The University and YUSU have clashed, after the University requested that current students planning to live on campus this year find alternative accommodation.
The email sent by The University to returning students also appears to suggest that they may be forced to hand back the £100 cash they received as an incentive to return to halls in the event of them terminating their contract, although the University has disputed this.
An angered YUSU President, Kallum Taylor, said: “This situation is the University’s fault, and said students would be doing the university a huge favour. It’s ludicrous… they should be incentivising the student to vacate if they really wanted it to work. [They can’t just] send a 2nd/3rd year back off campus in order to help the Uni clean up their mess… And charge them for it.
“Leave of absence students (who were promised on campus accom this year when they got back) have had that promise broken too. Apparently there’s returning students who would have moved out to help out – had it not been for the £100 hand back.”
This comes as first-year students find themselves without a room on campus for the first time since 2010, after a big push from the University to get returning students living back in halls. However The University has now been forced to make an embarrassing U-turn in a bid to house as many freshers on campus as possible.
The room shortage is the result of an unexpected number of new students joining the University through clearing.
A number of leave of absence students, who had been promised campus accommodation when they returned, have also been left in the lurch. One such student said: “I was assured that as a leave-of-absence student returning, I’d be allowed to choose on-campus accommodation. The accommodation request email never came, and when I questioned this, Accommodation Services said that all rooms had now been allocated.”
Returning students had also been offered a £100 incentive to move back into campus accommodation, but the email appears to suggest that The University could now go back on its offer.
Taylor seemed adamant that the £100 could be taken from the students, and the email sent to returning students did state that “if you received cash back when you accepted your booking, a charge of £100 may be added to your student account during the academic year 2013/14.”
However, a University spokesman contradicted this, telling Vision that students were not being forced to hand back the £100. “About twenty returning students have asked to be released from their contract, and we have agreed to this. They will not be asked to pay back the £100″.
Students have expressed anger and dismay with the University on Facebook with Emma Hersey, the ex-DSA officer commenting: “Every time I think they’re getting better with regards to looking after students, they do something dickish like this” and other students labelling the move as “utterly indefensible”.
The YUSU team is meeting with the University today, more to follow.
This entire article is written based on a status by Kallum
To put the record straight:
— This year the University extended its guarantee of accommodation to cover all first-year undergraduates who applied before 24 August.
— Because of the increase in the number of upper-year students living on campus and the large numbers who have applied to York and been offered places, there are not enough rooms on campus for all first-year undergraduates who are covered by the guarantee
— Despite this, all students who are covered by the guarantee will be offered accommodation. This will include rooms in off-campus residences and about 100 University-managed rooms in the private rental sector. The vast majority of students covered by the guarantee have already been offered accommodation and the rest will receive offers as soon as possible
— We wrote to returning students who had booked college accommodation to ask them if they wished to be released from their accommodation contracts. There was absolutely no pressure on these students to give up their college accommodation.
— The initial email simply stated the current contractual position, ie that the £100 cashback might have to be repaid. However, no student who has been released from their contract as a result of this email has been asked to repay the chasback and we have made clear that we have no intention of asking them to do so
— YUSU and the University are working together to ensure that all students, whether living on or off campus, are given the best possible support when they arrive at York.
— The accommodation policy for students returning from a leave of absence is set out clearly on the University website:
“Returning from a Leave of Absence (LOA)
If you are expecting to return from a LOA at the beginning of the 2013/14 year and would like to apply for University accommodation, you may be able to apply once you have enrolled. Online enrolment begins in August.
Further information about applying for accommodation will be published on this page during 2013.
If you have a requirement for University accommodation because of health, welfare or mobility issues, please read the information about Additional Requirements.”
— We will of course abide by this policy.
Dear Registrar,
Please could you provide an accurate breakdown of the figures of upper-year students who are returning to university accomodation compared to the last 2 years. Also, facts and figures on how many firm offers were accepted by students, and how many insurance offers were taken up and also how many clearing spaces the University issued. Again over a period of 2 years would be nice.
If the record is as straight as you say, then these figures would back your statement and show that this was just a culmination of unfortunate events.
I’m sure Vision or Nouse could put in a Freedom of Information request if needed.
YUseless…