SRUC reassures students
Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) has reassured its students their safety and wellbeing is its priority during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Following reports of a number of positive cases at Scottish university halls of residence, SRUC and SRUCSA, its students’ association, has reminded those returning to its campuses over the coming weeks and months of the steps it has taken to ensure they are able to study safely.
This includes its highly flexible accommodation policy of ‘pay what you need’, which removes the concerns of having to take out an annual contract for halls of residence when this might not be necessary or there could be further lockdowns.
SRUC has also created a rota of its programmes so that, when students are on campus, they are in small groups of 15 or fewer. This means they can plan their travel and accommodation in good time.
Professor Wayne Powell, Principal and Chief Executive of SRUC, said: ‘We understand that this is a worrying time for students, but we want to reassure those returning to our campuses that their safety and wellbeing – and that of our staff – is our priority.
‘Early on, we took the strategic decision to take a staff and student-centric approach, rather than a financial one, particularly in terms of our ‘pay what you need’ accommodation policy. However, there can be no room for complacency at this crucial time and we recognise that everyone – including our students and staff – have a vital role to play to keep everyone safe.’
A statement issued last week said: ‘Whether you’re a returning student or are new to SRUC this year, we appreciate this is a time of huge uncertainty and anxiety. This isn’t what you had in mind for your education – it’s not what we had envisaged either. However, SRUC is a community, and our responses have that community, and its safety and wellbeing, at their heart.
‘We have put in a lot of work to make our accommodation safe and ready for you in line with government guidelines. We have created an institution-wide teaching rota of our programmes so that campuses are never over-filled.
‘We know it’s tough. We know it’s not what you had in mind. But we’ll get through this and the SRUC community is here for you.’