Supres

NUS Annual Conference – Good, Bad or Ugly?

When you think of Blackpool you probably think of Donkey Rides, the Pepsi Max and a mahoosive tower! I would doubt that “foundation of national student policies” springs to mind, but in April 2009 Blackpool played host to a huge delegation of student representatives from around the country.

I myself was amongst your eight elected delegates, sent to represent you and your fellow students. It was a fantastic experience, and I would like to begin by saying a huge thank you to all of you who elected me last year, it was a real privilege to represent Swansea students.
National Conference is a three day event where policies are raised by a huge number of delegates from any Union within the United Kingdom. These policies set the priorities of the National Union for the coming year. For example this year Plymouth University SU submitted a motion calling for NUS to continue to government to prevent students being forced to live in certain areas through HMO legislation.
Alongside these policies the National Officers report back on their year in office and are scrutinised by students throughout the Conference. Elections are held for a variety of positions from National President to National Executive Members.

So was it worth it?
Definitely! The National Union has got some real power, from officers being involved in Government Educational Reviews, to providing training and support for student representatives, NUS is committed to building a strong and vocal Student Movement.

With 2009 being the year of a potential review on Tuition Fees in the UK, it’s a concerning time for students. On returning from National Conference this year I’m proud to be part of a National Union which is moving forward loud and proud! I believe that NUS is at an amazing stage in its life, a stage where it can be a strong and active force to take on growing consumerism in Higher Education. If we are going to continue to encourage young people to further themselves in Higher Education we need to make sure their educational institution is of a high standard, and that can only be met if that institution is well funded.
Ultimately some of that cost will fall to the student, but it is important that this does not become a barrier to education. I believe that with NUS fighting for a fair, and accessible funding system Higher Education in the UK can as D: REAM once said “only get better”.

For more information about your national Union why not check out www.nus.org

With the Uni a little quieter it was time to knuckle down to some paperwork. From the portfolio i was putting together on campus development, to working with John and Beyram on the Student Experience survey it had piled up just a little!

Alongside this I began the push for the executive elections coming up in the middle of May. We decided to go with the idea of “Could you represent them (your fellow students)” with promotion showing students at Swansea doing what students do!

Alongside this the sabbs and I met with Rhys from NUS to discuss how we could leave the Union in good shape for our successors. We wanted to look at a Union wide review that ensured that students were getting maximum potential from the Union and staff were confident in what the Union was trying to achieve. From here we will be looking towards informal meetings, surveys and an away day!
Friday was by far the most exciting day of my week, I was invited to sit on a “stakeholders panel” for interviewing candidates for the director of Nus Wales role. When i arrived at Cardiff SU that morning it appeared that it was just me and a panel of GM’s and Managers, somewhat interesting and daunting!

It was a really positive morning with an excellent opportunity to see where each candidate wished to take NUS Wales forward. With NUS Wales recent successes in its involvement in the WAG HE funding review and the positive outcome in the bursary review, NUS Wales is at a crucial time in its life and it is vital that it had a good director to support the officers at this stage.

Much of Monday was taken up with filing (and tidying) all the things I should have done during election week, then in the evening myself, Leoni and Andy went along to the annual AU awards dinner. It was an awesome night and a great opportunity to see so many fantastic students awarded for such a variety of different awards, the legendary Jeff Lee was deservedly nominated for all his time and effort!

On Tuesday i sat on a review for the Universities partnership course with Neath Port Talbot College. The Foundation Certificate in Health Studies is a one year course offered in collaboration with the School of Health Science at the University. The course is primarily offered to build up students who did not quite make the grade for the BN Nursing Degree at Swansea, however the teaching offered is exceptional and really helps build the students almost above the grade. Throughout the day alongside my five academic colleagues we met with lecturers, students and support staff, no-one had a bad word to say about the course. What was extremely positive was the level at which many students who had gone on to the BN degree felt they were better prepared thanks to the course.

On Tuesday evening a number of us made our way down to Cardiff for their reclaim the Night march. Katie Dalton NUS Wales Womens Officer did a fantastic job with an excellent route and a great host of speakers from a variety of different areas.

On Wednesday Leoni and I made our way to Sketty Hall in search of students! Student Recruitment had asked us to help out with a Higher Education Fayre they were due to attend. With out trusty pamphlets and free pens i think we certainly recruited a few potentials!
In the evening a friend of mine was down to visit and we made our way to the Drama societies Macbeth performance. My old housemate Dan Entwistle did a fantastic job as Macbeth and the rest of the cast did great too, particularly the wicked witches who appeared permananently sozzled!

On Thursday,following a particularly strange night at Willy Wonkas Easter Ball in Oceana (tuckshop and popcorn fountains?) Ross dragged me out to drive him down to Carmarthen. Ross and I had promised to pop down to meet the final year Nursing and Midwifery students there and discuss any issues they had and attempt to get them to fill in the National Student Survey. Despite my tiredness it was a really positive morning, especially with the students willingess to fill out the survey!

The rest of my week was taken up with a variety of meetings from Union governance to University representation, thankfully though it was a little more relaxed than the previous week!