MMUnion
Encyclopedia
MMUnion is the students' union
of Manchester Metropolitan University
, an institution of higher education and research in North West England
. Named Manchester Metropolitan Students' Union (MMSU), until July 2005; and Manchester Polytechnic Students' Union (MPSU) before the institution gained its university
status in 1992. Its current president is Rob Croll.
MMUnion has buildings on the All Saints campus in Manchester and also the Alsager and Crewe campuses in Cheshire.
MMUnion is affiliated to the National Union of Students (NUS).
MMUnion has an independent advice centre available for all students at the University as well as an activities centre for the sports clubs and societies at MMU.
MMUnion is controlled by the Union Officers Group formed of 7 current students and graduates of the university, elected by the students to control the Union on their behalf.
Seven of the officers were sabbaticals
. Two sabbaticals based in MMU Cheshire and the other five in Manchester. The ten remaining officers were based across both campuses, were non-sabbaticals and studied during their term in office receiving no payment.
The Union's sovereign body was Student Council, to which all committees, representatives and officers, either directly or indirectly, were answerable. The Student Council, chaired by an independent non-executive student, was composed of the Executive Committee and students elected from each faculty
of the university. The Chair and Vice-Chair of the Athletic Unions, and one representative of each Societies Union were ex officio members of the council.
s, composed of the sabbatical officers and up to 3 external trustees, and 1 co-opted trustee.; The Trustee Board has the ability to call binding referendums on issues and motions as it sees fit, referendums may also be called by students directly by secure petition.
The Union Officers Group is structured as;
at the University. With separate clubs and societies run at Manchester and Cheshire campuses. There are a range of societies on offer, ranging from LGBT to Sci-fi.
Pulp is distributed across MMU campus sites in Manchester and Cheshire. It also available in electronic format online. PULP has won several Guardian Student Media awards for content and design, most recently in 2003, and - in 2009 - came runner up in the best website category for the 2008/09 site.
MMUnion also supports the student radio station, MMU Radio.
The union also successfully lobbied for access privileges to be reinstated, for students of MMU, at the John Rylands University Library
of the University of Manchester
.
The union is currently campaigning on the £
2.7 million of bursaries that the university predicted to, but hasn't, paid out to its students in the last year.. This is part of a wider campaign on education funding and the union is supporting and promoting the National Union of Students' Broke & Broken campaign.
The union won a campaign in 2008 to extend the library hours until midnight and is currently working on to make 24 hour computer drop-in-centre available for students.
The union, together with the MMU LGBT society and the National Union of Students, are running the Please Give Blood Because I Can't campaign, lobbying and demonstrating against the National Blood Services lifetime ban on gay and bisexual men from giving blood. They are running a series of demonstrations in Manchester city centre to raise awareness and encourage people to give blood on behalf of a healthy gay man who cannot, in which the President of the union and Chair of Student Council gave blood. Debates are also being held on the issue.
The University Student Agreement (the statement that the University agreed would be the principles of an MMU education) says that “staff will give reasonable notice of changes to the teaching timetable and will arrange for classes to be re-scheduled or for alternative delivery of the content, or will explain why this is not possible”.
The Students' Union have stated they "think that this is the best way to test whether that's actually happening and to help identify where there are problem areas."
"This is a variation on traditional course rep activity, collecting information in a way that is easier for modern students. We fully understand that lectures may need to be cancelled and re-arranged for legitimate reasons and believe that it is crucial to establish a means of measuring the impact of cancelled lectures. We have faith that the results will demonstrate the professional approach adopted by the majority of staff" Nicola Lee, President
and in 1984 it was named the Mandela Building after Winnie Mandela, during the ANC Year of the Woman. Following the death of Stompie Moeketsi
in 1989, an event with which Winnie Mandela was linked, moves were made to change the name to something less controversial and for a time it was named the Bruce Forsyth
building after the popular entertainer. The name was dropped shortly after.
A Barclays Bank mini-branch was opened in the building shortly after the bank had cut its links with apartheid South Africa, following an NUS lead campaign.
The Union's facilities are arranged over 4 floors and include:
, Student Activities centre, Finance Office, Committee Meeting Rooms, Internet Cafe and the Offices of the Vice President (Cheshire) and Vice President (Student Activities Cheshire).
Student unionism in the United Kingdom
In universities in the United Kingdom students' unions are constituted under Section 2 of the Education Act 1994. The ultimate purpose of students' unions is to democratically represent the interests of their members...
of Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University is a university in North West England. Its headquarters and central campus is in the city of Manchester, but there are outlying facilities in the county of Cheshire. It is the third largest university in the United Kingdom in terms of student numbers, behind the...
