Hey All,
My name is Ben and I’m your Student Union President for the academic year of 2011/2012. The Union is the representative body for the 19,000 or so students who study here at University College Cork. All students are members of the Union automatically with the right to representation, the right to influence policy and the right to run for election. As elected representatives we have the duty to represent students and fight for the best deal possible for you at all times. We work hard for to push student issues, so don’t hesitate to approach any of our offers with any of your concerns as a student.
On that note, we are making a big effort as a union this year to have a more inclusive attitude, and as such we are urging who wishes to see the union get involved in any particular non-traditional cause to come forward and make their voice heard. Similarly if anyone wishes to get involved in any capacity we would like to do all we can to facilitate involvement.
My job as President is to represent the students both internally within the Union and the University as well as nationally through the media and the Union of Students in Ireland (USI). I am responsible for overseeing the work of the Union as a whole and ensuring that the various officers, committees and projects are all being run as efficiently as possible. As well as this I am Chief Financial Officer of the Union and so have a significant input into the spending of the SU budget, as well as being a director on the three University companies; the Student Centre, the Mardyke Arena and Campus Accommodation.
As a student representative, I sit on a lot of university committees including Governing Body, Academic Council, Finance Committee and plenty more! I also Chair the Student Union Executive and the Board of Management for the Student Centre. It’s very important that students have a voice in all decisions which affect them in UCC and I try to represent us to the best of my abilities.
Personal Information
I am a 23 year old graduate of UCC having done a degree in law and a postgrad in politics. I come from a small village in county Clare and tend to get extremely animated when talking about hurling. Apart from my time at UCC I spent a year in Belfast doing cross-community work with teenagers. I can often be found in the Mardyke early in the morning or late at night bouncing a basketball.
