【校长回应】关于受疫情影响,留学生的补偿问题的初步回复。

原标题：【校长回应】关于受疫情影响, 留学生的补偿问题的初步回复。

大家好，相信这次因为疫情缘故，有不少同学通过第三国的方法进入了澳洲并且按照学校所通知的方法申请了第三国补助。但是，这次补助的申请过程十分混乱，中途经历了申请邮箱的更换，突然要求上交银行流水以及很多学生都未收到上交流水的邮件。不仅如此，审批条件更是不透明，学生无从得知审批条件，也未收到任何官方申明。

因此，在经历了漫长的等待后，悉尼大学中国学联决定站出来发起这次联名信，为中国留学生发声，悉尼大学副校长也做出了相应的初步回应。同学们有更多问题可以加官方小助手回复“第三方”进群，等待5月26号与副校长zoom meeting时进行进一步提问。

副校长提到我们不仅可以申请第三国的补助，经济实在困难还可以申请2000刀的紧急补助（General bursaries），甚至食物券。

来自副校长的回应

悉尼大学中国学生与学者联合会，

感谢你们就旅行禁令资金支持提供反馈，并感谢你们代表申请此支持的学生所采取的行动。我非常重视你们的担忧，并希望通过这封信做进一步的明确。我已经调查了你们所提出的与Student Life团队有关的问题，现在可以为你们提供所需的有关旅行禁令资金支持的信息。

我感谢你们对在此过程中面对繁重工作的学校工作人员的考虑。我们也都同意，在申请资助时，大部分学生是诚实和真诚的，并且大学会尽一切努力对表现出明显财务困难迹象的学生提供帮助。

首先，我会介绍“旅行禁令资金困难支持”这项倡议的背景以及这一项目的实施过程，我希望这们帮助我们建立起更多的共识。然后，我会就你们提出的五点意见和要求采取的措施进行说明。

校长于2020年3月6日星期五宣布了“旅行禁令困难支持计划”。该计划的创建旨在支持因交通限制而导致额外开支的当前在校学生的经济困难。创建该计划的动机促使了两个核心选择标准的制定，而这两个标准为申请和评估过程提供了信息：

1）悉尼大学本学期在读注册学生（current enrollment）；

2）证明由财务困难所导致对生活费用支持能力的重大影响。这需要提供证据。

副校长宣布这项计划后，学校创建了一个在线查询表格，供学生表达对获取资助的意向。截止日期为4月6日。申请表上还说明了，有关申请流程的进一步信息将在21个工作日内提供。3月23日，大学通过学校电子邮件向所有申请人发布了更新，告知他们申请的评估将在第一学期的Census Date（2020年3月31日）之后开始。这使我们能够确保获得资助的学生符合当前上述的标准1（当前在读学生）。在Census Date后的4月1日开始评估时，我们发现许多学生（约20％）目前尚未入学，因此不符合标准1。此外，大多数学生没有通过申请表证明他们的财务困难。我们无法使用他们所提供的信息来正确评估标准2。然后，我们通过学生在申请表中提供的电子邮件与所有申请人联系，以告知他们还需要提交银行对帐单作为财务困难的证据。这项提交的期限当时设定为一周。要求提供经济困难证据是我们常规助学金（General Bursary）申请流程中的标准，这使我们能够对学生的需求进行恰当的评估。在那之后，我们延长了截止日期，以使更多的学生有机会提供他们的文件并获得资助。我们还在4月9日和4月21日分别发送了提醒，并在5月1日发送了总体的更新，以确保所有学生都能被通知到位。每次在此类（与学生的）通信之后，我们都收到了大量答复，这表明了延长日期和我们发出的提醒的价值。

很遗憾，为提交文件提供更多时间使我们的对申请的评估和处理出现了延迟。现在，我们已经完成了评估申请的过程。如果学生提供了财务困难的证明文件，我们已经相应地向他们拨出了资金。我们已向2084名提供文档并被评估为需要财务支持的学生提供了资助。由于缺乏真正财务困难的证据，一小部分学生（约2％）提供文件的学生没有获得任何资助。

