All Student Meeting addresses NSS boycott motion

The first All Student Meeting (ASM) of term took place in the Students’ Union (SU) atrium on Monday 14 November. The event was run by the Warwick SU Democracy Exec as part of the SU Referenda whilst giving chance for debate.

The hosts of the event included the Deputy Chair of the Democracy Exec and Student Council, Julia and the Democracy and Development Sabbatical Officer, Becky Gittens.

Two motions were discussed. The second motion was to list affiliations, giving students a chance to opt to renew them.

The main motion was to ‘Stop Tuition rises: Boycott the National Student Survey (NSS)’ as part of the action of the National Union of Students (NUS). The boycott will give them leverage to push parliament to address the issue of the NSS.

A speaker in favour for the boycott said: “The NSS is directly contributing to universities abilities to raise tuition fees.”

No opposing sides were present for the meeting.

Universities that score poorly will not be able to have this luxury. Allegedly, the NSS does not accurately reflect teaching academics, or their quality. A report is said to have showed that academic classes with black or minority ethnic groups scored less than those of white groups.

However, certain discrepancies have been found such as the selective use of sources and sources that are out of date. A BBC report used for evidence in favour of the boycott is eight years out of date which is listed in the last footnote at the bottom of the democracy file.

No opposing sides were present for the meeting.

Regarding quorum for this particular ASM, the SU have released a statement and said: “We would like to reaffirm that this change comes about as a result of a democratic procedure which (…) has several checks and balances in place.”

The statement also reads: “Unless the Union receives confirmation that the change is likely to be ratified by University Council at their next meeting, by Tuesday 9am (when the polls open for this SU Referendum), the quorum will remain at 5%.”

Voting is conducted online starting at 9am on Tuesday 15 November until Friday 18 at noon.