DCU FAQ

gizmo

DCU FAQ

The following are some of the questions that frequently appear on these forums. Please read these before posting. If you have any suggestions for additions to this please create another thread and ask for it to be included in the FAQ, this is to stop this thread from being clogged up with ****e.


Is DCU any Fun?
This question is asked repeatedly here by CAO candidates when considering their choice of college/university. The most common response is that: "College is what you make of it". If you want to go to DCU to party, you will find yourself partying. DCU is neither boring nor lacks social life. People are boring and lack social lives. DCU contains some of these people. Other colleges contain some of these people. Other colleges contain people who party hard. DCU contains people who party hard.


The Hub
The Hub is the student center in DCU. It house the two student bars, the Old Bar and the New Bar, the main “Venue” for gigs and events, the Student Union offices and the Clubs & Socities Area. It also house a few pool tables upstairs, the DCU Barber and other various storage rooms.

The Old Bar is, as the name suggests, the older of the two and its style reflects this. It's old with wooden paneling, wooden floors, wooden fixtures etc. While many people don't like the decor theres still a great atmosphere in the place and is generally the place to go before you head out for a night on the town. It also houses about 7 or 8 pool tables in the conservatory, good for whiling away a few hours between lectures.

The New Bar which was recently done up has comfy leather couches and is a nice place to chill out during the day or have a quiet drink in at night when its open. It also houses a carvery which is very nice food at very decent prices. A full dinner plate will coust you about €6.50 there and there are several other student specials and smaller snackers on sale.

The Venue is the main venue in The Hub. It is used for most of the larger student run events such Drama Socities productions and other events held by the various socities. It is also home to the SU run events such as the Freshers, Christmas and Summer Ball.


The Registration Process
Here's a quick run down of what to expect.

What you need
Firstly there's a two page document that was sent out in the pack that had the bank giro for paying fees. It's a severe looking document with your course modules listed on it and a space for your signature on the second page. It'll probably have your student number and name on it too.
Secondly you'll need the receipt from the giro when you paid the €2250 capitation fee.

Where to go....
Check the registration schedule to see when your class is to register. At the appointed time head over to the Street in the Henry Grattan building. There'll be several check points set up here. Start at checkpoint marked NUMBER ONE and work your way around from there - don't worry, there'll be plenty of people around to tell you exactly what to do if you get confused.


Building and Room Numbers Around Campus
This is something alot of First Years have a problem with. Here in DCU the buildings and rooms are given numbering and letters denoting their location on campus for things like lecture timetables and such. Here is a breakdown of the various ones...

A = Albert College - Between the Ballymun road entrance and the Canteen
C = Henry Grattan Building - Between the Helix and the Canteen
H = Nursing building - Between the Science building and the Collins Avenue entrance
L = Computer Applications building - Across from the spar
N = Physics/Electronic Engineering Building - Attached to the CA building
Q = The Business school. - Behind the CA building
S = The Engineering building - Between the Colins Avenue entrance and the Physics building
T = The Terrance Larkin Theatre - Between the Helix and the CA building
X = The Science Building - Between the physics building and the library

You also have the room numbering system. Room numbers are very methodical in DCU. All of them (with a few exceptions) consist of a leading letter and 3 numbers or 2 leading letters and 2 numbers.

Examples:
L125, N210, CG12

How They Work...
L125 - The first letter is for the building the room is in, in this case L is the Computer Applications building. Take the next number and this gives you the floor number. For this example it's the first floor i.e. up one flight of stairs not ground level. The final two digits make up the room number on that floor. Rooms are generally numbered consecutively, either clockwise or anti-clockwise around the building. This may mean up one side of the main corridor and down the other side or may be more complex as in the Henry Gratton building which has a corridor that circles through the building.

So second example,
N210 - N is the Physics building, 2 indicates the second floor and 10 is the individual room number.

What is "The Pit?"

The pit is room CG86, and it's name is derived from the fact that it, well, looks like a pit. The seats are angled to the lecture podium pretty sharply, probably about 30 degrees if not more. The Pit is 100% definitely the only lecture room in DCU with any sort of character whatsoever. (open to opinionated correction). The Pit has a mysterious room at the back of it with a glass front that faces onto the main lecture hall, I doubt it has been used since some time in the 80's.

Lecturers hate the lighting controls in the pit, cos they usually muck them up, and not only that, but the lighting is set up in such a way as to be of comfort to the audience by facing the striplights away from them, but directly into the faces of the lecturers.

To quote Spockety “My most abiding memory of The Pit is running drunkenly out of it during a lecture on my 18th birthday to spew in the jacks down the corridor.”

Thanks to Raz and Spockety for originally typing this up.