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Birkbeck was one of the founding members of NUS. Today we have little to no communication with them and seem to be drastically undervalued as a student body. The Birkbeck Student Union does not receive benefits equal to the cost of membership to NUS. Students at Birkbeck should decide on whether they believe NUS is worth spending £7,369 a year for affiliation.
The benefits of Leaving:
1. We choose our direction
If we leave NUS, we get the chance to drive campaigns that directly impact Birkbeck students. NUS run national campaigns each year effecting all students, including those without membership. Their focus is on the big student issues like the cost of living and protecting Student Tenant rights. As the withdrawing of our membership takes away from national campaigns, the additional funds could then be put into our own that will directly impact Birkbeck Students. Campaigns could be created to end student Loneliness around campus, to fund the food pantry to stay open for longer periods of time, create new networks and finding ways to promote our SU on the main Campus. There is also the possibility that the networks could receive funding to grow these groups allowing for Birkbeck to become a more inclusive place. These benefits alone outweigh the benefits of our current membership.
2. It Is not Value for Money
We spend £7,369 a year to be a member of NUS. This allows us to actively partake in their democracy, use their resources and connect with other unions. However, as a union we are unable to afford to sending delegates to any conferences, unable to afford any courses on offer and unable to afford to use their central billing platform. As per the NUS value of membership page, their top value is financial return and their central billing platform. We do not have the money to use these services. The question then becomes, should we waste this money which could be spent on Birkbeck students?
3. Their current reputation
In the past there has been a benefit for most unions affiliating with NUS, however, in recent years NUS has stop providing cost effective support and opportunities for smaller unions like Birkbeck. The recent report published concerning allegations of antisemitism (Link to Report) and their high number of complaints leading to their inability to gain Government funding, leads us to Understand why many unions have consider disaffiliating. It also seems NUS have struggled to move with the times, with their social media accounts lacking content and website information being out of date. With all this in mind, it seems in our best interest to take a step back from this organisation.
NUS may have value for large unions, but we are not that. We have a unique demographic which NUS dose not account for. We should be able to pick our direction, our campaigns and spend our money on our students.
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