Students share experiences in the university accommodation to select the committee

Tears, frustration and anxiety, university accommodation providers have been criticized today by students for their “greed” in a select committee.

The parliamentary select committee launched an investigation after a series of fare management issues during Covid-19 and the death of Christchurch student Mason Pendrous, who lay dead in his classroom for two to four weeks in 2019.

Pendrous was found dead by a staff member in his room in the Hinoki Building on the Sonoda campus of the University of Canterbury in Ilam.

Victoria University of Wellington student and Rent Strike spokesperson Azaria Howell told MPs before the first Covid-19 lockdown was called, the students were “kicked out” from their university accommodation and only had days to arrive. to home.

Using a two-minute packet of noodles to illustrate his point, he said the students were already struggling with the essentials and then expected to buy emergency flights home.

“They are motivated by greed, they are motivated by money. They don’t care at all about the welfare of the students.”

She told the committee that something needed to be done as student issues were being pushed aside due to the focus on profit.

However, this is not the case with all residences and former Christchurch Rochester and Rutherford Hall principal Stephen Kissick said all fees for his students were waived during the shutdown.

That room is not for profit and he said they had weekly meetings with the student executive.

Auckland University of Technology Chancellor Derek McCormack said the university’s students were never told they had to leave during the first lockdown last year, and that students who decided to stay had meals, supervision and support. .

He said they were “flying blind” last year but provided students with a 50 percent refund.

The select committee is investigating whether more regulation is needed in student housing.

While there were clear rules for rentals, the same does not apply for student accommodation.

Pressure on young, and sometimes minimally trained, residential assistants (RAs) was also discussed in committee, with one submitter declaring in her hallway that there was no RA in her apartment and the person in charge of supporting her hardly knew.

A different student said her RA was roughly the same age as her, and the amount of stress she was undergoing from getting locked up triggered anxiety attacks.

McCormack said their ratios were around one RA per 50 residents, but he wasn’t sure what training they receive except in first aid and hotel rules.

He said that student accommodation should be variable as student needs are variable, and he does not believe that a positive experience can be guaranteed for everyone.

Rochester and Rutherford also had a ratio of 1 to 31 and were all fourth or fifth years.

The lack of cultural awareness and specific support for international students was also highlighted as a key area of ​​concern.

Victoria University Graduate Students Association President Miniruwani Samarakoon said there were procedures in place to help international students understand life in Aotearoa at universities, but said this is not passed on to providers of accommodation.

Samarakoon said that certain principles such as “confidentiality and non-racism” must be expressed, as some students come from places where they are sometimes not used to reading “between the lines.”

Green Party Tertiary Education spokesperson Chloe Swarbrick said the presentations heard today were only a fraction of what she’s hearing on the ground.

Swarbrick echoed the concerns about the RAs, saying they were also grappling with their own personal issues and studies.

“[They] they are overworked, poorly paid and not adequately trained, and tasked with supporting fellow students, often in mental anguish.

Not all bad for the industry, with multiple presentations praising hallways at the University of Waikato.

Maynard Scott spent five years in the residents’ halls there, two as a resident and three as an RA, and said he felt compelled to share his experience as he had a “completely” good time there.

Scott’s hallways were not privately operated and the ratio was about one RA for every 30 students and he said the RAs received three weeks of training.

Another person who spoke of a positive experience in the hallways was also a resident of student housing in Waikato.

Victoria University of Wellington has been contacted for comment.