ID021 Uphill Struggle - The plight of the commuting student

The Idea

National trends and recent Keele enrolment suggests that the commuting student is increasingly mainstream and typical, not the exception. For clarity, when we refer to commuting students, we don’t just mean local students who have stayed in their family home and are commuting to university, we also mean students from outside of the local area who are living in the local area off campus. 

Keele is currently set up for an outdated model of higher education that assumes the average student is a campus resident. It is also on the edge of a region (North Staffordshire/the Potteries) which has an exceptionally poor public transport network. Journeys which take 15 to 20 minutes in a car, require at least two buses and are likely to take an hour or more via public transport, including time waiting around for connecting buses which may or may not come. This can lead to travel anxiety for commuter students, who face these barriers each day before they even set foot on campus. 

Keele should review all communications and policies in order to make sure it is as friendly as possible and accessible to commuter students. Some ideas for how this could be achieved are below: 

Free parking or relaxed permit rules for commuting students (to remove travel barriers). This should be prioritised towards commuter students who have stayed in their family home rather than students who have moved here and are in rented accommodation in the local area. Commuter students who have stayed in their family home will not have had a choice of where they lived, whereas second or third years who have rented accommodation locally should have considered how they would commute to campus when looking at housing. This would be a proportionate prioritisation of resources based on need. For example, an annual student bus pass in the local area costs approximately 4x what a Keele parking permit does, but commuter students are not eligible for parking permits in most cases. Commuter students should be eligible for parking permits as a matter of course, if the university feels it cannot offer free parking for this cohort. 

Accommodation packages that cover key periods (Freshers Week, Exam Periods) and a carnet-bundle system that enables commuting students to stay over for key social events on campus (to allow students to take part in campus life more effectively and increase sense of belonging). If the university has concerns about 'planning’ for rooms in accommodation to be empty, it could explore partnering with the hotel to offer cheaper rooms for students. Create new or convert current space into commuting student hubs with access to showers, lockers, seating, microwaves, basic staple food items, etc. for ‘limbo’ periods on campus (to give commuting students a space where they feel they belong on campus, rather than having to make do in less suitable spaces). 

Incorporate commuting student experience in EDI training for staff to lessen bias and assumption in their treatment (so staff understand the experiences of these students). 

Hold local commuting student orientated open days/evenings. These would help potential commuting students understand their experience wasn’t unusual as everyone there would be from a similar background and intending to commute (and the events would also be less resource intensive as you wouldn’t need to do accommodation tours etc. like on a standard open day) This would also align with secondary and college/sixth form open evenings for learners in primary/secondary schools so would feel like a ‘familiar’ experience to those in the local area. Increase commuting student information and talks on standard open days. 

Block timetabling to minimise ‘limbo’ periods (this would also enable students to better plan any other commitments they had around their studies, such as part time work or caring commitments). 

Create dedicated section on the website for commuting students explaining all the facilities designed to support them (and review current language and tone – e.g. the current parking permit page has commuter students listed last and makes it clear the university does not really want them to have parking permits anyway). 

Why This Idea Should Be Considered

Keele needs to keep up with national trends and catch up with its own changing demographic. 

These changes could significantly improve the experience of commuting students at Keele: meaning they are more likely to engage with the campus and develop a stronger sense of belonging without feeling like they are ‘missing out’ on key aspects of university life that residential students receive. 

Increased sense of belonging and engagement in university life can have positive impacts on attainment, retention and progression. 

How We Would Implement This Idea

Implementing this could take a phased approach with 'easy wins’ first (such as improvements in communications, staff awareness), followed by improving commuter specific facilities and provision on campus, and piloting block timetabling adjustments. Finally, the review of parking and flexible accommodation could be a longer-term project.

What Success Would Look Like

Keele is known as the commuter student friendly university across the local area. 

Commuter students at Keele experience no barriers to engaging in their studies and in campus life. 

Commuter students have improved rates of retention and progression.

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