University of Nottingham Students' Union

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The University of Nottingham Students' Union is the students' union at the University of Nottingham, England.

Contents

[edit] Introduction

The Students' Union is a charitable organisation, enshrined by legislation such as the Education Act 1994, and responsible for a number of areas of work - Student Representation, Student Activities, Student Advice on Education and Welfare, and Campaigning.

Prior to 2000, the University of Nottingham Students' Union was known as the University of Nottingham Union, abbreviated to UNU. The renaming was intended to clarify the Union's status as a Students' Union. Its current full name is the University of Nottingham Students' Union, shortened to the Students' Union or simply 'SU' where appropriate.

[edit] History

The Union's activity started in the 1880s when a cycling club was formed. At the old University College Site in the city centre the 'RAG' started in 1923. The Gong Magazine (now Impact, having been Gongster and Bias at various points) initiated in 1939 was an early sign of developing Union life. In 1928 the expanding college moved to the new out-of town Highfields Estate and here the Union's first permanent residence was in the lower corridor of the Trent Building. By 1956, the Portland Building had been opened, and was originally designated as a Union building, but although the Union is the major user, the management of the building has always rested with the University.

In the 1960s, the Union rationalised its representative system into a series of guilds, mostly based on halls of residence as 'constituencies'. This systems worked well for over two decades, before a critical mass of students came to live outside halls, at which point the strong communities on which the Guild system was based lost their universality. During the 1970s the Union took on a more militant air, with sit-ins and student strikes. This did lead to some positive results, such as student representation of many University committees - an opportunity openly satirised by the 1980s as less of a revolutionary shift than expected.

The pace of change in the Union accelerated after the Robbins Report, as rises in student numbers drove it towards a bigger capacity, more permanent staff and sabbatical officers, more rooms and offices and bigger turnovers and budgets. Income rose from £250,000 in 1982 to £1,480,000 in 2006. Membership rose by 23,000 in the same period, whilst staff numbers more than trebled. Recently, the Union has started to address a number of pressing challenges presented by the dynamism and growth of the University under Sir Colin Campbell - such as provision of Union services to members at East Midland sites beyond the main Nottingham campuses.

[edit] Governance

The Students' Union is governed by its Constitution and Regulations. The Constitution is a relatively short document, which is changed infrequently; any changes to the Constitution have to be approved by the University Council. The Regulations can be amended without reference to the University, but are subordinate to the Constitution. The Students' Union also maintains a Policy File, which outlines its stance on various issues.

The Students' Union is established by the Statutes of the University, which provide that "There shall be a Union of Students of the University" and that "Ordinances shall prescribe the constitution, functions, privileges and other matters relating to the Union of Students." Ordinance XI: Union of Students fulfils this role.

The Students' Union is, naturally, subordinate to the law of the land; one of the most relevant pieces of legislation is Part II of the Education Act 1994, which specifically deals with students' unions.

Changes to the Constitution, Regulations and Policy File are typically made by Students' Union Council; however, the whole membership can vote on a policy in a referendum. Referendums are generally fairly infrequent, and on major issues.

[edit] Students' Union Council

Students' Union Council is the highest regularly-meeting decision-making body of the Students' Union. It meets around eight times per year. For Council to make any binding decisions it has to be quorate; the quorum for Students' Union Council is set at 50% of voting members of Council.

Members of Students' Union Council can be either voting or non-voting members. The voting members are designed to be representative of the membership of the Students' Union as a whole. Most non-voting members sit on Council to represent various views that it is felt important to have represented at this level, but where they do not represent a clear constituency of students; each Student-Run Service, for example, has a non-voting seat on Council, since it is felt that there will be issues that it useful to have their input on, but that those involved in their organisation are already represented through a Council Rep.

The Constituencies for Voting Members of Students' Union Council are, for the most part either residential or subject-based. Generally, first year undergraduates are grouped into constituencies determined by their residence (e.g. Hall of Residence)., with students in subsequent years represented through their subject or faculty.

The remaining Council positions are held by the Executive Officers, JCR and Association Heads, and Student-Run Service Heads. It is worthy of note that despite representation on Students' Union Council, and elsewhere in the Students' Union, the majority of JCRs at the University remain entirely autonomous from the Students' Union. This has been a controversial issue for many years.

[edit] Subordinate Bodies

There are several categories of subordinate bodies of the Students' Union. These carry out various parts of the remit in a fairly decentralised way. The Associations and Student-Run Services report directly to Students' Union Council.

[edit] Affiliations

The Students' Union is currently affiliated to:

By law the decision to affiliate to external bodies has to be made on an annual basis, so these affiliations are reconsidered yearly.

