A group of York students has won the opportunity to have their very own I-phone application developed after winning The App Challenge final, held at the Ron Cooke Hub on Wednesday, January 18.
YUSU Welfare officer Bob Hughes has warned students to be vigilant after a student loans phishing scam has been revealed.
Her Majesty the Queen will be visiting York on Maundy Thursday, 5th April, as part of the 800th anniversary of York’s Charter for the traditional “Royal Maundy” ceremony.
A flood caused by a heating system “failure” forced the university IT services to shut down many essential systems on Sunday night, causing problems for many students on the eve of their exams and assignment due-dates.
A petition and complaints report of over 450 faults were submitted by the residents of Fairfax House, part of Vanbrugh College, to the University of York’s Campus Services over the standard over the accommodation provided.
Complaints included lighting not working, radiators not functioning, showers had no hot water, front door and bike shed locks not working with key cards, window and door locks being in an inadequate condition, and concerns over black mould in showers. In the most serious complaint, a student was trapped in his room during a fire drill due to his faulty door, which the university had failed to fix despite being notified.
The petition gained over 100 signatures and requested a set reimbursement figure for each of the residents, which has been set at £50 for each student. Residents paid £101.01 per week for a 390-week let for their accommodation.
YUSU Welfare Officer Bob Hughes, who sat on the decision panel with the head of Campus Services and a provost, revealed on his blog on YUSU that he was pleased with the decision as for some time it appeared that no compensation might be given.
Hughes said: "I was able to push the decision panel towards £50 compensation for each student in the accommodation for last year.
“Whereas this doesn’t sound like much and is quite a bit lower than the amount of money that was initially asked for, this is as much as Campus Services felt was appropriate for this situation, and is a definite improvement from the beginning of the claim when it was starting to look likely that Fairfax students weren’t going to get any compensation.
“I feel that a lot of future students will benefit from this as there is now going to be a lot more scrutiny about the quality of accommodation at the university.
“The overall compensation amount of over £4000 is a pretty big achievement, which shows that a lot more consideration needs to be given to the quality of accommodation in future, as well as sending out a strong message that students can, and will, stand up when they feel that their accommodation is below par.”
I am pleased with the overall outcome and feel that a result, for both short and long term, has been achieved.
Vish Nithiy, one of the main leaders of the petition, said: “I believe that after considering our options, reimbursement is the best outcome as it provides the previous residents with some compensation for the problems they had to endure.
“There will also be much greater attention towards accommodation block standards in the future as a result of the claim, improving the quality of living for future year residents.
“I am pleased with the overall outcome and feel that a result, for both short and long term, has been achieved.”
Hughes also revealed plans by the university’s Campus Services to host consultation groups in Fairfax next term so students and university services can talk about improves for Fairfax over the coming years.
“I think that these consultation groups can be used to hold these services to account, and I will attend these and make sure that any developments or issues that arise from these groups are followed up with the relevant services to provide the best deal for students,” Hughes said.
“I also think it will be a great way for students to find out more about how the complaints procedure works so that if they are unhappy with their accommodation or the way their complaints have been dealt with, they can quickly and easily report any issues, and we can ensure that our voices as students are heard.”
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