Tallie, Ben and Elle have all just been in touch to let me know that The NUS Governance review has been defeated by a very, very narrow margin - the review needed 717 votes to be passed, but only received a (scarily-close) 692.

While I am a lot less opinionated on matters of student governance than some of my colleagues - a conscious decision to avoid a heart attack before 30 - I have to say I wholeheartedly disagree with the way in which bluster, rhetoric and speculation have been used as the main selling points of a "reform" process whose single biggest change appeared to be the abolition of the NUS Conference which, for all its faults, has served for many years as a vital proving ground for policy review and direction-setting by democratic consensus.

What happens next remains to be seen, but I sincerely hope any similar attempts to review and restructure the NUS are carried out with a significant amount more openness, honesty, and consultation with the students' unions the NUS is responsible (and duty-bound) to represent.

(As always, anything here is my tuppence-worth and not the views of the Union as a whole, or of anyone apart from myself!)

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(As always, anything here is my tuppence-worth and not the views of the Union as a whole, or of anyone apart from myself!)  
 
As you have to write this often isn't it worth putting this at the end of EVERYONE's posts so it cannot possibly be confused with the official word of the UPSU

Luke Simmonds (Web Editor) - Tue, 01 Apr 2008

 

 

Nope, there's already a disclaimer here somewhere - I just like the safe feeling of knowing my posterior is double-covered (to a degree, anyway... ;o)

Alex Harries - Tue, 01 Apr 2008

 

 

Spot on mate. Agree with you fully! I'm glad it didn't get through - infact, if they told people what would actually be in the review (such article 64, promising the abolition of the right of Conference to make proper decisions) instead of saying 'change modernisation change' like a student Obama, there is no way they would have got it through. Educate people next time, and we who voted against it would be in the majority, not the minority..!

marcus (FE) - Sun, 06 Apr 2008