“Exams held in St.Pats was a space issue more than a direct cause of the incorporation of the colleges”, DCU Registry Office said.
From the 11th to the 22nd of January DCU students from St.Patricks College (SPC) and DCU Glasnevin campus sat their semester one exams.
Exams for DCU were spread between both campuses due to renovations in Glasnevin causing insufficient space to accommodate students. In some cases this meant students sat exams in a campus separate from the one they studied in.
All first year students who are studying the new programmes offered by DCU, including the Joint Honours programme, sat their exams in SPC.
The decision for the exams to be conducted like this was made by the Registry office in DCU and was discussed with the Students Union before going ahead.
“We tried to do everything we could to make it easier on students”, Gillian Barry the Exam Officer at DCU told The College View. Barry said they kept students in mind through the process with their goal to give students the best exam timetable possible.
A campus development plan is in place lead by Declan Rafferty,the Chief Operating Officer at DCU to deal with the spacing issue.
“We thought this was the best option before the Campus Development plan is put into action,” Barry said.
The change did cause confusion in some students who had to find exam halls in an unfamiliar campus.
“As a student with a disability, attending my exam in St. Pats I couldn’t rely on finding my way with friends as I was in a separate room”,Conor, a DCU glasnevin student said.
Barry explained that they hoped it would not create stress for students, providing maps of both campuses on their website to help students.
DCU is planned to be fully amalgamated with MDI and SPC in July 2016.
“It is too early predict what will happen next year”, Barry said in relation to exam timetables after the colleges are fully amalgamated.
Hannah Kelly
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