New Spending under AUT Student Services Fee

By Ben Webber

AUT has announced more money will be spent on students seeking transport assistance and students of concern/sexual harm.

This comes after the university ordered an increase to the Student Services Fee for 2020, the largest in records dating back to 2013.

This increase gives AUTSA an additional $413,000 and the university an additional $1.7 million.

Of the university’s share of the money, some of the biggest spends are $250,000 for a transport hardship fund and an additional $180,000 for students of concern/sexual harm.

AUT says the money for transport is in “direct response to student feedback” and will be used for “those students enrolled in a programme requiring travel between North and South campuses.”

As for ‘students of concern/sexual harm’, AUT says the additional spend in this area is due to an “increased number of students who are accessing this service” and that this number “increases month by month”.

The university says this particular service supports students who require advanced care and that this usually includes external services which students may be able to access throughout their time at the university.

AUT says it has also upped staff in this area and intends to “develop and provide educational resources to respond to matters such as consent, first responder, personal behaviour, healthy relationships etc.”

Other increases to AUT services include $150,000 that has been allocated for ‘Wellbeing’, $200,000 for ‘Student Medical Services’ and $120,000 for ‘Disability Support’.

AUT says it has been facing “increased demand” for its medical services and that students can expect a new doctor, a new nurse and more support in 2020.

AUT says it will continue to work on technology-enabled support for students with disabilities and that assistance will continue to be provided in the form of note-takers and sign-language interpreters.

There will also be “further funding of educational assessments to diagnose needs and respond to achieve equity for accessibility to education.”