When asked about the National Union of Students, what probably springs to mind is your NUS Card, along with all the discounts it brings you.

But things will soon be changing after a landslide vote by members to modernise the organisation last month.

The votes were cast at the Extraordinary Conference in Wolverhampton on January 20. The conference, called to discuss the ground breaking reform, follows two years of discussions and votes. It’s the first major reorganisation of the NUS constitution since the 1980s and is hoped to incorporate all the internal and social changes of the last twenty years.

The new structures, decided by the vote, demand double the number of students in top positions, meaning greater opportunities to become involved. A new National Executive Council will direct “political strategy” whilst guaranteeing representation for mature, part-time, international and postgraduate students.

Even the NUS Annual Conference will be changed. Usually held in Blackpool, it will be reorganised to include more debates on key issues. Discussions will be organised into five “policy zones”: higher education, further education, welfare, union development and society and citizenship. Its hope the new streamlined process will increase the success of campaign work and improve resources in unions.

But despite last month’s landslide, the changes have taken two years to pass. Since the initial decision last April, there was a further consultation period before the proposals were passed at an Extraordinary Conference in November and again last month.
The NUS say the changes enable “campaigning for a fairer funding system for higher education ahead of the Government’s review this year, along with prioritising the protection of students in the face of a serious economic downturn.”

Wes Streeting, NUS President said: “This is a turning point in the history of NUS and the result of the tremendous hard work of unions to take hold of their national union in order to make it a genuinely representative movement for students in further and higher education.

“The student population has changed dramatically in the past decade, but NUS has stood still. Now, that inertia has come to an end. It’s the most radical turn NUS has taken for a generation and one that will put students’ interests and students’ needs at the forefront of a dynamic, relevant and effective campaigning organisation.”

The NUS is actually comprised of local student representative organisations in colleges and universities throughout the UK which have chosen to affiliate to the NUS and pay a membership fee.

With 600 constituent members, is virtually every college and university in the country, they represent the interests of over seven million students. Run by elected student officers, the NUS is the largest student organisation in the world.

Lee Bradshaw, Campaigns Officer for UCLan’s Students’ Union was at both Extraordinary Conferences. He said: “The number of people voting yes for the new reforms shows how desperately needed they are.

“These reforms will make NUS more accessible to students and help them campaign on real issues that effect us all whilst at university and college, a top priority being fighting for a fairer funding system.

“The union is huge and these changes have been a long time coming. But now they are here we will finally get an NUS we can be proud of!”