Now that we’ve packed up our offices and are working from home, you might be wondering what we’re getting up to in order to support you during lockdown.  

While many University and SU services are no longer able to operate in the same ways as usual, we’re still managing a huge number of ongoing projects and operations, alongside carrying out work behind-the-scenes specifically relating to COVID-19, where we’re continuing to raise your queries and concerns to the University to ensure the student voice is being represented at all levels. 

Here’s an overview of some of the things we’ve been working on: 

Using information gathered through our online student consultation and various student petitions, we’ve raised key academic issues with the University. There’s too many to list all of them here, but some notable examples include:  

• The need for a no-detriment policy  
• A commitment to create a policy that covers PGT students’ grading 
• An accessible, extended policy for submitting mitigating circumstances, with a relaxed requirement for medical certificates as evidence 
• Reassurance for PGR students around their funding and extension 
• Suitable availability of academic resources despite the lack of library access, and specific mitigation support and guidance for those writing dissertations 

While the University has already made a number of commitments, we know there is still much work to be done to ensure no students are disadvantaged or left behind. We understand that getting this right takes time. However, we are continuing to push for students’ concerns to be prioritised and for the University to, as a minimum, let students know what they’re working on and to what timescales. 

We’ve also been pushing the University to ensure there are clear and regular updates going out to students, emphasising the need for transparency and the impact that poor communication is having on students’ studies and wellbeing. Within this, we have been specifically pushing for details to be released surrounding the 'safety-net' policy. 

In collaboration with our local MPs, Matt Western MP of Warwick & Leamington (letter HERE) and Zarah Sultana MP of Coventry South (letter HERE), we’ve written letters to your landlords and letting agencies urging them to: 

• Offer no-penalty releases from contracts for the rest of this academic year (and the next academic year if necessary) 
• Refund rent that has already been taken for the upcoming period (alongside the deposit if no longer required) 
• Waive as much as possible any rent arrears arising from hardship surrounding Covid-19 

In addition to the above, we have also: 

• Written a template letter to help students write to their Landlords and letting agents to negotiate arrangements in private accommodation (letter HERE) 
• Received assurance from both Stagecoach and National Express that they will be partially refunding bus passes for term 3. Details for requesting refunds can be found HERE 
• Ensured that our advice service is fully functioning electronically, working with the University to ensure that Counselling Services offered by Wellbeing Support Services are also functioning and coping with demand 
• Created the ‘Warwick SU Corona Community’ Facebook group, which already has over 3000 members, to ensure there is a space for students to come together at a time when community is more important than ever 

And we are currently: 

• Working to get refunds from Warwick Sport on their annual and 6-month Sports Hub memberships. This is looking positive for final years, but we are still fighting for refunds for all students, particularly those planning to be on a year abroad next year 
• Working closely with Students’ Union staff to ensure you’ll continue to get the same quality of services, just in a slightly different way online 
• Working with the University to ensure vital services are available to students who still need to be on campus in the coming months 
• Making sure that students’ key academic concerns are prioritised in University meetings and in the University’s decision-making 
• Promoting ways students can get involved with supporting their local communities, whilst encouraging SU staff with reduced workloads to help their communities wherever possible 
• Working with the rest of the Students’ Union Trustee Board and senior SU staff to ensure the financial sustainability of the SU moving forward 
• Moving our ongoing campaigns such as EveryBody online, by engaging students in live Film Screenings and taking submissions for blog posts 
• Creating content to deliver training for all incoming Welfare Execs of Sports Clubs and Societies online in Term 3 
• Reconfiguring the Union and Sports Awards, which will now be streamed online - more details to come soon! 
• Continuing to support the organisation of Sports Club and Society activities for the coming terms, encouraging contingency planning if these are affected by the current situation 
• Working to get Club Conference moved online – this is confirmed to be a 2-hour live session on the 25^th April, followed by some pre-recorded ‘break-out’ sessions specific to certain exec roles 
• Continuing important work on on-going SU projects, such as our Democracy Review and the implementation of Liberation Associations 
• Collaborating with the University to ensure the projects most important to the future student experience, such as Welcome Week and the University’s drug and alcohol strategy, can continue as seamlessly as possible 

These are challenging times for everyone – and not in the least for students – but we are working as hard as we can to ensure your concerns are not only being heard, but properly and efficiently dealt with by the University. We appreciate that decision-making takes time but, in order to best protect your wellbeing and your ability to study during this already challenging period, it is crucial that the University provides unambiguous and frequent updates about the new policies it is introducing and the timescales they are working to. We are therefore continuing to push the University to act in the best interests of all students and to do this in the most timely manner possible, given the current circumstances. 

We’d like to wish you all the best for the coming term, and hope you and your loved ones stay safe and well. We’ll keep you up to date with any developments, but in the meantime, please feel free to contact us via email or find us on Facebook: 

Ben Newsham, President – ben.newsham@warwicksu.com, Facebook 
Chloe Batten, Education Officer – chloe.batten@warwicksu.com, Facebook 
Milly Last, Democracy and Development Officer – milly.last@warwicksu.com, Facebook 
Alice Churm, Postgraduate Officer – alice.churm@warwicksu.com, Facebook 
Tiana Holgate, Welfare and Campaigns Officer – tiana.holgate@warwicksu.com, Facebook 
Luke Mepham, Societies Officer – luke.mepham@warwicksu.com, Facebook 
Charlotte Lloyd, Sports Officer – charlotte.lloyd@warwicksu.com, Facebook