All Student Vote (Summer 2023)
Cost of living support for students
To lobby the University to subsidise food offerings so that there are affordable and dietary-friendly, subsidise memberships at the Sports & Wellness Hub by 50% and reduce costs of joining a sports club, reduce parking, expand the size of the hardship fund by at least 100%, and create and emergency hardship fund to disperse small amounts of money to students more easily.
Cost of living support for students
This Union notes…
1. Students are struggling with the cost-of-living. Here at Warwick, 86% of students said they had cut back due to the cost-of-living, with 64% of students saying that the crisis has had a negative impact on their mental health and 14% saying it has made them consider dropping out of university.
2. Students have yet received no meaningful support from the government or the University to help them deal with the sharp rises in the cost-of-living, with the real value of maintenance loans falling significantly and access to university hardship funds remaining constrained by strict guidelines and an intimidating, intrusive process. Food prices remain high on campus, sports and social activities prohibitively expensive, and parking costs are hitting students hard.
3. Many other universities have doubled or tripled the size of their hardship funds (or even more), subsidised food on campus, offered cost-of-living payments to students and offered significant subsidies for bus transport.
This Union believes…
1. It is the University’s responsibility to ensure that students are not suffering significant hardship, by using foodbanks, turning to forms of work in the shadow economy and having to trade-off between food and heating and work or study.
2. The University is far behind other institutions, including those in the Russell Group, who have offered more meaningful support for students in this time.
3. The Union can do more to push for support from the University and be more transparent about the work being done by officers to ensure that students are kept in the loop with regards to relevant developments or obstacles faced in attempts to get cost-of-living support.
This Union resolves…
1. To lobby the University to:
a. Subsidise food offerings so that there are affordable and dietary-friendly requirements accessible to students on all parts of the campus. The possibility of a low-cost canteen(s) on campus should be explored.
b. Subsidise memberships at the Sports & Wellness Hub by 50% and reduce costs of joining a sports club.
c. Reduce parking by 50% for students and increase subsidy of bus travel.
d. Expand the size of the hardship fund by at least 100%, relax the guidelines used to assess applications and ensure that access is expanded for international students.
e. Create and emergency hardship fund to disperse small amounts fo money to students more easily.
f. Provide funded extensions for PGR students and cover the cost of their work and study-related travel e.g. for medical students on placement.
g. Ensure that sustainable period products are always freely available across campus.
2. To consult with and work with students more closely to campaign for cost-of-living support from the University and from the Government.