It's okay to study here; the supervisors work hard to help you, and there is (now) a fairly vibrant PhD researcher community. I am a moderator for an online Pomodoro study group- and that has been a lifesaver both in providing me with a cohort and encouraging me to keep on writing.
I am disabled and would love to study in the library or on campus. I have asked repeatedly for a disabled study room that students registered as disabled could book - of course, if no disabled person had booked it, then it would be free for anyone to use. However, this has fallen on deaf ears; hence, I rarely go on campus as I would be in too much pain after a short time. So the one thing I would suggest to improve facilities for students would be a dedicated study space within the library primarily bookable by disabled students that would have a range of assistive and adaptive equipment located in it. Such as a raisable desk, a variety of supportive chairs such as Hag chairs, a large screen PC and the facility to use voice-to-type software without disturbing others.
We also recently had a well-being week, and I understand things like that are a lot of hard work to organise, but I think one week a year is insufficient and I would suggest it should happen on a monthly basis, as so many people are struggling now with their mental health.
And finally, the support side of academic life here has really deteriorated. Before COVID-19, if I emailed the office, I would get a response within the day; now, weeks can go by before someone gets back to you- usually, by the time they do, it's too late to be of any use. The university recently joined two schools together (mine with another), clearly a cost-cutting exercise, but goodness me, the support staff were trimmed to the bone already, now basically, I do not bother emailing the office anymore as the response time is laughable, and they start every email with ... as you know last September we merged schools... I actually feel sorry for any new starters who have urgent help requests; they must wonder where they have come to!
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