National Union of Students of the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
The National Union of Students (NUS) is Britain’s confederation of students’ unions. Around 600 students’ unions are in membership, accounting for more than 95 per cent of all higher and further education unions in the UK. Through their member students’ unions, NUS represents the interests of more than seven million students. Although the NUS is the central organisation for all affiliated unions in the UK, there are also the devolved national sub-bodies NUS Scotland in Scotland, NUS Wales in Wales and NUS-USI
in Northern Ireland
(the latter being co-administered by the Union of Students in Ireland
).
NUS is a member of the European Students' Union.
. At this meeting, the Inter-Varsity Association and the International Students Bureau (which organised student travel and had been lobbying for a national body) agreed to merge.
Founding members included the unions of University of Birmingham
, Birkbeck College, London, LSE
, Imperial College London
(who first left in 1923 and have subsequently rejoined and left three times, the last time being in June 2008), King's College London
(who supplied the first President (Sir Ivison Macadam
) and the University of Bristol
.
Most of these conferences, and in particular the elections held at them, are contested by factions
including Conservative Future
, Education Not for Sale
, Labour Students
, Liberal Youth, the Organised Independents
, Socialist Students
, Socialist Workers' Student Society
, Student RESPECT
and Student Broad Left
. In addition to these political factions, interest groups such as the Federation of Student Islamic Societies
and the Union of Jewish Students
are deeply involved in the internal democratic processes of NUS.
On 17th January 2011, the website www.theyworkforstudents.co.uk was launched by a group of independent students, to act as a "hub of information on the NUS, helping to increase scrutiny, openness and accountability". The website includes contact details for the National Executive Council, committee meeting minutes, and information on how NUS works and how to get involved. Through the campaigning of the website, more of this information is now being published on the NUS membership website, NUSConnect.
They provide three core services:
• Collective purchasing
• Support services
• Marketing services
The Association for Managers in Students' Unions
recently merged with NUS and NUS Services.
, said in 2002: "NUS's claim to be representative of students is not borne out by their work", especially as "the NUS is dominated by Labour students and this diminishes the ability to address student issues in an impartial fashion."
The NUS has in particular come in for criticism for the way its democratic processes are structured. Unlike individual student unions and despite the rise of online voting in Universities, NUS officers are not directly elected by students, but instead elected by delegates. This is because NUS' members are students' unions and not students.
The NUS has also been criticised for selling its 'NUS Extra Card', which offers students discounts on certain purchases, rather than confronting issues that actually affect students. Despite an NUS Policy that none of the discounts on the original free NUS card would be moved to the 'NUS Extra Card', proposed by Cambridge University Students' Union
, NUS Treasurer Dave Lewis went against policy and removed the discounts from the original free NUS card.
Other critics have focussed on the organisation's perceived failure to campaign effectively on student issues such as tuition fees and prescription costs and have advocated that students and unions coordinate independently of the NUS to campaign on the national stage.
10.
at the University of Durham to be cancelled. The debate, organised by the Durham Union Society
- a debating society entirely separate from Durham Students' Union
- was to have featured two prominent British National Party
members: Yorkshire and the Humber
MEP
Andrew Brons
and Leeds
City Councillor
Chris Beverley. Upon hearing of BNP involvement in the debate, NUS Black Students' Officer Bellavia Ribeiro-Addy and NUS LGBT Officer Daf Adley jointly sent a letter to both the Durham Union Society and the university demanding its cancellation. The pair stated that the debate would be illegal and threatened to organise a "colossal demonstration" in tandem with Unite Against Fascism
, adding that "if any students are hurt in and around this event responsibility will lie with you".
The subsequent cancellation of the debate by Durham Union Society President Anna Birley on safety grounds was met with fierce backlash. NUS President Wes Streeting was prompted to personally appear before the Durham Union Society to apologise for the actions of the officers concerned, though outrage among Durham students was sufficient that a significant number protested outside the debating chamber at the time. A further protest group on Facebook
quickly amassed over 2,500 members. An official petition was soon lodged with Durham Students' Union to call for a referendum on disaffiliation from NUS. On March 12 2010, the referendum concluded with a majority of voting students chosing to disaffiliate. In January 2011, Durham decided to reaffiliate itself with the NUS.
the NUS abandoned its long-standing commitment to free education and backed a graduate tax
as its preferred outcome of the Browne Review
into higher education funding. Before the 2010 General Election, the NUS invited candidates sign a pledge not to raise tuition fees
, receiving over 1000 signatories from prospective parliamentary candidates. This became a very high profile campaign when many liberal democrat MPs, who all signed individual NUS pledges stating they would vote against any rise in tuition fees if elected, had to abstain or do the opposite as part of their coalition agreement.
