Merton College has overhauled its welfare programme this academic year, reducing the hours of Junior Deans for Welfare, discontinuing the Associate Chaplain’s book club, and replacing the famous “welfare doughnuts” with welfare cookies. Students at the College have expressed frustration at the lack of student consultation regarding these changes, with neither the Junior Common Room (JCR) committee nor the Middle Common Room (MCR) committee consulted ahead of time.
The changes to Merton’s welfare provisions are outlined in the College’s Junior Handbook, with the most significant change being the reduced hours of Junior Deans. Previously, Junior Deans had been contactable both during and outside of term time, with the exception of bank holidays. However, according to the Handbook, the Deans can now only be contacted during the two weeks either side of the academic term, in addition to during termtime.
A spokesperson for Merton told Cherwell that “the College’s welfare provision plays an important role in helping to create conditions in which our Junior Members can achieve and flourish, both in their academic lives and broader student experience”. Regarding the updates to the Handbook, the spokesperson added: “As usual, all students were sent a start-of-year email which detailed how members of the Welfare Team can be contacted during working hours and overnight or at weekends. Weekly emails to the student body provide details of the week’s activities.
“The College offers a wide range of activities each term to support the wellbeing and welfare of its students. These naturally change on a regular basis. For example, yoga, circuits and dog walks are all scheduled for the coming term and new initiatives, such as writing groups, are also in the process of being added to the programme. In first week, the College offered cookies and a chat in place of doughnuts and it is intended that there will continue to be regular opportunities for our students to come together for a break. These activities supplement those being offered by the JCR and MCR Welfare Reps.”
Speaking to Cherwell, Merton’s MCR President said: “We have not been notified or consulted about any changes to events, so I am not sure if these are long-term decisions.” He added that the MCR Welfare Reps facilitate activities such as “board game exchanges and bouldering” and that they “continue to make welfare supplies available free of charge in discreet locations.”
One MCR member told Cherwell that they were “concerned” that the MCR would be unable to provide the additional resources sufficient to accommodate the cut to Junior Dean hours, particularly for international students who commonly live in College outside of term time.
The weekly welfare doughnuts were a staple of the Merton calendar and have been replaced by cookies that are baked in-house. Speaking to Cherwell, a member of the JCR familiar with the doughnuts said that the confectionery – which came from local bakery Pipp & Co. – were a significant expense at £3 per doughnut, especially when only a small number of students took advantage of the weekly treat. The student added that the changes to Merton’s welfare programme were “minor” and “had no effect on student wellbeing”.
Merton’s JCR declined to comment.
