1. 10
A New Way to Fix Your Uni Life with
Student Mediation Services
JEFFREY NGAN
3rd Year LLB Law
Annoyed about dirty dishes in
the sink? Had enough doing the
cleaning all by yourself? Feeling
uneasy talking about bills with
people you live with? Struggling
with people in your University’s
life? Here is the good news for you.
We are delighted to announce the
Student Mediation Service (SMS)
has officially started!
Um…So who are we and what
do we actually do??
We are a group of trained student
community mediators who want
to do something more than just
get lost under piles of books. We
want to put what we have learnt into
practice in a place we love. After
nearly four months of preparation,
with magnificent help from Resolve
Mediation, The Law School and
Annual Fund, the first ever student
lead Mediation service is born.
We are here to provide an
alternative solution. Mediation is
an alternative solution for students
like us who may sometimes find
ourselves in trouble with regard to
places we stay and people we live
with.
Since we are students ourselves,
we understand well what people are
going through.
We understand that sometimes,
for many reasons, it is hard to speak
about our concerns and worries
particularly to the people we live
with. BUT we also know that
ignoring the problems will not do us
any good and the situation will only
get worse.
Our student volunteers have
completed a year of comprehensive
training from Resolve Mediation in
their first year and are well qualified
mediators. They are neutral and
capable of helping you resolve any
situations.
Right…how does it work
though?
Instead of going to the Hall
Wardens and having them to tell
you what is right and what is wrong
(and, of course, those living in a
private sharing accommodation
do not even have this option), we
prefer allowing student to make
their own choices and put control
in their own hands. We believe we
are all grown up and mature enough
to speak sensibly. All that is needed
is a proper opportunity to sit down,
and talk things through with the
support of a trained mediator.
If you agree and want to use our
Student Mediation Service to help
resolve a situation, all you need to
do is to contact us through Email,
Facebook or the JCR coordinator.
We guarantee to get back to you
within 5 working days.
We will see you individually and
then, if everybody is willing, we
will arrange a meeting with you and
the other person in a safe private
room in Student Activities.
During the meeting, we will
not take sides and will manage the
process to facilitate communication,
enabling you to come up with
solutions which you are both
comfortable with.
Conversation can get emotional
and therefore the Student Mediator
will be there to manage the process
and intervene when necessary.
Hopefully, by the time we leave the
room, the mist will have cleared and
we can all put down the gloves and
enjoy our uni life better.
You do not have to worry about
other students knowing anything
about the meeting as we follow a
policy of strict confidentiality which
means that everything we say in the
meeting stays in the meeting (unless
you give your permission for
something to be passed on outside
the meeting). What makes it better
is, the service is completely free!
There is something I would like
to share before summing up. I have
taken part into a few cases relating
to noise disputes in neighbourhood
context. Regardless of what the
issues are, I find the most of the
time the underlying cause is in fact
the lack of proper communication.
There was a case regarding
noise between a family recently
immigrated to England and a family
with a new born baby. There was a
significant difference with the noise
tolerance, and they both felt the other
side was being inconsiderate. My
co-mediator and I, working in the
same way as SMS, arranged a joint
meeting and enabled them to each
tell their story during uninterrupted
time sessions followed by questions
and discussion. At the end of the
meeting, the neighbours managed to
come up with some agreed actions
but more importantly, they now
understand where their neighbours
are coming from and are more
willing to express themselves in
the future. The fascinating part of
mediation is, it gives people a perfect
setting to reopen communication
without taking away their autonomy
in dealing with their concerns and it
stops the relationship from further
deteriorating.
Allow us to take this opportunity
once again, to present our sincere
gratitude, to the Law School,
Annual Fund, Resolve Mediation,
Professor Patricia. M. Leopold and
our great Student Mediators.
Drop us an email to
Student.mediation@rusu.co.uk
if you have any questions. Follow
us on Facebook (RU Student
Mediation Service) and learn more
about us on RUSU page (under
‘Student Support’) https://www.
rusu.co.uk/organisation/12725/
SMS team, Ali, Eleanor, Isabelle and Jeffrey at our
Launch Event on 2nd February, 2015
Image courtesy of: Lewis Harvey, 2nd Year LLB Student
Sir David Bell voices concern over Labour’s
proposed £6,000 fee cap
With speculation growing over
the Labour Party’s plans to
cut university tuition fees, top
academics have written an open
letter warning that it could cause
“colossal damage”.
Labour is suggesting a
reduction in tuition fees from the
current £9,000 a year to £6,000.
A supplementary “graduate tax”
would be introduced in order
to close the deficit, however,
this could not be collected until
graduates earned a higher amount
meaning a shortfall for years in
between.
This proposal has been met
with concern from the Universities
UK board who say the plan is
“implausible”. University of
Reading Vice-Chancellor, Sir
David Bell, worries that Labour has
not taken notice of the “legitimate
concerns” expressed by the board.
Sir Christopher Snowdon,
University of Surrey Vice-
Chancellor and president of the
Universities UK board, claims
this decline in fees would leave
universities £10bn worse off
unless this money could be found
through public funding. However,
Gavan Conlon, partner at London
Economics, has claimed that the
cost of lowering the fees would
be “nowhere near” this estimated
amount.
It is thought that the current
£9,000 fee is no longer the key
topic when deciding whether to
attend university according to Sir
Christopher Snowdon. He also
added that Labour has “missed the
point” and the real issue is the cost
of living which Labour have not
addressed.
Teeside University vice-
chancellor, Graham Henderson,
believes that putting “more money
in students‘ pockets” would be
more beneficial than cutting tuition
fees. Simon Gaskell, president of
Queen Mary University London,
agrees and claims that a “real
game-changer” would be to help
with the debts that arise from
living costs at university. Professor
Gaskell also says subsidising fees
is not the way to help “the most
needy students” go to university.
The Association of University
Directors of Estates have expressed
their fears over university projects
being stopped due to this cut
in tuition fees. Marcus Fagent,
EC Harris’ head of education
and children’s services, believes
the lack of university funding
could potentially reduce jobs and
lessen the competitiveness of UK
universities.
SARAH ROBERTSON
2nd Year English Language
NEWS@SPARKNEWSPAPER.CO.UKNEWS|GENERAL NEWS