Covid-19 : The University of Montpellier mobilizes to help students in difficulty
Continuing to study at a distance without computer equipment, coping with economic difficulties when you've lost your job - some students are severely tested during the current health crisis. To maintain equal opportunities for all, and to combat precariousness, the University of Montpellier has been working since mid-March to pursue two priority objectives: reducing the digital divide and responding to the social emergency.
To achieve this, the UM's Fonds de Solidarité et de Développement des Initiatives étudiantes (FSDIE social), which is normally used to provide assistance to the most disadvantaged students, was heavily used and supplemented by the Contribution Vie Étudiante et de Campus.
"Social distancing, often evoked, must not be a social rupture".
Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier
Bridging the digital divide
No computer? The Occitanie Region takes action
Not all students have their own computer. Usually, they can go to the Interuniversity Libraries, which are open long hours, to use one. But what to do when these are closed, and the computer has become an indispensable tool? By making 1,500 laptops available to students at higher education establishments in its territory, the Occitanie Region is helping to combat the digital divide. Received on Wednesday April 15, 2020, the contingent of laptops reserved for the University of Montpellier is delivered, at the university's expense, to students' homes so that they don't have to travel. Teamwork between the Information System and Digital Department, which provided technical assistance, the Logistics Department and the Campus Life Department enabled the first deliveries to be made the very next day.
No network or no package? The University of Montpellier helps students access the Internet
Access to digital services set up by the University is not always possible for students who, again for lack of means, are unable to subscribe to an Internet package. This is also the case for those who are confined to areas with poor Internet coverage. The University of Montpellier is therefore offering exceptional financial assistance to students in difficulty, enabling them to take out an internet package, modify their current subscription or acquire a 4G key. Already, 57 students have benefited from this measure.
Responding to social emergencies
Financial problems? UM and CROUS assistance to meet student needs
Whether or not they hold a scholarship, students experiencing financial difficulties can combine assistance from the CROUS, known as ASAP (aides spécifiques d'allocations ponctuelles), with assistance from the University's FSDIE social fund. Despite the urgency of the situation, this assistance is fair and appropriate, and is granted collegially by a dedicated committee. In addition, the frequency of FSDIE social aid commissions has been increased, and a fast-track procedure - always rigorous - has been set up to allocate exceptional aid in less than 24 hours to the most urgent requests, so as not to leave any student without food or shelter.
Next objective: to increase efficiency, certain types of aid will be systematically granted on presentation of proof, for example to support students who have lost their internship or job.
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Please note: assistance granted under the FSDIE social program is analyzed anonymously by CROUS social workers. The University's dedicated committee, chaired by the Vice-President for Students and the Vice-President for Social Responsibility, includes student representatives.
The challenge is to ensure that no student is left behind. In addition to financial aid, other actions have been, or are being, taken: for example, to support students on international mobility schemes, those with disabilities or those suffering from stress, and to combat social isolation (see dedicated article by clicking here). Under the impetus of the President, the Vice President for Social Responsibility and the Vice President for Students, all the departments and central services concerned, as well as the UFRs, Schools and Institutes, have mobilized to provide the best possible assistance to students, while maintaining the values of fairness and solidarity.