In May of 2020 an issue was raised on Ulster University student complaints platform 'Unitu' by Undergraduate students about complications with the last-minute change from Belfast to Jordanstown campus. Students were told consistently throughout the 2020-2021 academic year that they would be studying in-person at their newly completed Belfast campus from September 2021 onwards, only to have it revoked last minute. Many are now stuck in non-refundable accommodation contracts in a separate location to our classes, and many people who could have easily travelled into central Belfast are facing huge unforeseen additional travel costs to Jordanstown.

This complaint was not addressed or resolved at all within a 3-month time frame and now the Unitu service has been suspended. Several students even emailed various parties inside the University for an update, with nothing in response. This leaves us with no platform for a voice on this matter, leading us to petition here on Change.org.

We additionally call on MP's, MLA's and the Education Minister linked into this petition to assist us with this issue as the Ulster University student body feel like their concerns are being brushed aside. Many are struggling mentally and financially due to this pandemic already and are expressing feelings of distrust toward the University due to misleading information given to us.

Undergraduate students feel lied to about this campus relocation, and that the priority of the University has been financial gain throughout this time. We were told through lectures, emails and social media that we would be taught in-person on the new Belfast campus in September. Ulster University partnered accommodation flats were marketed to us beside this campus alongside the news, and the new campus was marketed to UCAS applicants giving them a false impression of where they would end up come September.

Trusting the word of their University a large portion of students either:

• Took up (non-cancellable) accommodation contracts worth £160+ a week amounting to over £7,000 per academic year, as they did not previously live within a reasonable distance. Under the impression they would be able to walk to their classes nearby the campus.

Or

• Made the decision to live in their family home as it had a convenient and reasonably priced public transport link to Belfast campus in the city center hub.

After a large portion of the accommodation was booked out and UCAS applications were closed, we were very surprised to hear on the 27th of May that the campus would not be opening where we had been told. This was very late notice for many of us and we believe it could have been announced a lot sooner as the University and Building Contractors should have a reasonable expectation of the construction timescale. Articles posted before the announcement such as this one in April stating "[a subcontractor] reports that more than 100 workers walked off the site earlier in the month in the latest setback to befall the project". Show a clear picture of its progress ahead of time even to outsiders.

Students living in towns ∼30 minutes outside of Belfast such as Portadown, Bangor, Lisburn, Antrim and many others had financially prepared to take a single train journey into Belfast for their classes at a cost of approximately £120 a month. This has now morphed into £225 a month for the unexpected Jordanstown campus relocation, as it is further away on another line. Students not as close in towns such as Banbridge or Ballymena are now faced with a staggering £290 a month public transport bill, knowing this they may have reconsidered their living situation for the academic year if they had been told the true state of their campus development within an appropriate time frame. UU now state we will be in Jordanstown campus from September-Christmas before moving into the newly completed Belfast campus in January, those twelve weeks will amount to £870 in travel costs alone for those students.

Out of the 130 students spoken to regarding this, the vast majority are already into considerable debt for accommodation and travel expense purposes associated with University. The additional financial pressure caused by this situation has left many very stressed and anxious about how it is going to impact them financially and mentally this year. A group of students are crying out as they previously lived in the Jordanstown area with their family and have now signed £7,000 lock-in accommodation contracts at Belfast campus, they will have to pay £90 a month additionally to travel back towards their home daily.

A lot of students are simply dejected as they only signed up to Ulster with the promise of a new state of the art campus and facilities in Belfast, now instead they are being moved to an old campus in a town out of the way. Several students even dropped out or changed Universities because of this.

The reason stated by the Vice-Chancellor for this move was "To enable operational simplicity and maximum responsiveness to any emerging changes in Covid-19 regulations during Semester One, the majority of teaching will begin on our nearby Jordanstown campus.". This is confusing to the student body as more travelling and contact is completed at Jordanstown campus than would be in central Belfast, posing a greater covid risk. Most students live within easy access to Belfast but not many do to Jordanstown.

We request genuine and meaningful action is taken in order to assist us with these problems. Possible ways Ulster University could start are:

• Being fully transparent with students about important issues that will affect them.
• Helping students with unexpected travel costs associated with the new setback of the campus we were unaware of when making living arrangements.
• Assist in accommodation partners’ rent as these flats were sold misleadingly to students, under the premise that we would be on the Belfast campus.
• Offer students that have been unexpectedly moved to Jordanstown without ample notice free parking onsite for the duration they must attend.

Solutions vary greatly from department to department as there is a wide range of subjects being taught. Similarly to the initial response, many students who took initiative to gather opinions and form this complaint are from the School of Computing. Many of us believe that completing the September-December period online before Belfast Campus opens in January would be a better option for us, due to the nature of our online subject. People employed at companies in our industry are also working online for the foreseeable future, as there is no negative impact.

However, in other more “hands-on” subjects, this is not suitable. We ask that you explore the possibility of a blended online teaching approach based on individual classes and subjects, to find the best option for everyone.