NUS Conference 2008 -> Bolt!

Amidst all the excitement of NUS debate, there were elections going on left, right and centre!

Mere inches from the Conference floor doors lay crowds of eager campaigners, supporting candidates for National positions on the NEC. And one of these candidates was our very own VP Welfare - Sarah Bolt!

Sarah impressed us all last December when she announced that she would be taking her unique brand of Welfare national by running for the National Vice-President of Welfare. Naturally, we all dived in to aid her as best we could because we knew it wasn't going to be easy. Sarah was running against the current National Vice-President of Welfare, Ama Uzowuru, and incumbents rarely fail to get elected for a second term nationally.

Nevertheless, Sarah put up a great fight and took a quality selection of Exec candidates and Referendum Rangers to campaign alongside her. We all handed out free condoms, chlamydia tests (both male and female, although I think I mixed these up...) and the standard flyers attached to pegs!

We generated a lot of interest because it isn't often that an independent runs for a national position, with out any factional support. Sarah's two opponents, Ama and Hind Hassan, were back by the OIs and the far left respectively.

We voted after the speeches - and Sarah's speech was awesome: "Where is the Welfare?!"

Unfortunately, Sarah came in third. But as Andy Fernando commented: "When the NUS are letting go great talents such as Sarah Bolt and Kieran Norris, you know something is seriously wrong."

However, she still managed to get 195 votes out of approx 700 which is a massive achievement considering she had no factional support. It just goes to show, a true independent can challenge conventions and get noticed at a National level and no-one should ever hesitate before doing the same in the future.

Never mind, Bolt! I guess you'll just have to go to Law School and get a proper job instead!

NUS Conference 2008 -> #4 Society & Citizenship

"The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open." - Gunter Grass

The final motion Zone was that of Society & Citizenship. Once more, here is a list of some of the successful policy:-

1) We resolved to campaign to protect the people of Darfur by lobbying the government to take action to prevent the human right abuses that are currently taking place.

2) We mandated the NEC to lobby the government to remove racist websites from the Internet, such as Redwatch, Noncewatch, Blood & Honour, etc.

3) We resolved to support the Stop the War Coalition to prevent any attack on Iran. However, an ammendment to remove army recruiters from campus fell, as we recognised that the army work to keep the peace, provide food & care and work to re-build war-torn countries.

4) Motions to lobby the NUS itself to become more Green, campaign on environmental issues and reduce carbon emissions were referred back to the NEC.

All in all, a lot of good work will be achieved because of the decisions of the motion Zones.

NUS Conference 2008 -> #3 Welfare & Student Rights

"The welfare of each is bound up in the welfare of all." - Helen Keller

The third motion Zone was that of Welfare & Student Rights. Again, I have listed some of the successul policy that was passed:-

1) We resolved to campaign for financial support for Mature Students and engage more with them on all levels.

2) We resolved to increase the support for Student Parents and campaign for creche facilities at every Union and College.

3) We resolved to lobby the government to reduce the restrictions on HMO licensing to prevent the creation of 'student ghettos.'

4) We mandated the NUS to work locally and nationally to raise the issue of family housing to Universities.

5) We mandated the NEC to engage with relevant government bodies and Unions to reduce the negative effects that external bar crawls can cause, such as Carnage UK Ltd (not to be confused with the bar crawl organised by Carnival, which is heavily risk-assessed and raises thousands of pounds for charity).

6) We resolved to launch support groups for eating disorders and promote Eating Disorders Awareness week.

7) We resolved to challenge racism on campus in all institutions.

The final motion Zone was Society & Citizenship...

NUS Conference 2008 -> #2 Strong & Active Unions

"Sail on, O Union, strong and great!" - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 'The Building of the Ship.'

Below is a list of some of the successful policy passed in the motion Zone for Strong & Active Unions:-

1) Sustainable Students' Unions - we resolved that the NUS needs to provide eladership in reducing carbon emissions as an organisation and create its own think-tank to improve the environmental practises of Students' Unions.

2) Recognising Extra Curricular Skills - we resolved that the NUS should lobby higher education sectors to push for a structured mechanism for accrediting extra-curricular activities.

3) Championing Our Movement & Employability - we asked the NUS to establish its luinks with third sctor charities and the MCVO in order to champion student trustees.

4) From Successful Games to Lasting Legacy: The 2012 Olympics - we mandated the NUS to lobby the Olympic Games (above) to consider the valuable contributions that all institutions can make to the Olympics and allocate funding in respective of this.

5) Student Voting - we mandated the NUS to work with the electoral commission to specifically target students to vote, as well as encourage Students' Unions to help make students aware of how & where to go & vote.

6) Medical Students - we resolved for the NUS to encourage medical students to become actively involved in their own Unions and aid medical students in their unique course troubles.

