NUS Referendum
Should the University of Chichester Students’ Union disaffiliate from NUS UK?
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This motion seeks to direct the Student body to support the sabbatical officers’ views that the Students’ Union should disaffiliate with the NUS UK for the following key reasons:
- Continued association with NUS UK is no longer desirable due to the anti-sematic allegations and ongoing investigations;
- Much of NUS UKs work does not align with the vision and values of UCSU;
- Remaining affiliated to NUS UK is not considered to add value to UCSU, particularly in recent years;
- The cost of being affiliated to NUS UK is 2% of our Block Grant funding from the University. In 2022/23 this amounts to £6,440 and this does not represent value for money.
- Government support and recognition of the work of NUS UK has diminished in recent years.
As the elected President of your Students’ Union, I proposed this motion to trigger a referendum/student vote. Being in my second year of office, I have found very little value in the offering to the Union from NUS UK and would draw to your attention to the following:
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Continued association with NUS UK is no longer desirable due to the antisemitic allegations and ongoing investigations;
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Much of NUS UKs work does not align with the vision and values of UCSU;
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Remaining affiliated to NUS UK is not considered to add value to UCSU, particularly in recent years;
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The cost of being affiliated to NUS UK is 2% of our Block Grant funding from the University. Based on our 2022/23 this amounts to £6,440, which does not represent value for money.
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Government support and recognition of the work of NUS UK has diminished in recent years.
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NUS haven’t been on campus for an extremely long time. We are very out of touch with them and do not feel valued as a union.
For the above reasons, I would like you, the student body, to read and vote on this referendum. For your awareness, there is history of sabbatical officers wanting to disaffiliate from the NUS, but the timing has never been appropriate.
To be clear, the sabbatical officers only wish to disaffiliate from NUS UK, which is the political arm of the institution. We wish to remain affiliated with NUS Charity, which provides us with the purchasing consortium, election support and officer training (which costs 0.5% of our Block Grant funding which amounts to £1,610 based on our 2022/23 funding).
Should the referendum not meet quoracy of 400 votes, the decision will be passed back to Student Council or the Trustee Board to make the final decision.
As with any referendum or election, it is important that this is conducted fairly. While asking you to consider our reasons for the proposed disaffiliation, I would also strongly encourage you to read the NUS’s reasonings for remaining affiliated.