Innovation in students' union governance

Are we seeing a shift in the way students’ unions are governed?

Over the last couple of years, we’ve started to see signs that the students’ union sector is on the cusp of a governance revolution.  So what’s going on?

The case for change

The traditional SU model relies on a board of trustees made up of paid sabbatical officers alongside unpaid student and external trustees, supported by a number of unpaid part time officers with specific portfolios.

SUs have reported various drivers for changes to this model:

• Reluctance among student beneficiaries to be involved in governance without clear career benefits, academic credit or financial incentive;

• Disproportionate representation – whether assessed by protected characteristics, by school or course, postgraduate or undergraduate;

• A lack of engagement in SU activity – and those that were engaging with their SU reported that the model wasn’t working;

• Low voter turnout, and in some cases low candidate turnout; and

• Lack of democracy and inability to create a connected, flourishing, listening students’ union – and therefore concern that an SU might be unable to deliver properly on charitable objects relating to representation.

Innovative governance – what are the options?

The right model for your SU may look very different to neighbouring SUs, and the consensus is clear that there is no one ‘right’ method of governance. However, what is also becoming clear is that ‘add-ons’ and tweaks to governance, whilst still having their place, are not enough to overhaul an entrenched model.

There are many ideas (big and small) which SUs have started to implement for improved representation and engagement:

• Revitalising the role of a student council (by whatever name it is known) – this might involve reviewing both the remit and the composition of the body, or even replacing the whole concept of student council with regular all-student votes;

• Shifting the role of sabbatical officers away from student activity (which is then left with staff members) and refocusing the role on representation;

• Reducing the number of sabbatical officers and increasing the number of part time paid positions (not trustee positions) to encourage better representation and diversity;

• Incorporating community organising principles into SU governance: a huge topic and we’d highly recommend looking at the work Leeds Beckett SU has been doing in this area, here;

• Reviewing election process, including setting expectations for candidate manifestos; and

• Strategic recruitment of student and external trustees, based on skills and experience required, rather than election or appointment.

Interested in taking this further?

If your students’ union recognises the factors set out in the case for change above, and is seeking to rework its governance model, your starting point will be your current constitution and other supporting documents such as bye-laws, policies and procedures.  You might be surprised at what you can already do: there may be more flexibility in your governing documents than you think.  If not, you will need to make amendments – and even then, students’ unions have more flexibility than is often realised, as the Education Act requirements are very light touch.

The key to all this is consultation – both with the university (as they’ll need to approve any constitutional changes) and your student body.  Seek out disengaged groups directly and use current officers and trustees as champions of change. 

Finally, be prepared to be flexible.  Accept that any new system may take time to bed in, and that further adjustments may be needed.  Don’t get disheartened if things don’t work immediately, and keep the faith.