Trinity-INC Student Partner Programme

Trinity-INC Ongoing Student Consultations

Are you a Trinity Student? We would like to speak with you!

Trinity-INC is tasked with embedding the principles of inclusivity, equality and diversity into the curriculum, so that all students feel represented and engaged in their studies in Trinity. Our door is always open to listen to students' realities.

We want to hear from students in Trinity - undergraduate, postgraduate, PhD; part-time and full-time - from communities which can be underrepresented or face barriers in higher education. For example: race and ethnicity, including membership of the Traveller Community; LGBTQ+ and gender; disability, etc.; as well as more discipline-specific underrepresentation, such as in the case of gender in STEM and Nursing and Midwifery, for example, and those with additional responsibilities and/or challenges, e.g. student parents, socio-economic disadvantage. We understand diversity takes many forms and is often intersectional in nature. Furthermore, no student has to represent any community or communities - we meet students as they are, as holistic complex beings!

We're available on Zoom/Teams, and will work with you to arrange a time that suits. We're always here to answer any questions you may have also, including about joining the Trinity-INC Student Partner Committee - see more below! Get in touch with Seán Adderley, Trinity-INC Student Partner Liaison Officer, on trinityinc@tcd.ie

Trinity-INC Student Partner Programme

Student Partner Committee

The Trinity-INC Student Partner Committee (SPC) involves students from the nine grounds of equality and other areas of underrepresentation in Higher Education. The aim of the SPC is to maintain regular interactions with the SPs to gather feedback and insights into their experiences within the teaching and learning environment in real time. 

The Student Partner Committee meets monthly to:

• Provide updates on Trinity-INC activities.
• Obtain feedback from Student Partners on their recent experiences in the teaching and learning environment.
• Highlight opportunities for Student Partners to participate in or co-facilitate Trinity-INC events and activities; as well as wider College initiatives which may be of interest to the students.
• Participate in training sessions or workshops on different topics related to equality, diversity, and inclusion (including, Universal Design for Learning, Social Model of Disability, Intersectionality, among others).

Flexibility is crucial to how we operate so participation is completely down to the student's availability - they can opt-in or out anytime. Students are also paid the living wage at an hourly rate for their involvement. Learn more about Trinity-INC Student Consultations below or get in touch with Seán Adderley, Trinity-INC Student Partner Liaison Officer, on trinityinc@tcd.ie

Student-Led Initiatives

Trinity-INC encourage Student Partners to lead on initiatives which focus on issues within the teaching and learning environment. This could be in modules, courses, Schools, or even at the institutional level, which they would like to either raise awareness about or provide advice on how the issues can be addressed.

Students have created resources like posters, podcast and written articles which can all be found on our Student Insights page. Student Partners have also (co)facilitated workshops, training sessions and carried out surveys. 

How the Trinity-INC Student Partner Programme came about: Origins and Development

During Trinity-INC's project development stage 2020-2021, we learned quickly that in order to achieve an inclusive curriculum in Trinity College Dublin, a whole-of-College approach was necessary. This meant working with teaching and support staff, College leadership, and equally importantly, students. 

Over the first year of the project, we consulted with Trinity students from all walks of life and communities which can be commonly underrepresented and/or disadvantaged in Higher Education, from across the nine grounds of equality (gender, religion, LGBTQ+, membership of the Travelling Community, disability, student parents, etc.) and others, e.g. socio economic circumstances, caregiving responsibilities, homelessness, etc. We heard about the many barriers and challenges students can face, as well as some really great practices happening across Trinity. We also heard how barriers and challenges can both contextual and time-specific. During COVID, when our project was conceived, some disabled students told us about how their access needs around, for example, recorded lectures and online attendance, suddenly became mainstream, meaning they had no need to ask for accommodations; meanwhile, students who due to busy home conditions or poor IT resources, found themselves suddenly excluded as they could no longer come on to campus. 

We identified that we needed to work with students on an ongoing basis, to learn their experiences in real-time. We identified that rather speak for students, we needed to allow them to speak for themselves, and be empowered to do so. We also acknowledged that students have busy lives, and so flexibility would be crucial to any involvement. And finally, that students should be paid for their involvement. 

Summer Student Partner Programme 2021

After the initial year of consultations, over the summer of 2021, we ran the Trinity-INC Summer Student Partner Programme involving 18 Trinity students from all walks of life and communities to came together with the shared aim of defining the Student Partner Programme. They took part in a series of workshops covering key terminology, concepts and theories regarding inclusivity within the curriculum and exploring their own experience of inclusion, and exclusion, within the teaching and learning experience in Trinity. This lead to the development of the first Trinity-INC Student Materials and a Showcase for staff in September 2021, which launched the Student Partner Committee.