我们对财务困难进行的评估是基于所提供的的文档中的几个证明性因素的。以下情况促成我们对学生作出“未遇到财务困难”的评定：

•文件显示有其他传入性质的财务流向；

•交易记录显示在非必需品或奢侈品上的大量支出；

•有证据表明他们的银行帐户中有足够的资金；

•没有提供有关即将产生的交易费用的信息。

所有申请未成功的学生都收到了有关他们结果的通知。

我希望对这一过程的概述有助于你们理解我们迄今为止与学生方面的沟通以及我们处理申请的标准。

我现在将对你们的来信中的每一点做出答复，希望这能帮助你们进一步理解处理过程。

1

“并非所有按时申请的学生都收到了电子邮件。”

大学使用电子邮箱工具联系所有申请该资助的学生。这和我们分发新闻和公告所使用的是相同的工具，据我们所知，迄今为止并没有出现问题。我被告知的是，大量学生在申请中提供的电子邮箱地址不正确。我们的团队对此进行了调查和更正，以确保邮件被发送到申请者的悉尼大学生电子邮件帐户。很遗憾，验证邮箱的过程给我们对电子邮件的检查和更正造成了严重的延迟。但是，我们最终能够通过大学电子邮件与这些学生联系。

2

“没有正式宣布在5月4日之前未提交银行对账单的学生将不会获得经济支持。”

由于对最初在线表格中所提供的申请人财务困难程度的不清楚，因此我们需要学生提供银行对账单以确保对标准2的评估。我们对所有申请的学生都通过大学的电子邮件工具发送了电子邮件告知相关要求。该信息于4月9日和4月21日发送了两次。

3

“电子邮件中用于上传银行对帐单的链接在截止日期之前已关闭。”

我们可以确认，上载银行对帐单的链接的确被错误地设置为在截止日期前24小时关闭。被告知这一错误后，我们修改了办公室的电子邮件自动答复，建议学生通过电子邮件提交对帐单。从表格的离线时间到截止日期，我们收到了另外的480封带有银行对账单的电子邮件。

4

“申请和批准过程非常不透明。不但学校将与学生的交流保持在最低限度，学生也不知道确切的选择标准。”

我们经常与学生进行交流，并通过大学电子邮件渠道向所有申请人提供更新。

该支持旨在帮助因旅行禁令而遭受经济困难的学生。大学网站上已明确指出了这一点。我们并没有发布评估申请的更详细标 - 这是大学所也资金补助的标准方法，并且与其他澳大利亚大学的做法一致。这封信里所概述的评估标准和证据性因素促成了我们的选择标准，供你们参考。我希望这有助于提供清晰的信息。为了回应您的反馈，我们还将在常规助学金（General Bursary）网站上发布选择标准，以帮助学生在申请前更全面地了解该过程。

5

“随着时间的推移，学生所获得的支持金额差异很大。”

经过最初的两轮评估后，我们收到了来自相关学生的电子邮件，通知我们的办公室，已获得资助的学生正在将资金用于购买奢侈品，或者学生已将资金转入未提供给我们的其他帐户。鉴于这笔资金旨在为面临真正财务困难的学生提供基本生活费用，我们开始加强对申请的评估，以确保我们向有真正需要的最清晰证据的学生提供资金。根据这些评估，很明显有些学生没有提供有关其财务状况的完整文档，我们仍相应地给他们分配了资金。但是，已经清楚地证明了他们的财务需要，并概述了他们在支付基本生活费用方面所面临的挑战的学生继续获得了3,000澳元的全额补助。此外，如上所述，只有2％提供文件的学生未能获得资助。

6

“大学将截止日期一再推迟-从21个工作日到4月下旬，现在已经是5月中旬。”

有关21个工作日的初步沟通是为了进一步通知要提供给申请人的流程；这不是提供其申请结果的截止日期。在21个工作日内，我们通知了学生我们收到了大量申请，此后我们也继续使用大学电子邮件为学生提供定期更新。如上所述，我们通过延长截止日期，发送提醒和更正电子邮件地址来确保学生的公平，而这一切都导致处理时间的延迟。对学生造成的耽搁，我们深表歉意。

