Union submits portfolio of evidence to College’s Residential Experience Review

The Residential Experience review was announced by College at the start of the year. The aim of this review is to improve the residential experience students at Imperial have. The Union were asked to submit evidence for the review, which was bought to Union Council last week and approved for submission.

The Union’s evidence was split into three categories: Undergraduate Halls, Postgraduate Halls and Beyond Halls. A draft was taken to the Union’s Executive Committee for discussion, where the spectrum of information was approved and the Deputy President (Welfare) was asked to write the report.

However, the time frame given to the Sabbatical officers to undertake this work was very short, and they were unable undertake a full student consultation. Therefore, the evidence was taken from survey data and areas to be investigated were suggested. The review submission document contains is a detailed 63 page document in which the Union “highlight[s] evidence from a wide range of sources which are relevant to the wider student experience”.

Some points that were suggested to the panel included reviewing the cleaning provisions in halls, the high cost of rents for postgraduate students living in GradPad and a potential rent guarantor scheme for students not living in Halls.

The Union also explained its main recommendation, which was that “the review group commission full scale and extensive consultation with the student body based upon a specific set of options, all of which are realistic

to achieve”.

To find out more about the Union’s submission to the panel, download the document at www.imperialcollegeunion.org/rer.