, 31 March]

“A university is switching off all its social media channels for a few days as an example to encourage its students to try their own ‘digital detox’. De Montfort University, in Leicester, wants to highlight how ‘unrestrained social media use’ can be harmful to the mental health of young people …” (more)

[Sean Coughlan, BBC News, 15 January]

“Students at Dublin City University have begun a campaign on social media to prevent the deportation of an asylum seeker student at the college. According to the college’s students’ union, Shepherd Machaya has been issued with a deportation order which requires him to leave the state by next Sunday …” (more)

[Emma O Kelly, RTÉ News, 18 October]

“Academics have been sharing the parts of their job which make them feel warm and fuzzy inside, sparked by a post from historian Dr William Pooley. He told of his ‘joy’ about writing a reference for one of his brightest students …” (more)

[Nicola Irwin, Independent, 21 September]

“Choose your friends, clothes and politics wisely. They’ll come back to haunt you. The time when media fatheads humblebrag about doing badly in their Leaving Certificate has passed. We are now in the later stages of an equally infuriating season. For the last week or so, the same jerks have been offering unasked-for advice to those heading off to college …” (more)

[Donald Clarke, Irish Times, 21 September]