The Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Manchester Alan Gilbert had many student activists silenced at the Education Questions and Answers debate organised by the Students’ Union. In the 90 minute event, Gilbert largely and perhaps unexpectedly agreed with the criticisms of the students and admitted that the university, at times, has been providing poor quality of service to students. He said that through reviews and student feedback the university’s low satisfaction rating will be addressed.
Many students have been airing their negative opinions of the highly paid President with some accusing him of attempting to run the University like a business. However, throughout the session many key critics were found to be agreeing with some of Gilbert’s points, with key union Socialist Party spokesman Dave Sewell stating that he showed admiration for several thoughts presented regarding unfair class discrimination in higher education although the two did not agree on issues relating to tuition fees.
Gilbert also announced that there are heavily progressed plans to build a £45M ‘Learning Commons’ on the site of the old Refectory, which will provide a 1500 capacity study area which is not for teaching. He stated that such buildings have been proven popular among students in America.
Gilbert also admitted that the research driven funding and emphasis in the years since the unification of Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST “may not have been a good decision” and has indicated an active incentive to address the satisfaction of student education.
The problem with students is that the proof is in the pudding. There is skepticism whether the reforms to solve student problems will actually carry ahead. It therefore remains necessary to keep up the pressure on the university to implement the proposed reforms. Continue reading ‘Vice-Chancellor Alan Gilbert Talks to Students’
In the first General Meeting on the year to reach quorum, University of Manchester students voted to reform the Students’ Union Council and ban members of the British National Party (and others deemed to be “fascists”) from speaking at the Union.
The first motion to pass, entitled “The Change We Need”, replaces school representatives on Council with General Members. Instead of having a single representative on Council for each school, each school will be allocated a set number of General Members proportional to the number of students in that school. Many Secretaries on Council will also be removed in favour of the new General Members.
This was opposed by many who disagree with the loss of positions such as the Anti-Racism Secretary, although Chris Jenkinson (Proposer of the Motion) and Rob Pinfold (Seconder of the Motion) pointed out that any Council member who states in their manifesto that they would like to campaign on specific issues will be allowed to do so. The motion gained its required two-thirds majority to pass.
Continue reading ‘UMSU GM Reforms Council and Bans the BNP’
On Wednesday the NUS held an Extradordinary Conference (called by 36 students unions back in October) to discuss reform and the new proposed NUS constitution. At the conference, the proposed new constitution was passed by 614 votes to 142. There is however a condition that the constitution must be ratified by a further conference - either another Extraordinary Conference or the Annual Conference next April. UMSU held its election for delegates before reading week. A list of our delegates is available online on the UMSU website.
Union hacks will have probably been suffering from deja vu - the proposed reforms are very similar to those proposed and defeated at this year’s Annual Conference in Blackpool. Those in favour of the reforms claim that they will modernise the NUS for the 21st century (its constitution has barely changed since the organisation was founded in the 1920s) whilst those against argue that it is an attack on the democratic elements of NUS.
More information is available over at Officer Online. We’ll bring you more updates nearer the Annual Conference next year or when another Extradordinary Conference takes place (if called).
Yesterday’s Union General Meeting was cancelled as a result of dismal turnout. Following last year’s trend of low turnouts which has consistently dogged UMSU, the first meeting of the new academic year did not reach quorum and the motions were not voted on. Those who came to vote on the proposed student policies were trying to make last-minute calls to friends or course mates to get the venue filled. However, despite persistent demands for a time extension to wait for more people to turn up, the meeting was cancelled at 2pm as fewer than 300 students attended. (According to GM rules, meetings start at 1.30pm and need a minimum number of 300 students to conduct business.)
Continue reading ‘First GM of the year fails to meet quorum’
The Students’ Union launched its new Education Assembly in an event in the Council Chambers today. The Assembly, created by Academic Affairs Officer Chris Jenkinson, aims to get students involved in improving the quality of education delivered at the University of Manchester.
Continue reading ‘Launch of the Education Assembly’
The views expressed in this article are the views of the author and not the views of the Politics Society.
Hi all, and thanks for taking the time to read my article! My name’s Rob Pinfold and I’m (as of about three weeks ago) The General Secretary of the University of Manchester Students’ Union. I’ve been invited by the Politics Society to lay out my positions on some issues as well as some of the (many!) things I want to achieve in my year of office.
Continue reading ‘GenSec’s Plans for 2008/2009′
The Students Union General Meeting (GM) went ahead on Wednesday for just the second time this year as over 370 students turned out to vote, but quorum was lost after the third motion.
The ?Fight for a Free Education? motion was debated first in the meeting. The motion, proposed by Sundara Jerome and seconded by outgoing UMSU General Secretary Tom Skinner, pledged to ?force the NUS to?run a national campaign calling for a Free Education? and noted ?the University of Manchester and the Russell Group have argued for limits to the [tuition] fees to be lifted?. The motion was defeated by 159 to 119 with 15 abstentions. Skinner conceded that the Education motion may have been defeated primarily because it was too specific on policy: ?I take the point: had the motion?just said we believe in a free education?maybe the motion would have passed? he said. He argued that the abolition of tuition fees was an important issue for most students, adding that the vote was ?a setback but not a defeat.? The motion’s defeat does not however signal the end of the Union’s campaign for a free education. Next year’s Academic Affairs officer, Chris Jenkinson, gave a speech opposing the motion but stated that it was the methods prescribed in the motion that he disagreed with. He said that he will propose an alternative free education motion for the first GM of the next academic year.
Continue reading ‘Free Education and Military Ban Motions Defeated’
On Tuesday afternoon hundreds of students demonstrated about the slipping standards in teaching and cut backs at Manchester University. The protest, which took over roads, holding up traffic in the Oxford Road area around the campus as angry and frustrated students marched with drumbeats, chants and a sound-system strapped on to the back of a bicycle, was organised by the grass-roots group Reclaim the Uni. The group was set up in February 2008 to express a growing dissatisfaction with the move towards a business model at universities and the effect this has had in reducing teaching hours, increasing staff cuts and the lack of resources and access to facilities available to students.
Continue reading ‘Reclaim the Uni Demonstration’
