On 5th June, the new Regulations of the University of Warsaw’s Halls of Residence were announced. The document sets out the rules for allocating places and living in student halls of residence. It is the result of many months of consultations and work with the academic community.

The Regulations were drafted by the Working Group on the Rules and Regulations of the University of Warsaw’s Halls of Residence, chaired by Dr Anna Cybulko, an academic spokeswoman. It was made up of representatives of the University administration related to the functioning of the halls of residence, experts in the university legislation and student representatives (from both the Students’ Council Board and the Residents’ Councils of the student halls of residence). Those directly involved in the operation and functioning of the student halls of residence had a decisive say in the solutions adopted in the Regulations and the subsequent joint development of a comprehensive document that meets the needs of the applicants and the tenants of the student halls of residence.

In the course of its work, the team benefited from various proposals prepared in recent months to amend the existing UW Halls of Residence Regulations (issued in 2020) and the UW Student Benefits Regulations, which define, for instance, the rules for granting places in student halls of residence (issued in 2019). The result of these activities was a draft of the new Rules and Regulations of the University of Warsaw’s Halls of Residence. It was reviewed positively and without comments by the UW Students’ Council Board. Following the comments made by the Board, a number of changes were made to the draft involving also the conditions for granting places in student halls of residence.

New rules for allocating places in student halls of residence

Student halls of residence are one of the most important elements of the student financial aid system. Therefore, the group of people who will receive a place first has been expanded. Until now, this privilege was enjoyed by first-year students who were winners or finalists of subject Olympiads. From now on, this group will be joined by students who receive a maintenance grant or whose income per person in the family qualifies them for one. Thanks to this solution, students in the most difficult financial situation will be given a place in a student hall of residence first.

According to the new regulations, once places have been granted to those meeting the above criteria, the applications of the others will be considered on the basis of a list of criteria indicated in the regulations, for the fulfilment of which certain points will be awarded.

For these additional criteria, the most points (120) may be awarded to those who have received the Minister’s scholarship for significant achievements and those whose income per person in the family does not exceed a specific income threshold (higher than the income threshold for social scholarship). By the decision of the UW Vice-Rector for Students and Quality of Teaching, when allocating places for the 2024/2025 academic year, this threshold was set at 1800 zł per month income per person in the family (in line with a suggestion to add a premise concerning people in a difficult material situation). Other scoring prerequisites involved in the Regulations include the receipt of the Rector’s scholarship and other academic scholarships, orphanhood or semi-orphanhood of the applicant, the applicant being raised by a single parent or the applicant being a single parent. A full list of the above criteria can be found in §17.2 of the Regulations.

Separate criteria for the allocation of a place also apply to persons with disabilities and these are set out in §18 of the Regulations. Doctoral candidates, on the other hand, receive a place in a student hall of residence in a separate pool until the planned end of their training period.

Another important change is the introduction of a reservation fee. Every year, around 300 people, despite having obtained a place, did not get accommodated on the scheduled date and, simultaneously, did not communicate their cancellation of their place in the hall of residence, which significantly hindered the efficient allocation of a vacant place to another person in need. The new deposit payment system requires payment of the reservation fee within a set time from the date of notification of the allocation. Failure to pay will mean that the place will be relinquished. In this way, places will not be blocked by people who resign from them and, if they become vacant, they can be allocated efficiently to the next person.

Evaluation of student halls of residence

The regulations grant the tenants of the student halls of residence the right to evaluate its functioning (on a completely anonymous basis). Evaluation in a given hall of residence will be carried out at least once per academic year, and its scope and detailed procedure will be determined by the hall of residence manager in consultation with the residents’ council.