, an institution of higher education and research in North West England
North West England
North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...
. Named Manchester Metropolitan Students' Union (MMSU), until July 2005; and Manchester Polytechnic Students' Union (MPSU) before the institution gained its university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
status in 1992. Its current president is Rob Croll.
MMUnion has buildings on the All Saints campus in Manchester and also the Alsager and Crewe campuses in Cheshire.
MMUnion is affiliated to the National Union of Students (NUS).
MMUnion has an independent advice centre available for all students at the University as well as an activities centre for the sports clubs and societies at MMU.
Governance
Structure pre 2008 Governance Review
Prior to the 2008 review of the Union's governance structures, there were 17 Executive Officers each with their own areas of responsibility in addition to acting in the interests of the Union as a whole.Seven of the officers were sabbaticals
Sabbatical officer
A sabbatical officer is a full-time officer elected by the members of a students' union , commonly at a higher education establishment such as a university...
. Two sabbaticals based in MMU Cheshire and the other five in Manchester. The ten remaining officers were based across both campuses, were non-sabbaticals and studied during their term in office receiving no payment.
The Union's sovereign body was Student Council, to which all committees, representatives and officers, either directly or indirectly, were answerable. The Student Council, chaired by an independent non-executive student, was composed of the Executive Committee and students elected from each faculty
Faculty (university)
A faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas...
of the university. The Chair and Vice-Chair of the Athletic Unions, and one representative of each Societies Union were ex officio members of the council.
Board Of Trustees
From the start of 2009, the highest level of governance has been the Board of TrusteeTrustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
s, composed of the sabbatical officers and up to 3 external trustees, and 1 co-opted trustee.; The Trustee Board has the ability to call binding referendums on issues and motions as it sees fit, referendums may also be called by students directly by secure petition.
Union Officers Group
Policy decisions are made by the Union Officers Group, which meets fortnightly. The Union Officers Group consists of seven sabbatical officers, and no non-sabbaticals, as of the 2009/10 academic year. The Union Officers Group is held accountable to and must prepare a report to Student Forums.;The Union Officers Group is structured as;
- President: Rob Croll
- Vice President (Cheshire): Rhiannon Sears
- Vice President (Education): Liz Marsh
- Vice President (Welfare):Removed 2010
- Vice President (Community): Alex Fountain
- Vice President (Student Activities Manchester): Tunde Adekoya
- Vice President (Student Activities Cheshire): Sam Hunt
Student Forums
Student Forums are open to all students, held 5 times a year to discuss any pertinent topic relating to the student experience or Union provision in order to receive feedback and shape the Union’s work in that area. Student Forums receive and discuss reports from the Board of Trustees and the Union Officers Group of their decisions and actions. The forum has the ability to question the Union Officers on their activity.;Sub Groups
Liberation Campaigns and other areas of union policy and activiy are given autonomy and authority to commit the union to policy and actions as a sub group of the Board of Trustees, composed of volunteer members of the student body, entirely independent of the Union Officers Group.;Sports and societies
MMUnion supports current students to manage and run all the official sports clubs and societiesStudent society
A student society or student organization is an organization, operated by students at a university, whose membership normally consists only of students. They are often affiliated with a university's students' union...
at the University. With separate clubs and societies run at Manchester and Cheshire campuses. There are a range of societies on offer, ranging from LGBT to Sci-fi.
Media, Pulp Magazine
The official magazine of MMUnion is Pulp magazine. Pulp is a free monthly magazine (printed on the 15th of each month). It is edited by a student intern on a yearly appointment. As of November 2009, the editor is Jonathan Barlow.Pulp is distributed across MMU campus sites in Manchester and Cheshire. It also available in electronic format online. PULP has won several Guardian Student Media awards for content and design, most recently in 2003, and - in 2009 - came runner up in the best website category for the 2008/09 site.
MMUnion also supports the student radio station, MMU Radio.
Campaigns
In recent years the students' union have successfully campaigned against Business School exams being held in a tent, and supported Shane Ward on his way to winning The X Factor. It also started a scheme of co-operative housing for students in Manchester.The union also successfully lobbied for access privileges to be reinstated, for students of MMU, at the John Rylands University Library
John Rylands University Library
The John Rylands University Library is the University of Manchester's library and information service. It was formed in July 1972 from the merger of the library of the Victoria University of Manchester with the John Rylands Library...
of the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
.
