Why would KCLSU spend its hard earned reserves in this way?

The crisis that students' unions face

It was identified by elected KCLSU student officers that students' unions find themselves in an increasingly untenable situation. There is a widespread crisis of relevance and finance that must be addressed now to mitigate any further escalation. Many students' unions have understandably chosen to focus on the latter, as finance is an immediate, directly observable problem that unless solved quickly leads to the disintegration of the organisation. However, at KCLSU it was believed that rather than being the core dilemma, the financial situation is merely a symptom of a greater sickness that has gripped the sector.

The student community is increasingly diverse, a fact which has had a significant impact on its coherence. Students' unions have been predicated on the idea that their members have lots of spare time for extra-curricular activity, but today many of them work or raise families. But rather than facing the truth and making changes, the sector is guilty of burying its head in the sand and carrying on regardless. In the same way that a slow but steady addition of weight will eventually result in a sudden tipping of the scales, the culmination of many and varied factors has produced the current crisis.

Whether or not students' unions are relevant to the students and systems of higher education of today is central to their continued existence. If our organisations aren't helping students to undertake the activity they want to, if students cannot say at the end of their university life that we had a positive impact on that time, then how can we expect them to spend money in our commercial outlets? The financial crisis may question our ability to exist, but that of relevancy questions our right to exist.

KCLSU began to understand that we could either continue to concentrate on staying afloat - cure - or on moving to a position that is both financially and principally tenable in the long term - prevention. And we'd all prefer not to become ill in the first place.

KCLSU's response to the crisis

KCLSU officers and the Student Representative Council (SRC) decided that it was indeed best for the organisation to consider itself as a whole - structure, procedures and processes - rather than concentrating solely on the financial situation. This is in keeping with the responsibilities of trustees of a charitable organisation by focussing on the long term implications of any situation or action.

Much discussion took place as to whether or not a review of the way in which KCLSU operates should be conducted internally or externally. If done internally, the process would be quite quick and cost little. However, it was identified that not only did no officer or staff member have experience of carrying out such an exercise, but it is legitimate to ask whether any organisation or individual can truly consider themselves in an objective manner.

Everyone involved agreed that if such an undertaking is necessary, it must be done correctly. The problem at hand is not a small one, but whether or not students' unions can legitimately continue to exist, and for too long have our organisations merely tinkered with the documents and systems that their action is based upon. Therefore it was decided that experience and expertise were required, in the form of a firm of solicitors specialising in the charitable sector and a management consultant with substantial experience of students' unions.

Conclusion

The money that has been spent represents an investment in the future of KCLSU. It has acted prudently in the past, accounting for depreciation of its assets and building up a strategic reserve for just such a situation. It has always looked to the long term, as it should. Individuals may argue that it could have paid for several sports teams, or producing the newspaper for a few years, and yes, it could. But if the situation that students' unions find themselves in continues to worsen, and KCLSU had continued to ignore it, can anyone say for sure that there would be any student activity in five or ten years?

The idea of the students' union is an organisation run by students so that it is in keeping with what students want. It is there to support them, to help them, to foster them. It could be argued that anyone could provide the services that they do. But the sum of volunteering projects, clubs, societies, debate, bars and nightclubs is much more than its parts. It is that elusive entity we call community, in which individuals become a collectivity and everyone lends a helping hand and flourishes together. And you can't put a price on that.