In my first blog I discussed how this was going to be a challenging year for the organisation. At this, the halfway point, I would like to touch on some of the achievements and developments that I have been involved in. I will conclude with a summary of the my activities from September- January.

Now that I have had a bit of time since Extraordinary Conference to reflect on the past few months, I feel very positive about the developments made as we build to Annual Conference in April.

The Governance Reform proposals will mark a major turning point for NUS. The overwhelming support for the changes at Extraordinary Conference shows that constituent members are committed to achieving a campaigning organisation that is fit for the twenty-first century. Although there is still work to be done in the build up to Annual Conference and very important discussions/debates that need to be had, it is evident that students and students’ union officers are committed to a progressive vision of NUS.

Students have called for change in NUS for years and finally we have an NEC and active membership who have shown they are willing to endorse changes that many said would not be possible. It was great to get out and about to unions in my region to debate the changes. Thank you to those officers and students who went out of their way to organise these debates. This is a really exciting start to the New Year.

Looking ahead, there are some really useful and constructive events on NUS’ calendar, not to mention some of the campaigning work that is ongoing. I will be working within the Strong and Active Unions and Society and Citizenship zones to support events and campaigns. For info on all NUS’ events see the events column on the ever-improving homepage of officeronline.

One final point I would like to highlight. It is really encouraging to see that the strategic plan has gone online in an accessible format. Again this is more evidence to the improving vision of NUS that its members and partners want to see. Here’s to getting on with the work!

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