I’ve been acting on various projects with both the University of Exeter and the Students’ Union that are working towards a better student experience for our students.

The university has a regular Cost of Living working group, where Lauren, Kira and myself feedback the unique Cornwall voice to ensure any help given by the university is also available to the students on Penryn and Truro. In this space we’ve have been encouraging all of our partners to treat the Cost of Living crisis with urgency and stay ahead of the curve.

So far, the university have announced increase funding for their Success for All fund, made funding available for a Winter Bursary, increased PHD stipends to match the UKRI increase and included financial hardship as a reason for mitigation. You can read more about this here. In our positions we are able to urge the university to provide further, more tangible, support to all students throughout the crisis.

I have also been involved in conversations to form the new mitigation policy – asking the university to consider financial hardship as a reason for mitigation. Our work on this policy has been successful so far, with short term financial hardship now being accepted as a reason for evidence-based mitigation. This is a start but I’m looking to do more to protect your academic journey during this difficult period.

Ultimately, us presidents have been working together as a team to take student feedback to the University of Exeter. We have been guiding the institution on how best to support the students on the Cornwall campuses. If you have any feedback you want to discuss with us, we are more than happy to hear it. Get in touch via our email (presidents@thesu.org.uk) or come into the office and say hello.

You can read our other cost-of-living related articles here on our Cost of Living Crisis Hub.