Priority Campaigns – Timetabling & Hidden Course Costs Report to Student Life Committee, October 2009 This report to Student Life Committee details two distinct areas where improvement is needed: Timetabling and Hidden Course Costs which our two of the main things the Students’ Union Executive Committee have chosen to focus on and push for change on this year. We understand that with both there is good and bad practice across the university, but hope that student life will support our recommendations as the minimum requirement/commitments from UAL to the students. Timetabling With the new academic year just underway students will already be experiencing the strain of this Universities disorganisation on their daily lives. On a very basic level this can be most directly seen through the prevalent lack of timetables available to individual students. Whilst we recognise the University’s commitment to improving course organisation, committing time and resource to this issue, students have significant concerns about the lack of timetabling for students. In the Freshers’ Festival Week alone, many students had received no information about their induction or when they would first be required to attend college. This is completely unacceptable. In most Universities, new and returning students would receive their timetable for at least the first term prior to their first week. At UAL this is not the case and the impact of this hits all our students and the most vulnerable more so. The need for a large majority of students to work alongside their studies is widely recognised nowadays, specifically in London. This need, along with parental, caring or other responsibilities requires some planning around academic commitments that is absolutely impossible with no firm timetable far enough in advance, or with timetables liable to change at short notice. In an age where technology offers solutions that can assist with timetabling, it seems unbelievable that we cannot have a centralised unit responsible for timetabling and room bookings. Such a function has some basic outcomes; coordinating Room Bookings across the University, making best use of space and telling students when they are expected to be at University – and when they are not. This should be easy to achieve, enhancing the student experience of basic course organisation and assisting students with being able to access room bookings across the University estate with ease. UAL has a space utilisation ratio of 0.17, compared to London Sector average 0.27 and Sector average 0.28. This demonstrates that we are simply not effective with our space. (UAL KPI’s for Court of Governors) No doubt the “SICOM” will offer some very sophisticated solutions, looking at the wider aspects of course organisation, but is not due to report back until Summer 2010 and this issue cannot wait. Action must be taken to enable students to plan their way through their year maximising their output on work, family life and academic achievement. With the implementation of the ‘deep portal’ next Summer it provides UAL an opportunity to massively improve timetable information available to students online. SUARTS REPORTS | UAL SLC – Timetabling & Hidden Course Costs | October 2009
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Recommendations for Student Life Committee 1. Agree that all students should receive a timetable at least one week before each term 2. Agree that students should receive good notice about the cancellation of any session, meeting or lecture 3. Agree that this should be based on an electronic solution 4. Agree that to help students plan their year, all deadlines should be published at the start of the year 5. Agree that all compulsory sessions should have a fair notice
Hidden course costs Studying at this University and being in London is an expensive choice for students to make, especially when choosing creative arts disciplines. As a highly prestigious institution, the choice to study at UAL is often made despite not being able to afford it. Although we recognise that many of these costs are an essential part of UAL, we strongly believe that UAL should recognise the lengths that students will go to to study here and therefore should be responsible for making costs as manageable, transparent, and accessible as possible. When the majority of students arrive they are immediately asked to pay compulsory fees; ‘material fees’ … yet often it is not explained to students what these fees cover and what they are spent on each year. These surprise costs continue throughout their degrees, often with devastating effects on students’ welfare and grades. The way in which degree shows, end of year shows, materials costs and studio material costs are financed is not transparent, is not communicated to students prior to arrival or in good enough time, and is in many cases unreasonable. In addition to these hidden course costs, students are often expected to present work in specific formats and in specific folders – often at huge cost each assessment. At other universities, Students’ Unions have and are successfully campaigning for hidden course costs to be abolished or at the very least communicated pre application. We understand that the nature of our work here determines that there would have to be additional costs but these costs need to be transparent and communicated from the outset of the degree. We also believe that fundraising for degree shows and other shows could be an important part of courses and, if appropriately resourced, could significantly contribute to preparing UAL students for their careers. Unfortunately, currently, students are not supported as they seek hundreds and thousands of pounds in pursuit of the best grade they can achieve. To summarise, the messages about hidden course costs here are: Hidden course costs discriminate against working class students and those with low levels of money Students are often pushed to desperation – stress, working too many hours in paid work, working in dangerous jobs, leaving Uni, getting into a lot of additional commercial debt Although we accept that there must be additional course costs, we believe the system could be made MUCH fairer Students should be able to prepare for costs and should not be surprised by them throughout the year! Recommendations for Student Life Committee 1. All compulsory fees should be stated in Entry Profiles (incl UCAS) 2. Average expenditure throughout the year (in addition to compulsory fees) should also be published 3. Students should receive a breakdown of where their compulsory fees are spent 4. No compulsory fees in addition to those stated on entry profile. 5. Support and structured programmes should be in place to help students with fundraising and sponsorship [by 2010 entry] SUARTS REPORTS | UAL SLC – Timetabling & Hidden Course Costs | October 2009
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Summary Enhancing the student experience here can be achieved with fixing some simple things that make such a difference to students. By applying to study at UAL, you should know what is expected of you academically, what you are going to gain from studying here and crucially how much it will cost you. Upon arrival, having a timetable would give you the impression that the University has planned the course and its requirements and most importantly, this information upon or pre arrival would allow students to work around the timetable to ensure work and family commitments are met without unnecessary stress. Whilst the Students’ Union understands some of these issues may be addressed through University initiatives, the current situation is not fair and is totally unacceptable. Our members have indicated strongly that these two issues need to be addressed and we are willing to help do all we can to enable the University to meet these basic demands of timetable on arrival and prior notification of course costs. We look forward to a resolution to these issues in this academic year.
Helen Gimber Students’ Union President president@su.arts.ac.uk
SUARTS REPORTS | UAL SLC – Timetabling & Hidden Course Costs | October 2009
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