The NUS, under new leader Aaron Porter
, organised a national protest attended by thousands in November 2010, demanding an end to education cuts. Some protestors took the march down Whitehall
to Conservative Party headquarters where there was a confrontation with the police and an occupation of the building, Millbank Tower
. With an attendance of over 50,000 people, it was the largest British demonstration since the Iraq War protest. This led to various more demos until the rise in tuition fees was passed.
On 8 December 2010, the Telegraph reported that they had seen emails that suggested Aaron Porter
had supported, rather than increase tuition fees, cuts of up to 80% should be made to student support packages including grants and loans. Porter responded to the claims on NUS Connect that "In all of these meetings and communications we stated our firm and clear opposition to cuts" and that the distortion of the discussions was "political desperation from a coalition government losing the arguments on its own policies".
in autumn 2005. The campaign, which has now been joined by numerous other students' union
s in Britain, is calling for 100% of the hot beverages (tea
, coffee
, hot chocolate
, etc.) sold by member unions of the NUS to be accredited with the Fairtrade Mark
.
The campaign is supported by a number of NGOs and charities, including Oxfam
, Trade Justice Movement
, People & Planet
and CAFOD
.
While it is contested amongst the Universities about who were the original Fairtrade University,the Fairtrade foundation gave this status first and worked with Oxford Brookes University
who spearheaded the movement - with the University of Edinburgh
a close second.
to hold a referendum on disaffiliation.
Revised proposals were drafted and submitted to a extraordinary conference in November 2008. The conference passed the proposals by 4 votes to 1. A second extraordinary conference to ratify the proposals (the constitution requires that any changes are passed by two consecutive conferences) took place on 20 January 2009. The proposals were accepted by a huge majority and the new constitution came into force.
NUS-USI
NUS-USI, the student movement in Northern Ireland was formed in 1972 by bilateral agreement between the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom and the Union of Students in Ireland , to address the particular problems of macro-representation of students in the Northern Ireland.Students at...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
(the latter being co-administered by the Union of Students in Ireland
Union of Students in Ireland
The Union of Students in Ireland is the national representative body for third-level students' unions in Ireland. The Union of Students in Ireland is the sole national representative body for students in Ireland but does not represent students from two of the seven Irish Universities, namely...
).
NUS is a member of the European Students' Union.
History
The NUS was formed in 1922 at a meeting held at the University of LondonUniversity of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. At this meeting, the Inter-Varsity Association and the International Students Bureau (which organised student travel and had been lobbying for a national body) agreed to merge.
Founding members included the unions of University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
, Birkbeck College, London, LSE
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
, Imperial College London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...
(who first left in 1923 and have subsequently rejoined and left three times, the last time being in June 2008), King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
(who supplied the first President (Sir Ivison Macadam
Ivison Macadam
Sir Ivison Stevenson Macadam KCVO CBE was a Scot, who was the first Director-General of the Royal Institute of International Affairs , and the founding President of the National Union of Students.-Early life:...
) and the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
.
Membership
Around 600 students’ unions are in membership, accounting for more than 95 per cent of all British higher and further education unions. Through their member students’ unions, NUS represents the interests of more than seven million students.Mission
NUS' mission is to promote, defend and extend the rights of students by providing students and students’ unions with a collective voice by delivering a range of activity that articulates the needs and aspirations of its members to relevant bodies. They also develop and champion strong students’ unions and deliver a range of activities aimed at building their affiliates’ capacity to engage effectively on a local level, building strong and sustainable organisations that make students’ lives better.Democracy
The NUS holds national conferences once a year. National Conference is the sovereign body of NUS, and is where NUS policy is decided. Other conferences, such as Regional Conferences, Women's Conference, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Trans Conference (changed as of 2004), Disabled Students Conference, Black Students' Conference and the International Students' Conference (created in 2004) are run to enhance the representation of the specific members they include.Most of these conferences, and in particular the elections held at them, are contested by factions
Political faction
A political faction is a grouping of individuals, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a political purpose. A faction or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, “parties within a party," which may be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs. The individuals...
including Conservative Future
Conservative Future
Conservative Future, abbreviated to CF, is the youth movement of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom for members aged up to 30 years old.Founded in 1998, Conservative Future is the largest political organisation on British campuses...
, Education Not for Sale
Education Not for Sale
Education Not for Sale is a radical left-wing student campaign in the United Kingdom.The name originally derives from the "European Education Not for Sale network" and was first used by socialist and other radical activists at the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom conference in...
