Benefits for dormitory residents have been approved

Yesterday, the Rector of Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) approved an order according to which starting from this year on the 1st of April until 30th of June VMU students living in VMU dormitories will benefit from a 25% reduction in the accommodation fee in order to reduce the negative impact of the quarantine situation on their well-being. In addition, an additional support fund for students experiencing difficulties with COVID-19 will be set up on the basis of the 2% GPM support received by the University.

During the meeting of the Rectorate on Wednesday, the President of Vytautas Magnus University Student Representatives (SR) Paulius Vaitiekus submitted a proposal to reduce the accommodation fee by 50%. The members of the Rectorate did not agree with it, because it was not clear how much resources such a price reduction would require. A working group was formed to perform the calculations and find the most suitable solution, in which the students were represented by P. Vaitiekus and the coordinator of the Social Affairs Committee Ieva Vengrovskaja.

“According to the calculations made in the working group, the initial proposal of the administration was a 15% tax relief,” says the president of VMU SR. “It has been possible to agree not only on a higher rebate, but also on a fund to help students with coronavirus difficulties.”

The relief will apply not from the beginning of the quarantine, but from the 1st of April. “Such a decision was taken to extend the validity of the benefit. As a result, the first days of quarantine had to be abandoned” P. Vaitiekus explained.

Accommodation tax relief is applied to all VMU students living in a dormitory from the 1st of April until any later date. The accommodation fee will be recalculated in the following order:

if a VMU student has paid the accommodation fee assigned to him / her for April, the recalculation of the fee will result in an overpayment of 25% of the paid fee;
if a VMU student has not paid the accommodation tax assigned to him / her for April, the tax will be reduced by 25% after recalculation;
if a VMU student, moved out of the dormitory on the 1st of April or a later date, subsequently, depending on whether he has paid the accommodation tax or not, after the tax has been recalculated, he/she will have an overpay of the accommodation tax or the tax payable will be reduced by 25%.

The recalculation of the accommodation fee will be done by this year on the 17th of April http://studentas.vdu.lt in the student portal “Fees” section, without informing students about it, therefore we invite you to monitor the changes. May and June the amount of accommodation fees will be attributed after the assessment of the 25% discount.

In the event of financial difficulties, it remains possible to defer payment deadlines. In this case, please contact the Student Center (SRD) by email studentas@vdu.lt