Summary: 
Students of many universities, including Padova University, are facing the housing crisis, which risks their academic life. Only a couple of days are left until the beginning of the academic year. 

As students, we want our school to collaborate with local facilities, agencies, and private owners. We want the facilities, agencies, and homeowners to do the same!

Facebook groups with the housing offerings are now chaotic! Those who offer a room or a home receive almost 100 messages for a post, which makes it impossible for them to decide. In short, the system is collapsing! 

Most importantly, International and especially non-EU students are being constantly and openly discriminated against! 

This crisis won't be solved instantly! Last year, a similar petition was created, with a difference. Students were able to attend the courses online! This year, with the growing housing crisis, an online attendance option should be provided for the students affected by the crisis. 

We are hoping to begin our studies without being concerned about meeting our most basic need of housing and we confide in the power of solidarity! 

 

Full Text:
As students and prospective students of Padova University, we feel the need to express our concerns regarding the current housing crisis, which effects international students the most. We are publishing this petition with the hope of finding more convenient ways for us to begin our studies at the university. 

First of all, we should emphasize that we truly believe that studying at Padova University will be a memorable milestone for our lives. However, most of us are at the risk of being burned out during the process of trying to find a house, and this situation persists regardless of our budget. Some students state that they have been constantly searching for a room since more than 100 days and they are beginning to lose hope and motivation.

As some may have heard of, majority of students who are trying to find an accomodation are also being scammed and lose significant amount of money. Platforms reccomended by the school no longer offer any available room. Students are trying to communicate through unofficial channels such as Facebook and Telegram groups, however as international students, we are being discriminated against by many homeowners and our requests are being rejected. This situation is even more severe for those who are coming from Non-EU countries. Landlords are not even hesitant to openly discriminate and they admit that they do not prefer to rent their places to international students.

 These conditions are less than optimal and put us in significant stress. We believe the university needs to take quick action, before the academic year, so that our academic studies are not affected by current conditions.

No matter how supportive the university is, we are aware that what an institution does in such short notice would not be enough to solve this urgent problem. So, we are hoping to get support not just from the university, but also locals in Padova, willing and able to support students by offering any sort of guidance or support. 

As we discussed ways to minimize the negative effects of the crisis, we have come up with some suggestions and requests as well. 

 The university might cooperate with local agencies to provide us with a list of reliable housing offers. University also might directly contact some of the landlords and property owners and announce an open call for rental rooms and houses. Private owners could also contact with the university directly, to offer their properties to university students.

    The university might get in touch with hotels in Padova or the hotels and other facilities might get in touch with the university.  We assume that most of the places has vacant places and even if the facilities offer one or two rooms for a limited time for students, this solution would possibly be a relief for at least a couple of us.

 Despite all the adversities, students applying for scholarships are expected to provide a rental contract no later than October 25th. At this point, it is most likely that most students will just have the opportunity to find a temporary solution for the housing problem and a rental contract seems almost impossible to provide by the indicated date. If possible, the deadline for the delivery of the rental contract might be extended, or other types of solutions might be found.

 It is not clear whether the courses will be provided in dual-modality.There is an announced exception for students in their first year who did not obtain their visa. However, having a VISA without having accommodation is not enough to begin studying in person.  The university might reconsider the decision for in-person lectures and a hybrid mode of teaching can solve plenty of problems, for at least a couple of months, until most of us are able to find a room. Padova University has a valid reason to emphasize the importance of face-to-face teaching modality. However, if some of us won’t be able to attend the courses under these conditions, then they better attend the courses at least through the help of technology.