Dundee University Students' Association
Encyclopedia
Dundee University Students' Association (DUSA) is the students' association, legal representative and students' union for matriculated students of the University of Dundee
.
Membership of the body is automatic for all students of the University, although it is possible under statutes to renounce this membership at any time. The Dundee University Students' Association, as with its neighbours in the other ancient-organised universities
in Scotland
, is co-existent with the University's Students' Representative Council
.
The main DUSA bar, The Liar, takes its name from a novel by the same name written by former Rector Stephen Fry
.
The building also contains branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland
and a shop selling groceries, alcoholic beverages, snack food, stationery and university merchandise which is a Premier franchise which reinvests its profits back into DUSA.
The Students' Association was founded during the University of Dundee's period as a college of the University of St Andrews
. The Dundee Students' Union, as it was known, was largely autonomous of the bodies set up at United College
.
The Union gained its first accommodation by the renting of the Ellenbank building in 1905 with £4,000 raised from the University College Bazaar - a fairly regular event of official speakers, entertainments, live music, comedy and stalls - held in October 1903. The building itself was constructed as a villa in 1813 and had been acquired by the University College in more recent years.
Ellenbank was separated by levels, providing separate rooms for the male and female students - with the ladies entering up a flight of stairs to the rear and the gentlemen having sole use of the "handsome" entrance hall. Despite the segregation, this was probably the first Students' Union in the United Kingdom
to admit both men and women to the same association and also to allow them use of the same building. Ellenbank later underwent extensive renovation in the 1920s, and was connected to the neighbouring (and similar) Union Mount building, which housed the College library. By 1969, it was decided that new and larger premises were necessary and a new building, named New Dines, was completed in 1974. New Dines was demolished in 1986 and the new Central Library and Students' Union building were constructed on the site thereafter. The Ellenbank building is now used by the university's School of Accountancy.
. From its beginnings in 2006, the magazine has undergone several transformations under former Editors Lauren Bennie, Natalie Coupar, Beth Shackley and now Finlay Craig. Content is more politically focussed with issues addressing both domestic and international development. A free publication, the magazine is circulated within the Union building and associated buildings on the campus.
There is a long history of student publications at Dundee - before 2006, The Magdalen was known as The Student Times and criticised for being bland and inoffensive. This bucked the tradition of very political publications such as Annasach (Gaelic: Unusual, Unconventional) which was edited for a time by controversial ex-MI5 agent David Shayler
, who was responsible for printing extracts from Peter Wright
's Spycatcher
- a book banned in the UK at the time.
Lord George Robertson
was also a columnist for the newspaper in its early days. Another former Labour MP, Brian Wilson, was also involved as an early Editor of Annasach. It was his experience as Editor that helped him found the West Highland Free Press
in 1972.
Annasach survived from the University's independence in 1967 until 1994. Prior to this, College was the publication in general circulation at Queen's College Dundee, which went on to become the university.
Significant transformations began in 2006 when Vice President of Communications Mike Sheldon took the decision to drive campus media forward. The VPC called a meeting with The Student Times contributor Darren Reid and D.U.S.A's Present Student Member for Communications Lauren Bennie to discuss the future of student publications on campus.
On Mike Sheldon's lead, The Student Times became The Magdalen and ran with its first headline "Welcome to the jungle! (and University)". With four other contributors, Issue 1 contained 14 pages of University news and advertising, five of which were solely focussed on The Executive.
By Issue 2, "The Magdalen Strikes Back", more topical issues were pushed on to the pages - a sign of the political feelings on campus. With Darren Reid and Lauren Bennie on Editing and Layout, additional contributors were recruited, including Milan Bogunovic who later became President of DUSA. Article coverage included political propaganda, the smoking ban and North Korea.
As the 2006/07 term neared an end for contributors and the magazine, it became clear that The Magdalen required new writers and new direction. When David McLeod took over as Vice President Communications, he put Lauren Bennie at the helm of the magazine and student media communications. A long term plan was drafted and The Magdalen received the financial backing required to regularly publish 8 issues throughout the student year. SRC's Student Media Representative Lauren Bennie primarily recruited SRC members' Gavin McNee and Laurie Cameron to contribute opinion pieces and music reviews.
A Memorandum of Understanding, co-written by the Editor and the DUSA President at the time, Andrew Smith, ensured that The Magdalen would be guaranteed office space and financial security by DUSA. A change to the structure of The Magdalen also meant that the Magdalen Editor would be elected, rather than handpicked, by the student community.
Her successor, Beth Shackley, vastly improved both the design and content of the magazine.
The current editor Finlay Craig was elected as Editor in March 2011.
