From July of next year, inquisitive students will be able to find out a lot more about their colleges, as the Freedom of Information Act extends to include universities.
Those in ITs, however, will have to wait for some time before they can shine the bright light of truth upon the murky depths of their institutions. A Department of Education spokesman admitted there was little practical difference to justify excluding ITs, but said there had been a "hard Government decision that related only to the university sector".
The Act provides for three legal rights. The first and most general is that it creates an active right to obtain information held by government departments, public bodies (and from July 2001, universities). Examples of this might include college finances and expenses claimed by staff.
Students who feel unfairly treated (and who hasn't felt like that?) will be heartened to see that the second right is to obtain reasons for decisions affecting themselves.
The third right is that to have information about yourself amended if it is inaccurate. This could be anything from ensuring the college has your correct address to having a transcript updated after a re-sit. But don't go rushing to find out what the president or provost of your college earns just yet. The Act has certain limits and a host of exemptions.
While there are unlikely to be very many requests for colleges to hand over documents relating to "law enforcement, security, international relations or Northern Ireland", the exemption stating that third party information - i.e. information received in confidence, personal information or commercially sensitive information - is privileged will offer a lot of cover.
Even in the above cases, the information must be given over if it is decided that it is in the "public interest to do so" by an independent Information Commissioner.
USI's education officer, Ian Russell, can't wait for the Act to be extended to the entire third-level sector. "More than half a billion pounds is invested in higher education every year. The more information we have on this the better."
Russell says there are many cases where the Act will make getting information easier. "Unfortunately, at present it is sometimes quite difficult to access basic information on educational provision at third level. For example, USI has recently been trying to access information regarding third-level computer and library facilities.
"It took us 18 months to get the statistics we required on libraries and we are still finding it quite difficult to access the statistics on computers." Russell said he would also be keen to have access to exam-result breakdowns - some colleges are alleged to award higher degrees more often than others.
UCD is one college which is gearing up to comply with the Act. Ruth Gallagher from the UCD public affairs office says it will be ready for the deadline and, in fact, that freedom of information brings benefits.
"It's not just a matter of the college giving out information - it is a matter of making information better and more accessible. It will encourage better administration."
Visions of hordes of inquisitive students picking over the minutiae of college administration are not exactly keeping her up at night, she says. "Certain requests have been made to Government departments and public bodies for information that is already readily available, but overall the amount of requests is surprisingly low."
