University of Birmingham Guild of Students

The University of Birmingham Guild of Students (informally Birmingham University Guild of Students; BUGS) is the officially recognised body which represents over 30,000 students at the University of Birmingham. The Guild functions as a Student Union as per the 1994 Education Act. It is an independent organisation and not legally connected to the University. While it does enjoy a huge degree of autonomy, in practice the University do have a large degree of financial and operational influence.

The Institution had its first foundations in the Mason Science College in the centre of Birmingham around 1876. The University itself formally received its Royal Charter in 1900 with the Guild of Students being provided for as a Student Representative Council (Cheesewright, 1975, p.35). As a consequence both the Guild and the University officially celebrated their centenaries in the year 2000. Mason College had had a union of sorts with a club house opening in Great Charles Street in 1905. The Guild of Students having been provided for in the 1900 Charter was formed in 1909 as the Guild of Undergraduates, being based at Edgbaston (Hughes, 1950, p.17).

The Guild possesses archives which go back to the First World War, establishing a very long tradition of what is referred to as "modern Students' Unionism". Alongside Liverpool Guild of Students, the Guild was a founding member of the National Union of Students.

The Guild of Students occupies the Union Building (often referred to as the Guild itself), situated at the edge of campus by the East Gate, for a peppercorn rent from the University. The building itself, by Holland W. Hobbiss, dates back to 1928 and has been added to and amended, most significantly in the 1950s adding a south wing and again in the 1960s building a much larger west wing. At 10,000 square metres is one of the largest Student Union buildings in the UK.

It is not known for certain why the organisation is named a Guild of Students as opposed to being named a Union of Students, in line with the vast majority of its English peers. It shares its name with five other student unions, including Liverpool Guild of Students, Exeter Guild of Students, and Aston Students Guild. Popular theory among officers and staff is that the University imposed the name to avoid the socialist connotations of trade unions, seen as for the lower paid working class, and adopt more of a professional image.Fact|date=October 2007

Vision

The Guild's vision is:
*To lead the student experience and be at the heart of student life;
*To work within the student movement to create positive change in the student community;
*We will act with and for our students in all that we do.

The Core Message is:"The University of Birmingham Guild of Students is the recognised students' union for over 28,000 students. The Guild represents and involves all students, under or postgraduate, home or international, on all campuses. The Guild brings students together on issues they care about to create positive change and achieve equality for and within its membership, through taking collective action."

Purpose and activities

The Guild provides representation to all students at the University and campaigns to create change on issues affecting students at a local and national level. This is achieved through regular meetings with University Senior Officers and Senior Managers, as well as through lobbying Birmingham City Council, the Government and other bodies. The Guild also runs campaigns focused on particular issues; recent campaigns have included a drive to see wheelie bins across the city, an initiative to improve campus security and have the University install CCTV across all halls of residence, and strong participation in the NUS campaign against the introduction of £3000 top-up fees (a campaign which continues, despite the measure being approved by Parliament in January 2004).

The Guild boasts 24/7 welfare support channels for its members. The Advice and Representation Centre (ARC) provides professional and impartial advice on all manner of student issues, from academic problems, financial woes, immigration and other international troubles, housing worries, health or safety issues and more, and arranges individual representation for students facing academic appeals, disciplinary hearings, or other measures. All students in halls of residence can seek similar advice from their team of Student Mentors, who are on hand day or night for emergency issues, while Niteline provides a confidential listening and information service through telephone and email overnight. The Guild's welfare services are complemented by the Job Zone, which seeks and promotes part time student vacancies, and the liberation associations.

With one of its three constitutional objects being to promote "social intercourse" the Guild maintains social space, bars and event nights, all of which provide an income without which initiatives including campaigns, the ARC, Job Zone, Niteline, and many student groups would struggle to exist. The major weekly night is Saturday's "Fab 'N' Fresh", with other popular events including "Very Important Tuesdays" (VIT), society-themed evenings such as "The Mix", student group events and irregular gigs and comedy evenings. Further commercial revenue is generated through marketing and retail activities, including a supermarket, and the Guild acts as the official retailer of University branded merchandise for this purpose.

The Guild also supports around 160 student groups and societies, actively promoting student involvement, volunteering and social participation. Its oldest society is Carnival, the Guild's charitable RAG (Raising And Giving) society, while one of its newest is Pirate Soc, with all manner of groups such as Paintball, Rock music, Circus, [http://students.bugs.bham.ac.uk/intervol InterVol] (International Volunteers),Mountaineering and Jazz and Blues in between.

The Guild of Students publishes a weekly newspaper called Redbrick, has a radio station, [http://www.burnfm.com/ BURNFM.COM] which broadcasts on 87.7FM twice-yearly and all year round online, and [http://students.bugs.bham.ac.uk/gtv Guild Television] , a television production group. All three media outlets are editorially independent and encouraged to hold the Guild Executive to account. However as the groups and the Executive are all part of the same organisation, the trustees reserve the right to edit content that poses legal or other risks to the Guild, which at times has caused friction amid claims of political censorship.

During a recent refurbishment, two committee rooms were renovated and dedicated: one to Rosa Parks, and the other to Baroness Amos, the first Black woman in the Government and a University of Birmingham alumnus.

Government

The Guild is a students' union for the purposes of the Education Act 1994. Under section 67 of the Act, all students of the University are by law automatically members of the Guild unless they deliberately opt out, and the role of the Guild is to democratically represent this body of membership. However, the University of Birmingham does not disclose any details of its students to the Guild, which natually makes the Guild's job of democratically representing its membership something of a challenge.

The Guild's Constitution sets out in detail how the organisation should be run.

