VOTE NO TO NUS – IT’S A WASTE OF £30,000!
Argument 1 – Financial Waste of Money
The SU’s money should be spent on students, but did you know we pay HUGE money to NUS and you get nothing in return for this?
Fees & training costs
- Every year your SU pays NUS to be a member. These fees are HUGE, more than £30,000 per year. We could use this money better for you.
- The fee for next year will be just under £30,000, plus add-ons of nearly £5,000 for conferences and training.
- We can swap NUS with regional networks we have set up for free! We already are a part of a Southern Region network and it’s more helpful and effective than NUS.
TOTUM card
- You may know this as the NUS-extra card.
- NUS are selling students a discount card, but students can get most of these discounts for FREE using UniDays and Student Beans.
- NUS shouldn’t be abusing students by making money from them!
NUS ongoing financial trouble
- NUS have had to sell property and make HUGE cuts in resources. This means we get barely any support on things that matter at Herts. Worrying.
Conclusion?
- We pay more than £30,000 per year.
- Students do NOT receive anything for this (& you should).
- We CAN replace NUS with Southern SUs, spending saved money in better ways, for you!
Argument 2 – Irrelevant Representation and Policy
Representation
- One of the key things NUS should be doing for our students here at Herts (as we pay them £30k) is at the very least representing their needs.
- Three huge factors for Herts students are mental health & wellbeing, cost of living and commuting challenges.
- However, these top three real Herts student issues are not represented by NUS via their campaigns.
Policy
- Shockingly, on multiple occasions NUS have been found to not listen to student consultation. The students were over-ruled and ignored – with negative outcomes.
- Can we trust the NUS when they are widely described as not representative of the student body and on multiple occasions have found to not be working democratically?
They’re never at Herts!
- Despite the £30,000 we pay NUS, only one NUS staffer and no NUS Officers visited Herts at all this past year. Our Officer team has never been proactively contacted by NUS and they are completely disinterested in our campaigns, often ignoring requests from our Sabbaticals for assistance.
Conclusion?
- As NUS do not represent what students at Herts care about, it can be said that NUS do not adequately represent Herts Students’ priorities.
- This is something they should be doing properly for the huge sum of money we pay them.
- They should not be ignoring what students want and then over-ruling things.
Argument 3 – Complete Lack of Effectiveness for our Fees
Not effective
- We have asked NUS “what do we actually pay for”? Yet despite many people asking NUS have not been able to answer this effectively.
- They told us: campaigns and people’s wages who run the campaigns. However we have learnt that the campaigns they regularly run are not what students truly want.
- Financial trouble and cuts have resulted in a lot less resource for the huge amount of money being paid.
- Conferences have been cut dramatically and the ones remaining have become poor quality. Whilst some may say they enjoyed it personally, it is WIDELY known on a national scale that they are not effective or good value for money.
- Sam Wyatt, a student at King’s College wrote in their blog, “Who does the NUS represent? – Not me”, they concluded; “Unfortunately it seems that the NUS is out of touch with the views of ordinary students and has failed to deliver on its promise of representation for all”.
Is it worth us paying all this money to an organisation described in this way?
We can invest this money better by running campaigns and student activities that directly impact you and the things that matter to you the most – whether it’s an offering specifically for commuters or a broad campaign for mental health and well-being we will ensure we invest into multiple things that matter to our students here at Herts.
https://irtodayblog.wordpress.com/2016/05/03/who-does-the-nus-represent-not-me/
Conclusion?
- Considering the level of effectiveness in relation to the huge sums of money being paid and whether this is value for money. Not value for money!
- We would like to spend this money in a more effective way that directly has a positive impact on the students? Yes please!
Argument 4 – Case Study from Another University
University of Portsmouth
- Portsmouth University recently left NUS.
- They have a similar student body to us at Herts, so it was exciting to see they got the vote they wanted and felt was in the best interest of their students.
- Life after disaffiliation is fine for them and they use other mechanisms, as will we. More cost-effective training, stronger representation of key student issues and saving a tonne of money to spend on things that mean more to you.
- Portsmouth’s three key points to the student body to leave were: the waste of £50k in fees, NUS voting that certain groups no longer face oppressions and TOTUM (NUS card) being a disaster. Similar issues discussed here.
- Another key point Portsmouth made in their leave campaign was: do students even know what NUS is? Most think it is just a discount card and do not realise all this fee money we pay for no reason.
Conclusion?
- SUs leave NUS and life after their membership continues to thrive.
- Leaving means better value for money training, work on better student issues and saving a HUGE sum of money to spend on you, our wonderful students!
Argument 5 – Value for Money
Student views
- “Decrease in support to students, increase would be a good change.”
- “I want SU to focus on wellbeing especially during exam time.”
- Students agree (SU values survey) they want more support on things that matter to them most.
What do you get from this £30k? Nothing!
- Spending £30 thousand a year, huge resource cuts, failings from NUS/TOTUM card, not representing what matters most to you. Is this value for money?
Want us to spend the money better, for you?!
- NUS are not effective in supporting or representing our students here at Herts and we learnt SUs such as Portsmouth had enough too.
- Let’s invest your money in better options so we can help you Love Life at Herts and support you better, as we should.
- Let’s spend it on YOU!
Conclusion?
- It’s evidenced we’re wasting a huge amount of your money on something not fit for purpose, representative or effective anymore.
- Is this HUGE sum of your money, £30K, spent in the most beneficial way, for students. NO it’s not!
- If you want better representation, more opportunities, and spend this money on Herts students and what matters to you most, then vote NO TO NUS!