Discover Radio can be found broadcasting live at discoverradio.org
President: Iain Kennedy
Deputy President: Stuart Fitzpatrick
Vice President for Communications: Navid Gornall
Vice President for Student Activities: Rachael Doherty
Vice President for Campaigns: Julie McGovern
Vice President for Student Welfare: Thomas Dale
Honorary Secretary: Iain MacKinnon
(CHESS) and the National Postgraduate Committee
. Unlike most students unions in the United Kingdom, DUSA is not affiliated to the National Union of Students. This stance was confirmed in a referendum held on the 1 and 2 April 2010 in which 1795 students voted against and 467 voted for NUS affiliation.
The Union has a collective purchasing and co-ordination agreement with a number of other students bodies through the Northern Services group http://www.northernservices.org.uk/.
The Sports Union is affiliated to the British University Sports Association (BUSA).
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....
.
Membership of the body is automatic for all students of the University, although it is possible under statutes to renounce this membership at any time. The Dundee University Students' Association, as with its neighbours in the other ancient-organised universities
Ancient university
Ancient university is a term used to describe seven medieval and renaissance universities of the United Kingdom and Ireland that exist today. Six of those universities are currently located in the United Kingdom and one in the Republic of Ireland...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, is co-existent with the University's Students' Representative Council
Students' Representative Council
A Students' Representative Council represents student interests in the government of a university, school or other educational institution. Generally the SRC forms part of a broader Students' Association which may include other functions such as societies, entertainments and sports Universities...
.
Facilities
The DUSA building is located in Airlie Place, in the centre of the University's Main Campus and caters as a private members' club offering bar, nightclub and refectory services for many students, particularly undergraduates. It is also responsible for the operation of a number of small shops throughout the university's campuses. In 2004, it underwent major refurbishment work. This included adding a new nightclub, and redesigning the interiors of the bars and recreational spaces. The building also contains the University's main swimming pool. DUSA also provides a number of other typical students' union services such as advocacy on behalf of its membership and assistance to individual students.The main DUSA bar, The Liar, takes its name from a novel by the same name written by former Rector Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
.
The building also contains branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...
and a shop selling groceries, alcoholic beverages, snack food, stationery and university merchandise which is a Premier franchise which reinvests its profits back into DUSA.
History of the Association
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
. The Dundee Students' Union, as it was known, was largely autonomous of the bodies set up at United College
United College, St Andrews
The United College is one of the two statutory colleges of the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland...
.
The Union gained its first accommodation by the renting of the Ellenbank building in 1905 with £4,000 raised from the University College Bazaar - a fairly regular event of official speakers, entertainments, live music, comedy and stalls - held in October 1903. The building itself was constructed as a villa in 1813 and had been acquired by the University College in more recent years.
Ellenbank was separated by levels, providing separate rooms for the male and female students - with the ladies entering up a flight of stairs to the rear and the gentlemen having sole use of the "handsome" entrance hall. Despite the segregation, this was probably the first Students' Union in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to admit both men and women to the same association and also to allow them use of the same building. Ellenbank later underwent extensive renovation in the 1920s, and was connected to the neighbouring (and similar) Union Mount building, which housed the College library. By 1969, it was decided that new and larger premises were necessary and a new building, named New Dines, was completed in 1974. New Dines was demolished in 1986 and the new Central Library and Students' Union building were constructed on the site thereafter. The Ellenbank building is now used by the university's School of Accountancy.
Publications
The present publication issued by the Association is known as The MagdalenWest End, Dundee
The West End is an area of the city of Dundee, Scotland. Bordered to the south by the River Tay, to the north by Blackness and to the east by the city centre, the West End is primarily an affluent residential area surrounding its main commercial thoroughfare, Perth Road, and the main campus of the...
. From its beginnings in 2006, the magazine has undergone several transformations under former Editors Lauren Bennie, Natalie Coupar, Beth Shackley and now Finlay Craig. Content is more politically focussed with issues addressing both domestic and international development. A free publication, the magazine is circulated within the Union building and associated buildings on the campus.
David Shayler
David Shayler is a British journalist and former MI5 officer. Shayler earned notoriety after being prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act 1989 for his passing secret documents to the Mail on Sunday in August 1997 that alleged that MI5 was paranoid about socialists, and that it had previously...
, who was responsible for printing extracts from Peter Wright
Peter Wright
Peter Maurice Wright was an English scientist and former MI5 counterintelligence officer, noted for writing the controversial book Spycatcher, which became an international bestseller with sales of over two million copies...
's Spycatcher
Spycatcher
Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer , is a book written by Peter Wright, former MI5 officer and Assistant Director, and co-author Paul Greengrass. It was published first in Australia...
- a book banned in the UK at the time.
