Ben Ward / Guest Specialist, Students' Unions

Whilst we have seen participation rates in national and local elections decline over the last 20 years, voting in students’ union elections has increased year on year by an average of 3%. By making organisations relevant to students and demonstrating the impact of changes made by elected leaders, we have seen increased confidence in students’ unions to get things done. There is a great opportunity to attract funding around building active citizenship. What is your organisation doing to involve people in democracy and how do you measure improvements? How are you demonstrating accountability to stakeholders to maintain confidence in your organisation?

Students’ unions have for many years been engaged with issues important to students. Such examples may be around the environment, third world poverty and the relief of AIDS. If a key role of a students’ union is to promote social capital and cultural exchange, it is extremely important this continues. Whereas traditional campaigning participation may have centred around traditional democratic structures, we are seeing students engage more with agile unstructured networks. Students’ unions need to reflect this agility to enable students to participate in new ways. Have you reviewed the way in which students can get involved in campaigning around issues important to them? Are there opportunities to work with other organisations to educate your members on certain issues? One of the challenges arising from the rise of single issues in society is a lack of places where competing interests can be resolved. Students’ unions should be able to provide this mediating function.

With the requirements of charity registration from November 2009, student’s unions need to be much better at demonstrating impact and their public benefit. Universities are much less willing to hand over massive block grants with little evidence of value for that funding in relation to their own strategic objectives. We have seen a rise in memorandums of understanding/service level agreements between unions and universities to measure impact over time. A synergy between university and union strategy has been beneficial in most cases. How are you demonstrating impact to all stakeholders (students, university, local community etc.)? How engaged are you with the strategic planning processes of your parent institutions and local authorities? Do you look at the true cost of your projects and adequately communicate it to your funders (parent institution or otherwise)? What is the value (economic and social) of your commercial services in delivering your core function?

The student movement is made up of very diverse organisations. Some of the largest unions have annual turnovers of more than £10 million per annum and, as with the sector as a whole, the gap in income between the largest and the smallest students’ unions has grown. This has shifted the power relationship in relation to the collective in favour of a small number of big players. Mission groups within HE have exacerbated this divide more than ever before with very different funding models and organisational emphasis. An example of this is the 1994 group’s emphasis on ‘the student experience’ and their students’ unions more generous funding for activities in relation to this. If you are a smaller students’ union, what are the skills your organisation will need from its workforce to compete? Do you need to reconsider your portfolio of services and your core mission? How can you work more closely with other successful students’ unions in attracting funding? How can you engage with other institutions in your mission group to more accurately reflect the needs of your particular membership? What will it mean for the student movement if this polarisation continues to increase? What are the services you need from national organisations?

There have been a number of recent examples of students’ unions entering into collaborative partnerships. These have included shared senior management teams, joint commercial ventures and back office functions. This trend has been driven by the need to demonstrate more impact in relation to membership facing support services. Have you considered collaborating with other students’ unions in areas of mutual interest/value? What are the questions you need to ask in relation to collaboration and how will it impact on your members? Are there organisations outside the student movement you could work more closely with, eg. local advocacy services?

Public funding for Students’ Unions in the UK totals around £75 million per year (2008/09). Delivered through block grants, this total has remained relatively stable for a number of years. However, with the expected squeeze on public finances over the next few years, will students’ unions be the first to feel the pinch in terms of university funding? A decline in commercial revenues over the last ten years has increased the reliance on block grant funding still further. This has potential to erode independence and influence over the parent institution as funding levels could be attached to supportive behaviour over the course of the academic year. Have you considered attaching large parts of your block grant to specific deliverable projects? Do you have the skills in your organisation to raise money through grants or trusts? Have you thought about collaboration with other similar organisation to drive down core costs? Do you have written service level agreements with your parent institution?

Service delivery in students’ unions has been focused around the needs of the young, full time undergraduate. As the number of these students declines over the next 15 years, unions will see their traditional participation and involvement bases eroded. The number of mature students engaging in higher education has increased massively over the last few years, with little more than token efforts made by SU’s to engage and involve these students. How fully do you understand the age breakdown of your membership? How can you use the skills of older students to deliver some of your organisational objectives and get involved in governance structures, volunteering opportunities etc?

We have already seen numerous examples of member driven online campaigning. From removal of overdraft facilities to the price of summer ball tickets, students are much more able to engage directly with issues than before. If a student has a problem with their course, what is the value of a course rep when the student can set up a facebook group, gain political momentum and engage with the decision maker directly?

This driver is really exciting for Students' Unions, many of whom really buck the trend when it comes to engagement in democratic and decision making processes. Participation hasn't declined in the way we here about on the national stage. Unions regularly report record election turnouts. How do we make that fit into a wider strategy for civic engagement?

Super diversity, also known as ‘Hyper Diversity’, within the student body is having a massive impact on service delivery in students’ unions. The notion of institutions being made up of full time home undergraduates aged 18-21 is no longer relevant and the diverse ethnic and religious background of students is driving massive change in what we do and how we do it. Students’ unions need to examine their participation rates amongst these groups to remain relevant and legitimate organisations going forward. Have you mapped out the ethnic profile of your membership and engaged with them on more than a superficial level? Have you analysed the impact on your portfolio of services if your business model is based on alcohol sales for instance? Have you undertaken an equality impact assessment to look at your governance structures, workforce and key volunteers?

We have seen numerous examples of unions exploring collaborative partnerships to deliver efficiency savings around their core costs. This has resulted in sharing back office functions/management time as well as full service provision. Such a model has a real opportnity of allowing organisations to demonstrate maximum impact on stakeholders.