Yet another nail in the coffin of the student experience
George Butcher offers his opinion on the cuts in amenities funds.
What does £220,000 a year get you? It’s more than the combined rent of the 22 new beds in Beit Hall over a calendar year, two-thirds of the former rector’s salary of £364,000 (Times High Education Supplement) and 0.22%of Imperial College London’s £97 million endowment. £220,000 is also how much has left the amenities fund for halls events and activities this year.
Most of us went through the Freshers’ halls experience, but that’s now changing. Hall seniors and wardens are best placed to provide pastoral care to first years and budget cuts are making it harder for them to do this. For example, many residences’ hall senior training allegedly could not given any budget this year.
Fewer events are reducing the time spent between seniors and freshers, making it harder to encourage integration. Motivating hall seniors to organise events is also harder; organising a film night isn’t quite the same as a boat party. £220,000 is fully affordable for college. What is a small amount to them makes a huge difference for the hall seniors and wardens.
It helps them to do their job and make Imperial welcoming and a enjoyable place. London can be seen as an unfriendly city for many - hall seniors do a fantastic job of stopping this and supporting us all when we begin our Imperial careers. They are the unsung heros of the Imperial student experience and they should be encouraged to do more and continue their fantastic work.
