In short, this motion does three things:
1) Reflect the change in higher education (HE) policy and repeal the outdated motion.
2) Recognise the success of the SU in their campaign to sever the link between tuition fee increases and the NSS.
3) Free up the sabbatical officers’ time so they can focus on campaigning directly to scrap/lower tuition fees.
The original motion, ‘Stop Tuition Fee Rises: Boycott the NSS’, mandates the SU to actively boycott the NSS on the grounds that it will help stop tuition fee rises. The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), which uses the NSS, is no longer linked to tuition fee increases; and the Government is launching an independent review into tuition fees and associated metrics. In the meantime, they have frozen tuition fees until 2020.
The SU made a submission to the Parliamentary Committee for the Higher Education and Research Bill and made other interventions to the public debate. These informative contributions played a role in convincing the Government that they were misguided in their former approach to tuition fee increases.
The sabbatical officers have limited time and resources. Now the NSS is no longer linked to tuition fees, this motion will free them from their current boycott mandate so they can focus on fees. Without the NSS boycott, much more of Warwick Students’ Union’s energy can be focused on directly opposing tuition fees – rather than opposing the completion of a survey that has no link to tuition fee increases. The expertise of our officers and members can be harnessed to contribute to the Government’s review so it reaches the right outcome for students.
The NSS is a useful method of feedback in its own right. Whilst it has its problems – as all feedback methods do – it can be used in conjunction with SSLCs, the SU’s all-member survey, the ITLR, and others to reach better outcomes for students. From the last NSS, one department in the Univeristy had 16 pages of free text feedback that has helped devise a strategy for improvement. Where possible, we should use this information to students’ advantage.
Tuition fees are a huge issue facing students in higher education, and now is the time to focus on fees directly. The Government’s review provides the perfect time to tackle tuition fees once and for all. Let's free the SU to focus on fees.
Vote for the motion to Focus on Fees: End the NSS Boycott.