As a delegate from FE, I want you to know why I will be supporting proposals to change NUS on Wednesday - and why you should too.

Over the past year or so we have started to make real progress in FE. Campaigns on EMAs, Learner Voice, Adult Learning and Citizen 16 are starting to make a real difference.

But when it comes to democracy, we let you down. Badly.

Right now, FE makes up 70% of NUS' membership. But for years NUS has treated FE like a second class citizen, with universities dominating everything.

• Our National Executive Committee has just one guaranteed member on it from FE out of 27 people.
• Our National Conference hardly ever discusses issues relevant to FE Students.
• Even the current FE Committee only has two members on it from FE out of 10- and one of them is me!
• Worst of all, part time students only count as a tenth of a full time student at conference- meaning FE unions miss out the most

Quite simply, it is a scandal. And it has to change.

That's why over the past year or so you and your predecessors have been demanding change. And on Wednesday we will finally get to vote on that change.

The proposed new system is designed to increase our involvement. That’s why I support the change.

• There is a new "Block of fifteen" representatives on our new Exec. For the first time, these proposals will guarantee a minimum of five places for FE.
• There will be a brand new FE Committee, made up entirely of FE Students that will lead our work on FE.
• There will be an FE Conference every year discussing and debating the big issues for FE students and what you want NUS to do about them.
• We will send an FE policy report to the Annual Conference every year guaranteeing that FE issues will be discussed and debated at the Conference.
• And for the first time at Annual Conference, Part Time Students will be counted as 0.6 of a Full Time student, meaning that FE Unions (where there are the most part time students) will get more power and more of a say.

At our Annual Conference last April, a minority of HE students managed to vote down the change. And on Wednesday they will be there again, with scare stories about "saving NUS Democracy". Well, for FE, the only thing they're trying to "save" is an NUS that treats FE like second class citizens.

We can't let them do this to us again.

So please - Vote YES to the reforms on Wednesday.

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