Wednesday 29-06-2022 - 10:28

April 2022

Naomi Smith, Student Leader and NUS Delegate

 

 

NUS National Conference took place on Monday 28^th and Tuesday 29^th March 2022, and celebrated one hundred years of the NUS and the UK’s radical student movement.

Delegates from HE and FE institutions from all four nations heard from a range of speakers, including former members of the movement and individuals who are aligned with the movement’s goals.

We also heard from the candidates for HE and FE national executive committee positions, including NUS President and NUS VP Higher Education, and elected new officers to take over from outgoing exec members. See the NUS’s statement concerning allegations of antisemitism linked to this election here.

The conference also saw NUS attempt to carry out a new type of participatory, collective democracy, in place of previous models which were more focused on debate, and had generated conflict and division. This was seen as a step in the right direction but, nonetheless, caused their own controversy among some delegates, as they were run by NUS staff, rather than elected student officers.

Policies that were discussed by delegates were revised by NUS staff after the conference, based on the conclusions of those discussions, and the amended policies were then put to an online vote. Some delegates argued that this meant the process was less democratic than in previous years as the final versions of each policy could not be discussed at conference.

Outgoing President Larissa Kennedy noted that these concerns were valid and would be considered by NUS in planning for future iterations of conference, while also noting that new forms of democracy would inevitably face teething problems and that conference was still broadly more democratic that it had been in previous years.

Policy Discussions:

There were six main areas of policy discussed at conference this year with delegates given the opportunity to contribute to amendments to proposed policies to be voted on after conference:

1. International students
2. Student housing co-ops 
3. Making university accessible to students of all backgrounds
4. Fight for funds
5. Tackling gender-based violence
6. New Vision for Education

 

Here’s a round-up of some of my key takeaways from those discussions…

 

International students:

• The student movement does not do enough for international students. We can and should do better.
• The international student experience is quite broad. Regular student life for a home student is an experience for international students.
• Employability, welfare and mental health of international students are key areas that need attention.
• Representation is key. The majority of students’ unions in the UK do not have representation for international students on their officer teams, which makes it all the more timely that we have recently elected our first International Students’ Officer at Birkbeck as there is often nowhere else for international students to turn for help.
• International students experience inhuman treatment at the hands of the UK government and within our universities.
• Getting accommodation is even harder for international students than home students.
• International students already pay more in course fees than home students and have to pay out an additional £2000 for a visa, which then has no settlement plan attached.
• Those who are bringing family members with them (e.g. children, spouses, etc) then also have to pay an extra £2000 per person for their visas.
• At the end of the day, international students pay more but receive much less, despite the fact that they contribute billions of pounds to the UK economy and constitute a significant part of the UK’s student population.

 

Student housing co-ops:

• Student housing co-ops have been successfully set up in some places – at least as trial runs.
• They consist of a group of students clubbing together with a legally protected position to run halls themselves, cutting out the landlords and avoiding exploitative rents.
• They are independent, democratic and autonomous, and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Everyone involved is a director.
• NUS should lobby government on this, and provide training and support for students and Students’ Unions who wish to set up housing co-ops.
• We shouldn’t monetize shelter.
• Housing co-ops can be difficult, boring and technical to set up. We need expertise to be linked up with students – NUS could act as enablers, providing legal advice and other information, such as help understanding surveyors’ reports.
• We also need to consider students with different needs; e.g. students with caring needs, trans students, international students, etc.

 

Making university accessible to students of all backgrounds:

• The Office for Students (OfS) plans to use metrics to measure student outcomes that might cause universities to stop recruiting marginalised students. This is of particular concern at Birkbeck and officers have been working with College senior staff to ensure that we are not impacted by this.
• FE students need to have a good path to get to university, including help with applications.
• Hybrid teaching, flexible timetabling, lecture capture/recording, and consolidation weeks to help students catch up on missed learning – some of these have already been implemented at Birkbeck after much lobbying from SU officers.
• We need more support for students who are refugees or asylum seekers, both in terms of applying to university and their experience once they arrive. University of Sanctuary status – which Birkbeck has – needs to be more widely sought across the sector.
• More publicity for available resources and support is essential.
• We need more support for mature students, and pregnant students, students with childcare responsibilities, and students with caring responsibilities. Our amazing incoming Women’s Officer has this on her agenda for her term in office.

 

Fight for funds:

• Mature students and carers cannot apply for universal credit. A lot of support funds have age caps.
• Postgraduate loans – the approach differs across the four nations but should be equal - some are much better funded than others (England is middling).
•  We need more structure for hardship funds. More consistency and equity across universities - not all university hardship funds have the same entry requirements.
•  Apprenticeships are underpaid, especially for mature students. Raise the apprentice wage to the living wage. It is currently half of what is considered livable. They are excluded from student loans (as are FE students).
•  Consider the students at the intersections, non-custodial parents who cannot claim any funding/financial support, and estranged students who are often asked to get documents from people they can't talk to, and so cannot get funding.
• Distance students need travel funds.
• Students shouldn't have to pay extra for a placement year.
• Funding is the basis for accessibility for all.
• NUS needs to create a guide for best practice for fighting for bursaries.
• Free education!

 

Tackling gender-based violence:

• Public sexual harassment affects marginalised genders, especially those with other intersections, more than others.
• Over 75% of students who experience sexual violence at university do not know where to go for help and support.
• FE colleges need different help - e.g. cannot have anonymous reporting due to safeguarding rules for younger students.
• We need to consider sexual violence against men, and against trans students, and the implications of sexual harassment/violence in different cultures and religions (and between those cultures and religions).
• Should universities and colleges be responsible or should the NUS be responsible for training. How do we make it accessible to all (e.g. smaller universities and colleges)?
• We need training and resources, and a consistent approach across the sector.
• NUS should be lobbying for alternatives to police and security.
• Respect all experiences as valid.
• Access to reporting mechanisms is key. We have made huge progress convincing Birkbeck to improve reporting, including working with the College to establish a mechanism for anonymous reporting.
• Respect intersectionality and consider how it impacts upon policy.

 

New Vision for Education:

• Reforming our entire education system.
• Scrap consumer rights protections for students and replace them with a students' bill of rights - we are students, not consumers, and we wish to be treated as such.
• Stop commodifying our education.
• Students are workers at the same time. We want solidarity with teachers' unions, especially as we are often teachers too.
• Build quality into education - not through government metrics but through the student movement's participation in development of universities.
• Democratic education.
• Have students elect VCs, rather than have universities appoint them.
• All universities should have a students' union by law.
• The government needs to fund sabbs at be the FE level. More publicity for FE college students' unions.
• Put the student back at the center of education - the system should be built around us and our needs.
• The current system has not kept up with the development of the world and societal changes. Students are not the same as they used to be.
• Would these issues go away if university was accessible for all (i.e. if it was free)?
• Course value should not be measured by graduate employment outcomes and grades.
• Students need to take the power back with the support of the NUS.