最后，以下是对你们所要求的行动的答复：

01

公开选择标准

为确保所有学生了解拨款的方式以及为什么他们可能没有收到拨款，我们将在旅行禁令困难支持网站上提供关于选择标准的声明，以及向学生提供的支持摘要现在已经处理了申请。为了响应我们收到的反馈和从旅行禁令困难支持管理过程中吸取的教训，我们还将在常规助学金（General Bursary）网站上发布选拔标准，以便将来的申请人可以在申请之前被告知该过程。既然现在这笔资金是对国际学生开放的，这一点就变得尤为重要，因为我们需要确保程序透明并被申请的学生所理解。

有一点需要注意，我们将根据所提供给我们的证据来诠释和应用（上述的）这些标准。这笔补助从未打算提供所有通过第三国入境的人；它旨在为那些因通过第三国而陷入财务困境的人提供支持 - 这意味着他们难以支付其当下的生活费用。我们了解人们对财务困难的含义可能有不同的理解；但是，在整个过程中，我们优先考虑了最需要帮助的学生，并相应地分配了资金。

02

提供有关的解释

a. 不同学生获得的支持量的差异。

请参阅对第5点的答复，其中概述了资金差异的原因。

b. 大学与学生之间缺乏沟通。

据我所知，大学与学生之间并不缺乏交流。如上所述，我们已发送多个提醒，并且所有未成功收到资金的学生都已收到通知。

C. 提早关闭了上传银行对账单的链接。

请参阅对第3点的答复，其中概述了及早关闭的原因以及我们为纠正这种情况而采取的行动。

03

提向所有申请的学生提供其申请状态的更新

我们于5月15日（星期五）通过大学电子邮件通知了所有迄今未成功的学生。

悉尼大学致力于为我们的国际学生提供支持，特别是在这个困难时期。我们还制定了许多其他举措来支持我们的学生，包括：

1.修改普通助学金的资格标准，以包括遇到财务困难的国际学生（有关信息，请访问https://www.sydney.edu.au/students/financial-support/general-bursaries.html）。助学金仍向国际学生开放，欢迎那些未成功申请旅行禁令经济困难支持的学生申请；

2.向在粮食方面需要援助的国际学生提供了Coles食品券；

3.对于那些在大学提供的住所内住宿的国际学生的付款计划进行了调整；

4.建立了一个由英语和普通话都流利的学生组成的同伴支持顾问团队，为目前需要咨询和支持的学生提供支持；

5.对于受政府旅行限制影响而无法前往澳大利亚的国际学生的学费提供折扣（有关信息，请访问 https://www.sydney.edu.au/study/coronavirus-infection-university-of-sydney-advice/support.htm，查看 “Support for international students impacted by travel restrictions prior to commencing Semester 1”这一版块下的信息）。

祝

你们学习愉快，并顺利度过所有这个艰难而不确定的时光带来的挑战。我也感谢你们为同学们发声，并给我们提供了进一步解释情况的机会。如果你们还有的其他问题，我很高兴回答。

Susanna Scarparo 教授，

副校长（学生生活）

原文如下

Dear Sydney University Chinese Student and Scholar Association,

Thank you for your feedback on the provision of the Travel Ban Hardship Support and for your action on behalf of the students who applied for this support. I take your concerns seriously and hope to provide more clarity through this response. I have investigated the issues raised with the relevant teams in Student Life and can now provide you with the requested information about the Travel Ban Hardship Support.

I thank you for the consideration you have shown in acknowledging the high workload placed on University staff during this process. We also agree that students are largely honest and genuine when applying for funding and the University makes every effort to assist where evidence of financial difficulty is clearly demonstrated.

I would like to start by providing background and context to the Travel Ban Hardship Support initiative and the process of implementing this support, which I hope will provide greater shared understanding. I will then address the five points you have made and the requested actions.

