Government approves Bill to establish four NUI colleges as autonomous universities

THE Government has approved the Universities Bill, 1996, which contains wide ranging proposals for reforming the administration of the State's seven universities.

The Bill, to be published by the Minister for Education, Ms Breathnach, on Tuesday will establish the separate colleges of the National University of Ireland (NUI) as autonomous universities. It will give Maynooth the power to award its own degrees for the first time. Trinity College will have to accept outside representation on its board for the first time in its 400 year history.

Contrary to earlier proposals by the Minister, the NUI will remain in existence and will be charged with providing external examiners to regulate appointment procedures and setting matriculation requirements and teaching standards. It will no longer award degrees.

It is understood that the Trinity and the NUI Senate seats will be unaffected by the Bill.

The Government also agreed yesterday, subject to the procedures of the Houses of the Oireachtas, to support a private Bill sponsored by Trinity College "should such a Bill emerge from the College". This rare procedure is required to enable TCD to amend the Charter of the College in a manner consistent with the Universities Bill. Amendments to the Universities Bill would then be brought forward at Committee Stage to take the private Bill into account.

The Universities Bill also provides for the establishment of governing authorities in UCC, UCD, UCG and Maynooth, with statutory representation for junior/middle ranking/senior academics, non academic staff, students, local authorities, regional education boards and the RTCs/Dublin Institute of Technology.

The Minister for Education will nominate four members to the authority and five more will then be chosen by the authority from nominations made by outside bodies, such as industrial bodies and trade unions.

There will be statutory provisions in the Bill directing colleges to keep accounts, undertake regular audits, implement five year strategic plans, publish equality policies and draw up annual budgets.

The Universities Bill, which is regarded as the most significant higher education legislation in almost 90 years, has been the subject of wide consultation for more than a year.