University of Warwick Students' Union

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University of Warwick Students' Union
Established 1965
Institution University of Warwick
President Brian Duggan
Other Sabbatical Officers AJ Brown (Finance, Democracy and Strategy Officer)

Cleo Longworth (Education Officer and Deputy President)

Katie Chevis (Welfare and Equal Opportunities Officer)

Nicola Warrington (Commercial Development and Communications Officer)

Anna Darowska (Sports Officer)

Stephanie Wongsam (Societies and Student Development Officer)
Location Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, England
Members c. 20,000
Affiliated to National Union of Students, Aldwych Group, WMANUS, National Postgraduate Committee, British Universities Sports Association
Homepage www.sunion.warwick.ac.uk

The University of Warwick Students' Union is the students' union for the University of Warwick, in Coventry, England.

Contents

[edit] History

The Students' Union developed in tandem with the University and has existed since 1965. In its first few decades of life, it was heavily involved with the protests, rent strikes, and occupations which earned the University the nickname of 'Red Warwick.' In 1974 One Warwick student Kevin Gately was killed during the Red Lion Square disorders.

One of its on-campus successes was its campaign for its own building, which finally succeeded in 1975 after lengthy opposition from large parts of the University establishment. Some of its early activism was carried out in partnership with sympathetic elements of the academic staff of the university, with one incident being chronicled in the book Warwick University Ltd., edited by the eminent historian E. P. Thompson.

[edit] Former Presidents

Year President Year President
1965-1966 Mike (Czeslaw) Kosniowski 1983-1984 Richard Jones
1965-1966 Peter Shellard 1984-1985 Mike Moran
1966-1967 Alan Hill 1985-1986 Tommy Webb
1966-1967 Tony Ward 1986-1987 Andrew Woodhouse
1966-1967 Richard Clifton 1987-1988 Terry Durkin
1967-1968 Graham Webster-Gardiner 1988-1989 Andy Shearer
1967-1968 Tony O'Rourke 1989-1990 Julia Offord
1968-1969 Alan Phillips 1990-1991 Ian Bradley
1969-1970 Michael Poulton 1991-1992 Alan Nott
1969-1970 Trevor Griffiths 1992-1993 Ian R. Corfield
1970-1971 Will Fitzgerald 1993-1994 Kevin Turnbull
1971-1972 Kevin O'Donovan 1994-1995 Andy Poulter
1972-1973 Louis Paperis 1995-1996 Josh Wong
1973-1974 Pete Ashby 1996-1997 Jon Norburn
1974-1975 Alistair Edwards 1997-1998 Jon Pycroft
1974-1975 Kasper de Graaf 1998-1999 Jo Scaife
1975-1976 Jimmie Quinn 1999-2000 Martin Biggs
1975-1976 Phil Dixon 2000-2001 Caitlin McKenzie
1976-1977 M. Whyte 2001-2002 John Dubber
1977-1978 Andrew Chalk 2002-2003 Greg Jones
1978-1979 Phil Dixon 2003-2004 'Big' Bob Jones
1979-1980 A. Watson 2004-2005 Simon Lucas
1980-1981 Frankie Devine 2005-2006 Kat Stark
1981-1982 Robin Edwardes 2006-2007 Brian Duggan
1982-1983 Gavin Reddin 2007-2008 Joe Kirby

[edit] Governance

Governance structure of the students' union
Governance structure of the students' union

The Union's basis of existence is its Constitution, which sets out the Union's mission statement, legal basis, and democratic structures. In addition to this, there are currently 8 Appendices to the Constitution, 5 sets of regulations, and 70 policies; all of which govern specific areas of Union activity.

The Union has three main methods of policy-making:

  1. Referenda - Conducted by The Elections Group
  2. General Meetings - open to all full members and have a quorum of 200.
  3. Union Council

These decision-making bodies form a hierarchy, with Referenda at the top and Union Council at the bottom. Any decision made by one of these bodies may be over-ridden by the same body or a higher one, though in some cases lower bodies can avoid implementing decisions made by bodies above them; for example, according to financial regulation 6.2, the union's executive officers can refuse to implement any policy which "in its opinion is not financially viable". An example of this occurred in 2006; when the executive committee refused to implement a smoking ban passed by referendum, saying it was not financially viable. [1]

[edit] Referenda

Referenda are held twice yearly and are the only method by which the Union's Constitution or affiliations may be changed. Motions may be sent to referendum if they are submitted with a petition of 80 signatures of Union members (with amendments possible with a petition of 20 signatures); in addition to this, up to four motions may be referred to referendum by Union General Meetings or Union Council in each referendum period. Referenda are subject to a quorum of 7.5% of full Union members, but shall also be considered to have reached quorum if 5% of full Union members vote for or against. Should the referendum fail to reach quorum, the result is not binding upon the Union, and any constitutional change proposed will not take effect. If a constitutional change is passed, it is then subject to approval by the University Senate and Council.

