I hope some one took the time to wake the band Green Day up, because September has now well and truly come.

Much has happened since I last blogged on these pages so here’s an update. I’ll start with where I left it last time.

Mon 24 July – Priority Campaign planning – Hatfield, Herts.

Wes Streeting and Gemma Tumelty have been convening regular meetings to bounce around ideas about and formulate this year’s Priority Campaign. There have been many awesome and creative ideas to get as many students on board as possible whilst getting across our messages as powerfully as we can. It’s shaping up to be a campaign we are all really excited about.

After our planning session, I gate-crashed Action Through Advocacy for lunch before heading back to NUS HQ to catch up on the never ending stream of emails.

Wed 26 to Fri 28 July – Action on Finance and Governance – Leicester

This was the first summer training residential I attended as an NEC member and I was there along with Joe Rukin and Ruqayyah Collector.

Finance and Governance… Have you been put to sleep yet? I know for many people neither of these are particularly fun or sexy subjects. And of course, these are certainly not the core reasons why the student movement and individual students unions exist. However, I believe it’s absolutely vital in these times – when so many unions are as strapped for cash as their members – that sabbaticals can get a grip of the financial situation in their union, and do so quickly. For the impact this has on all the other work we do campaigning for change is massive.

Likewise with the issue of governance: To be truly representative and responsive to the demands of our members, unions have got to have structures and processes in place which keep students unions engaged and in touch with their members, and that keep students unions in the control of students. And what with the new charities legislation (different depending on which part of the UK you are in!), the issue of good (and legal!) governance is all the more pressing. There’s umpteen governance reviews happening at students unions all over the country and that’s great – but please, if you are thinking of doing a review in your union, make sure it is because you believe you really need one, and not just because everyone else is doing it!

Anyway, that’s why I see this training course as important and all these issues were covered in Leicester in way more detail. Finance and governance are both areas of work for me this year as part of the Strong & Active Unions zone.

The course went well with good feedback and I found it informative to meet with so many officers and discuss what your priorities are for the coming year. Socially, it was perhaps the wildest training session I’ve ever been on – with delegates up well into the early hours and even catching the daylight of tomorrow on both nights! Some dodgy karaoke featured on the final night including a bizarre one-off rendition of Fog on the Tyne by Stephen Dowson from Teesside, brilliant!

Fri 28 July – NUS Services Scotland Informal, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

I had to leave Action on Finance & Governance early on the final day to make my way back to Edinburgh. That day and evening, my local union, Heriot-Watt University Students Association, was hosting the NUS Services Scotland Informal. For those of you who have heard the myths about this event but for geographical reasons (i.e. you are not in Scotland) have never been invited to attend, this annual event comprises of NUS Scotland and NUS Services information and networking sessions, trade fair and a couple of external speakers. Following on from all that is the NUS Services Scotland annual dinner – featuring so much free booze that they can’t even fit it all on the table. Unsurprisingly, this makes for a somewhat sedate AGM the next morning at which the NUS Services Scotland Observer gets elected.

Time off!

The following week I was on holiday with my family. It was great to get away, have a break and relax. As those who know me can vouch for, I can bit a bit of a workaholic and like most sabs do a ridiculous number of hours! But we all need a break, and I came back feeling fully recharged and reinvigorating. Unfortunately though, this was the week of our first formal NEC meeting. So whilst I was involved in submitting motions/amendments and supporting others, I was unable to attend the actual meeting itself and had to give my apologies.

Tues 15 to Thurs 17 Aug – NSLP Train-the-Trainer, Greenock

Back to work then, and along with Jill Little (NUS Scotland Depute President), I was at NSLP. My experience of NSLP up to this point had been extremely limited, so I think I probable ended up learning just as much as those getting trained!

I was pretty disappointed with the low number of delegates who had registered for the course – especially given that it is still proving popular when run south of the Border.

Fri 18 Aug – NUS Finance Committee, Edinburgh

My first meeting of NUS Finance Committee. As an aside, this was the first NUS UK committee meeting I’ve attended which has been out with the London area. As someone who is based outside of London, I really welcome such shifts, no matter how small or trivial it might seen: There is, of course, so much more to NUS that just London, and so in order for NUS’ committees to be as effect as possible and have strong participation from all, let’s not go spending all our time in the big smoke if it is just as cheap to meet elsewhere.

It’s going to be a busy and interesting year for Finance Committee. The affiliation fee regime we have in place is not working. It’s dated, illogical and too easily abused. And as a result, our national union is suffering, whilst at a local level, honest unions are unfairly subsidising those intent on cheating the system. We need a major overhaul. We need a system that is transparent, open, honest, sensible, based on ability to pay and one that is fair. And more importantly, we need a system that does not just have these attributes, but it perceived by our members to have them.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Finance Committee’s mission for the coming year, and yes, we have chosen to accept it! We’ve talked about it for years and years, but the resolve is there to present a new affiliation fee system to Annual Conference 2007. If it passes, it’ll be in place this time next year.

This was a major agenda item at our meeting and will continue to be, but we want to have as much input from officers on the ground before any substantial proposal has been drawn up.

If you haven’t see Joe Rukin’s latest letter about this yet, get on to the person who receives your fortnightly NUS mail out (usually the president). And put these consultation days in your diary (more details in the mail out):

North: Fri 3 Nov, in Sheffield

South: Mon 4 or Tues 5 Dec (tbc), in London

I’m concerned about the number of hardship requests Finance Committee is going to be receiving this year. We had plenty to consider at our last meeting and this is set to continue. This is mainly due to NUS now calculating affiliation fees based on student numbers taken from HESA, which has seen affiliation fees jump substantial by unions previously under declaring. I know this is creating difficulty for a number of unions and have spoken to some pretty worried student officers. I just want to stress that if your union is genuinely experiencing financial difficulties, we realise that this will make it difficult for you to pay any revised fee and this will be taken into account by Finance Committee in any request for hardship.

Mon 21 to Thurs 24 Aug – Active Political Leadership – Chester

Sat 26 and Sun 27 Aug – Scotland in Action – Stirling

I rounded off my summer residential training courses for this year by attending these two in my capacity as president of my local union.

I wasn’t there as an NEC member, but inevitably I got asked questions about national policy and I am happy to have such discussions anytime.

This somewhat unique position I find myself in on the NEC is an interesting one and one I hope will benefit the work I’m involved in. I get to see NUS from both sides – as a member of the National Executive and as a student officer.

For instance, this past month, I’ve helped facilitate training sessions as an NEC member whilst I’ve also received training as a delegate on other courses my union has sent me on.

This past month, I’ve contributed to discussions around how to publicise, promote and theme the national demonstrate and priority campaign to our membership, knowing that it will be me using the materials we produce to try to get the members of my own union involved.

This past month, as a member of Finance Committee, I’m involved in reforming our affiliation fee system, whilst at the same time I’m the president of a union that is struggling financial and making significant cuts.

So whilst I’m not an NUS full-timer, I am involved full-time in the student movement, speaking to students each and every day at every single level. I’m hope this broaden my prospective on NUS.

Finally then, to round off August… I was also at:

Tues 29 Aug – Press, Public Affairs & Research Induction for NEC – London

Thurs 31 Aug – Public Speaking training for NEC – Birmingham

And there you have it. I also turned another year old during August, but the less said about that the better! ;)

Until next time, farewell!

Cheers,

fin

e: steven.findlay@nus.org.uk

t: 07764 75 65 13

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