# The History of Students' Unions and NUS >[!External Links]+ >[HEPI Students' Union Report 2018](x-devonthink-item://9B44F87F-D23E-43E8-8C1B-DEF04AA354AB) ## Introduction * SUs, alongside their national representatives [[The National Union of Students (NUS)|NUS]] can: * signal coming movements, issues and social concerns; * act to ensure the student body feels connected and valued; * be rich sources of intelligence, diversity and feedback; and * be inexpensive ways of achieving outcomes. ## Key recurring themes - What is the purpose of HE? Student development, research, employability? - What is the nature of the relationship between students and universities? - What is the best way to achieve goals? Representation or campaigning/ direct action? - What is the role of student consumer rights in achieving goals? Is this marketisation? - Who is in control of HE? The left or the right? ## [1088 to 1967](x-devonthink-item://9B44F87F-D23E-43E8-8C1B-DEF04AA354AB?page=12) #### SUs: * Barbarossa places the control of Bologna University affairs in the hands of the ‘Dominus Rector’ - a student that was elected by peers who could hire and fire academics. * Helped Barbarossa argue why he should be holy Roman emperor * Learners come from monastic backgrounds. Two models were adopted in the UK: 1. University of Paris developed along the masters’ model, Oxford and Cambridge largely adopted this model, where academics decided on the design and shape of the curriculum. Academic authority was supreme. 2. Bologna model, which informed the Scottish system. Pope Nicholas V issued a ‘Papal Bull’ to establish the University of Glasgow, specifically indicating that the new institution should enjoy the same privileges enjoyed at Bologna, one of which was the right to choose a Rector - The UK students’ union can be traced back to the student societies of Edinburgh University founded between 1737 and 1787. They met initially in local bars and university rooms but, in 1833, formed the associated societies, which saw two representatives of each meeting on a regular basis. Robert Fitzroy Bell. Went to Strasbourg to see their guild, brought it back to Edinburgh. * One of the first successes was to establish a staff-student committee to examine teaching methods in Medicine, and students quickly began to take an interest in examination methods, assessment, overcrowding and tutorials. * Ramsay Muir, a Scot who studied at Liverpool and Oxford, discussed the corporate feel of universities and the lack of 'common life'. He established what was to become Liverpool Guild of Students in 1892. * With the changes to Universities and Polytechnics brought in the 1960s there was a lot of work on University Charters. A challenge was made to the draft charter for the University of Surrey in May 1965, and the government eventually agreed that they should - allow for the creation of joint committees of students with senate and council; - enable students to have a hearing before being expelled or suspended - require a students’ association (70 years after the same had been agreed in Scotland) #### NUS: * NUS came into being at a meeting in the University of London Union in February 1922 and Ivison S. Macadam of King’s College London was elected as the first President. * In 1940, a ‘Charter of Student Rights and Responsibilities’ was agreed, arguing that students had the right to: 1. free expression of opinion by speech and press; 2. organise meetings, discussion and study on all subjects within university and college precincts; 3. belong to any organisation, whether cultural and political or religious; 4. participate to the full in all activities outside the universities, and to collaborate with extra-university organisations; and 5. a share in the government and administration of the universities. * Commentators were critical of the fifth right, basically because they believed in the division of academic and student, and only the former had the expertise to be involved in governance and administration. This changed after the second world war, which brought significant social change. In 1943 the NUS President Brian Simon wanted to see: - a move away from academic specialisation; - the development of the formal and informal curriculum (student activities); - the abolition of fees and wider access to higher education; - increased grants to colleges; and - a closer connection with academia to social development. ## [1968 to 1977](x-devonthink-item://9B44F87F-D23E-43E8-8C1B-DEF04AA354AB?page=25) - The student movement tapped into the clear injustices that were raised in the 1960s. - NUS President Jack Straw wanted neither the Italian model nor the Masters model, but proper representation. * The principle of natural justice was established in University proceedings, which was controversial at the time as it contravened the idea that academics ruled supreme. * Tensions about the scope of the nature of student representation continued. Decisions were made outside of formal meetings. * Similar themes to today started: * The right believing that universities had been taken over by the left * The left believing that universities had been taken over by neoliberalism and marketisation (read: the right). ## [1978 to 1987](x-devonthink-item://9B44F87F-D23E-43E8-8C1B-DEF04AA354AB?page=30) > "Representation must never be seen as an end in itself. Too many union officers see it as a question of communication and merely sitting on the appropriate committee. The purpose of representation is to secure educational and institutional change." - Digby Jacks, 1975. * There was almost annual Bills before the house. The proposed changes were underpinned by the idea that ==it was employers and industry who were the consumers of education rather than students and as such should have more say about the direction of higher education==. * There were changes to the financing of SUs as well. Before 1980, the students’ union fee was paid by a student’s local education authority, along with their tuition fee and any financial support to which they were entitled. Now SUs had to negotiate with their university. * The principle of Ultra Vires was confirmed in a law case- AG vs Ross, 1986. But confirmed that educational charities, in furtherance of their objects, can encourage students to develop political awareness. * SUs started to professionalise, and bring in advisors, particularly for housing advice. Tensions between those who saw individual advocacy through a rights-based approach in opposition to collective campaigning on the student condition continue today. * Freedom of Speech became a hot topic. ## [1988 to 1997](x-devonthink-item://9B44F87F-D23E-43E8-8C1B-DEF04AA354AB?page=38) - More focus, due to the Citizen's Charter and users of services being given a role in the administration of them. - More of a HE regulatory framework. - But aggression against SUs continues- seen as left wing 'closed shops'. - Commercialisation of SUs continues. Economic bubble forms. ## [1998 to 2007](x-devonthink-item://9B44F87F-D23E-43E8-8C1B-DEF04AA354AB?page=42) - Quality assurance gains greater interest. - Scottish system gains more prevalence due to the student engagement framework. English and Welsh versions have limited success. - Much more focus from SUs on liberation work/ the issues affecting minoritised groups. But Universities still siloed and nascent in their coherent strategy development and therefore unable to hear these views. - Minister for Innovation, Universities and Skills David Willetts [says some nice things about SUs](x-devonthink-item://9B44F87F-D23E-43E8-8C1B-DEF04AA354AB?page=45) - SUs forced to become Charities. HEFCE declines to become the regulator, charity commission instead. - Commercial bubble in SUs begins to burst. ## [2008 to 2017](x-devonthink-item://9B44F87F-D23E-43E8-8C1B-DEF04AA354AB?page=50) * Almost by accident, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) looked at multiple aspects of the legal relationship between students and universities. It concluded that students were indeed consumers and that consumer protection law applied. * SUs began to take their responsibilities towards the safeguarding of their members more seriously, and social-norming theory was applied to environmental work and alcohol consumption. * "There is little understanding about the role of the SU Chief Executive and their place within the sector" - [[The Relationship Between Universities and Students’ Unions - AHUA|(Grills, 2015)]] ## [Summary](x-devonthink-item://9B44F87F-D23E-43E8-8C1B-DEF04AA354AB?page=56) ## Three paradigms for SUs ![[Screenshot 2022-06-28 at 13.31.47.png]] ## APA Reference Day, M., & Dickinson, J. (2018) David versus Goliath: the past, present and future of students' unions in the UK. Higher Education Policy Institute report 111. Retrieved 02/09/2022 from https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2018/09/06/david-versus-goliath-past-present-future-students-unions-uk-2/ ## See also - [[The Future of Students' Unions]] - [[The National Union of Students (NUS)|NUS]] - [[NUS Services Limited]] - [[University of Salford Students’ Union|USSU]]