Lord George Robertson
George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen
George Islay MacNeill Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, is a British Labour Party politician who was the tenth Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, between October 1999 and early January 2004; he succeeded Javier Solana in that position...
was also a columnist for the newspaper in its early days. Another former Labour MP, Brian Wilson, was also involved as an early Editor of Annasach. It was his experience as Editor that helped him found the West Highland Free Press
West Highland Free Press
The West Highland Free Press was founded in the Scottish Highlands in 1972 as a left-wing weekly newspaper, but with the principal objective of providing its immediate circulation area with the service which a local paper is expected to provide...
in 1972.
Annasach survived from the University's independence in 1967 until 1994. Prior to this, College was the publication in general circulation at Queen's College Dundee, which went on to become the university.
Significant transformations began in 2006 when Vice President of Communications Mike Sheldon took the decision to drive campus media forward. The VPC called a meeting with The Student Times contributor Darren Reid and D.U.S.A's Present Student Member for Communications Lauren Bennie to discuss the future of student publications on campus.
On Mike Sheldon's lead, The Student Times became The Magdalen and ran with its first headline "Welcome to the jungle! (and University)". With four other contributors, Issue 1 contained 14 pages of University news and advertising, five of which were solely focussed on The Executive.
By Issue 2, "The Magdalen Strikes Back", more topical issues were pushed on to the pages - a sign of the political feelings on campus. With Darren Reid and Lauren Bennie on Editing and Layout, additional contributors were recruited, including Milan Bogunovic who later became President of DUSA. Article coverage included political propaganda, the smoking ban and North Korea.
As the 2006/07 term neared an end for contributors and the magazine, it became clear that The Magdalen required new writers and new direction. When David McLeod took over as Vice President Communications, he put Lauren Bennie at the helm of the magazine and student media communications. A long term plan was drafted and The Magdalen received the financial backing required to regularly publish 8 issues throughout the student year. SRC's Student Media Representative Lauren Bennie primarily recruited SRC members' Gavin McNee and Laurie Cameron to contribute opinion pieces and music reviews.
A Memorandum of Understanding, co-written by the Editor and the DUSA President at the time, Andrew Smith, ensured that The Magdalen would be guaranteed office space and financial security by DUSA. A change to the structure of The Magdalen also meant that the Magdalen Editor would be elected, rather than handpicked, by the student community.
Her successor, Beth Shackley, vastly improved both the design and content of the magazine.
The current editor Finlay Craig was elected as Editor in March 2011.
Discover Radio
Founded in 2009 by students Samuel Gray and Robin Murphy, and launched in October 2010, Discover Radio is Dundee University's new student radio station. Funded and facilitated by DUSA, it provides entertainment to students and non-students alike. It is run by, and for, the students of Dundee and aims to help undergraduates get their first foot on the media industry ladder.Discover Radio can be found broadcasting live at discoverradio.org
DUSA TV
DUSA TV was formed in late 2009 and regularly produces content by students, for students, which are then published on DUSA TV's YouTube channel and DUSA's own website.Officers
There are four sabbatical officers of the Students' Association, and three other elected officials who form the Students' Association Executive. At present, the 2011/12 officers, who took up their positions on the 1st of July 2011 are:President: Iain Kennedy
Deputy President: Stuart Fitzpatrick
Vice President for Communications: Navid Gornall
Vice President for Student Activities: Rachael Doherty
Vice President for Campaigns: Julie McGovern
Vice President for Student Welfare: Thomas Dale
Honorary Secretary: Iain MacKinnon
Recent former presidents
- 2010/11 - Craig Kelly (resigned October 2010) Chris Browne thereafter as Acting President
- 2009/10 - Andrew Smith
- 2008/09 - Dave Macleod
- 2007/08 - Milan Bogunovic
- 2006/07 - Steven Blane
- 2005/06 - Lianne Bibby
- 2004/05 - Fraser Millar
- 2003/04 - Chris Bustin
- 2002/03 - Maurice Golden
- 2001/02 - Matthew Marr
- 2000/01 - David Cunningham
- 1998/00 - Ed Beal
Affiliations
DUSA is affiliated to the Coalition of Higher Education Students in ScotlandCoalition of Higher Education Students in Scotland
The Coalition of Higher Education Students in Scotland is a body representative of students in Scotland founded in 2001 by the Students' Associations of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities, and Glasgow University's Students' Representative Council.CHESS was founded in 1999 out...
(CHESS) and the National Postgraduate Committee
National Postgraduate Committee
The National Postgraduate Committee of the United Kingdom represents postgraduates at UK universities. Since 2002 it has held charitable status...
. Unlike most students unions in the United Kingdom, DUSA is not affiliated to the National Union of Students. This stance was confirmed in a referendum held on the 1 and 2 April 2010 in which 1795 students voted against and 467 voted for NUS affiliation.
The Union has a collective purchasing and co-ordination agreement with a number of other students bodies through the Northern Services group http://www.northernservices.org.uk/.
The Sports Union is affiliated to the British University Sports Association (BUSA).
External links
- www.dusa.co.uk - Official website of the Dundee University Students' Association.