What is a students’ union?
A students’ union is a student-led organisation that exists to represent the interests of students at a Higher Education Institution (HEI). The students’ union might be known by other names, such as an association or guild of students, and they act in a similar way to a trade union. They are separate legal entities to the HEI and are usually charities, governed by the 1994 Education Act, the 2006 Companies Act and the 2011 Charities Act. A students’ union might campaign for the rights of students in different areas, represent student interests with their HEI, provide advice and guidance, and organise activities and provide resources for student societies. Each students’ union might have a slightly different constitutional and governance arrangements, and it is important to be aware of this when looking at understanding and managing their archive collections.
How are students’ unions governed?
Most students’ unions are governed by a mix of an executive committee, a board of trustees, and sometimes a professional senior leadership team. The governance is determined by the size and type of the organisation, alongside the legal and regulatory frameworks that students’ unions need to apply.
The executive committee consists of officers elected by the student body – commonly known as sabbatical officers or sabbaticals. Sabbaticals are usually students who have taken some time out of their studies to work for the students’ union. They will receive a salary on a full or part-time basis, and usually serve a one-year term, but can serve two terms. Each sabbatical officer will usually have a named role such as President, Education Officer or Welfare Officer for example.
The executive committee and the students’ union more generally is governed by a Board of Trustees as required by the Charities Act, 2011. This usually includes representatives of the full-time sabbatical officers, external trustees and student trustees.
The students’ union will often have a professional senior leadership team that is overseen by the Board of Trustees, which includes posts such as a Chief Executive Officer or General Manager. The senior leadership team is responsible for overseeing the regulatory, audit, safeguarding and risk aspects of the students’ union, managing buildings and facilities, managing human resources and staff employment, and advising and supporting the sabbatical officers.
Archivists should gain an understanding of how the students’ union is managed and governed, including where responsibility for records management lies, who key contacts are, and how much information and support is needed by the sabbatical officers, board of trustees and other staff in the management of records and archives.
Mergers of students’ unions
In some cases, different student-led organisations have merged, and this might be reflected in their records. This can happen when HEIs merge, or when students’ unions representing different groups of students at the same HEI merge. Future mergers can present challenges for records and archives management.
Student societies
Archivists should note that responsibility for records held by a students’ union is not always clear. For example, a students’ union is not necessarily responsible for the records of individual student clubs and societies at a particular HEI. Such records may be held independently and passed on to the next committee as students move on. Deposits of student society records will often come independently to the archive of the students’ union.