There are many ways in which where you are living – and who you are living with – can affect you and your studies. Support is available if you are struggling or have questions and this article gives you some places to start.
The Accommodation Team
The Accommodation Team can give advice and information on all practical matters with regards to living on or off campus. This small and friendly team aims to help you enjoy your time at University by providing you with help on any queries you might have about your accommodation.
The Accommodation Hub on the St John’s Campus is staffed from 9.00am to 4.30pm Monday – Friday, and a member of the team is also available at City Campus during these hours. To minimise the spread of Coronavirus, if you need to speak with the team please email AccommodationTeam@worc.ac.uk or telephone 01905 855 300 in the first instance. The Accommodation Office is open 8.30am – 5.00pm, Monday to Friday and they aim to answer emails by the same working day.
If you need assistance outside of normal working hours, please contact the Security Team through Main Reception: telephone 01905 850 000 or email security@worc.ac.uk.
Please remember to check the University’s Student FAQ pages for the most recent updates regarding how Covid-19 will affect your studies and your living arrangements.
Maintenance
If you are living in University owned or managed accommodation and something is not working, you need to report it to the maintenance team. Maintenance requests should be logged online; this can be done by logging onto your MyDay page and selecting ‘Maintenance Requests’. The system should know where you live, all you need to do is tell us what type of problem you have.
You can also use this system to report damage or breakages. Log a Maintenance Request on the portal and we will be able to organise a replacement for you. We’ve all accidentally broken something in our time, so try not to worry, but please do make the report as soon as possible!
You can find guidance on this process in this guide to log a maintenance job.
IT
Over the summer the Halls of residence internet service ‘ResNet’ has been upgraded. IT have teamed up with Glide to provide an outstanding internet package for students and you can find more information on the IT webpages about halls internet access.
If you are in University managed accommodation, you can report problems with your wi-fi by contacting the Accommodation Team directly.
IT have also created a quick guide to help you access course software from home.
Communal Living
Communal living can be challenging at the best of times, and recent circumstances may have made things more tough than usual. Sharing a house or flat requires a certain standard of reasonable and responsible behaviour. Support is available to help navigate any issues that might arise, regarding anything from sharing out the cleaning duties fairly, to dealing with late night noise complaints. These issues can be quite common as people adapt and settle in to shared student life, so please feel free to get in touch and firstpoint can book you an appointment with an adviser.
Alternatively, you may find yourself feeling isolated at the moment. Maybe you are the only person living in your shared accommodation, or perhaps you are still at home and studying remotely. Fancy a Cuppa is an opportunity for students to meet with a Student Wellbeing Champion and a member of Student Services in a supportive and inclusive environment. You can find out more in our Fancy a Cuppa blog post.
The Student Support and Wellbeing team have useful advice and information on their communal living webpages.
Don’t forget that our Security team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They can help with any late-night issues on campus, like noise, parties or breaches of lockdown rules. Telephone 01905 850 000 or email security@worc.ac.uk.
Paying your rent
If you are having difficulty paying the rent for your University accommodation, it is important to inform the Finance office. They will be able to discuss the situation with you. You can contact them by email: feesaccommodation@worc.ac.uk
You may also find it helpful to meet with one of the Money Advisers; appointments are available to book through firstpoint. Money Advice also have information about financial support for students available on the Money Advice webpages.
If Covid-19 has affected you financially, there will be news of a new support fund coming soon on the Student Services webpages and firstpoint blog.
Planning for next year
If you’re thinking about next year, don’t feel pressured to choose and commit to a house (or your housemates). There is plenty of time to look around, we have lots of housing stock in Worcester – and a lot may change in the next few months!
The Accommodation Team and the Student’s Union run the ‘Don’t Rent Yet’ campaign to give you more support regarding your housing options. Although the Housing Fair will not be able to take place this year, watch out for more information about the alternative ‘Housing Day’, which will be released soon. See more on the Students’ Union’s accommodation pages.
firstpoint 