Krum Tashev, the elected Union President, regularly meets with the Vice-Chancellor of Canterbury Christ Church University to discuss student issues and concerns. Over the past year the Sabbatical Officers have been getting student feedback from Union on Tour and our annual student survey - Fill US In.
You 'Challenged US', and so armed with your feedback Krum presented this open letter to Professor Rama Thirunamachandran at a meeting on Friday 17th June to ask him questions students have posed that simply aren't being satisfactorily addressed.
Dear Professor Rama Thirunamachandran
Students asked us these questions. We tried to find the answers from relevant committees and disappointingly this was more than unsuccessful, hence why we decided to write this open letter to you in your capacity as Vice-Chancellor of Canterbury Christ Church University.
1. Is the University committed to ensure student representation at all levels of governance, including University SMT and the Remuneration committee?
Example: Committees such as SMT make decisions that have a huge impact on the student body, however there is zero student representation in those decisions in any of those meetings. We have been mandated by the Union Council to lobby you, the University, for the Union President to have a permanent seat on the SMT.
2. Why is there a huge staff common room but not a single, non-commercial, social learning space on Canterbury or Medway campuses?
Example: When we had this conversation we were told that we could have a tucked away corner of the Food Court that is nothing compared to the size of the staff common room, and there are thousands more students
3. Is the University planning to build a travel plan that benefits students as well as staff?
Example: The University told us several times that staff members are prioritised over students when we talk about travel and car parking
4. Is the University going to ensure that sport remains student-led, or do you plan to take it over and be driven by University interests?
Example: The University is trying to change the sports delivery model to make it elitist, without any student consultation.
5. Is the University planning to help the students from disadvantaged backgrounds and international students by starting a housing guarantor scheme?
Example: When we discuss this at University committees we were told this is ‘something that might happen in the future’.
6. When is the University planning to make all University buildings accessible for students with disabilities?
Example: There are some buildings that are not accessible for all and every time we ask about it the answer has been ‘the University is looking into the problem”.
Signed on behalf of Christ Church Students’ Union
Union President President (Education & Wellbeing) President (Student Activities)
The Vice-Chancellor has promised to answer these questions, so watch this space to see what happens now.