The next motion Zone was for Welfare & Student Rights...

NUS Conference 2008 -> #1 Education

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." - Albert Einstein

The first motion Zone was Education.

Much was discussed and voted on. I have listed some of the successful policy that was passed:-

1) Access and Admissions - we voted to improve the HE admissions system so that is is fairer and more transparent to all applicants, particularly Part-Time, Post-Graduate and Mature students. This motion was co-submitted by us and has already been passed through Guild Council.

2) Education & Training at 18 - we voted to support the Governments' principle of raising the school leavning age to 18, however we mandated the NEC to ensure that this is met with appropriate support for learners and a National Minimum wage for apprenticeships. This motion is to be re-evaluated at Annual Conference 2009.

3) Nursing Students & Academic Failure - we voted to create an NUS Nursing Students' Campaign to address the widespread problems with Nursing.

4) Education Funding - the most important debate of the entire Conference! We passed policy to make the Governments' 2009 Education Funding Review the priority campaign for the NUS next year - fighting against lifting the cap and therefore the marketisation of education. Several ammendments were added to this motion, including mandating the NEC to campaign for home fees and bursaries for asylum seekers and oppose the tutition fee increases faced by International Students.

The next motion Zone was Strong & Active Unions...

NUS Conference 2008 -> Change Was Not Chosen

The first item on the agenda of NUS Conference was Constitutional Ratifications - more specifically, the delegates were asked to ratify the brand new Constitution and Governance structures that were voted on back at the Extraordinary Conference in December. You can read more about the Extraordinary Conference in my December blog.

Basically, we were starting with the most important debate that would occur during the entire Conference. The NUS were basically trying to achieve what we achieved during our Referendum - only on a national scale!

Upon arriving, the Winter Gardens were swamped with Orange t-shirt-wearers (supporting the change) and Green t-shirt wearers (rejecting the change) - it was like being trapped in a box of tic-tacs.

The new changes would have improved the NUS exponentially and the advantages included the following:-

• We would have had a full-time Vice-President for Union Development and Society & Citizenship - replacing the age-old & expired positions of Treasurer & Secretary.
• Zone Conferences would have been created. Each Zone will focus on a different issue: Higher Education, Further Education, Welfare, Society & Citizenship and Union Development.
• These Zone Conferences would have been smaller and more informal. Students can debate in workshops, gather evidence and construct more careful motions to be submitted to Annual Conference.
• The Zones would therefore have been more accessible to new members, Unions can collaborate on policy and contentious issues can be resolved in debate before the motions even reached Conference.
• There would have been a separation of powers between the political decision-making NEC and the financial/legal decision-making of the Trustee Board.
• Lay members would have been present on the Trsutee Board to provide experience and knowledge of diverse areas of charity and business.
• The new structure would have had a full-time International Students' Officer, part-time roles for Mature & Part-time Students and a taskgroup dedicated to ARAF work.

These changes would have been phenomenal for students everywhere in the UK and most of the delegates (64%) wanted change. However, a Constitutional change such as this requires a two-thirds majority and the changes fell by a mere twenty votes.

Most disgracefully, delegates from certain Universities were mandated to vote 'Yes' yet they voted 'No' anyway. Had they followed their mandates then change would have been chosen. This behaviour was shameful.

Nevertheless, I read the rhetoric of those Green t-shirt wearing students who were rejecting the new Governance proposals and they disagreed with the following:-

• NUS Conference would have been reduced from three days to just one.
• The Trustee Board is comprised of 42% external lay members.
• Decisions at each Zone Conference would be judged by a small group of people called the Zone Committee, which the opposers feel is unaccountable.
• They also felt strongly that delegates should be elected by cross-campus ballot, even in small FE colleges.
• Finally, they opposed their being no liberation representation on the Trustee Board.

But anyway, what is done is done. The changes fell by a mere twenty votes. However, there is no need to go back to the drawing board - because shortly after the ratification fell, there was a motion to decide whether we are still happy with the proposed structures and this motion passed (because we didn't need a two-thirds majority for this vote so the opposers couldn't scrape a win so easily this time round!)

Therefore, the proposal is staying the same and change will have to be put on hold until 2009.

A lot of us would have moved on by then - but delegates of 2009... Choose Change!

NUS Conference 2008

Last week, April 1st-3rd, the NUS Annual Conference took place in the Winter Gardens of Blackpool.

Over 1000 delegates were sent by Universities and Colleges from across the UK to speak and vote on a variety of important issues, not least of all the proposed changes of the NUS' Governance structures.

The Conference floor was open from 9am till 11pm and much was achieved over these long, long days of debate.

As always, I will break it all down for you in handy bite-sized blogs...