, Labour Students
Labour Students
Labour Students is a student organisation affiliated to the British Labour Party.Membership comprises affiliated college and university clubs . Membership of Labour Students is through membership of a university or college Labour Club. Affiliation is open to any Labour Club generally supportive of...
, Liberal Youth, the Organised Independents
Organised Independents
The Organised Independents are a grouping within the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom.The group is made up of candidates for National Executive Committee posts, all standing on an "independent" label, and their supporters, and as a result a lot of controversy has raged over whether...
, Socialist Students
Socialist Students
Socialist Students is a socialist organisation with branches in universities, further education colleges and sixth form colleges in the United Kingdom....
, Socialist Workers' Student Society
Socialist Workers' Student Society
The Socialist Worker Student Society, commonly known as SWSS , is the student section of the Socialist Workers Party in Britain.Mark Bergfeld was elected onto the NUS NEC in 2010 and re-elected to the NUS NEC in 2011 with the highest number of first preference votes along with Ruby...
, Student RESPECT
Student RESPECT
Student RESPECT was founded as the student wing of the Respect Party in England and Wales in 2005 to provide a united campaigning organisation of the radical left in the student movement....
and Student Broad Left
Student Broad Left
Student Broad Left is a factional grouping operating within the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom.The group was formed in 1997 as a split from the Campaign for Free Education and first contested NUS elections in 1998...
. In addition to these political factions, interest groups such as the Federation of Student Islamic Societies
Federation of Student Islamic Societies
The Federation of Student Islamic Societies is a national umbrella organisation aimed at supportingand representing Islamic societies at colleges and universitiesin the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland...
and the Union of Jewish Students
Union of Jewish Students
The Union of Jewish Students of the United Kingdom and Ireland was established in 1919, when it was known as the Inter-University Jewish Federation...
are deeply involved in the internal democratic processes of NUS.
On 17th January 2011, the website www.theyworkforstudents.co.uk was launched by a group of independent students, to act as a "hub of information on the NUS, helping to increase scrutiny, openness and accountability". The website includes contact details for the National Executive Council, committee meeting minutes, and information on how NUS works and how to get involved. Through the campaigning of the website, more of this information is now being published on the NUS membership website, NUSConnect.
NUS Services
Owned by over 200 students’ unions and NUS, NUS Services is the forerunner of the student market. NUS Services made £2.5 million for the student movement and tries to set itself apart from many other commercial organisations by leading from a democratic perspective; their strategy is led by shareholders and directed by a board and committees composed of volunteers from NUS' shareholder unions.They provide three core services:
• Collective purchasing
• Support services
• Marketing services
The Association for Managers in Students' Unions
Association for Managers in Students' Unions
The mission of the Association of Managers in Students' Unions is to enhance the management of UK students' unions.AMSU publish a journal called Agenda which includes articles by and for students' union staff....
recently merged with NUS and NUS Services.
NUS Extra
NUS Extra is a discount card for students. The scheme represents a key element of the collaboration agenda between NUS and NUS Services. It is the focus of a joint strategy to provide students’ unions with new sources of income and support in the context of significant pressures on more traditional commercial activity. Students’ unions receive commission on every Extra card that they sell.NUS Charitable Services
NUS has established a new charity to drive improvement in students’ unions. It will focus on students’ union quality, talent management, equality and diversity, strategic development and turnaround, ethical and environmental work, and fundraising.Criticisms
The NUS has come in for criticism from various quarters, particularly from those students' unions who are not affiliated. Sen Ganesh, then president of Imperial College UnionImperial College Union
Imperial College Union is the Students' Union of Imperial College London. It is host to many and varied societies, and has student bars situated around Albertopolis...
, said in 2002: "NUS's claim to be representative of students is not borne out by their work", especially as "the NUS is dominated by Labour students and this diminishes the ability to address student issues in an impartial fashion."
The NUS has in particular come in for criticism for the way its democratic processes are structured. Unlike individual student unions and despite the rise of online voting in Universities, NUS officers are not directly elected by students, but instead elected by delegates. This is because NUS' members are students' unions and not students.
The NUS has also been criticised for selling its 'NUS Extra Card', which offers students discounts on certain purchases, rather than confronting issues that actually affect students. Despite an NUS Policy that none of the discounts on the original free NUS card would be moved to the 'NUS Extra Card', proposed by Cambridge University Students' Union
Cambridge University Students' Union
Cambridge University Students' Union is the university-wide representative body for students at the University of Cambridge, England...
