I am submitting this on behalf of a former UAL student Viktor Mikolajczyk with their permission.
UAL has many trans, non binary and gender non conforming students, many of whom are in the process of transition while undertaking their studies, whether this is socially, medically or both. While the University doesn't have jurisdiction to provide healthcare to students, many would argue the University has a duty of care to their students, stretching beyond the pastoral care it already provides.
Some SUs around the country have recently been able to introduce a fund where students who are experiencing gender dysphoria can apply to receive either money to support their own transitions, or be provided with clothing, accessories and cosmetics to help them ease their feelings of dysphoria in day to day life as a University student. I propose the same at UAL and Arts SU. The money could also be used for travel costs for students getting to gender identity clinics in London and beyond.
One example of where this has been happening is Keele SU, where the fund has been financed in collaboration with the SU and the University there. I propose a similar partnership for this fund.
I believe the impact could be significant and positive to users of the fund- all students have the right to feel safe and comfortable in their learning environments at UAL but this is often difficult for students experiencing gender dysphoria, which can often be in conjection with mental health difficulties. This fund proposal isn't to fund a students' medical transition, but rather provide them with materials and tools to help them in other ways. The emphasis in the title about care is really important here.
I believe there will many students at UAL interested in this fund, especially in these difficult times in terms of cost of living. Items like make up, wigs, gender affirming underwear etc are not cheap, and at a time when some students are choosing between paying for meals or art materials, these gender-related items may be unafforadble yet essential to those students. Similarly, travelling to NHS or private clinics for gender related health appointments can be expensive and time consuming and a fund to help cover some of these costs would be a great relief for many students at UAL.
Firstly, conduct some research to see how many students may be interested in the fund and how many would sign up to be users- this will help shape up the scale of the project. For other SUs, they usually give out up to £100 worth of items or monies to individual students and this would be a good model to follow.
Next, the University needs to be approached to see what financial support they could contribute to the fund, or if it could be considered in the SU annual block grant money.
Then it would be a case of working out the logistics of the fund by contacting other SUs to share best practice and then finding staff and resources to sort out the financial and practical questions of setting the fund up.
Collecting student feedback from the users of the fund could help ensure its longevity and continuation.
I'd like to thank Viktor for letting me put this forward.