Schols in UCD

Boston

Myth wrote:

Ignoring what goes on in the deep dark caves of the court of examiners, officially there isn't a quota for schols - there is a quota for foundation scholars (70 as everyone knows), but none for non-foundation.

Maybe I'm not seeing the distinction here, isn;t foundation schol the one you sit the exam for?

Tacitha

Ignoring what goes on in the deep dark caves of the court of examiners, officially there isn't a quota for schols - there is a quota for foundation scholars (70 as everyone knows), but none for non-foundation.

Exactly, and the number of non-foundation scholars (same entitlements) keeps going up. If there were a quota, people would really need to know what it was in order to apply it. They don't, and there isn't. There's an awful lot of scaremongering about schol, and it's not very helpful to students or to new staff (who would have to be issued with a Secret Schol Handbook for half the rumours about procedures to be applicable).

And on the size of the operation, no, everyone doesn't sit it once, and I never said they did. But the written exams run over thirteen mornings in one college-owned building which can accommodate all candidates. Compare that with annual exams - it's nowhere near the expensive logistical nightmare that they can be TCD or UCD, and it can't possibly be working out at 500 000 a year, even with the dubious measure of 'staff opportunity costs'.

Tacitha

Boston wrote:

Maybe I'm not seeing the distinction here, isn;t foundation schol the one you sit the exam for?

No, not only, and I can see that that might cause confusion. A certain number of foundation scholars have to be elected to fulfil the conditions of the charter / statutes. Historically, there were problems with having people in these roles who were either Presbyterian or Catholic, even when the college was accepting such students. So two classes were created, foundation and non-foundation.
Non-foundation had all the rights and entitlements of foundation, but didn't have a say in the government of the college - so no dangerous religious dissenters got foundation.

Now that everyone is up for either, the quota of foundation scholars is seventy (over the five years). So, depending who's left, there would be about 10 - 20 foundation scholarships, and an unlimited number of non-foundation scholarships available every year. They award the best people the foundation scholarships - I think that this is now done on a faculty system, but I'm not certain of that. Then everyone else meeting the requirements gets non-foundation, and they all get announced together and have the same entitlements. It's a moot point though, whether non-foundation scholars would be able to vote with foundation on governance issues - this comes up only very very rarely so isn't often tested.

I think there were eighty-something scholars this year, so most would be non-foundation.

Awayindahils

Tacitha wrote:

I think there were eighty-something scholars this year, so most would be non-foundation.

76, 9 foundation.

As for the 69.33 its a very complicated situation.

Tacitha

Thanks - sorry about your friend. That sounds very unlucky.

Awayindahils

They're being pretty amazing about it.

lizzyvera

We wouldn't have to copy Trinity because they have some weird traditions and annoying administrative problems.

It could simply be that the best couple of students per shool get free accommodation on campus in a schols-only building or something so they can all nerd away together.
It could be based on end of year and winter exams, which are worth studying for anyway.

Blush_01

The top student in the class already gets a grand. Unfortunately, that was never me.

Sometimes a grand DOES come for free.