Previous Campaigns

Below are some examples of campaigns that we ran last academic year

Your Hall, Your Call

Last academic year the University announced some quite fundamental changes to the warden system in Halls. The Students’ Union believed that the Union should engage students directly in these changes to be sure that the impact of the proposed changes could be effectively considered.

Upon requesting the University to do this they said they did not see the need as they had consulted the elected officers. Upon hearing this news the Students’ Union launched a petition which was signed by over 3,000 students.

After some rigorous lobbying by the elected officers the University agreed to engage students directly in the implementation of the new structure. Plans for this are currently being made for academic year 2011/2012.

The reason for the acceptance for the University was because the officers told them that if the University could not agree they would be forced to tell the 3,000 students who signed the petition directly. This collective action was what achieved the positive change for students.

NeighbOURhood

Nottingham City Council announced plans to change planning permission for converting family dwelling houses into houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs: which are essentially student houses); the Council would have used this to effectively direct where students can live throughout Nottingham as there is a long term strategy to direct students out of houses and into large purpose built halls.

A consultation period was called by the Council during the Easter Holidays. The Students’ Union organised an online petition against this, which got over 1,500 signatures in two weeks during the Easter Holidays – students were also encouraged to write directly to the Council in opposition to the plans.

Following this the Council decided to extend the deadline to 31st May 2010 and the petition rose to over 3,800 signatures.

We are currently awaiting the consultation response from Nottingham City Council.