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Union of UEA Students shortlisted for National Award
The Union of UEA Students has been shortlisted for the Campaign of the Year Award at the annual National Union of Students' Awards. The Campaign of the Year Award recognises excellence and achievement in campaigning and the Union has been shortlisted for its Fees and General Election 2010 work.
Our campaign Mobilised our members against a possible rise in tuition fees. The campaign began in September 2009 when we encouraged students to sign postcards about fees to send to their MPs. We sent over 700 of these postcards to 185 different MPs
After the Browne Review panel was announced we sent seven students to the ‘Come Clean on Fees’ lobby of parliament. These students met six MPs to lobby them on fees. Students had also been emailing Charles Clarke through the 38degrees website – he was the third most emailed MP in the country. The launch of the Browne Review also prompted a 100-strong demonstration on campus where we engaged clubs and society activists to ‘Make Some Noise on Fees’. This action ensured that our national representatives know UEA students will not sit back and watch the cap rise. Our student media also comprehensively covered NUS’ Cambridge Town Takeover.
Alongside a successful voter registration drive for the General Election, we were in the top 20 for Vote for Students sign ups. As we are unable to email all students we used a street team to maximise student pledges.
Officers met ten parliamentary candidates from across Norfolk to question them on the five issues outlined in our Norfolk and Norwich Manifesto drafted with Norwich University College of the Arts SU. Responses to the manifesto, which included the NUS Vote for Students pledge, were published on our website and in a leaflet distributed to students. The website and leaflet also outlined the voting process. 21 Norfolk candidates signed the NUS pledge.
To educate our members on the positions of candidates, we held the biggest hustings in the constituency with over 250 students attending.
Our target was to get 750 students voting on campus compared to 600 in 2005. As the polling station was not centrally located we made signs and arranged busy walking buses from halls of residence. Officers had previously collected over 200 issues from students written on card. These were placed around campus on polling day to emphasise the impact of voting.
During the Norwich North by-election the Politics Show filmed a debate where Higher Education funding was the first discussion point after officers had lobbied parliamentary candidates on the issue. Following evaluation of our work on the by-election we planned effectively for the General Election.
During the Student Loans Company fiasco we used media interest to show how broken the current system of HE funding is. Our cooperation with the local media resulted in a front page story in the ‘Eastern Daily Press’ featuring two UEA students.
In March 2010 we commissioned an Ipsos MORI poll of voter intentions in Norwich South. Residents were also polled on whether they would support a rise in fees. The poll showed overwhelmingly that residents would not support a rise in fees (84% against). This received much local and national media coverage – we were mentioned in The Independent, and Newsnight chose the Union as the setting for its report on Norwich South.
It was important to Involve the local community in our campaign to ensure voters across Norwich South were considering higher education funding when voting. We produced and delivered 8000 copies of the first edition of our community newsletter ‘CommUNIty’ in July 2009. This newsletter focused on how much debt UEA students graduate with and gave residents ways to support our campaign. One of the many residents who responded wrote: “I am 84 and was a student nurse during World War II… I feel very strongly about this iniquitous practice of charging tuition fees and shall have no difficulty in writing to Charles Clarke." She also donated £20 towards our campaign.
In April 2010 we delivered the second edition of ‘CommUNIty’. This focused on the findings of our Ipsos MORI poll and showed Norwich residents which candidates had signed the Vote for Students pledge. As well as engaging with local residents we worked closely with Norwich City Councillors to propose a motion of support for our Higher Education funding campaign. This motion passed unanimously.
As a result of these combined efforts, around 1200 students voted on campus on 6th May. The Labour candidate who didn’t sign the Vote for Students pledge lost his seat, being replaced by the Liberal Democrat candidate who had. The new MP for Norwich South won his seat by just over 300 votes which many have attributed to an increased student turnout.
The NUS Awards recognise excellence within the student movement and are open to all NUS affiliated unions. Now in their third year, the NUS Awards have become a mainstay of the NUS calendar highlighting the achievements of media, students' unions and individual students from across the UK.
This year's Award Ceremony event will be held at the University of Warwick on Thursday, July 1st.