A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizational activities, representation, and academic support of the membership. It may also be a club.
Students' unions emerged in Europe during the nineteenth century. In the United States, student union often only refers to a physical building owned by the university with the purpose of providing services for students without a governing body. This building is also referred to as a student activity center, although the Association of College Unions International (largely US-based) has hundreds of campus organizational members. Outside the US, student union and students' union more often refer to a representative body, as distinct from a student activity centre building, and may also refer to a building run by that representative body.
History
The first student unions were social societies at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford in England, which were established in the early 19th century. The union provided a place where students could express themselves and debate the issues of the day. Representative student organizations emerged in Europe beginning in the 1860s. They enabled student debate and began to represent the interests of their members. University celebrations, congresses, and an international federation enabled exchange on the European level. The first students' union in Britain was the Student Representative Council formed at the University of Edinburgh in 1884.
Harvard University formed a debating society in 1832. Around the turn of the 20th century, the idea of students' unions emerged at campuses across the eastern United States. The first student union building was Houston Hall built in 1896 at the University of Pennsylvania, which at that time was “part clubhouse and part country estate.”
Purpose
Depending on the country, the purpose, assembly, method, and implementation of the group might vary. Universally, the purpose of students' union or student government is to represent fellow students in some fashion.
In some cases, students' unions are run by students, independent of the educational facility. The purpose of these organizations is to represent students both within the institution and externally, including on local and national issues. Students' unions are also responsible for providing a variety of services to students. Depending on the organization's makeup, students can get involved in the union by becoming active in a committee, by attending councils and general meetings, volunteering within a group, service or club run by the union, or by becoming an elected officer.
Some students' unions are politicized bodies, and often serve as a training ground for aspiring politicians. Students' unions generally have similar aims irrespective of the extent of politicization, usually focusing on providing students with facilities, support, and services.
Some students' unions often officially recognize and allocate an annual budget to other organizations on campus. In some institutions, postgraduate students are within the general students' unions, whereas in others they have their own postgraduate representative body. In some cases, graduate students lack formal representation in student government.
The student government president (sometimes called a student body president, student council president, or simply a school president) is generally the highest-ranking officer of a student union. Students performing in this role typically serve a ceremonial and managerial purpose, as a spokesperson of the entire student body. Duties usually include working with students to resolve problems and informing school administration of ideas emanating from the student body. In this role, they may make student appointments, campus-wide committees and boards, and may represent the institution to other associations or bodies. For example, the student government presidents within the University System of Georgia also serve on the statewide Student Advisory Council of Georgia.
Variations depending on country
Depending on the country, the purpose of students' union or student government varies.
Asia and Oceania
Australia
In Australia, all universities have one or more student organizations. Australian student unions typically provide such services as eateries, small retail outlets, student media (e.g., campus newspapers), advocacy, and support for a variety of social, arts, political, recreational, special interest and sporting clubs and societies. Most also operate specialized support services for female, LGBT, international and indigenous students. Many expressed concerns over the introduction of voluntary student unionism (VSU) in 2006. Prior to the Higher Education Support Amendment (Abolition of Compulsory Up-front Student Union Fees) Bill 2005 students were generally required to become a member of their campus student organisation.
In 2011, the Government passed legislation to allow universities to charge students a compulsory service fee to fund amenities such as sporting facilities, childcare and counselling, as well as student media and "advocating students' interests".
The National Union of Students of Australia represents post school students at a national level; the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations is the umbrella organisation for postgraduate students' unions.
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan Students Union (ASU) was established by students from Baku on 15 September 2008. ASU is an organization which was established on basis of international experience and it was the first student organization which united students irrespective of gender, race, creed, nationality.
During its action period ASU has formed stable structure, presented new suggestions about student policy to appropriate bodies, made close relations with international and regional student organizations, prepared new action plan according to the universities-students-companies' relations in Azerbaijan.
ASU's delegates were participants of the First Asia IAESTE Forum in Shanghai during 12–15 November 2009. Azerbaijan Students Union has been a full member of European Students' Union until 2015.