The Travel Ban Hardship Support initiative was announced by the Vice Chancellor on Friday March 6, 2020. This support initiative was created with the intention to support currently enrolled students who had incurred additional expenses as a result of the travel restrictions that resulted in financial difficulty. The motivation behind the creation of this initiative led to the development of two core selection criteria that informed the application and assessment process:

1) current enrolment at the University of Sydney;

2) demonstration of financial difficulty leading to a substantial impact on ability to support living expenses. This required provision of evidence.

Following the announcement from the Vice-Chancellor, an online enquiry form was created for students to submit expressions of interest in receiving funding. A deadline of 6 April was set for applications to be received. Advice was also displayed on the application that further information regarding the application process would be provided within 21 business days. On 23 March, an update was issued via University email to all applicants informing them that assessment on applications would commence after the census date of Semester 1 (31 March 2020). This enabled us to ensure that students granted funding had fulfilled Criteria 1 as currently enrolled students.

When assessment began on 1 April following the census date, we identified that many students (approximately 20%) were not currently enrolled, and thus did not meet Criteria 1. Furthermore, most had not demonstrated financial difficulty through the application form, which meant that we could not assess Criteria 2 properly with the information provided. We then contacted all applicants via the email they had provided in the application form to inform them of an additional requirement to submit a bank statement as evidence of financial difficulty. A one-week deadline was provided. The requirement to provide evidence of financial difficulty is standard for our general bursaries and allows us to make a proper assessment of student needs. We then extended this deadline to allow more students the opportunity to provide their documentation and receive funding. We also sent reminders on 9 April and 21 April, as well as a general update on 1 May to ensure that all students had ample notice. We received a high volume of responses after each of these communications, which demonstrated the value of providing deadline extensions and reminders.

Unfortunately, one outcome of providing additional time for submission of documents was the delay in assessing and processing applications. We have now completed the process of assessing applications. In cases where documentation of financial difficulty was provided, the funds have already been awarded accordingly. We have awarded funding to 2084 students who provided documentation and were assessed as needing financial support. A very small percentage – approximately 2% - of the students who provided documentation did not receive any funding due to a lack of evidence of genuine financial difficulty.

Assessment of financial difficulty was undertaken based on several evidentiary factors in the provided documentation. The following scenarios resulted in assessments of ‘not experiencing financial difficulty’:

· Where documents provided an indication of other incoming financial streams;

· Where transactions indicated significant spend on non-essential or luxury items;

· Where there was evidence of sufficient funds in their bank account;

· Where no information regarding upcoming transactional expenses had been provided.

All students who have been unsuccessful in the process have been notified of that outcome.

I hope this overview of the process helps in understanding the communications provided to date and the criteria for processing applications.

I will now respond to each of the points in your letter, which I hope will provide further insight into this process.

Point 1: Not all of the students who applied on time received the email.

The University’s mailing tool was used to contact all students who applied for this funding. This is the same tool used for distributing newsletters and announcements and, to our knowledge, has been successful to date. I have been advised that a significant number of email addresses provided in applications were incorrect and the team investigated and corrected these to reflect the University email accounts in Sydney Student. This check and correction process unfortunately caused significant delays while emails were verified. However, we were ultimately able to contact these students via University email.

Point 2: It was not officially announced that students who do not submit their bank statements by 4 May will not receive financial support

Due to the lack of clarity around applicants’ levels of financial difficulty provided in the initial online form, it was determined that a bank statement would need to be provided to ensure assessment of Criteria 2. All students who applied were emailed through the University’s emailing tool and informed of the additional requirement. This information was sent twice, on 9 April and 21 April.

Point 3: The link in the email for students to upload their bank statements was closed before the deadline.

We acknowledge the link to upload bank statements had been incorrectly set to close 24 hours prior to the deadline provided. Upon being notified of the error, we amended our out-of-office email reply to advise students to submit their statements via email. We received an additional 480 emails with statements as a result from the time of the form going offline to the deadline.

Point 4: The application and approval process is extremely opaque. Not only the communication with students was kept at a minimum, but the exact selection criteria were also unknown to students.

