The Vice President of the National Union of Students (NUS) highlighted the positive working relationship between the University of Worcester and Worcester Students’ Union on a recent visit.
Amatey Doku, NUS Vice President for Higher Education, said he had seen from both sides a commitment to working together for the good of students and a willingness to address key current student issues.
He said: “The good thing about the Students’ Union here is that they are clearly very engaged with what students are saying on the ground but also able to lead on important issues. They also have a really good relationship with the University, which is something that you don’t see in every institution. That means that formally and informally you can get quite a lot of things done. The best relationships are the ones where you can have difficult conversations around the difficult issues for students, but fundamentally there is a core commitment to the principle, which I think is reflected in both sides. It looks like the University really values the work of the Students’ Union.”
Mr Doku was on campus for Worcester Students’ Union’s Course Representative Conference, in which students chosen to represent the views of others on their course to lecturers learn about their role and the wider University.
He took part in a panel discussion with the University’s Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Sarah Greer, and Pro Vice Chancellor, Ross Renton, exploring a number of student issues.
“I think there’s a strong commitment [from the University] to the principle [of working with the Students’ Union] and also from the session we had certainly on the side of not ducking the difficult questions,” said Mr Doku. “I think it was interesting that students felt comfortable raising difficult questions in that context.”
He said that, although sometimes he was told students weren’t interested in politics, Worcester students were evidence that that wasn’t the case.
“We had a really interesting conversation on a wide range of subjects from Brexit, looking at tuition fees, value for money and student support more generally,” he said. “The representatives were really engaged in the conversation we were having especially around Brexit and were able to articulate the concerns around uncertainty that lots of students have at the moment.”
He also spoke of the need for universities to engage with communities, pointing to the joint University and County Council library, The Hive, as a good example for other universities to follow.
“The concept behind the library is really important I think,” he said. “Universities across the country need to do more to open up their spaces to the wider public and I think it’s difficult to win the public argument for supporting and championing universities if their specific space is not open to the wider public. It’s a good example of that in practice and the more of that that can be done the better.”
Worcester Students’ Union Vice President, Euan Morrison, said: “Events like the Course Rep Conference are great examples of how as an SU and University work in partnership. The Academic Representation System is vital to the University, the SU and most importantly to the students. Having an open and productive partnership allows us to get to the heart of student issues in order at address these and continuously improve the experience for all. As officers this is especially important and is something we are grateful to experience here at Worcester.”
Ross Renton, the University’s Pro Vice Chancellor, said: “We work hard in partnership with the Students’ Union (SU) to ensure that those studying with us have the best possible experience and we are always keen to engage with the SU, to include a student voice in our strategy and plans going forward and address issues that matter to them. This partnership has helped us to be within the top 20 for student experience in the UK in the Times Good University Guide and recognised nationally for providing outstanding student support. The SU officers sit on the Board of Governors and are actively engaged in all parts of the University’s leadership and we will continue to encourage that positive relationship.”