Following a meeting with the college executive, the Union has asked for answers to your most asked questions.
I’m sure it will come as no surprise to anyone that over the last two weeks of UCU Industrial Action, we have been contacted by large numbers of students on a daily basis, raising a range of queries and concerns. The uncertainty around how long the strikes will continue and therefore how they may affect your studies, exams and graduations, not to mention the inconvenience already experienced by so many of you will naturally be causing a lot of anxiety within the student body.
As you will be aware, the recent student vote mandates the Students’ Union to support the strikes and the academics taking part. However, it is important to make it clear that this makes no difference to our ongoing work to support and advise anyone who is struggling with the negative repercussions of the strike action. If you need to access this support, you can make appointments with our Advice Centre via the Helpdesk.
In addition, no matter how you feel about the strikes and the cause surrounding them, your own education will be affected, so you deserve to know exactly what is happening. This is something that we at the Students’ Union are very passionate about, we feel that transparency is key and students should be informed and kept up to date with anything that may impact their time at Royal Holloway.
So during our recent meeting with the Principal and other Senior Management at the College, which occurs twice a term, we put forward a list of the most frequently asked questions that we have received from students over the last two weeks. We proposed that the College develop the central hub of information they have already published with more detailed responses to each of these questions, and that this is publicised widely and made easy to find and completely visible to all students.
This discussion was very positive and we should see a response imminently, which we will ensure is shared widely with the student body as soon as it becomes available.
The questions we collected are as follows, but should you feel that anything has been missed, feel free to drop me an email – President@su.rhul.ac.uk
- Will students receive a refund for missed teaching?
- What will happen to the money docked from staff who are choosing to strike?
- How will the College mitigate those on block teaching courses?
- Will commuting students who get to campus to find their teaching is cancelled be offered a travel refund?
- How will the strike affect international students re: attendance requirements for their visas?
- Will students get penalised for not signing in to lectures/seminars even if they are not taking place?
- How will the strikes impact on exams if they continue?
- How will the College approach extenuating circumstances for things like missed dissertation supervisor sessions?
Natasha Barrett (President)
Clem Jones (VP Education)
Willow Wong (VP Welfare and Diversity)
Pippa Gentry (VP Societies and Media)
Steff Milne (VP Sports)