Recently released results of a major national student satisfaction survey reveal that the YUSU, York University Students’ Union, have once again failed to perform.
YUSU received a satisfaction rating of just 61%, ranking 79th of the 123 Universities included. Local rivals York St John were placed 21st.
Sheffield University’s Union, SSU, topped the survey with a 95% student satisfaction rate.
The National Student Survey is completed by third-years at every university in the UK each year. The survey comprises 23 questions on every aspect of uni life and is a crucial factor in most league tables.
YUSU President Kallum Taylor ran his campaign on an anti-YUSU platform, claiming that the majority of students didn’t know about the Union, and those that did didn’t care. He pledged to change this over the upcoming year.
Taylor told Vision: “We certainly recognise that YUSU can up its game in certain areas. It’s pretty laughable to ask 22 questions on a university’s impact on students’ experiences, and then compare all of that data to just the one question chucked in right at the end of the survey. 61% doesn’t do it justice, and we’ll be looking to prove that this year.”
“We’re looking to do a lot more now to involve off campus students in our work, and really trying to make YUSU become approachable, rather than something exclusively for the usual suspects. This will no doubt increase the participation which we really welcome. I want our students to not just have opinions, but to have a say on what we say, what we do and how our services are run. Being bolder on campaigns, and not being ashamed to celebrate our wins and stand up for students will speed this up.”
The worst performing students’ unions in the survey were predominantly collegiate-based. Oxford University and Oxford Brookes tied for joint last place, with Oxford not only having a strong college-focus but also having two unions, one of which requires paid membership.
York’s collegiate system may also be a factor in its relatively low rating, with JCRCs taking on much of the entertainment and welfare responsibilities of a typical students’ union.
Third-year Accounting, Business Finance and Management student Jess Parmar agreed with the survey results: “Although the students’ union has improved, it still has a long way to go to compete with other universities. There needs to be a better central hub where the Union can put on bigger university events.”
University Press Officer David Garner expressed confusion over the results. “We are unsure how these rankings are derived. YUSU plays a vital role in representing students, organising events, providing welfare and supporting and running facilities. The excellent new student centre next to James College is now available for use by students and we also anticipate that the Glasshouse Bar will offer a signification enhancement of social facilities on Heslington East.”
Overall, the University achieved a satisfaction rate of 88 per cent.
Good. YUSU is ridiculously crap. To the point that I would avoid YUSU at all costs.
To further illustrate: I would rather be injected with the AIDs virus than interact with YUSU in any capacity.
Would suggest that the question was probably something like ‘How would you rate your student union?’ to which the classic response is either ‘we don’t have a student union’ or ‘the facilities are rubbish’.
Suspect people weren’t voting on how good YUSU’s staff were over the last year but rather on the fact that there’s no big, central venue.