Saturday, 31 of July of 2010
Representation and action for students of the arts
See the manifesto I was standing on here, and the video & manifesto of the winning candidate, Usman Ali.
Alas twas not to be, but I’m sure the NUS will go on and serve Arts Group member Unions well regardless in the year to come. Thankfully the Arts Group policies which will mean alot to Arts Students nationwide passed – see the details at http://www.artsgroup.org.uk/2010/04/nus-passes-policy-on-internships-arts-education/
Freshly returned from NUS Annual Conference 2010 it’s my pleasure to report on the Arts Group Policy that was passed by the sovereign body of the largest organization of its kind in the western world.
Safeguarding funding for arts subjects
NUS passed our calls for funding to be specifically identified and ringfenced for the subjects that feed the creative industries, in recognition of the continued and growing contribution that we make to the UK economy. In policy 301 of the Higher Education Zone, the conference acknowledged that:
Despite the substantial and growing contribution the creative and cultural sector makes to the UK economy, the Arts Subjects that feed them consistently face disproportionate cuts.
And in response has mandated the organization to:
For NUS to lobby for additional and protected funding allocation for subjects related to the Creative & Cultural Industries, in addition to any STEM Funding priorities
Fighting the exploitation of Unpaid Interns
After months of the National Executive failing to take any significant action on internships, the Conference passed policy endorsing the work of the Arts Group and other campaigns including Intern Aware and Internocracy. Our amendment (611a) in the Welfare Zone commits the NUS to act as follows:
We can look forward to working with the NUS to make sure that this policy generates tangible activity, despite a poor record from the organization of action on our previous calls for action against Hidden Course Costs, passed at last year’s conference (re-actioned on a wider scale by a motion this year). It’s likely that the best approach for impact on the Internships initially would be the introduction of the Skillset guidelines as a legislative measure, as (despite focussing on National Minimum Wage rather than living wage) they outline a fantastic and clearly thought out system of work-based learning opportunities as well as post-graduation Internships.
Could you tell us a little more about the February meeting in Lincoln?
The February meeting is our first “standard” meeting of 2010. We will use it to discuss progress and activity, issues facing members, and in particular to discuss motions to the NUS Annual conference in April.
What will happen here?
We’ll be planning activities for the next few months, discussing policy proposals, and holding open space technology. There will also be our fabulous evening social activity planned by our events officer, with plenty of opportunity to make the acquaintance of other Arts-concerned officers and reps from around the country.
Key points to be discussed?
Internships & STEM research funding concentration
Who will attend?
Student reps and officers from institutions with creative courses
What are the benefits of attending?
Opportunity to input into policy discussion and activity, learning from experience and practice of others.
What to bring?
Yourselves, positive attitude to change, issues and ideas from your local activities
Aims and outcomes?
To generate policy and progress for creative students, in particular to influence the National Arts Student Summit and NUS annual conference as well as other activities due soon.
Thanks Kit!
As students across the country get ready to receive their A-level results and look forward to going to university, new research by the National Union of Students (NUS) in conjunction with HSBC today reveals the ‘hidden’ costs associated with certain degree subjects.
The figures, which are taken from a forthcoming student experience report, will come as a shock to many whose chosen subject appears in the top half of NUS’ league table of ‘most expensive degrees’. Someone taking a degree in mathematical or computer sciences, for instance, will be looking at a whopping £1,430 yearly spend on books, equipment and fieldwork on top of their tuition fees and living expenses, compared to £432 for someone taking an education degree*:
Additional annual spend by degree course:
• Mathematical Sciences and Computer Science: £1430.40 • Medicine and Dentistry: £902.16 • Business and Administrative Studies: £873.36 • Creative Arts and Design: £701.04 • Engineering and Technology: £651.60 • Law: £642.48 • Languages: £635.28 • Historical and Philosophical Studies: £568.56 • Social Studies: £539.76 • Biological Sciences: £539.52 • Physical Sciences: £499.20 • Subjects allied to medicine: £461.52 • Education: £432.48
NUS President Wes Streeting said:
“It is completely unacceptable that applicants are left in the dark about the true cost of degrees. Many students preparing to go to university this summer may be in for a real shock.
“Universities need to be much more open about the hidden costs associated with different courses. There should be better information, advice and guidance about student finance on university websites and in their prospectuses.”
The report also suggests that students’ financial situations deteriorate during their time at university, leaving them more reliant on sources of funding other than their grants or loans. 29% of first year students rely on paid employment or other loans or credit as a source of funding, compared to 50% of final year students.
Wes Streeting added: “Universities should also provide students with better financial advice and support whilst they are at university, so they do not have to get into commercial debt or jeopardise their studies by taking on more part time work just to get by.”
