Section 3

Vote Brooks Duke for NUS National President

Section 3: Relevant & Reliable Service to Students' Union

Introduction

Providing a reliable and relevant service must be as important for NUS as the national representation. You pay money to NUS, and work hard to support your students; you deserve a national union that works just as hard to provide you with effective and reliable services.

Too often NUS sets up new projects like nusonline with no involvement from officers.

Similarly events and communication tend to be determined by election timetables rather than by the needs of our membership.

I will put students’ unions’ needs at the heart of all I do, and aim to give you value for money. I will ensure new projects are based on what is good for students’ unions not the NEC, and ensure student officers are involved in drawing up all major projects.

Prioritising student activities

Too often NUS sets up new projects like nusonline with no involvement from officers.

Similarly events and communication tend to be determined by election timetables rather than by the needs of our membership.

Supporting student officers

Too often NUS sets up new projects like nusonline with no involvement from officers.

Similarly events and communication tend to be determined by election timetables rather than by the needs of our membership.

Guaranteeing a quality service

Students’ Unions have greatly improved the services they provide and their staff development to meet the demands of the ever-changing student community. I will work with AMSU and student officers to develop a national standard of service NUS must live up to. Officers are entitled to expect value for money – I am determined to justify your affiliation fees and provide professional and reliable services you can count on.

Sustained communication

The only time there is sustained communication between most of the NEC and students’ unions is at election time. There is not a clear strategy to communicate with our membership and often many unions fail to receive our mailings for major events until after they have happened. As VP Education, I have utilised online technologies to provide sustained contact with education officers – providing information about mailings and giving notice for events in sufficient time.

As President, I will ensure our database is updated regularly so that the mailings about events and campaigns get to the relevant officers. I will develop a national e-mail network for all officer positions, sabbaticals and non-sabbaticals.

I will ensure our magazine ‘Motive’ is a voice of student officers not just NEC members, and will actively encourage contributions from officers and staff of students’ unions.

I will prioritise working with Student Media to reach out to more students and generate involvement in our campaigns. I will open out the expertise and the contacts of our Press and Public Affairs Unit to student officers so that unions can target ministers and their advisors with specific campaigns.

Direct services to students

NUSonline provides students with advice & access to many discounts. But if we are to truly make a difference to students’ everyday lives, we must be prepared to provide vital services such as cheap online books and resources to help them with exams.

Next year, I will dedicate resources and work with students’ unions to develop more direct services to students.

As well as providing services, NUS must use the traffic generated online to promote its campaigns directly to students. I will re-brand our introductory materials to inform students about the benefits of NUS and how they can get involved in priority campaigns. I will also provide student media with regular update about the work of NUS and its campaigns.

Putting FE on an equal footing

As someone who has been an FE officer, I know the reality of FE students’ unions – no block grants, no office and no sabbatical officers. And at the same time, further education remains second-class when it comes to government funding. FE students rely on NUS and it’s high time we stepped up our efforts to put FE at heart of our union. FEs don’t want lip service or a pat on the back, but genuine support. As President, I will continue to support FE Governors Training & dedicate resources to prioritise FE development. I will work with NUSSL & NUS Ents to bring in much needed cash to FE unions.

Along with the VP FEUD, I will develop a five-year plan to provide sustained support to develop FEs including securing external funding from the LSC & the European Union.