China
In China, the student body is usually referred to as 学生会 (pinyin: xuéshēng hùi; lit. 'student union') or 学生联合会 (pinyin: xuéshēng liánhé hùi; lit. 'student league').
Membership in different universities has different functions. Some universities may give the membership a task of recording the students' attendance and the complex grades. Student associations of Chinese universities are mostly under the leadership of Communist Youth League of China, which to a large extent limit its function as an organization purely belonging to students themselves.
Hong Kong
All universities in Hong Kong had students' unions until the Hong Kong national security law came into effect in 2020, when the many students' unions were forced to disband under political pressure. Most of these students' unions were members of the Hong Kong Federation of Students.
India
India has developed a complex tradition of student politics dating from the era of Indian National Congress movement domination. Student unions are organised both within universities, like the Student Council of IISc and across universities.
All India Students Federation (AISF) is the oldest student organisation in India founded on August 12, 1936. AISF is the only students organisation in the country which was actively involved in the Indian freedom struggle, but affiliated with political parties, as in the case of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Muslim Students Federation, Students Federation of India, National Students Union of India etc. who compete in elections to control posts in universities and colleges.
Examples of activist unions include the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union, Delhi University Students Union. Recently few school administrations had also started including the student government system as co-curricular activities in one form or another.
Indonesia
In Indonesia, every university, college and higher education school has a student union.
The student union in universities is commonly called the Student Executive Board (Indonesian: Badan Eksekutif Mahasiswa, abbreviated as BEM), though the official name could be vary between universities or faculties. Most of BEMs are affiliated with several national unions, such as All-Indonesian BEM (BEM SI) or BEM Nusantara (BEMNUS).
Japan
In Japan, the student body is called 学生自治会 (gakusei-jichi-kai). In Japanese, the word 学生自治会 (gakusei-jichi-kai) means students' self-government-organizations. The student body in Japan promotes extracurricular activities. Usually, a cultural association, 文化会 (bunka-kai), and a sports association, 体育会 (taiiku-kai), are included within a student body as autonomous organizations. A student belongs to one or more students' organizations, and does extracurricular activities through these students' organizations. However, the extracurricular activities of universities and colleges have been declining since the 1990s.
There is no nationwide student union in Japan that participates in university administration or university management.
Malaysia
Malaysia has 20 public universities. Each of them has one students' representative council (Malay: Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar, MPP), the highest student body of such university as stipulated in the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (AUKU).The registered students of the University, other than external students, shall together constitute a body to be known as the Students' Union of the University, and the Union shall elect a Students' Representative Council. (Article 48 Section 1-2, Universities and University Colleges Act)A general election is held every year, usually in November (With the exception of University of Malaya in July), to elect representatives to MPP. The percentage of voter turn-outs are usually high (70 to 95 percent) largely due to enforcements from the universities' management which, at the same time, acts as the Election Committee. Amendments on the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 in 2019 allows students to be fully in-charge of the Election Committee.
Every year, the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education would set meetings and arrange programmes with all MPPs. Nevertheless, each MPP has their own autonomous right to govern their own membership. The size of MPP differs from each university, from as little as 12 to as many as 50, which may include non-associate members from student leaders representing their respective student body. All MPP members are part-time and unpaid officers.
In 2011, Universiti Sains Malaysia established Students' Consultative Assembly (Malay: Dewan Perundingan Pelajar, DPP), the first student parliament established and the oldest of its kind in Malaysia, to involve participation of more student leaders in decision and policy making as well as to establish a legislative branch in its Students' Union system instead of having the only executive branch. A university student parliament is composed of MPP members and other elected or appointed student leaders representing their respective student body, along with the presence of the management's and students' representative as observers. In 2020, Universiti Utara Malaysia revived the Students' Parliament (Malay: Parlimen Mahasiswa) as the legislative branch in its Students' Union system which was left dormant since its last meeting at 2013 and the next meeting since its revival was held in April 2021. As at May 2021, 8 public universities in Malaysia had their student parliament established.