[edit] Associations

[edit] Residential Associations

Note that most of the Junior Common Rooms at the University of Nottingham are not currently part of the Students' Union. Cavendish Hall JCR successfully applied to become part of the students' union in the academic year 2002-2003 although in the academic year 2005-2006 it actually applied for disaffiliation. The Nightingale Hall JCR had also successfully applied to become an association of the Students' Union in November 2005. However, due to some controversial issues over residential associations, Nightingale Hall, along with Cavendish Hall, had also applied for disaffiliation in June 2006. Nightingale Hall had since disaffiliated from the Students' Union in 2007. St Peter's Court is a recently established residence, and the Students' Union was instrumental in setting up its JCR, which consequently became part of the Union.

[edit] Non-Residential Associations

  • Disability Action
  • International Students' Bureau (ISB)
  • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Association (LGBT)
  • Mature Students' Association (MSA)
  • Medical Society (MedSoc)
  • Nursing and Midwifery Association (UNNAMA)
  • Physiotherapists Students' Association (Physios)
  • Postgraduate Students' Association (PGSA)
  • Racial and Religious Equality (RARE) Campaign
  • Women's Association (formerly Women's Campaign)

Associations are also referred to as 'Associated Bodies'.

[edit] Student-Run Services

The Student-Run Services are set apart from societies since they exist for the benefit of the wider student body. Each Student-Run Service is run by an elected student committee with assistance from the Student-Run Services Officer. They are:

  • TEC PA & Lighting (Sound and Lighting Company)
  • CD & Record Library
  • Forum (Guest speakers and debates)
  • Impact (student magazine)
  • Karnival Europe's largest student-run charitable organisation [1] and the UK's biggest[2] rag group)
  • New Theatre (England's only student-run theatre)
  • Nightline (Welfare-based telephone listening and information service)
  • URN - Student Radio for Nottingham (Radio Station)[1]
  • WeekOne (Freshers' week organisation)
  • NUTS (Nottingham University TV Station) - An upcoming online TV service

Prior to around 1999 the Student-Run Services were known as 'Ancillary Services'.

In addition SB-TEC (Sutton Bonington Technical Entertainment Committee) operates as a student-run service for Sutton Bonington, and provides sound lighting and projection services (including theatre, cinema, and maintaining the URN radio transmitter at Sutton Bonington).

[edit] Impact

Main article: Impact (student magazine)

Impact is the official magazine for students at the University of Nottingham.[3] It has been printed in numerous forms for longer than anyone on its staff can remember. At the moment it is a monthly, glossy magazine that can be picked up free from distribution boxes across Nottingham campuses. Impact has also maintained an online presence since January 8, 2006, at www.impactnottingham.com. Both magazine and website are run on a voluntary basis using funds from the Students' Union.

[edit] Societies

The University of Nottingham Students' Union has one of the largest ranges of societies in the country. Societies provide students with all their extracurricular activity needs, adding an extra dimension to their university life at Nottingham. They are a great way to meet new people, to get involved in an activity you love and to develop your skills. They are also a great opportunity to try something completely new.

Nottingham has over 170 Societies, covering a wide range of activities. These include:

[edit] Athletic Union

There are over 70 sporting clubs affiliated to the Students' Union, which fall under the Athletic Union. for a full list, see www.su.nottingham.ac.uk/sports.

The Athletic Union competes at the highest standard within university sport, finishing 5th in BUSA in 2007, and on course to do the same in 2008. It contains numerous international competitors, and the plays at some excellent facilities which are run by the department of sports & physical recreation.

As well as the Sports Clubs, the Athletic Union also runs one of the largest Intra-mural sporting programmes in the country with hundreds of teams competing each week in 5 sports: Rugby, Football, Hockey, Basketball and Netball. The winners of each sport then compete in our annual intra-mural varsity match agaisnt Loughborough university.

There is an annual varsity match agaisnt Nottingham Trent University which is held over the Spring term in 8 different disciplines: Rugby (M & F), Hockey (M & F), Basketball (M & F), Football (M & F), Ice Hockey, Netball, Cricket, and Rugby League. This is one of the best attended series in the UK, with 5,000 watching the ice hockey, and 3,500 to watch the football & ruigby respectively. The games are held at the top sporting venues in Nottingham; both the football & rugby at Meadow Lane (Home of Notts County FC), and the Ice Hockey at the National Ice Arena.

[edit] Campaigns

The Students' Union has run a number of campaigns over the years on a wide range of subjects affecting students.

[edit] Easy Tiger

A campaign run to coincide with Week One, to promote safe sex and alcohol awareness amongst freshers arriving at university. The campaign mascot is a person in tiger suit; the tiger itself often has helpers with tiger facepaints.

[edit] Fee Fighter

Initiated in the 1999-2000 academic year by then Vice-President, James 'Joker' Ballard, whose portfolio included responsibility for Education matters. The Fee Fighter campaign was aimed at preventing the introduction of top up fees, the removal of tuition fees, and the return of the grant.