, NUS Treasurer Dave Lewis went against policy and removed the discounts from the original free NUS card.
Other critics have focussed on the organisation's perceived failure to campaign effectively on student issues such as tuition fees and prescription costs and have advocated that students and unions coordinate independently of the NUS to campaign on the national stage.
Financial crisis
In recent years, the NUS has faced a prolonged financial crisis, caused by a coinciding of spiralling expenditure and decreasing income. A series of measures were proposed to address this, of which the most controversial included a series of changes to the constitutional and democratic processes. In 2004, two emergency conferences passed some of the changes proposed, albeit not without fierce dispute between those claiming the proposals were necessary reforms to maintain the existence of the organisation and those arguing that they were aimed at curbing democracy and involvement. The 2006 NUS Conference passed an extremely controversial policy enabling the NUS to launch a paid-for student discount card, in September, called 'NUS Extra', on sale to students at GB£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...
10.
Durham censorship controversy
In February 2010, the NUS came under extreme criticism after two of its officers forced a proposed debate on multiculturalismMulticulturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
at the University of Durham to be cancelled. The debate, organised by the Durham Union Society
Durham Union Society
The Durham Union Society is a debating society founded in 1842 by the students of the Durham University. Commonly referred to as the "DUS" or "The Durham Union", it is the university's largest society with over 3,000 members...
- a debating society entirely separate from Durham Students' Union
Durham Students' Union
The Durham Students' Union is a body, set up as the Durham Colleges Students’ Representative Council in 1899 and renamed in 1969, with the intention of representing and providing welfare and services for the students of the University of Durham in England.-Location:DSU occupies and manages Dunelm...
- was to have featured two prominent British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
members: Yorkshire and the Humber
Yorkshire and the Humber (European Parliament constituency)
Yorkshire and the Humber is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
MEP
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
Andrew Brons
Andrew Brons
Andrew Henry William Brons is a British politician. Long active in far right politics in Britain, he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber for the British National Party at the 2009 European Parliament election...
and Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
City Councillor
Leeds City Council
Leeds City Council is the local authority for the City of Leeds metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England.-History:The city council was established in 1974, with the first elections being held in advance in 1973...
Chris Beverley. Upon hearing of BNP involvement in the debate, NUS Black Students' Officer Bellavia Ribeiro-Addy and NUS LGBT Officer Daf Adley jointly sent a letter to both the Durham Union Society and the university demanding its cancellation. The pair stated that the debate would be illegal and threatened to organise a "colossal demonstration" in tandem with Unite Against Fascism
Unite Against Fascism
Unite Against Fascism is an anti-fascist pressure group in the United Kingdom, with support from politicians of all mainstream UK political parties...
, adding that "if any students are hurt in and around this event responsibility will lie with you".
The subsequent cancellation of the debate by Durham Union Society President Anna Birley on safety grounds was met with fierce backlash. NUS President Wes Streeting was prompted to personally appear before the Durham Union Society to apologise for the actions of the officers concerned, though outrage among Durham students was sufficient that a significant number protested outside the debating chamber at the time. A further protest group on Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
quickly amassed over 2,500 members. An official petition was soon lodged with Durham Students' Union to call for a referendum on disaffiliation from NUS. On March 12 2010, the referendum concluded with a majority of voting students chosing to disaffiliate. In January 2011, Durham decided to reaffiliate itself with the NUS.
Graduate tax/Tuition fees
Under the leadership of Wes StreetingWes Streeting
Wesley "Wes" Paul William Streeting is Chief Executive of the Helena Kennedy Foundation, an educational charity that promotes access to higher education to students from further education colleges through bursaries, mentoring and work placements...
the NUS abandoned its long-standing commitment to free education and backed a graduate tax
Graduate tax
A graduate tax is a proposed method of financing higher education. It has been proposed in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.-Background:...
as its preferred outcome of the Browne Review
Browne Review
The Browne Review or Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance was a review to consider the future direction of higher education funding in England. It was launched on the 9 November 2009 and published its findings on 12 October 2010. It was chaired by Lord Browne of...
into higher education funding. Before the 2010 General Election, the NUS invited candidates sign a pledge not to raise tuition fees
Vote for Students pledge
The National Union of Students "Vote for Students" pledge is a pledge to vote against tuition fee increases that was signed by over 1000 candidates standing in the UK general election in 2010, notably including all 57 subsequently elected Liberal Democrat MPs.-The pledge:The pledge states:The NUS...
, receiving over 1000 signatories from prospective parliamentary candidates. This became a very high profile campaign when many liberal democrat MPs, who all signed individual NUS pledges stating they would vote against any rise in tuition fees if elected, had to abstain or do the opposite as part of their coalition agreement.