The Next Meeting of the Arts Group will currenly be on October 19th/20th in Liverpool, overlapping with the NUS’ Town Takeover, watch this space for more updates soon.
An important part of human development is about learning, often through accepting the point of view of others and taking something from the process. I think this is a lesson that a whole generation must have missed out on. Welcome to my generation, where conformity is the new cool and where politics certainly isn’t. As Britain heads down the ‘middle’ road of politics, led by New Labour with their not-so-new ideas on how to govern society, the disenfranchised, ‘don’t give a shit’ youth of today file out of universities, proud to be just another brick in the wall.
This time last year I was accepted for at place at university. I was full of hope, ambition and eager to find out what uni life would be like. I chose to study photojournalism, a personal interest of mine. I must clarify that uni came a little later for me than for most, as I had spent two years out in the big wide world away from the education system. I went to the University of the Arts London, which boasts 20,000 students across more than seven colleges.Words: Will Poole
Pics: Will Poole &
Will JobbinsMy college was the London College of Communication, the largest of all the sites. LCC is modern, trendy and arty, and its students were likewise. What the LCC lacked was any credible student community or social network. There was no real encouragement to congregate. Maybe it’s because one really unique and powerful aspect of student philosophy had been lost – that feeling that together, students could do anything. The radical political movements of the ‘60s and ‘70s were dead and with it the rallies, debate and new or experimental ways of thinking.
During freshers’ week, before I had my first class, the student union organised a workshop titled ‘Student’s Involvement in Changing the World’. Just eight people turned up, including myself, out of the entire first year of the university. Even the lecturer failed to attend, and so we had to have a representative from the Student Union take over. We opened up with a Q&A of sorts, so I asked what our union had accomplished in the outside world since the university opened.
The answer was not a lot, to put it politely. They hadn’t run one campaign or rally. This was a union that was fighting to communicate to its own students let alone anyone outside the college walls, a sadly ironic affair considering the college’s name. Yet somehow, before leaving the room, I found myself signing up to the Student Council. I think they may have resorted to putting something in the water.
The Student Council was an eye-opening experience. There were very few people involved and even fewer of those actually turned up regularly. Elections for positions were a farce, because out of tens of thousands of students only 400 people even bothered to vote. Don’t get me wrong here – those that are involved work very well with what they have and are bright, determined and dedicated. The problem here isn’t the people running the show, it’s the apathetic students themselves. Crushing words indeed, but it’s very hard to form any other sort of opinion given the evidence.
The big event for all student unions is the NUS conference, which I was able to attend. The NUS conference is pretty much a three-day bender in Blackpool, speckled with a few hours of pantomime and voting. The same group of reactionaries vote one way on everything, and everyone else votes whichever way the beloved President does. You have to love uni politics – even though I agreed with points on both sides, I was amazed at how mundane the subjects were. Can you believe that the motion to campaign for free education was voted down five to one? At the NUS, of all places? It was also evident that every topic of debate was related to student society, such as the binge drinking culture and the price of a pint. There wasn’t a whisper about the world outside the university walls. The idea of changing the world is now considered an optimistic fantasy by many, but maybe that’s the trait we are lacking. Maybe having a child-like vision of a better future would actually give us something to aspire to. Maybe we have all just grown up a little too fast.
In today’s world we are encouraged to grow up faster and faster. We have a life plan already in existence even before birth and, as soon as we’ve got that out of the way its off to nursery, then primary school, and then some of us – providing we have jumped through enough hoops – go to sixth form or college. Then its university for the lucky ones, then a job, a house, a husband/wife, two kids, retirement and death. There are so many hoops to hurdle and not all of us make it to the final stages, but we all manage to meet at the end. We are taught from birth that this is just the way it is and the way it will always be, with an emphasis on the philosophy that taking maximum enjoyment from life is easiest when jumping through as many of these hoops as possible. We care so much about getting to the end of our course of hoops that we don’t take the time to ask important questions, like why are they there? What was their desired purpose and effect? Could we make them easier to jump through? And should we even jump through them at all?
With these very questions in my head I left university. To me further education had lost its fundamental purpose; to encourage people to ask questions and find answers. However I do have hope for the future, as there is a sizeable minority who are still able to think for themselves and shun conformity. Any large-scale political demonstration is almost guaranteed to be attended by – and in some cases led by – passionate student unionists. Yet they remain a minority, and when surrounded by so many others who honestly aren’t interested in anything more than making grades and winning drinking competitions, I feel that my generation, at least, has lost the fight.
If YOU want to get off your arse and get involved, the NUS can be contacted at www.nus.org.uk
Words: Will Poole
Pics: Will Poole &
Will Jobbins
Republished with permission from Will Poole, original article available at Toxin Magazine where there is a forum for discussion and comments on it.
