We hope that you're doing well and staying safe. The weather has been quite gorgeous in Bath, and we hope that wherever you are, you are taking the time to enjoy spring, taking walks, and finding time and space to relax. As predicted, we have been slower on our updates recently - everything has started slowing down, particularly with the SU being on a skeleton staff structure now. However, worry not. The Officers and staff members are still working hard on an institutional, local and national level to represent you and weather the impact of coronavirus on your academic life and your wellbeing as much as possible. Francesco - Activities Officer
NUS Student Safety Net Campaign
This week, the NUS has launched its Student Safety Net campaign, based on three key demands:
- The establishment of a national hardship fund for students, with an additional grant for students graduating this year
- The chance for students to repeat this year at no additional cost, or for their tuition fees to be written off in terms of debt or reimbursed.
The SU Bath fully supports this campaign, and has started working on the matter of tuition fees throughout the past weeks. In particular, the SU Officer Team has signed an open letter created by Manchester SU which called the government to relieve students of this semester’s tuition fee debt, if they go through Student Finance England, and to ensure non-EEA students are reimbursed of their fees when paid upfront. We will be writing to Wera Hobhouse, MP for Bath and North East Somerset, outlining these demands and asking for her to advocate for her student constituents in Westminster.
The SU Officer team believes that students, who will be the workforce of the future and rebuilding economies in the post-Covid world, and who have been put under an unprecedented risk due to the coronavirus crisis, and that the government should step in to help.
Affordable Future - Francesco SU Activities Officer
I campaigned heavily on the subject of affordability on our campus - the hidden costs that University life carry have put an unprecedented strain on students' mental health and financial stability. That was before Covid. As universities will have to fight off deficits and cover financial black holes, there's a real risk continuing and incoming students will pick up the prices - we can't allow that to happen.
Read my Wonkhe blog for more of my thoughts - The future has to be affordable and we’ll need to fight for it.