The NUS, under new leader Aaron Porter
Aaron Porter
Aaron Ross Porter is the former President of the National Union of Students in the United Kingdom; he was elected with a 65% majority and took office in June 2010 for one year.-Background and positions held :...
, organised a national protest attended by thousands in November 2010, demanding an end to education cuts. Some protestors took the march down Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...
to Conservative Party headquarters where there was a confrontation with the police and an occupation of the building, Millbank Tower
Millbank Tower
Millbank Tower is a high skyscraper in the City of Westminster at Millbank, on the banks of the River Thames in London, in the United Kingdom. The Tower was constructed in 1963 for Vickers and was originally known as Vickers Tower. It was designed by Ronald Ward and Partners and built by John...
. With an attendance of over 50,000 people, it was the largest British demonstration since the Iraq War protest. This led to various more demos until the rise in tuition fees was passed.
On 8 December 2010, the Telegraph reported that they had seen emails that suggested Aaron Porter
Aaron Porter
Aaron Ross Porter is the former President of the National Union of Students in the United Kingdom; he was elected with a 65% majority and took office in June 2010 for one year.-Background and positions held :...
had supported, rather than increase tuition fees, cuts of up to 80% should be made to student support packages including grants and loans. Porter responded to the claims on NUS Connect that "In all of these meetings and communications we stated our firm and clear opposition to cuts" and that the distortion of the discussions was "political desperation from a coalition government losing the arguments on its own policies".
Fairtrade
The Fairtrade NUS Campaign was started by students at the University of EdinburghUniversity of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
in autumn 2005. The campaign, which has now been joined by numerous other students' union
Students' union
A students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges and universities, and has started appearing in some high schools...
s in Britain, is calling for 100% of the hot beverages (tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
, coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, hot chocolate
Hot chocolate
Hot chocolate is a heated beverage typically consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and sugar...
, etc.) sold by member unions of the NUS to be accredited with the Fairtrade Mark
International Fairtrade Certification Mark
The International FAIRTRADE Certification Mark is an independent certification mark used in over 50 countries. It appears on products as an independent guarantee that disadvantaged producers in the developing world are getting a better deal....
.
The campaign is supported by a number of NGOs and charities, including Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
, Trade Justice Movement
Trade Justice Movement
The Trade Justice Movement is a British coalition, founded in 2000, of more than 80 organizations campaigning for trade justice.The coalition has a particular focus on UK and EU trade policies...
, People & Planet
People & Planet
People & Planet is a network of student campaign groups in the UK. It claims to be "the largest student campaigning organization in the country campaigning to alleviate world poverty, defend human rights and protect the environment."-Organization:...
and CAFOD
CAFOD
The Catholic Agency For Overseas Development, previously known as the Catholic Fund for Overseas Development, is a United Kingdom-based international aid agency working to alleviate poverty and suffering in developing. It is funded by the Catholic community in England and Wales, the UK government...
.
While it is contested amongst the Universities about who were the original Fairtrade University,the Fairtrade foundation gave this status first and worked with Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University is a new university in Oxford, England. It was named to honour the school's founding principal, John Brookes. It has been ranked as the best new university by the Sunday Times University Guide 10 years in a row...
who spearheaded the movement - with the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
a close second.
Governance review
The 2008 Conference in Blackpool was dominated by the governance review debate and vote. The proposals were for a restructuring of the running of the Union but the vote was lost by 25 votes (a two-thirds majority was required). The review was criticised for what was felt by detractors to be an attack on the organisation's democractic accountability. Its supporters however defended the review as providing a more 'innovative' corporate structure which was hoped to make it more credible in negotiating policy, rather than simply 'reactive'. This was not well received by many in the executive with President, Gemma Tumelty, vowing to press ahead with reform. The perceived lack of progress on governance reform has also prompted Imperial College UnionImperial College Union
Imperial College Union is the Students' Union of Imperial College London. It is host to many and varied societies, and has student bars situated around Albertopolis...
to hold a referendum on disaffiliation.
Revised proposals were drafted and submitted to a extraordinary conference in November 2008. The conference passed the proposals by 4 votes to 1. A second extraordinary conference to ratify the proposals (the constitution requires that any changes are passed by two consecutive conferences) took place on 20 January 2009. The proposals were accepted by a huge majority and the new constitution came into force.
External links
- NUS Home
- Membership website for NUS, NUS Services and AMSU
- TheyWorkForStudents - A hub of information on the NUS, helping to increase scrutiny, openness and accountability