From January 1 2008, the changes to the instrument and articles of government (general further education colleges and former sixth form colleges) will come into effect.

These mean changes to the governing regulations of the colleges and a victory for the FE zone was to see instrument two (1) (e) placed in there:

“Amendment to increase the minimum number of student governors from one to two.”

This amendment has been made following the FE white paper commitment that each governing body should include a minimum of two, and maximum of three, student governors.

As a past student governor myself, I know what a fantastic benefit this will be for student governors. This change in legislation ensures we are no longer a solitary voice around the corporation table and that student governors are better placed to support one another from start to finish during their term of office.

If you’d like to have a look at the document that the instrument and articles are contained within, please visit the Dfes webpage.

Having spoke to officers, I know a number of corporations’ were/are being difficult about introducing the second student governor. With this in place, you now have the law behind you to argue your case.

However if you continue to have difficulties, please do get in touch with me for support on what action to take.

On a final note, because of the change in the instrument and articles, and expected rise in student governors, NUS has prepared for this by offering another round of FE student governor toolkit training days. Information about these events can be found on the NUS events calendar, situated on the right-hand side of officeronline’s homepage.

Beth x

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