Implement a No Detriment Policy or Safety Net for the 2020/21 Academic Year at the University of Southampton

Hold a Student Union Senate meeting for SUSU to lobby the University of Southampton to implement a safety net/non-detriment policy for the 2020/21 academic year.

The University is going through unprecedented times and so are the students. While I recognise that the university is doing as much as possible to make this year's learning experience as close to "normal" as possible, this is still not enough to expect students to produce the same quality of work.

These last ten months have been a huge challenge for all, and this is having an impact on our work, with or without the correct resources. In some cases, some students have felt that they have not had adequate access to the resources required to complete their degree and I recognise it is hard for the University of Southampton to match this at present.

However, there has been a universal issue in the way we learn. It is much easier to learn efficiently by going to lectures, coming home, consolidating that work, and then having some free time to relax and prepare for the next day of learning.

COVID-19 has presented a nightmarish situation compared to this. After speaking to several students I can confirm that they share my experience of waking up, rolling merely feet in a small room from bed to desk, with no separation between work and rest, seeing loved ones suffer from the pandemic we find ourselves in, whether through our own relatives struggling, or by seeing our friends struggle in the same situation, as well as feeling alone and struggling to complete the work in the same time frame as would be normal without any of these extenuating circumstances.

While it is clear that the university is trying to offer the highest quality of education possible, with the highest diligence still given to each degree to match its accreditation, students are simply unable to perform at the same level as previous years with the surrounding circumstances, even if no one we know has been directly infected with this terrible virus.

This is not a plea to say the University has not done all it can to reopen facilities, nor an attempt to cheat ourselves a degree. This is a cry for help from the students of the University of Southampton, asking the powers-that-be to realise we are not in a situation to have the same expected of us as previous years, and that our mental health in this situation does not allow us to work to the same standards.

Therefore, we the students, plead the University of Southampton to seriously reconsider its decision to not implement any form of no detriment policy or safety net for its students.

If successful, this petition will be taken to the Students' Union's Sentate meeting on Thursday 18 February.