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President of the NUS visits BU

1 June 2012

Liam Burns (far left) talking to BU students President of the National Union of Students, Liam Burns, visits BU to talk to students and staff.

Liam Burns, President of the National Union of Students visited Bournemouth University today to talk to students and staff.

Liam, who was previously President of NUS Scotland before being elected as the National NUS President, spoke about the politics involved in the fee hike, and the growth of student expectation matched to the growth in fees.

Telling his audience that 34p in every £1 loaned by the Student Loan Company will never be paid back, Liam also discussed the theory that students are now customers, and should that be matched with increased mobility?

‘Qualifying the qualification’ was a hot topic amongst students and the NUS president, as it was discussed that a PG certificate is quite clearly a minimum qualification for teaching, and that regulating the level of teaching of postgrads is also a challenge.

A student raised the question: “One thing I really enjoy about my course is when we have visiting lecturers from industry come down, does this mean they will need an extra qualification?”

To which Liam replied: “That is an interesting point, I think that is something we need to have a conversation about.”

Liam also said that he thought the NSS was ‘negative’ and that it should not be included to calculate scores in league tables.

He stated: “If the NSS comes back as bad, I don’t think the answer should be how do we put stuff on walls to make you feel better and more positive about your institution, but I understand why that becomes an imperative because it is in league tables.”

Toby Horner SUBU president said after Liam’s visit, “It is always nice for NUS reps to come down to BU and the students' union, to be supported in terms of general arguments we make to the university and in a wider national picture and it’s nice to be recognised for work we do by elected officers in the NUS.”

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