Well done UCSA
While some student associations are run by muppets, others are well run and professionally managed.
One of my complaints about most associations, and indeed most tertiary institutes, is they make no real effort to find out what facilities and services students actually want to fund.
UCSA is a proud exception to this. A reader sent me a copy of a 66 page research report, surveying what Canterbury University students through of various services, and how they should be funded.
The research report is here – SSLAB_Preferences_Research_17092010
At a minimum, all the other universities should be committed to doing research like this. They take millions of dollars from students in service and facility levies, with minimal consultation.
They found the services deemed the highest priority:
1. Health Centre;
2. Dentist;
3. UC Careers;
4. Subsidised Food in the UCSA cafes; and
5. Disability Support.
And least priority:
Accommodation Services
Maori and Pasifika
Adult Student Support.
The five highest priority ones were the only ones which had a majority of students ranking them essential. The 13 other services had a majority rate them as merely “nice to have” or “expendable”.
There are breakdown by ages and ethnicities etc, plus some very interesting comments from the focus groups. It is very clear many students do not see value for their $600.
The challenge now is to use the research to make decisions to better service their students.
December 20th, 2010 at 7:06 am
Or maybe help students to not get into debt and to go after the ones that have and can’t be bothered paying.
IRD gets tough on student-loan debtors
AMANDA FISHER – The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 20/12/2010
Inland Revenue will make an example of selected student-loan absconders living overseas, who are collectively $191.4 million in repayment default, under new provisions that allow the immediate recall of their entire debt.
Though no student has been prosecuted for outstanding debt, the IRD would look at making about 10 test prosecutions in the new year against “serious non-compliers” in Australia.
Previously, debtors were liable only for outstanding loan repayments, but a new provision, in a supplementary order paper last week, would allow the IRD to recall the entire balance of their loans.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/4475102/IRD-gets-tough-on-student-loan-debtors
Of course we wouldn’t hold or breath for much result either way.
December 20th, 2010 at 8:38 am
$600? Are you kidding? Jesus H Christ I had no idea it was so much.
The lesson: what an extraordinarily weak check on abuse democracy can be. Think VUWSA.
You can buy a lot of what you actually want with $600.
December 20th, 2010 at 8:57 am
Subsidised Food? Is that the one where all students pay for those who inhabit the cafe to have a meal only slightly more expensive that one over the road.
OUSA shut down theirs several years ago. It was a huge expensive for no perceivable gain, and of course no efforts to stop freeloaders. Handily students didn’t realise that their OUSA fees should have dropped significantly and the association effectively pocketed a nice budget increase.
When you go through the list of association “essential” services, it’s suprising how many fit into the following:
1. Not actually run by the association, and/or without student association money
2. Should be a cash cow but subsidised by non-users
3. Utterly useless in reality (but looks good on the list)
4. Working *against* student interests (such as shops providing textbooks at premium prices)
5. Pet projects of certain pressure groups
6. The majority subsidising small minorities to do their sport/leisure activity
7. Activities that can and should be staffed by volunteers
Focus only on services that don’t hit one of those and you suddenly find you’ve cut 95% of the budget.
December 20th, 2010 at 9:08 am
I recently took park in similar survey run by VUWSA. Not sure if any results are out yet though.
December 20th, 2010 at 9:14 am
Adult Student Support, what a fucking joke. Don’t tell me there actauly is a service like that that was paid for.
December 20th, 2010 at 9:23 am
I think you might find many UC students have a different opinion of the UCSA and its effectiveness. At the time the levy was introduced it was widely opposed by students. The UCSA’s opposition to the levy was weak or non existent. While it is nice that we have been surveyed I would have expected that they knew what the levy should be spent on before introducing it. Also how did they know how much to charge when they didn’t know what it needed to be spent on? This year the UC libraries have undergone significant restructuring. This has been opposed by students, librarians and lecturers. The UCSA organised some “information sessions” with the Vice Chancellor. In both these cases students have been forced to organise protests and make their positions known on an individual basis. What then, is the point in forced collective representation?
December 20th, 2010 at 9:47 am
Did they tell you that compared to Auckland, Otago and Victoria – Canterbury doesn’t really rate?
Clearly money isn’t everything.
December 20th, 2010 at 11:32 am
@ jks: Same for me, the VUWSA survey was actually very good. needless to say I gave them a piece of my mind after my 4 years at Vic!
December 20th, 2010 at 11:39 am
As a very recent adult student, the need for adult student support was non-existent and…not necessary! Unlike young people, mature adults tend to be a hell of a lot more organised and generally busier outside of the study environment so…no spare time to kick hacky sacks around!
Needless to say, the adult support group was a little less well attended then other “support” groups.
December 20th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
its because UCSA exec has always been politically moderate, and logical especially in the last few years. Very few types with personal political agendas get elected compared with the likes of VUWSA
December 20th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
No fuckwit, that is “the one” where you could (and everyone did) go down to the greasy old cafeteria in the basement of the library at lunchtime and get a filter coffee for $0.55 and a sandwich for about the same price you could make it at home. Thereby saving you a significant amount of time while you are trying to study 12 or 15 hours per day
So nothing like the imaginary chardonnay socialism in your head.
(Those prices are a few years old mind you.)
December 20th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Two points:
The $600 student levy is not the price of membership to the USCA, membership to the UCSA is free because some smart cookies built the association with an eye to the future. The student levy is charged by the university for the services it provides (some of which are contracted out to the UCSA) While I support voluntary student membership at cantab its a bit of a waste of time, it just raises the admin costs of the association because now they have to go round and sign people up. But the UCSA is certainly is an extremely well placed to handle the change. It just seems the other associations need a bit of a kick up the arse to achieve what the UCSA already has.
Fale – “Did they tell you that compared to Auckland, Otago and Victoria – Canterbury doesn’t really rate?
Clearly money isn’t everything.”
It depends what you study mate, Canterbury certainly has one of (if not the) best economics departments in the country. Vic can get on their high horse all they want about their law school, but at the end of the day they study from books written by cantab professors. Engineering is the other obvious one.