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A students' union, student government, or student council is a student organization present at many colleges and universities, often with its own building on the campus, dedicated to social and organizational activities of the student body. At a few institutions, the students' union is a formally-organized group analogous to a labor union. Similar organizations by the same names also exist in many high schools, but are generally less expansive in scope, much less political, and more concerned with social functions.
Many students' unions are run by students for students, independent of the university. The purpose of the union is to represent students' views within the university and sometimes on local and national issues. It is also responsible for providing a variety of services to students. Students can get involved in its management, through numerous and varied committees, councils and general meetings, or become one of its elected officers.
Many students' unions are highly politicised bodies, and often serve as a training ground for aspiring politicians. Campaigning and debate is often very vigorous, with the youthful enthusiasm of the various partisans, a student media that is itself often partisan, inexperienced, and under no financial pressure to slant coverage to please a broad readership, and a general lack of serious consequences for decision all encouraging political gamesmanship.
These groups also often officially recognise and allocate a yearly budget to other organisations on campus.
United Kingdom In British universities, the students' union is often, but not always, affiliated with the National Union of Students. It generally runs some facilities attached to the university such as shops and nightclubs, and publishes information and sometimes student newspapers. It may also provides counselling and welfare/academic advice services. Most students' unions also operate the "student activities" such as sports clubs, societies and volunteering opportunities, though some rare arrangements see the university providing the competitive sport, with the union retaining participative sport.
Although the Conservative government under John Major attempted to severely reduce the influence of students' unions in Britain, the NUS and individual student unions, particularly at Oxford and Cambridge, managed to successfully lobby against the moves to restrict their political activities. The role of students' unions is now enshrined in the Education Act 1994. In 2004, lobbying by the NUS against the introduction of variable student fees in English and Welsh universities contributed towards the Labour government's majority being slashed to just 5. However, the passing of the Higher Education Act 2004 has led to some observers suggesting that students' unions in the UK have been "broken".
The oldest students' union in Scotland, is the purpose-built Teviot Row House at the University of Edinburgh, built in 1889. The Edinburgh University Students' Representative Council was founded in 1884. The oldest students' union in England is believed by many to be University College London Union, founded in 1893.
Membership of a students' union is generally the default, but not mandatory. That is, students may opt out of membership if they wish, for example on ideological grounds, although this is rare. Such students may still use the social facilities provided by the Union (often the main or only such facilities available) since they are for the benefit of the students of the institution, not just Union members.
Sweden At Swedish universities, students' unions are responsible for representing the students in evaluation of the education, and membership is mandatory. Students' unions generally provide counselling services to its members and publishes their own magazines or newspapers. Large universities often have several students' unions, where the smaller students' unions only provide basic services. Larger students' unions often own and run their own facilities at the university such as shops, restaurants and night clubs. Which students' union a student belongs to is decided by the course of study, and competing for members is as such not possible. Many students' unions, but not all, are affiliated with the Swedish National Union of Students.
Australia Virtually all Australian universities have one or more student organistions under various guises such as student guilds, student unions or student representative councils. These student-run bodies provide many services typically including refectories and bookshops, student media and publications, support for a variety of social, arts, political, recreational, special interest and sporting clubs and societies, and political advocacy for issues concerning students. Typically, they also operate specialised support services for women, queer, international and indigenous students. These last two roles, in particular, are often highly controversial and politicised. Membership of students' unions is usually compulsory, though many state governments and the current federal government are committed to a policy of Voluntary Student Unionism. The Australian National Union of Students is an association of most students' unions.
Particularly at the "Group of Eight" universites, students' union politics are divided down factional lines, and campaigning is often vicious.
Canada In Canada, membership in a college or university students' union is mandatory. Most unions are members of the Canadian Federation of Students or the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. The two national organizations have a rather tense relationship with each other. The non-profit, student-run bodies provide services such as pubs, book stores, student newspapers, student radio, and political advocacy for issues concerning students.
A student body is self-government-organization, which organized by students in higher education, such as university and colleges.
Japan In Japan, student body is called 学生自治会(gakusei-jiti-kai). The meaning of 学生自治会(gakusei-jiti-kai) is students' self-government-organizations.
The student body in Japan is promoting extracurricular activities. Usually, a cultural association, for example 文化会(bunka-kai), and sports association, for example 体育会(taiiku-kai), etc. is in the inside of a student body as autonomy organization. A student belongs to one or more students' organizations, and he or she does extracurricular activities through a students' organizations. However, the extracurricular activities of a university and colleges are declining after the 1990s.
United States In the United States, these groups are often known as student government. Other titles include Student Senate, House of Student Representatives, Student Congress or Student Parliament.
Structures Many times, student governments are structured similarly to that of the United States Government consisting of distinct executive, legislative and judicial branches. Alternatively, a parliamentary model is followed.
As a result of the particularities of university environments, these structures often include elements which are not found in the federal government (e.g. legislative veto, programming branches, initiative, recall, referendum). Also, many universities with significant graduate programs have separate student governments for the graduate and undergraduate student bodies.
Responsibilities Within their capacity as representatives of the student body, student governments may fulfill a range of responsibilities, such as: - Representing the interests and concerns of the student body
- Collecting mandatory fees for student activities
- Sponsoring campus-wide programs (e.g. Homecoming, concerts, parades, speakers, entertainment, etc.)
- Chartering and regulating student organizations
Relationship to the University Most universities and colleges in the United States are governed by a Board of Trustees or Regents. Student governments tend to be chartered by the Board but, in the case of public universities operated by a State, may be created by the state legislature. Their structure, purpose and responsibilities are usually established in a constitution ratified by the student body.
Student governments have historically been considered departments of the university to which they belong. Since ultimate responsibility over the direction of a university is usually vested in a Chancellor or President appointed by the Board, some conflicts may arise between student government and the university administration, especially in the area of fiscal matters.
In addition to a student government, many universities also establish governments for faculty (e.g. Faculty Senate) and staff (e.g. Staff Assembly). In such cases, there often exist links and dependencies between these bodies.
K-12 Student governments are present in most K-12 school systems across the United States. In the majority of cases, these governments are representative-based and modeled loosely after the U.S. Congress. Student representatives and officers are usually elected from and by the student body, although there may be pre-requisites for candidacy or suffrage. In elementary schools, there are typically one or two student representatives per classroom and one presiding set of officers. However, many secondary schools have one set of officers per grade level.
K-12 student government exists for largely the same purpose as college-level student unions, but K-12 differs in complexity and power. Most K-12 governments do not have a constitution or a judicial branch and are easily stifled by school administration.
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