Nottingham unis to spend £60,000 shutting down student parties

Nottingham’s universities have are investing money into community protection officers to monitor parties both on and off-campus.

Both Nottingham Trent and Uni of are using a combined £60,000 to “patrol communities in which students live” and will “clamp down on behaviour deemed a public health risk”, NottinghamshireLive reports.

The universities have introduced fines and sanctions for any students who go against governmental guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus.

Both NTU and UoN have updated their Student Code of Behaviour which sets out clearly how to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and respect their neighbours.

Residents in Lenton have expressed their gratitude towards the scheme and feel optimistic about it.

A 52-year-old resident told NottinghamshireLive: “It could all be noisier when they’ve not got anywhere to go like the clubs.

“Who knows what it’ll be like in [September], but knowing it will be patrolled is reassuring.”

The vice-chancellor of UoN, Professor Shearer West, said the money isn’t just going into monitoring parties, but also how well students are abiding by health precautions.

“We are looking at how we reinforce [protection officers] and what those protection officers may be looking for may not just be loud parties, which is one of the things they obviously do look at, but also if there are some real offences to the discipline code in terms of public health.

“We have to think about the students that we don’t have immediately under our sites and we can ensure that the students are aware and have signed up to the discipline expectations of how they should behave in a public health pandemic.

The vice-chancellor added: “We are still considering how to make their experiences fun of course.”

A 44-year-old living in Lenton also expressed their relief over the potential patrolling of the student area.

“It’s something that’s good to know is being considered and that hundreds of students won’t just arrive back here and be left to themselves,” he said.

“It will be a big change for many of them who are returning so I’m glad that measures have been put in place.”

The vice-chancellor of NTU, Professor Edward Peck, said the university is “changing our expectations of our students and these are formal, written down expectations.

“Students will know they’ve committed to whatever social distancing we have in place. And if they’re proven not to do that, there will be consequences in our disciplinary processes.”

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Coronavirus hasn’t actually put people off applying to uni, new stats show

• Compare: How strict are your uni’s halls being to control the spread of COVID-19?

• Every lie you tell yourself before second year that will obviously NEVER happen