Kit Friend, Chair of the Arts Group, was elected as one of the Student Directors on the board of NUS Services Ltd (NUSSL) during their AGM this week.
‘NUS Services is owned by Students’ Unions and the National Union of Students. Our mission statement is to; ‘Create, develop and sustain competitive advantages for member Students’ Unions –reducing costs and maximising commercial revenues’ ‘ (nussl.co.uk).
Kit ran on the slogan “Get a Friend in a high place!” with the following areas of interest emphasised:
Relevant services for FE and non-traditional students.
• Support the changing needs of evolving unions.
• Making eco and ethical affordable!
• Encouraging collaboration between unions.
• A genuinely useful NUS Extra!
Founding chair of the Arts Group – a voice for small and specialist institutions and FE | Fighting the exploitation of work placements and internships | Supporting the campaign for fairer funding | Proven track record of leadership | Creative Director of the charity “With Feeling”
As part of the NUSSL board , Kit hopes to encourage a diversification of income to provide a better range of services and opportunities for a broader spectrum of students. In particular those who make up many of the Arts Group membership (small, specialist, FE etc.) need to be better served by our National Union’s commercial wing.
For more information about NUSSL visit www.nussl.co.uk
Carly Aslett of SUARTS delivers the summation of our motion “NUS Arts Representation and support for small and specialist students’ unions”
The Arts Group landed with a bang at NUS Annual conference as both our motions sailed through. You can look at pictures of the conference and find out about all the resolves by clicking here
Amongst other things our motions passing included mandates for the NUS around:
- Formal recognition of the Arts Group
- Responsibility for the Arts, and Small and Specialist Institutions to be allocated to members of the National Executive Committee (NEC)
- Support to work on our campaigns on Hidden Course Costs and Foundation Diplomas
The Arts Group Official Launch Party was well attended, with Aaron Porter (re-elected VPHE) delivering a stirring address, and liquid refreshment courtesy of the Art, Design, Media Subject Centre. We were please to see so many new potential members attend, and look forward to seeing more fresh faces at the next meeting.
Thanks to all for the hard work, and especially our speakers at Conference: Danny McNeice from Loughborough, Chris Griffin from the Courtauld Institute, and Carly Aslett from Arts London.
More updates on what we’re doing with our new support soon!
Hello all,
ahead of the mammoth update post-NUS Conference just a quick shoutout to say the coverage from the New Deal of the Mind meeting at Downing St is now up and running! Hear what was said (including my own statements) at the New Deal of the Mind website here
Kit Friend, Chair of the Arts Group
After a long day of debate, comprimise, and excitement the final shape of the agenda and motions for conference was decided by delegates to the NUS Compositing meeting at University of London Union (ULU). Amongst the many fantastic discussions we can look to have this year, the motions supported by the Arts Group – were bounced up the order thanks to strong support from the NUS leadership and other Unions (special thanks to Lincoln & Kings).
Watch this space for more news after next week’s NUS Annual Conference!
Members of the Arts Group’s constituent Unions attended the NUS HE Funding Lobby of Parliament on Wednesday 18th March to call for an end to the Broke & Broken Funding system, and to highlight specific issues for students of the Arts.
Members of SUARTS met the following reception:
Kit Friend, Campaigns & Communications Officer, met Rudi Vis, Labour MP for Finchley & Golders Green who was shocked to be told about the small or even negative graduate premium currently expected for those studying the Arts and vowed to pass on our concerns to the Secretary of State – watch this space!
Laura Lenander, Byam Shaw Student Rep, met David Lidington, Member of Parliament for Aylesbury, Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, who was well aware of the ‘gap’ in funding for the lower middle-class students, in fact he said he reguarly had parents contacting him concerned about this issue.He was also very aware of how the HE system in England is part of an international Market and we needed to up our game if we are to survive this global industry. He wasn’t keen on the marketization of HE. But also recognised that something needs to be done. He also said that he, and the conservative party as a whole were not going to be making any promises about how they will spend money, saying some unpopular decisions would need to be made to reduce the country’s debt… He was happy to take away the information on broke and broken and was keen that a wider debate should happen about HE when the review of funding takes place.
Helen Gimber, SU President, met with Meg Hillier MP’s researcher, she said that Meg was against different institutions being able to charge different amounts of fees, and agreed the fees going up would limiit the range of people that would go into higher education. Helen highlighted the acute issues that arts students face, and all the recent funding cuts that have affected arts institutions disproportionately, she felt that Meg was sympathetic of this.
For more information about the Lobby from NUS click here
For more information on our HE Funding Campaign click here
We’re planning activity at NUS Annual conference, watch this space for more news soon.