However, there were several disputes regarding the autonomy of the MPP, since executive decisions were depending upon the advice of the Students' Affairs Department (Malay: Jabatan Hal Ehwal Pelajar), especially among several students' rights activists, who insists that the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (AUKU) to be abolished and replaced with a new act to 'revive' students' autonomy on administration as in the 1960s'.
Myanmar
The role of students' unions in Myanmar were attached with Politics. From 1920, the students' union were outcoming and tried to get the Interdependence of Nation. There were many students boycotts in Myanmar: 1920, 1936, 1962, 1974–75–76, 1988, 1996, 2007 and recently 2015 March. Most of them were connected with political issues.
New Zealand
Students associations have a strong history in New Zealand of involvement in political causes, notably the Halt All Racist Tours campaign during the 1981 Springbok Tour. All universities, and most polytechnics and colleges of education have a students association. Before 1998, membership of Students' Associations (pep) was compulsory at all public Tertiary Education providers (universities, polytechnics and colleges of education). In 1997 the Voluntary Student Membership amendment to the Education act allowed tertiary students themselves choose whether their provider should be voluntary or compulsory on the basis of a referendum at every public Tertiary Education Provider. An amendment to the bill making all student associations voluntary passed on 28 September 2011.
Most of New Zealand Tertiary students' associations are confederated under the New Zealand Union of Students' Associations.
Philippines
Student unions in the Philippines are referred to as student government and/or student council (Filipino: Konseho ng mga Mag-aaral). They are vital organizations for student representation and advancing the struggle of the people for their democratic rights and freedoms. At the primary and secondary level, student unions are referred to as pupil government handled by the Department of Education under their Student Government Program. Meanwhile, at the tertiary level, private and state colleges and universities have their own student councils. As universities may further be subdivided into colleges with their own specializations (e.g., College of Law, College of Medicine, College of Arts and Sciences, etc.), the highest student representation will usually be referred to as the university student council while the student representation of these colleges will be called college student council(s).
Student councils, especially those in universities, have a history of activism in the local and national level due to various socio-political and economic issues, with the First Quarter Storm and the Diliman Commune being two of many examples.
Aside from student unions, students are further represented in overall decision-making of their respective university's governing body through the student regent (e.g., UP Office of the Student Regent for the students of the University of the Philippines System). The student regent is a consequence of tireless and continuous struggle of the students to be represented in the highest policy-making body of their respective universities such as the school board where the student regent has voting powers, among others. Student regents are very common for universities with campuses in different locations and most especially in state universities and colleges.
On the other hand, these student unions are also connected throughout the country through various alliances or networks such as the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), which serves as a nationwide alliance of student councils/governments/unions committed to the advancement of the students' democratic rights and welfare since its establishment in 1957.
Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, each state university has several Students' unions with formal links to respective faculties. Inter University Students' Federation is the umbrella organization of 14 unions of university students. However, most of these have political affiliations and function as proxies of these political factions. Many unions take an active political role within the university and in the country as a whole. This frequently lead to much clashes between rival students' unions or the authorities.
Taiwan
In Taiwan, the student body is called 學生會 (pinyin: Xuéshēng Hùi; lit. 'student union or student association') or 學生自治會 (pinyin: Xuéshēng Zìzhì Hùi; lit. 'students' self-government-organizations'), these groups are often known as student association and students' union, or less commonly a student government. The law requires all universities and high schools should have a Student Association. Many universities student association in Taiwan are members of the National Students' Union of Taiwan (Chinese: 臺灣學生聯合會).
Africa
In South Africa student representative councils are the executive and plenary body of student governance and charters and provides most of the funding for other student groups, and represents students' interests when dealing with the administration. In several instances representatives of these bodies are members of the university's Senate.
In 2012 the first student union in Libya, after 42 years of suppression, was founded. Students from Al Mimona Ebem Alharth school public school in Tripoli-Libya successfully established the union and promoted for other schools around the country to do the same. The founder Alaa Amed received local media attention for this achievement.
While higher education and student activism might vary depending on the country the National Association of Nigerian Students' is an organization with well over 50 university union across the nation.