This is a response to Charlie Winstanley's post on the upcoming NUS governance review.
Gemma Tumelty, (London, National Union of Students): Charlie Winstanley's article on the NUS governance review is based on some serious misconceptions. The changes proposed are not a reaction to student apathy, quite the opposite, they stem from an ardent desire from over 600 Students' Union members of the National Union of Students (NUS) to have a more effective and more representative national union. For over 10 years there have been repeated calls for change, all of which have been continuously curtailed by the same group of people, fuelling disaffiliation threats across the UK.
At our Annual Conference 2007, a motion was overwhelmingly passed, again calling for "far-reaching change." For many NUS members, who have become accustomed to unfulfilled promises, this was a case of last chance saloon. They lamented the fact that while the demography of NUS' members had changed, the structures had not. For instance, despite making up two-thirds of NUS' membership, Further Education (FE) students only have only one place on a National Executive Council of 27.
As Charlie Winstanley rightly points out, the changes do also concern management. Not surprising given that a lack of oversight here has led NUS to consecutive years of debt, culminating in a £1.4 million deficit last year. But these proposals aren't just about safeguarding the existence of the National Union; they're fundamentally about a shift in representing the types of students studying in FE and HE today, with more representation proposed for mature, part-time and international students.
But he misses another fundamental point, the proposals do not come from the National Executive, nor from just "Labour students," they come from NUS members. The governance review is made up of ideas from literally hundreds of submissions from across the membership.
To clarify some of his other points, there is no question of the removal of compulsory elections of conference delegates, quite the opposite. While today unions can arbitrarily drop cross-campus ballots on a whim, the governance review requires them to fulfil strict criteria in an application to NUS' steering committee before this can take place -the idea being to protect democracy, not the contrary.
Other changes include the introduction of a Senate, expanding the highest student body, responsible for the political side of NUS, a student-led Board to oversee management matters, and Zones to ensure easier and better access to the policy-making process. In terms of the new Annual Congress, this remains the sovereign policy-making body, with power to elect and scrutinize Board members, and with a dramatic and long overdue increase in FE representation.
Charlie Winstanley is right about something else, the vote on the governance review at Annual Conference will be close and will certainly mark a watershed in the history of NUS. But as far as we, and the great majority of NUS' members- are concerned, defeat of the review will not just be a defeat for the National executive, but for the future of the student movement.
This article is cosigned by the following people: Gemma Tumelty, NUS National President, Stephen Brown, NUS National Secretary, Dave Lewis, NUS National Treasurer, Ama Uzowuru, NUS Vice President (Welfare), Wes Streeting, NUS Vice President (Higher Education), Beth Walker, NUS (Further Education), Aaron Porter, Leicester University Students' Union, Joff Manning, Royal Holloway University Students' Union, Dave Austin, Bath University Students' Union, Alice Bouquet, University of West England Students' Union, Yemi McKinde, Brunel University Students' Union, Ben Whittaker, Derby University Students' Union, Achike Ofodile, Kent University Students' Union, Katie Dalton, Swansea Metropolitan Students' Union, Neil Mackenzie, Leeds University Students' Union, Elizabeth Somerville, Manchester University Students' Union, Lizzie Swarbrick, Coutauld Institute of the Art, Ed Marsh, Hull University Students' Union, Keir Stitt, Bolton University Students' Union, Josh MacAllister, Edinburgh Students' Union