[edit] General Meetings

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is open to all full members of the Union both to speak and vote. It approves the Union's accounts and appoints an auditor. It also takes reports from the Union's Executive Committee, Union Council, services groups, and Elections Group, of which is approves the membership. The Union must have at least one General Meeting in each year. It is sometimes necessary for there to be an Emergency General Meeting (EGM), which can be called by any member who collects a petition of 150 signatures in order to discuss a specific issue of the member's choice; in other respects, however, an EGM behaves in the same way as a UGM. If a General Meeting fails to reach the quorum of 200, it may still discuss the motions submitted, but the decisions will not be binding and the motions will be submitted to the next meeting of Union Council without any amendments which may have been made at the General Meeting.

[edit] Union Council

Union Council is a group of about 120 Councillors and Officers elected from the student population and has the power to amend Appendices to the Constitution. Council normally meets eight times per year in weeks 3, 6, and 9 of terms 1 and 2 and in weeks 3 and 9 of term 3. The meeting is run by the Chair of Council and the Deputy Chair of Council who do not normally vote (although the Chair will vote to break a tie). The quorum for Council is 50% of its current members. Council also conducts co-options for vacancies for various Union positions throughout the year (although not Sabbatical Officers).

[edit] Executive Committee

The financial well-being of the Union is primarily the responsibility of the Executive Committee, which is a standing committee with 16 members. It consists of the seven Sabbatical Officers, the chairs of the Union's seven standing committees, and two non-portfolio Executive Officers. Executive members are the trustees of the Union Charity and are responsible for holding the Sabbatical Officers, as the Board of Directors of the Union companies, to account. In addition to this, the Executive has sole responsibility for finances and the sole power to pass Union regulations governing subjects such as finance, elections, sports clubs, and societies, as well as disciplinary regulations. The Executive Committee can also take the powers of Council in three exceptional situations: in an emergency when Council cannot meet, when the last two meetings of Council were inquorate for all of their length, or when Council or a General Meeting mandates the Executive to carry out a specific action.

On a day to day basis the Union is run by seven Sabbatical Officers elected by cross campus ballot:

  • President
  • Finance, Democracy and Strategy Officer (FDSO)
  • Education Officer and Deputy President
  • Welfare and Equal Opportunities Officer (WEOO)
  • Commercial Development and Communication Officer (CDCO)
  • Sports Officer
  • Societies and Student Development Officer (SSDO)

[edit] Affiliations

The Union is a constituent member of:

The Union is also a shareholder in the NUS Services Ltd (NUSSL).

[edit] Students' Union building

The Union - apparently the largest in Europe - consists of Union South (largely food, drink and entertainment) and Union North (mostly administration and offices).

The Students' Union got its first building, Union South, in 1975, after a long struggle with the University under Vice-Chancellor Jack Butterworth, who said to Will Fitzgerald (President of the Union in 1970-1): "the Students' Union will never have its own building."

Union North, which primarily houses offices and meeting rooms was added in the 1990s and is linked to Union South by the 'link corridor.'

The building contains a large social space with 8 bars:

  • Grumpy John's
  • The Cooler
  • Cholo
  • Bottles And Shots
  • Bottles And Shots 2
  • The Graduate
  • The Graduate Club (formerly Zippy's)
  • Xanana's

There are also four coffee-shop-cum-food outlets: Rococo and South Central plus the aforementioned Xanana's and Cholo.

The building is also home to the Union's media outlets, including RaW on the top floor of Union South and WTV and The Boar in Union North.

Tickets to Union events are sold in 'Advance' in Union South and there is an Abbey cash machine within the building. On the ground floor of the Union South building, but not operated by the Union, there are three banks (Barclays, HSBC and NatWest), a hairdressers, a pharmacy, a Post Office, a Lloyds TSB cach machine and a newly opened Oxfam store selling videos, books and music.

[edit] Union South Rebuild

The University's budgets passed during the 2005-06 academic year include a provision of around £6 million over the next two years to be spent in order to completely rebuild Union South. Such a rebuild should allow a big improvement in the Union's ability to utilise the venue for the benefit of its members. It is hoped that the rebuild will both allow for increased capacity and improved flexibility - something that should in turn allow an improved service outside of undergraduate term times.

