After several years of raising students' difficulties with being charged to scan documents rather than print them, the Union has been persuasive in the University removing the charge to students for scanning documents.
As of 3 September, the 2p charge per side scanned has been dropped. The original scanning charge was due to the University needing to cover its costs brought on by its IT supplier. But the vast quantities of paper that students needed to scan to complete their work meant this was causing a worryingly high financial burden on students.
Following feedback from concerned students, your Students' Union officers have repeatedly called for the University to remove the charge, explaining that it can have a costly effect on a student's experience.
Fortunately the University has now agreed to absorb the cost and let students scan pages for no additional cost.
Your Students' Union President Gary Richardson said the announcement was a great victory for the Students' Union.
"Some people may see this as a small victory as 2p can seem like such a small amount. But the Union knew how much of an impact this extra cost could have on some students and continued to push the University to change its policy.
"The Students' Union is always pushing the University to give students the best value for money, and with the increased tuition fees this year, value for money is even more important for all students."
This change also ties in with both the University and Students Union' work to be more environmentally friendly. Scanning documents and using them digitally means that less paper is being used for printing. The removal of the scanning charge completely, now makes it much more attractive an option to scan documents for reference rather than print out hard copies.