The Fee Fighter was a superhero, whose uniform looked remarkably similar to that sported by superman, with a "Fee Fighter" logo replacing the memorable "S" motif on the front of the suit. 'Joker' was the first to don the Fee Fighter suit, with his successor, Paul Wakefield following in his footsteps in 2000-2001.

[edit] Sshh

The Sshh campaign was launched towards the end of the 2004-2005 academic year, as part of the Students' Union's efforts to minimise the effects of studentification caused by its students in the local area. The campaign is being run as a joint effort with the Nottingham Trent University Students' Union. This campaign was 'imported', having been originated at York St John College (now York St John University).

[edit] Executive Officers

The Executive Officers of the Students' Union, who also act as trustees of the charity, currently number thirteen (although this number has changed over the years). There are currently five Non-Sabbatical Officers and eight Sabbatical Officers. Non-Sabbatical Officers hold their position alongside their studies, whilst Sabbatical Officers hold the position full time, either taking a year out from their studies, or for a year after they finish their course. An individual is only allowed to hold the office of the Sabbatical Executive positions for one term (equal to one year). Individuals are allowed to hold non-Sabbatical Office for multiple years, or multiple Executive years of office - providing the one Sabbatical term rule is adhered to.

The Executive Officers are elected by a cross-campus ballot of all students. In recent years the University of Nottingham Students' Union has achieved relatively high levels of participation in its Executive Officer elections.

[edit] Executive Officers 2007-2008

Position Name
Athletic Union Officer Phil Richards
Community Officer Lou Green
Democracy and Communications Officer Gavin Todd-James
Education Officer Matt Gayle
Environment & Social Justice Officer Chloe Cheeseman
Equal Opportunities Officer Shabba Vaithianathan
Finance and Services Officer Becky King
Intersite Officer Ian Braithwaite
President Gerald Bates
Representational Associations Officer Will Cooling
Societies Officer Matt Leventhall
Student-Run Services Officer Elle Hosie
Welfare Officer Jenny Smith

[edit] Executive Officers 2008-2009

The 2008-2009 officers will take up their positions at the end of July.

Position Name
Athletic Union Officer Paul Lloyd
Community Officer Alice Townend
Democracy and Communications Officer WenJie Lee
Education Officer Craig Cox
Environment & Social Justice Officer Matt Butcher
Equal Opportunities Officer Sara Halimah
Finance and Services Officer Rachael Quayle
Intersite and Residential Association Officer Charlotte Senior
President Nsikan Edung
Societies Officer Pat Hopkins
Student-Run Services Officer Stewart Bailey
Welfare Officer Hannah White

[edit] Prizes and Awards

There are currently three levels of awards granted by the Students' Union to graduating students:

  • Ordo Caligulae
  • Honorary Life Membership
  • Union Prize

The Students' Union makes the following awards to non-students:

  • Don Varley Award
  • Golden Jubilee Award

[edit] Ordo Caligulae

The Ordo caligulae is the highest award of the Students' Union, and includes Honorary Life Membership of the Students' Union, and consequently members of the Ordo Caligulae enjoy those benefits detailed under Honorary Life Membership.

Membership of the Ordo Caligulae (literally, "The Order of the Boot") is granted to those "who have given outstanding contribution to the University of Nottingham Students’ Union." It is probably named after Jesse Boot (later Lord Trent), who was a great benefactor of the University.

The existence of the Ordo Caligulae is laid down in the Ordinances of the University (Ordinance XI: Union of Students), which are themselves approved by the Privy Council.

[edit] Honorary Life Membership

Honorary Life Membership is conferred on those who have furthered the achievements of the aims of the University of Nottingham Students’ Union.

The Students' Union Constitution lays down certain rights of its members (including Honorary Members):

  1. Take part in functions organised by the Students’ Union.
  2. Become members of all Clubs and Societies affiliated to the Students’ Union.
  3. Attend Union Council, Executive Committee and Standing Committees
  4. Wear official University colours.

(Further rights, such as the ability to stand and vote in Students' Union Elections, are reserved for "Full Members" - those registered as students at the University).

In recent years typically five to eight new Honorary Life Members have been created in any year.

[edit] Union Prize

With typically thirty recipients each year (from a graduating class numbering around 8000), this prize is highly regarded, and is presented to graduating students of the University of Nottingham in recognition of contribution of time and resources to the benefit of the Students’ Union.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Record-breaking year for Karnival. University of Nottingham. Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
  2. ^ Karnival Website. University of Nottingham Students' Union. Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
  3. ^ Activities: Impact Magazine. University of Nottingham Students' Union. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.

[edit] External links

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