As a result of a newly introduced University of Malta venue booking procedure, non-profit, student based, university organisations are being charged for the rental of venues on campus. Under the new procedure, in order to book a venue at the University of Malta to host an event, one must file their request via an online form. Subsequently, and as seen below, a line of communication will be initiated, whereby the costs of the venue booking would be communicated to the student organisation for approval.
Under the former procedure, the approach to rent a venue at the University of Malta would be to contact Kunsill Studenti Universitarji (KSU), who would then assist the organisation to liaise with the Precincts office for approval and logistical assistance. Although under the old system, there may have been the occasional requirement of a deposit, the rental of venues was not against the payment of a rental fee, as is the case now.
Furthermore, one cannot fail to note, that in relation to pricing, discrimination is made between organisations that are Senate Recognised and others that have not yet obtained such recognition. In fact, the former are eligible to a 50% discount on the fee. Whilst the intentions behind such a discount may have been positive, this measure works against any newly founded student organisation that may be still finding its feet and has not yet been able to obtain Senate Recognition.
In addition to keeping a close watch on the situation, as well as being in contact with numberooust student organisations on the matter, earlier today, members of The Third Eye team visited the Precincts office and the Finance Office at the University of Malta in an attempt to obtain further information.
Precincts Office
The information obtained from key individuals at the Precincts office is that from their perspective, the procedure has very much remained unchanged. The only difference is that instead of receiving the booking request from KSU, they are now looped into the online booking system. Once a booking is placed via the online booking system, the Precincts office would then provide feedback on the availability of the venue into the online system. It was made clear that the the role of Precincts in the process was and remains the provision of logistical assistance.
When questioned about more information about the payment system that has been introduced, the advice provided was that it would be more beneficial to contact the University of Malta Finance Office, since Precincts were not and are not invovled in such payment process.
Finance Office
Upon visiting the Finance Office asking to speak to someone about the new procedure, we were advised that the ideal person to contact would be the Director of Finance, Mr Mark Debono. Unfortunately, at the time of our visit Mr Debono was not available for a meeting. That being said, although no comments or information were passed on, assistance was provided by a very helpful Financial Office employee, who offered to take note of our questions so that they may be forwarded to the Director of Finance and the University Communications Office.
The questions forwarded shortly after are as follows:
1) At what point was the new booking system officially introduced and what where the primary reasons for the change in procedure?
2) Why is it that, to our knowledge, no student organisations were consulted before the introduction and implementation of the new system?
3) Although we understand that revenue needs to be generated, why has an approach that stifles the growth and potential of student organisations been adopted?
4) At time of writing, no official table of fees that indicate a clear and transparent breakdown of fees has been made publicly available? Should this not have been made available at the start, and why is non-Senate recognised organisations discriminated against?
5) Do you not agree that this new system implemented at the highest education institution in Malta goes against the promotion of student activism and non-formal education?
Action by KSU
Earlier this week KSU issued a reaction endorsed by most student organisations on Campus. In addition to this, when asked for comments earlier today, KSU President, Ms Steph Dalli, confirmed that discussions on the matter are ongoing between KSU and the relevant offices at the University of Malta. Furthermore, KSU is pressing for an imminent meeting to be held with the respective offices and key persons in order to address the situation.
