Donncha Kavanagh
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Governing Body Election 2011

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_ I am standing for election to UCC's Governing Body, in the non-professorial academic staff constituency.  I believe that I will bring the following to this role:

A committment to research and inquiry
I am passionate about research and will support those doing research across the university.  I will advocate practices that help research, such as sabbatical leave and the travel grant, and I will work to contain systems that interfere unnecessarily with research.

An advocate for teaching and learning
The university has grown in size, but high student-staff ratios have made it increasingly difficult to give students a good learning experience.  At the same time, new technologies have radically changed how we teach, what we teach, how students learn, and how students interact with us and with one another. I will advocate a reduction in high student-staff ratios, a capping of undergraduate student numbers, increased teaching support, an administrative focus on programmes rather than disciplines, an increasing emphasis on life-long learning and continuing professional development, and a revisiting of matriculation requirements for all programmes. 

A commitment to communication
UCC requires happy, enthusiastic and ambitious staff.  To achieve this, I will work to end the embargo on academic promotion, enhance consultation in decision-making, advocate a lean bureaucracy that recognises and trusts judgement and wisdom, and improve communication with the university’s stakeholders, both internally and externally.  Should I be elected, I will put in place a variety of mechanisms to ensure that the views of academic staff are clearly represented in Governing Body.

A deep understanding of university traditions
I have over twenty years experience in UCC, and have excellent knowledge of its people, practices and idiosyncrasies.  I have also studied how the university, as an institution, has evolved and how it might change in the future.  I will be guided by The Universities Act, 1997, because this provides an excellent frame for decision-making.
In relation to the College of Business and Law, I believe that UCC should set up a ‘ranked’ business school, which will require new structures, processes and investment.  

Knowledgeable about governance and management
While governance is not the same as management, knowledge of one can inform the other.  I have worked in management, both inside and outside the university, while I have been researching organizations for many years. I will bring this knowledge and experience to my role in Governing Body.  I will only support the introduction of systems and practices that foster inquiry, creativity and learning.

Táim ar Bhord na Gaeilge faoi láthair agus déanfaidh mé mo dhícheall ar son na Gaeilge fad is a bheidh mé ar an gCoiste Rialaithe.
Click here for a list of UCC academics who supported my candidacy.



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