H-Synergia

At last! I can use my “Bangor SU” Category on WordPress that I’ve had sitting there for the last couple of months!

Recently, the argument about whether or not course reps should be paid has come to the front of Student Union politics, and I found twitter a bit too limiting to put my thoughts on it together, so here I am.

Firstly, the most basic and boring point. How many Student Unions can really afford, and regulate this? Course reps don’t work set hours and keeping track of when they’re “being a course rep” or being a student would be almost impossible.  Add to that the sheer numbers of course reps that some unions have and it just isn’t feasible to do this on such thin budgets.

Now for the more interesting stuff.

If course reps get paid, not only could that have an impact on how they feedback to the union but, more importantly,  how they’re perceived by the university.

If we pay our course reps, the university may assume there is a sense of bias in what we’re being told by our course reps due to us paying them. This could have a huge impact when we’re trying to change things for the benefit of our students and the university doesn’t take us seriously. If an institution doubts where an SU is getting its facts, it becomes an up hill struggle for change.

Now, I’m not saying that course reps shouldn’t get any sort of recognition or incentives for what they do. Hoodies, socials and events can work well, and can give public recognition for what they do and add a more fun side to their role as course reps. Many Universities and Unions also have an employability scheme of one form or another that allows voluntary work to be counted towards a formal award that can be put on CVs. Course reps need something for the work they do, without them the role of an SU would be a whole lot harder.

I would argue that non-monetary incentives would be better than paying course reps. For a start, social psychology has shown us time and again that paying people to do a job doesn’t work. People feel more engaged and motivated to do things when they feel their work is achieving good and feeling intrinsically motivated. I’m sure course reps feel much better when they can see that their work has made a genuine change for students than when they receive some money in their bank account.

I know that students often need jobs and extra money whilst doing their studies, but there are other ways in which SUs can work to increase student employment and ensure increased participation. I don’t think that paying SU reps and Volunteers is the best way to do so, when we can focus on improving the student experience as a whole without it possibly having a negative impact on the representative role some of our students play.