The Guild's sovereign body and Union Council is Guild Council, made up of elected councillors representing academic, student group, hall of residence and Athletics Union constituencies. There are roughly 500 seats on Guild Council. The role of Guild Council is legislative: it hears, debates and votes on policy proposals to guide the Guild Executive; it holds the Executive to account over their actions in pursuit of approved policy and their duties generally; and it has a role in setting the Guild's priorities by hearing and voting on the Guild budget.

Unfortunately many of the academic seats are unfilled, and most Guild Councillors don't bother to attend many of the infrequent (but often long) meetings.

Like many student unions in the UK the Guild is an unincorporated association: it has no legal identity itself. A group of trustees legally represent the Guild, and it is they who enter into contracts and represent the organisation in court. These trustees are legally responsible for the Guild's activities: they ensure the Guild is compliant with legislation, they oversee its financial management, and they prioritise its resources on behalf of all the members. In the past, when it had far fewer members than today, this group of trustees was Guild Council. Board of Trustees today meets as the Guild's Resources Committee, and is constituted out of fourteen of the eighteen Executive Officers, plus two members of University Staff (one academic, one administrative). The Guild's future legal status is currently under review in preparation for the forthcoming Charities Bill that will place regulation of students unions under the remit of the Charity Commission.

Executive

On a day to day basis and in the absence of Guild Council over University vacations, the Guild is run by a Committee of Executive Officers. The makeup of the committee changed for the 2006/07 adademic session as Guild Council adopted the outcomes of an executive review, albeit with numerous amendments.

There are eighteen Executive officers, seven of which are full time Sabbatical Officers, the remaining eleven being student "non-sabbatical" officers. Seven of the non-sabbaticals and all of the sabbaticals are also trustees of the organisation. The non-sabbatical trustees are termed Executive Officers as are the remaining four Liberation Officers, whose remits focus on the liberation of certain groups which are perceived as being socially oppressed.

Other officers

The Guild has a number of other officer posts outside of the Executive.

Independent chairs

There are three Independent Chairs, whose principal function is to chair and facilitate Guild Council meetings independently of the Executive. In this regard they are often compared to a Speaker of the House role. They also fulfil a number of investigative and disciplinary functions which could be described as judicial.

Warden

The Warden's role is to act as a safety net and make sure the Guild is always in the right hands. Unlike other officers the Warden cannot be a student, and holds a three year term of office. They have an advisory role and some disciplinary duties, but their main task is to step in and administer the Guild in the unlikely event that all of the Executive Officer posts become vacant. (Without the Warden it is likely under English Law that under this circumstance, administration would pass to the University). While seemingly unlikely there has been an occasion in the Guild's history when Guild Council saw fit to dismiss the entire Executive, at which point the Warden of the day stepped in and immediately held fresh elections.

Provision and finances

The Guild has an annual turnover of approximately £5.5 million.

A large portion of that money is the block grant, an annual sum of money from the University. In 2004/05 this was £1.2 million, equivalent to approximately £50 per student. The Guild also receives money for the performance of several service contracts. One of the most significant of those is the £350,000 for the Student Mentor Scheme, equivalent to £75 per hall resident. The Residence Associations also receive grants from the University equal to £100 per hall resident.

Most of the rest of the Guild's turnover is through its venues trading activity.

Media controversy

Over the 2005/06 academic session, the Guild made national and international press over several controversial issues.

The year started with President Richard Angell banning the National Blood Service from the Guild's popular Freshers Fair (an important opportunity to recruit blood donors) over the service's policies of banning most gay and bisexual men (those with sexual experience regarded as dangerous) from giving blood, for life. [http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-423.html]

In January 2006 a row erupted as the Guild became aware of and subsequently took issue with some of the policies sought by its Evangelical Christian Union society. The Union sought to not allow non-Christian members, have the outgoing leaders appoint new leaders (rather than have the members elect them), and require members to sign an evangelical doctrinal basis. Although the Union later agreed to hold elections, the Union felt their religious beliefs prevented them from being able to make any more concessions. The Guild stated that they believed the law prevented them from accommodating the society, as student unions are required to make all their activities available to all students. The Christian Union stated that they believed they were being deprived of their legal rights. Guild Council ultimately derecognised the society. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4645844.stm]

At Guild Council in June 2006, President Richard Angell proposed a motion titled 'Ding Dong the Witch is Dead' that the Guild should "have a party" on the occasion of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's death, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/5054112.stm] which was met with widespread criticism, even making The Times national newspaper.

Other information

The Guild introduced new branding as of 2007, intended to replace the previous "BUGS" brand adopted in 2000.

Affiliations

*Aldwych Group
*British Universities Sports Association
*National Postgraduate Committee
*National Union of Students (NUS)
*West Midlands Area National Union of Students (WMANUS)

References

*cite book|last=Foster|first=A.|title=Birmingham (Pevsner Architectural Guides)|publisher=Yale University Press|date=2005|location=London|isbn=0-300-10731-5
*cite book|last=Ives|first=E.|title=The First Civic University: Birmingham, 1880–1980 – An Introductory History|publisher=University of Birmingham Press|date=2000|location=Birmingham|isbn=1-902459-07-5
*cite book|title=The University of Birmingham Yearbook 2002–2003
*cite book|last=Cheesewright|first=M.|title=Mirror to Mermaid |publisher=The University of Birmingham Press|date=1975|location=Birmingham|isbn=0-7044-0130-4
*cite book|last=Braithwaite|first=L.|title=University of Birmingham architectural trail|publisher=The University of Birmingham Press|date=1987|location=Birmingham|isbn=0-7044-0890-2
*cite book|last=Hughes|first=A.|title=The University of Birmingham : a short history|publisher=The University of Birmingham Press|date=1950|location=Birmingham|

External links

* [http://www.guildofstudents.com Guild of Students Website]
* [http://students.bugs.bham.ac.uk/ University of Birmingham Student Society Hub]