1 / 11

Coming Clean: our Hidden Course Costs campaign

Coming Clean: our Hidden Course Costs campaign. Izzy John, Welfare Officer. Context of campaign. Tuition fee rise and potential impact Arbitrary increases in PG and International Fees NUS “Pound in your Pocket” and “ Come Clean” campaign On-going issues with SLC

lev
Download Presentation

Coming Clean: our Hidden Course Costs campaign

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Coming Clean: our Hidden Course Costs campaign Izzy John, Welfare Officer

  2. Context of campaign • Tuition fee rise and potential impact • Arbitrary increases in PG and International Fees • NUS “Pound in your Pocket” and “Come Clean” campaign • On-going issues with SLC • General increase in students working part-time whilst studying

  3. Warwick-specific • 2010/11 – wins in terms of bursaries; however failed to meet access targets • Implementing maximum fee cap of £9000 • University desire to focus on the “student experience” • Financial costs a consistent feature of student feedback • 600 responses to NUS Survey

  4. Our priority campaign • Largely “behind the scenes” – our own data gathering and research • How much does it really cost to be a student at Warwick? Accommodation, course texts, transport, food on campus. • 4 Union policies – Action on Access; Against Tuition Fees, Hidden Course Costs, The £ in your Pocket

  5. NUS Week of Action Concept: a bit more hard hitting, visual campaign NUS online receipt totalizer and paper receipts Wrote to VC and Academic Registrar 2 AMEs “Costs cage” in central piazza Posters in SU and all halls

  6. Slogans • “I think the University should continue to invest in bursaries ” • “I think it’s unfair that I have to pay for textbooks on top of my tuition fees” • “I think there should be more means-tested support available for students whilst they’re studying” • “I think the cost of travel to compulsory placements should be included in my tuition fees” • “I think all departments should have a certain number of free printer credits for each student”

  7. Pros Cons • Very simple and low cost • Engaging and relevant • Visual (facebook) • Tied into an existing campaign as well as the week of action • Good feedback from some students • Good way to keep the ball rolling on costs issue – can function as a longstanding campaign • Timing (last week of term, everyone very tired and busy!) • Difficulty with cage • Hard to follow up on immediately afterwards • Inconsistency with receipts (types of student, duration of costs) • Some students didn’t feel it was relevant to them

  8. Outputs • To date, over 160 submissions made to our online receipt, totalling over £47,000 • 76 paper receipts filled out • About 50 letters sent to 3 different MPs • 7 MPs lobbied directly in Parliament

  9. Next steps • Inputting data (a lot of it!) and determining trends • Persuading and influencing (compare to other Universities, commitment from UUK/Guild HE) • “Come Clean” lobby / writing to MPs • OFFA Access Agreement • Anecdotal pressure points (breakfast, uni cards). Petition? • Formulating recommendations • Handover to new sabb team

  10. Questions? Comments? Your campaigns / brainstorming welfare@warwicksu.com

More Related