Constitution and referendum

DCUSU is governed by a constitution and related written materials. The current constitution ís the latest (2008) revision of a document developed in a major review in 1992. Ultimate governance, including changes to the constitution, can only be conducted by the student body in a referendum.

The 2005 version of the constitution proved controversial, some believing it to contain loopholes and inconsistencies.   ^The Constitutional Review Committee, a standing committee of the Union's Council, committed itself to a major overhaul of the constitution to be put to referendum in 2008 to coincide with the Union General Elections, and this being done in April 2008, the revised document was passed by a significant majority.

This revised Constitution has since proved controversial and is under review once more with an aim for a new constitution to be put to vote in semester two of the 2009-2010 academic year.

Union Council

Union Council is formally the presiding body of the Union, to which the Union Executive (comprising the officers) reports. The Council is mostly made up of Class Representatives, normally elected at the beginning of the Academic year in annual elections. Each class elects at least two members to represent their views within the Students' Union and the University. Each class representative attends Union Council, approximately every two weeks during term time. The Class Representatives liaise with faculty convenors, and also sit on the programme boards of their degrees. The Union's officers are also members of Council. The Council elects a Chairperson and Secretary each year, as well as a Returning Officer and an Accommodation Officer, and members of certain committees, including the Electoral Committee.

Union Executive

The Union has an Executive Committee of eleven officers, who are elected on an annual basis. All students are entitled to vote for five of these posts: the President, Education and Welfare Officer/Deputy President, Campaigns and Information Officer/Vice-President, Equality Officer and the Clubs and Societies Officer. Only postgraduate students are entitled to vote for the Chair of the Postgraduate Committee and the Postgraduate Education Officer. Students are entitled to vote in the election for one of the following convenors (Faculty Representatives) depending on which faculty they belong to: Business Convenor, Science and Health Convenor, Engineering and Computing Convenor, Humanities Convenor. The President, Education and Welfare Officer and the Campaigns and Information Officer are Sabbatical Officers while the other officers are ordinary students. The President and Education Officer (Deputy President) are appointed ex officio as members of the DCU Governing Authority, and the former sits on the University Executive while the latter also sits on Academic Council (where they are joined by the Faculty Convenors). The President, and other members of the Executive, also sit on a range of other DCU bodies, for example the Faculty Convenors all sit on the Teaching and Learning Committee within their own faculty. The Union's executive and administrative offices are located in The HUB, DCU's dedicated student centre.

The Executive is required to prepare a budget for DCUSU each year, which is submitted to Union Council for approval.