Communications with students were regular and ongoing, with updates provided to all applicants via University email channels.

The support was intended for students experiencing financial hardship as a direct result of the travel ban. This was clearly indicated on the University website. More detailed criteria for assessing applications were not published; this is the standard approach to all University funding and is consistent with the practices of other Australian universities. The assessment criteria and evidentiary factors outlined in this letter provide these selection criteria for your reference and I hope this helps in providing clarity. In response to your feedback, we are also publishing selection criteria on the general bursaries website to assist students with understanding that process more fully prior to application.

Point 5: There was a large difference in the amount of support received by students as the timeline drags on.

Point 6: The university pushed the deadline to finish all applications back time and again – from 21 business day to late April, and now, mid-May.

The initial communication regarding 21 business days was for further notification regarding the process to be provided to applicants; this was not a deadline for providing an outcome of their application. Within the 21 business days we advised students of the high number of applications received and thereafter continued to provide regular updates using University email. As discussed above, our efforts to ensure fairness to students by extending the deadlines, sending reminders, and correcting email addresses all contributed to delays in the processing time. We apologise for the delays experienced by students.

Finally, below are responses to your requests for action:

1. Make the selection criteria public.

To ensure that all students understand how funds were allocated and why they may not have received funding, we will provide a statement on the selection criteria on the website for the Travel Ban Hardship Support, as well as a summary of support provided to students given that applications have now been processed. In response to the feedback received and the lessons learned from the process of administering the Travel Ban Hardship Support, we will also post selection criteria on the General Bursaries website so that future applicants can be informed of the process prior to application. This is especially important now that the funding is available to international students, as we need to ensure that the process is transparent and understood by students who are applying.

It is important to keep in mind that selection criteria are interpreted and applied based on the evidence provided to us. The grant was never intended for all who entered via a third country to receive funding; it was intended to support those who found themselves in a state of financial difficulty as a result of coming through a third country, which means they have difficulty meeting their immediate living expenses. We understand that people may have different understanding of what financial difficulty means; however, we needed to prioritise the students most in need throughout this process and funds were allocated accordingly.

2. Provide explanations for

a. The difference in the amount of support received by different students

Please refer to the response to Point 5, which outlines reasons for discrepancies in funding.

b. The lack of communication between the University and students

To my knowledge there has not been a lack of communication between the University and students. As outlined above, multiple reminders were sent and all students who have been unsuccessful in receiving funds have been notified.

c. The early closure of the link to upload bank statements

Please refer to the response to Point 3, which outlines the reason for the early closure and the action taken to remedy the situation.

3. Provide all students who applied with an update of their application status.

All students who have to this point been unsuccessful were notified via University email on Friday 15 May.

The University of Sydney is committed to supporting our international students, particularly during this difficult time. We have created many other initiatives to support our students, including:

1. Amending the eligibility criteria of general bursaries to include international students experiencing financial difficulty (information can be found at https://www.sydney.edu.au/students/financial-support/general-bursaries.html). Bursaries remain open for application by international students and those who have been unsuccessful in applying for the Travel Ban Financial Hardship Support are welcome to apply;

2. Provision of Coles food vouchers to international students in need of assistance with food security;

3. Adjusted payment plans for international students in University-provided accommodation;

4. Establishing a Peer Support Advisor team comprised of students who are fluent speakers of English and Mandarin to provide support with students in need of advice and support at this time;

5. Fee rebates for eligible international students who were affected by government travel restrictions and were unable to travel to Australia (information can be found at https://www.sydney.edu.au/study/coronavirus-infection-university-of-sydney-advice/support.html under ‘Support for international students impacted by travel restrictions prior to commencing Semester 1’).

I wish you all the best with your studies and with the challenges that come from navigating this difficult and uncertain time. I also thank you for advocating for your fellow students and for providing the opportunity to explain the situation further. I am happy to answer any further questions you may have.

Yours,

Professor Susanna Scarparo

Pro Vice-Chancellor (Student Life)

译者：梁文聪

编辑：Jojo

审核：朱家乐， Vikki

完

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