Friday 15-03-2024 - 11:47

As an integral part of Durham University and its identity, common rooms provide a large proportion of the university’s wider student experience offering through their facilitation of sports, societies, committees, events, volunteering, and more.

We believe that the role of common rooms is invaluable in Durham University’s mission of “Inspiring the Extraordinary” and providing the means necessary for students to develop the “Graduate Attributes” during their time here at Durham.

The cost on common rooms of delivering said wider student experience offering has risen dramatically in recent years, particularly during the ongoing cost of living crisis. Common rooms are working tirelessly to ensure the continued high quality offering that our students expect and that they deserve, while trying to ensure that this remains as accessible and affordable as possible. Certain events in college calendars have had to undergo significant changes in order to keep them accessible for students, such as balls moving back in-house when they have previously been held in an external venue. Common rooms have had to make difficult decisions regarding budgets for sports, societies, and committees and, in certain circumstances, have had to cut subsidy funds, diminishing an incredibly important initiative.

Durham University currently provides common rooms with the Composition Fee - a sum of money to support the basic activities of the common rooms. This consists of a base rate of £5406 for Junior Common Rooms, plus an additional allocation of £6.99 per student full-time equivalent. Both members and non-members benefit from the opportunities that common rooms provide, such as by being able to attend smaller events at no additional cost or by still being able to take part in sports by paying a small additional fee. Whilst we believe it’s important that our students have access to our wider student experience offering, a real terms cut to the Composition Fee has made it harder for common rooms to give student groups and events the funding they deserve.

Common rooms and colleges are a major part of Durham University’s unique selling point and an important factor in students’ decisions to study at Durham rather than at another institution. However, the role that common rooms play is becoming increasingly difficult and the support that common rooms receive from the university is not adjusting in accordance with the changing financial climate.

Therefore, we are asking for the following changes to the Common Room Composition Fee based on inflation calculations to ensure that current and prospective students are still able to access a high quality wider student experience:

•    For the Composition Fee to be reviewed yearly and increased in accordance with increases to university managed accommodation charges

•    An uplift of £1000 to the base rate for Junior Common Rooms

We hope that Durham University considers these requests fairly with the best interests of students in mind.

Signed:

Dan Lonsdale (Durham Students’ Union, President)
Daniel Stuart (Josephine Butler College, JCR President, Chair of Presidents’ Committee) 
George Little (Trevelyan College, JCR President)
Ben Thomas (St Cuthbert’s Society, President of the Society)
Anna Robinson (St John’s College, SJCR President)
Haf Serajee (South College, JCR President)
Isobel Warwick (Grey College, JCR President) 
Charlotte Basing (Collingwood College, JCR President)
Maddi Aldam-Gates (St Chad's College, JCR President)
Emily Longman (George Stephenson College, JCR President) 
Anthony Jones (Ustinov College, GCR President)
Storm Rothwell (Van Mildert College, JCR President)
Annabel Hay (St Hild & St Bede, SRC President)
Ella Pierre (John Snow College, JCR President)
Maddie Combes (St Mary’s College, JCR President)

History of this work

In 2022/23 Durham SU ran a referendum called for by a petition of Durham students asking students to vote on if Durham University should support Common Rooms' financial sustainability, including the ability for each JCR to have at least one sabbatical officer without the financial burden falling on the shoulders of the students. Students said yes. You can read more about this here.

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