[edit] Societies

The Union runs more Clubs and Societies than any other in the vicinity; currently there are 240 societies and 74 sports clubs including a student newspaper (The Boar) , radio station (RaW), television_station (WTV), and Student Record Label (WERL).

[edit] Union Companies

The Union has three subsidiary companies:

  • Student Union Services Warwick Limited
  • Membership Solutions Limited
  • Warwick Students Union Services Limited (mostly dormant and retained due to contracts held in its name)

[edit] Criticisms of the Union

A number of criticisms have been made of the Union in recent years:

  • The Union has recently suspended the Editor and Deputy Editor of the Warwick Boar, using a disciplinary procedure which some consider to be flawed.
  • During the presidency of Kat Stark, the Union often adopted a feminist stance at her urging; for example, by opposing the opening of a strip club in nearby Coventry. Details of Kat Stark's feminist views did not appear in all versions of her election manifesto and some felt this to have been misleading.
  • A Union referendum voted to ban smoking in all Union buildings, but this was not implemented by the Executive Committee. Some feel the financial grounds used to justify this were based on unrealisticly pessimistic assumptions; however, full figures have not been made available to the student body.
  • Financial constraints did not stop the Union from implementing a Fairtrade policy on coffee, tea and chocolate (although implementation for tea and chocolate sales was delayed until contracts with suppliers expired). Since 2006 the Union has amongst its policies a call for the UK students' unions buying consortium (NUS Services Limited) to boycott Coca Cola.
  • Despite being a democratic institution, a low proportion of students actually take part in the democratic process, with turnout recently peaking at around 20% (a turnout similar to, or better than, that in many other comparable students' unions). As such, the Union has been considered by some to be out-of-touch, especially after its lengthy consideration of issues such as the War in Iraq and the Israel-Palestine conflict, over which it has no noticeable influence.
  • Because so few students actually take part in union democracy, rather small, political or religious groups may have been able to influence the Union's policies disproportionately.
  • Sabbatical officers, who notionally oversee the running of the union, are elected from the student body; few have experience managing a large commercial operation.
  • The day-to-day operation of the union is managed by permanent, unelected employees, and the democratic structures of the union (such as Union Council) are banned from discussing any individual employee. Sabbatical officers, the only people capable of dismissing any of these employees (and even then, only the general manager), are trained by the very employees they oversee; this has been criticised as making dismissal near-impossible. However it should be noted that these permanent staff are dismissable by the union's general manager who is someone with far more experience in running both commercial and not-for-profit businesses (see above point).
  • Some, including many Union officers, consider communication between the Union and its members to be poor. Some Union officers point to the Union portal as an example of its communication, but, although a fairly high proportion of students use it regularly, users are probably all drawn from similar demographic groups. Sabbatical officers have recently tried holding drop-in sessions to listen to students' concerns, but these were very poorly attended.
  • A number of members struggle to see the benefit of NUS membership, which costs the Union thousands of pounds per year in affiliation fees; a recent study by the Union's Democracy Committee concluded that we have underestimated the campaigning benefits of the NUS and, due to the Union's pension scheme being linked to the NUS, it would be financially difficult to leave the NUS.
  • Union Council recently voted to support the AUT's strike in favour of better pay for academic and academic related university staff. Critics saw this as being harmful to students, and believed the support was only given because the AUT had previously supported the Union's fight against top-up fees. There was a poor turnout to rallies and to student meetings which could have changed this policy; this may indicate either apathy towards the issue or support for the Union's actions.
  • Almost a third of the University's students are postgraduates, many of whom reside on-campus. The Student Union has been criticised for not catering for the needs of older students, being focused almost entirely on the social habits of 18-21-year olds. With only one venue close to the University campus which is not run by either the Union or the University, many older students find their options limited. The "Graduate" pub has sometimes been closed early, without prior notice, in order to bring guests into the main bar, usually occupied by binging undergraduates. Furthermore, many international and postgraduate students complain that during holiday breaks and July-August, most services close entirely. The Union hopes that a refurbishment of it buildings, paid for by the University, will allow it to provide more services targeted at these students.

[edit] Trivia

The Tory MP David Davis stood for the position of President during his attendance at Warwick, but failed to win. He also founded RaW, the student radio station.

People who spend a lot of time in Union North are (somewhat) affectionately referred to as "Hacks".

[edit] External links

University of Warwick
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