Hands up if you’ve ever received a fine for not returning a book to the university library on time. Another show of hands if you have missed a lecture and not reported your absence. How about this: have you ever swiped into a class and then just left the room before the lecture started? Or swiped in for someone else?
If you have your hand raised for any of these – well, what does it matter? Why is it such a big deal?
Here’s why. It may astound you to know that for this financial year alone, the amount of fines for late and lost books and equipment has totalled £95,923. Yes, almost £100,000, and that’s just at our university.
Derek Heathcote, who oversees the departmental budget for the Computing and Library Services, explains that this income, as is the case with all the income the library receives, is spent on providing library and IT services for students and staff. In the case of library fines, the income is used to pay the Student Helpers who work around the library.
Other institutions are not always as resourceful with the money collected from fines; the Guardian revealed last year that Downing College in Cambridge admitted that they used the money to fund the annual staff outing.
Student Voice
But what do our students think about library fines and could there be any way to reduce the amount issued? Nicola Rose, English student, said: “I’ve had a few and they mount up fast because, as a disabled student, I’m allowed to borrow more books. I do think they’re fairly administered through, and the library has been really fair with me if I’ve not renewed due to illness. There have been a couple of times though that a payment over the phone hasn’t worked, which just makes more work for library staff because they have to manually reduce the fine later on and manually take payment again. I think a PayPal option to clear fines would be really good.”
Disciplinary Fines
Administrative fines are not the only financial penalty that Huddersfield students are subject to; according to Kathy Sherlock, Head of Registry at the University of Huddersfield, the total amount of disciplinary fines accumulated by students last year was £1,100. This figure, which is relatively small in comparison to the hefty library bill, suggests that students at our university are more forgetful than badly behaved.
Kathy explains that disciplinary fines are a lot less then previous years, when the majority of fines were due to issues with attendance. Many students are not aware that they can be fined for breaking rules regarding attendance and reporting absence, and for international students, the consequences can be even more severe. If overseas students do not abide by the attendance and absence policies and procedures, the university could lose its HTS (Highly Trusted Status), which means the university would no longer be permitted to have international students on campus.
Kathy said: “I think what students may not realise is that issues with attendance affect all students and the university’s reputation. Lack of attendance can lead to poor grades, which can lead to unsatisfactory feedback for the university, which affects our reputation and ranking in the national league tables.”
An on-the-spot fine for flouting attendance regulations is £100. However fines can go up to £350 and can lead to the student being excluded from the university. The most expensive fine for one student was significantly higher than this and was for a serious offense that cannot be disclosed in T’Hud.
Other serious offenses committed by students at the university include damaging library carpets and property, whilst engaging in suspected drug use. The students were traced via library records and CCTV and each was fined £350. Another incident involved an altercation at the Faith centre, of all places! Police were called and each of those involved were fined £250.
However, Kathy, who runs the award-winning department, makes it clear that all of the money paid by students in fines is put straight back into not just the university but the students themselves. She also adds that she is pleased to note that attendance has improved since the ‘Are You In Attendance’ initiative was rolled out across the university.
Access to Learning Fund
For any students struggling to pay fines issued by the university there is an Access to Learning Fund they can apply for. However, there are specific criteria to meet in order to be eligible; for example being a lone parent or students with disabilities.
Where ancillary charges remain unpaid these will be treated as a debt to the university and the university reserves the right to refuse access to the library (in the case of unpaid library fines), not to invite the student to the university graduation ceremonies and to refer a student’s account to an external debt collection agency until the university agrees that the debt has been paid in full.
Is it really worth it?
So next time you are tempted to ‘just bring the books back tomorrow, instead’, or swipe in for your friend, or even if you know someone who does this, maybe just have a quiet word with them/ yourself and ask: “Is it really worth it?”
Leave a Reply