School Support

Your progress and well-being are extremely important to us. If you encounter difficulties for any reason, it is important to make us aware of these as early as possible.  Asking for help is NOT a sign of weakness but of self-confidence and strength.   

Module coordinator

The role of the module coordinator is to oversee all aspects of the module and please first refer any questions about a module to the relevant module coordinator. If for any reason you are having problems contacting or getting a response from a coordinator please feel free to contact history@ucd.ie

The School Office (Room K107)

E-mail: history@ucd.ie      Telephone: +353 (01) 716 8375

The School Office is an extremely important part of the School, it is the administrative hub of School activities. Open office hours are posted on the office door. The School Administrator (Claire Gibney) will help with any questions regarding student administrative or organisational matters.

Personal well-being and good health are central to academic achievement and over the course of your studies you may experience personal problems that may affect your academic work - perhaps an illness, a bereavement, loneliness, financial difficulties or relationship problems. While we would wish to support you as much as we can, and always feel free to talk us, there are issues that require certain professional supports and expertise. We can advise on where you might get most appropriate support if you wish. As a starting point the University provides a range of advice, support and resources to help students tackle such problems (these services are listed below) and you should consider availing of these if you require advice or assistance on any matter.  Please feel free to avail of these (see below) but always, if you are able, also let the School know if you are having difficulties. Remember the sooner an issue is identified and the appropriate people are made aware the more likely it is that it can be dealt with and we can help you.

UCD Student Advisers

Provide support to students throughout their university experience

• www.ucd.ie/studentadvisers

UCD Chaplains

Provide both religious and pastoral care

• www.ucd.ie/chaplaincy

UCD Student Health and Counselling Service

Provides on-campus medical, psychological and psychiatric care,

• www.ucd.ie/stuhealth
• www.ucd.ie/studentcounselling

UCD Access Centre

Provides advice and support to students with disabilities, long term medical conditions or specific learning difficulties (e.g. dyslexia)

• www.ucd.ie/openingworlds

UCD Student Support

Provides a wide range of practical supports and links

• https://www.ucd.ie/students/

Student Union Welfare

The Student’s Union provide a wide range of help and support include welfare advice

• https://www.ucdsu.ie/welfare
• welfare@ucdsu.ie
• Tel: +353-1-716 3112.

Unfortunately, most of us at some stage will suffer from illnesses that affect our ability to meet deadlines or fully achieve our potential. If you find yourself in health or other difficulties (e.g. bereavement; family problems) it is very important that you contact the School as soon as possible. The School of History and UCD generally have a variety of excellent support services for students who are in need (see other sections on this page).

It is important that you advise us of problems as early as possible; if at all possible, tell us in advance of the deadlines that you are concerned about. Please note that any issue relating to extenuating circumstances submitted to the School is dealt with in strictest confidence by staff.

Problems of various kinds may be taken into account in marking work, or considering whether or not a late penalty should apply for an essay. It is important that you speak to the tutor or module co-ordinator. They will ask you to:

• Complete School of History online late coursework submission form. 
• Upload an original medical certificate or other supporting documentation in addition to the online form. 

If you miss an exam, or wish to have your extenuating circumstances taken into account when determining your final grade, you should refer to the Programme Office website. 

As a joint honours student your time will primarily be split between two subjects and, therefore, also two schools. Each School will operate to the same academic standard and the same rules and regulations will apply across the University. However, local procedures do vary so it is important that you make yourself aware of these as soon as possible. In particular watch out for the following:

• Module work hand in procedures may vary between schools. Make yourself aware of these procedures well in advance.
• Different disciplines may have different bibliographic and other academic conventions. In the School of History, please refer to the 

As you move through your time at university each year will present new challenges and you will progress through stages. Modules are assigned to levels broadly equating to difficulty. During your stage 1 you will have mostly been taking level one modules. In stage 2 you will mostly be taking level 2 modules and in stage 3, level 3 modules. These stages and levels represent progressions in our expectations of you, your expectations of yourself, the extent to which the module will challenge you and the depth of knowledge that you will be expected to attain.

From Stage 1 to Stage 2

As you progress through your degree, you should be growing as a scholar and we will be expecting both your skill base and confidence to grow as well. By the time you reach Stage 2 you will already have been meeting deadlines, managing your schedule and producing university standard work. At Stage 2 we will expect you to understand how to put your work together, to reference other people’s ideas properly and to understand how to avoid problems such as plagiarism. If you feel any of this is still an issue please seek advice promptly (see support section above). There is no point in hiding from a problem and the sooner you get the basics sorted the easier the rest of your work will be.

From Stage 2 to Stage 3

Stage 2 to Stage 3 also provides the opportunity to mark a step up in expectations. We will be expecting an increased level of critical awareness and knowledge. At this stage you will mostly, if not entirely, be taking level 3 modules, when assessing these modules we consider additional criteria and in general you can expect them to be more challenging.

History Society

The is run by students, and we strongly encourage you to join, both for academic and social reasons.  You may wish to browse their Facebook page for more information.