The union is currently campaigning on the £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
2.7 million of bursaries that the university predicted to, but hasn't, paid out to its students in the last year.. This is part of a wider campaign on education funding and the union is supporting and promoting the National Union of Students' Broke & Broken campaign.
The union won a campaign in 2008 to extend the library hours until midnight and is currently working on to make 24 hour computer drop-in-centre available for students.
The union, together with the MMU LGBT society and the National Union of Students, are running the Please Give Blood Because I Can't campaign, lobbying and demonstrating against the National Blood Services lifetime ban on gay and bisexual men from giving blood. They are running a series of demonstrations in Manchester city centre to raise awareness and encourage people to give blood on behalf of a healthy gay man who cannot, in which the President of the union and Chair of Student Council gave blood. Debates are also being held on the issue.
Late Campaign
In autumn 2008 MMUnion launched the Late Campaign after consultation with Course Reps, who expressed concern that students were suffering because of late and cancelled lectures that were never rearranged - The Late Campaign was organised to find out how many students across MMU were finding this to be the case.The University Student Agreement (the statement that the University agreed would be the principles of an MMU education) says that “staff will give reasonable notice of changes to the teaching timetable and will arrange for classes to be re-scheduled or for alternative delivery of the content, or will explain why this is not possible”.
The Students' Union have stated they "think that this is the best way to test whether that's actually happening and to help identify where there are problem areas."
"This is a variation on traditional course rep activity, collecting information in a way that is easier for modern students. We fully understand that lectures may need to be cancelled and re-arranged for legitimate reasons and believe that it is crucial to establish a means of measuring the impact of cancelled lectures. We have faith that the results will demonstrate the professional approach adopted by the majority of staff" Nicola Lee, President
Manchester
The Union originally occupied the Righton Building on the corner of Cavendish Street and Lower Ormond Street. It moved in 1982 to a purpose built building at 99 Oxford Road. The new building was opened by Bobby CharltonBobby Charlton
Sir Robert "Bobby" Charlton CBE is an English former professional football player, a member of the England team who won the World Cup and Ballon d'Or for European Footballer of the Year in 1966...
and in 1984 it was named the Mandela Building after Winnie Mandela, during the ANC Year of the Woman. Following the death of Stompie Moeketsi
Stompie Moeketsi
James Seipei , also known as Stompie Moeketsi, was a teenage African National Congress activist from Parys in South Africa...
in 1989, an event with which Winnie Mandela was linked, moves were made to change the name to something less controversial and for a time it was named the Bruce Forsyth
Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson, CBE , commonly known as Bruce Forsyth, or Brucie, is an English TV personality...
building after the popular entertainer. The name was dropped shortly after.
A Barclays Bank mini-branch was opened in the building shortly after the bank had cut its links with apartheid South Africa, following an NUS lead campaign.
The Union's facilities are arranged over 4 floors and include:
- Ground Floor; Reception, enquiries and tickets desk, coMMUni (MMU Student Volunteering), Barclays ATM and the Union Shop.
- First Floor; "The met" union bar and club, opened in September 2009, formerly K2 nightclub.
- Second Floor; Student Activities Centre, the VP Student Activities office and a campaigns, societies and students open space.
- Third Floor; Student Advice Centre, accredited as a Community Legal ServiceLegal Services CommissionThe Legal Services Commission is an executive non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Justice that is responsible for the operational administration of legal aid in England and Wales.-Overview:...
. The President and Vice Presidents offices, Union Administration, Finance Office, Committee Meeting Rooms and Conference Facilities.
Cheshire
The Cheshire faculty is split across two sites Crewe and Alsager, the union has buildings and presence on both. With the University in 2008 announcing a move to Crewe and a consolidation of the two campuses, the Students' Union secured an expansion of the Union's facilities on the Crewe site.Crewe
The Union Building was greatly expanded in 2009 using large studio space given by the University to the Students' Union. The New union building now has a prominent position at the centre of the Crewe campus. The new Union Building has a large retail area, a new Student Advice Centre office, accredited as a Community Legal ServiceLegal Services Commission
The Legal Services Commission is an executive non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Justice that is responsible for the operational administration of legal aid in England and Wales.-Overview:...
, Student Activities centre, Finance Office, Committee Meeting Rooms, Internet Cafe and the Offices of the Vice President (Cheshire) and Vice President (Student Activities Cheshire).