Passed: March 2025 (17th)

What is the current problem, and how does it affect students?

The Uni of Leeds campus is very large and has limited accessibility routes which often cover more distance to avoid features such as stairs eg. The Red Route. Often lifts are out of service or doors are locked which impedes access, making traversing the campus hard for people who have limited mobility. Sometimes due to timetabling consecutive lectures or seminars can be spread across the whole campus eg. Business School to the School of Chemistry and then the Worsley building. The Disabled Student Allowance provides taxi and transport funds available for students to use to get to University. However, as the campus is mainly pedestrianised students don’t get transported to the building of their class but the edge of campus therefore the campus is less accessible to those with lower mobility or dynamic/ambulant disabilities. While the UOL has concepts in place to address inaccessibility of campus ie. Campus Reimagined, practical solutions are needed to be implemented now rather than theoretical solutions that won’t benefit the current and next cohort of students.

What is your proposed change? How will it benefit students?

My proposed change is to have LUU’s Education Officer, Equality & Liberation Officer and Wellbeing Officer dedicate and commit to lobbying on behalf of disabled students to improve campus’ accessibility, ensuring that students with limited mobility are able to easily access campus and travel from one end to another. Bringing awareness to this topic is also crucial and could be achieved through LUU actively campaigning for reasonable accessibility adjustments required to make campus accessible ie. “Let’s talk about it” event. One example of making campus more accessible could be linked to timetabling, identifying more than just the room and building accessibility but the distances between places and the extra time and energy expenditure needed to follow accessible routes. Improving the accessibility of UOL campus would empower those with disabilities who struggle to transit across campus day after day. This would make learning, socialising and the whole university experience more accessible to students with lower levels of mobility.

Have you considered the impact of the proposed change for traditionally underrepresented student groups? 

This proposal is aimed to benefit those with disabilities or medical issues which limit mobility.