NUS & Aston Students’ Union

What do we do? What do we cost? How does membership work?

1922 – 2014 a (very) brief history NUS formed in 1922 because a group of students’ unions decided national policy issues need influencing in the interest of students 2005/6 membership satisfaction with NUS is 40%, affiliation fees represented 11% block grants, Aston University Students’ Union leaves NUS 2014/15 membership satisfaction above 80%, affiliation fees below 5% of block grants

Mission, Vision & Values National voice of 7 million students across UK. Made up of some 600 students’ unions, guilds & associations, it exists to promote, defend and extend the rights of students and to develop and champion strong students’ unions. Our vision is of NUS as a pioneering, innovative & powerful campaigning organisation: the definitive national voice of students. We fight barriers to education, we empower students to shape both a quality learning experience and the world around them, and we support influential, democratic and well-resourced students’ unions. To achieve this, the core values of democracy, equality and collectivism guide our work.

How are we set up? NUS UK NUS Services (NUSSL) NUS Charity NUS charity - builds stronger students unions NUS services - creates income for SUs & NUS NUS - national campaigning body

Making Education Better -National Briefings & CampaignsNational Briefings -Bespoke consultancy -NSS support -QAA Reports -Student Lead Teaching Awards -Student Engagement Partnership -Partnership underpins our work on the quality of educationPartnership

Empowering Change

General Election 2015 Community Organising Fund Officer Development Programme General Election Hub Voter Registration Toolkit

Helping Students’ Unions to be better -Quality Students Unions -The Strategic Support Unit -Training & Development -Democracy Commission & Election Support - Celebrating ExcellenceCelebrating Excellence

NUS Digital -Launched in 2012 after 2 years of developmentLaunched -Pilot year 2012/13, 2013/14 first full year -53 Students’ Unions already on the platform -£2.5 million invested to date -Online democracy, club & soc sign up, e-shop and more.

Student Opportunities & Employment -In recent years we have invested in support for students’ union clubs, societies and skills development -This has involved capacity building in students’ unions through the student opportunities hub and bespoke consultancystudent opportunities hub -We have also entered in to partnerships with other national organisations on this workpartnerships

Resourcing Students’ Unions -Purchasing Consortium -NUS extra -NUS Digital (UnionCloud & Media) -Enterprise Project -Students’ Green Fund

What do we cost? We operate an affiliation fee model based on a formula that takes in to account block grant and student numbers. Our current formula would give Aston an affiliation fee of £28,836 In order to smooth financial planning, we also give a 50% discount for the first full year of membership.

What cash do you get in return? Based on comparator universities We would expect revenues between £5-7k in nus extra card sales alone By using the NUS Services consortium to purchase retail & licenced trade goods. We would expect a commercial benefit of over £20k, compared to the nearest competitor purchasing consortium (TUCO). We would expect NUS digital to deliver over £10-15k in revenue to the union in each year, depending on the package you opt for Other additional cash incentives include NCVO membership

The membership process, what next? -Cross campus ballot for affiliation referendum -Immediate membership benefits -Ratification by national conference 2015 Questions