EXCLUSIVE INFORMATION has revealed to Vision that ISA is “pissed off” with their treatment from YUSU after a breakdown in communication with YUSU.
A source told Vision that their funds went down from over £30,000 to under £15,000 after
the merger when in reality, funding from YUSU had actually increased. Massive overspending of the previous committee left the ISA in debt which YUSU bailed them out of.
However, YUSU have not been clear enough in their funding decisions to the wider student body – resulting in funding confusion.
A source told Vision admidst the confusion that they believed the reasons given to the ISA by YUSU for these “tightened” funds were “because we were always a separate entity to YUSU like the GSA.”It sparked emotive reactions. our source said;
“It was annoying that the general ISA block grant was rolled into the general YUSU grant for societies, so we were given less money and some of it went to other socs.”
An anonymous ISA source also commented that the committee was unhappy with the services from YUSU which they received instead of the extra money from the grant.
They told Vision ; “They [YUSU] claim the extra money has gone to staff time, but considering they filed a complaint against [a YUSU staff member] during Global Week and haven’t been happy at all with staff hindering everything they do recently… It’s not good.”
The University states on its website that international students “form an integral part of the community on campus, and currently just over 20% of our students come from outside the UK.”
Our contact, though, said that the cuts were “ironic”, considering that our University recently won an award for being the ‘Best University for International Students’ by the website HotCoursesAbroad.com.
David Duncan, University Registrar, commented;
“YUSU represents all students; GSA represents postgraduate students. They both do an excellent job.
“Occasionally, people argue that it would make sense to merge YUSU
and GSA.
“My personal view is that it is helpful to PG students to have separate representation, to ensure that their voice is heard. This doesn’t always happen in universities where there is only one representative body.”
The ISA is affiliated to YUSU, like other networks such as the LGBTQ Network. It doesn’t have the same representative role as YUSU and the GSA. However, it plays an important role in helping to build the sense of community among international students, and in helping to bring together home and
international students. The University allocates funding to YUSU and the GSA, and YUSU allocates funding to the ISA.