essay on student union

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What are Student Unions? Should You Have One?

Student unions have successfully taken on issues ranging from student bus passes to assault weapons bans. What are they?

• Student Organizing
• Student Activism

To The Teacher

In November 2022, the Seattle Student Union led a school walkout that helped win an assault weapons ban in Washington state. Other unions representing high school students have successfully taken on issues ranging from increased school funding to replacing police officers in schools with counselors.

In this lesson, students learn what student unions are and explore the history of the Providence Student Union as one prominent example. They read about and discuss student unions in Philadelphia and Seattle, and look more broadly at groups doing multi-school organizing among high school students. 

Introduction

Ask students:

• Have you ever heard of students forming a “student union”?  
• What is a student union?  
• Why do you imagine that students might want to organize one?

Share that student unions are created by students, often across schools, to build student power or change policies that students are concerned about.

Today, we’ll be learning about and discussing student unions and their recent successes in the U.S.

Reading One

What Is a Student Union?

pdf version

Student unions are multi-school, multi-issue groups that organize students within a given geographical area.

Student unions have been in the news in the last few years because they’ve won some significant victories. The Providence Student Union is one prominent example. PSU organizes students in Providence, Rhode Island, on issues such as police violence and the “right to education.” It operates outside of the student government structure of any individual school.

A 2020 article by journalist Julia Rock for Teen Vogue outlined some of the group’s history:

The student union has successfully organized campaigns to expand the free bus pass program for students, design and pilot ethnic studies courses in schools, and convince the state to allocate funding for repairs to school buildings, among other measures. The PSU formed 10 years ago, when students organized to resist proposed changes to their schedules. They walked out of school and rallied on the steps of the Providence School Department, chanting, “ What kind of power? Student power!” That protest helped draw local attention to the tenuous situation in the city’s high schools, which had been plagued by high dropout rates and poor standardized test performances . It also created the infrastructure for students to organize in schools across the city. The PSU is one of a number of student-led organizations in the city working to implement reforms under the framework of educational justice. Other groups, including the Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM) and the Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education (ARISE) are working with PSU on reforms to increase student safety and opportunity. This work of planning rallies and walkouts, giving speeches, and writing letters has turned a generation of Providence students into savvy and powerful political organizers. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/rhode-island-students-fighting-right-education

The Providence Student Union also won , through its organizing, a pass/fail term that was implemented during the pandemic. They stopped the closure of a local high school in 2013 that the community was fighting to retain. And their campaign for “counselors not cops” in schools gained enormous visibility and support among lawmakers.

Researcher and activist Scott Warren interviewed Providence Student Union student organizer Emma Jewett for a 2021 article in The Forge about some of the lessons the students were taking away from their “counselors not cops” campaign:

“[Emma Jewett:] [W]hen the cops are beating up kids in our schools, when they're instruments of state violence that are walking our hallways and intimidating Black and brown students and students with disabilities, it's not a complicated issue to say these people need to get out…. So, it's mostly a matter of taking things from the personal to the political and then making people believe that their voices matter. It's very easy to become what my generation calls a doomer and think that nothing we do will ever change anything. No one is going to listen to us. And that's why the success of this action is so important. I've found that people like the superintendent, they really want to do whatever is easiest, so it's just a matter of me making what I want to do the easiest path. If keeping [officers] in our schools is easier because it's the status quo and doesn't require a change, then make the status quo unlivable. Make there be walkouts. Make there be op-eds. Make them constantly get in trouble publicly for not doing this thing, and then they'll start to change…. That's the point of organizing, to make the status quo so unlivable for those in power, they have to change something…. I'm at my school for two more years. So if I want to get anything done, I have to get it done in those two years. We have an urgency that a lot of adults honestly just don't have. Because if you work at a nonprofit, you can be working at the nonprofit for the next 10 years. And then you're thinking on the scale of a decade, and I'm thinking on a scale of the next two years. So, when I want to plan an action, I'm not going to set a date six months in advance. I'm going to set a date two months in advance at the absolute latest and work my butt off to get it done because then I can do another thing in another two months.” https://forgeorganizing.org/article/make-status-quo-unlivable

The Providence Student Union’s campaigns demonstrate the power students can have when they come together around issues they care about and put pressure on decision-makers for change.

For Discussion  

• What most struck you about the reading? Do you have any questions about what you read?  
• According to the reading, what are student unions and what do they do?  
• Of the campaigns that the Providence Student Union has undertaken, which ones sounded most interesting to you? Why?  
• Student organizer Emma Jewett argues that the way to create change is to make maintaining the status quo uncomfortable for those in power—so that a change in policy is the easier option for them. What do you think of her approach?  
• What tactics does Emma Jewett mention as a way to pressure decision-makers? What do you think of these tactics?  
• Emma Jewett suggests that high school students may have more urgency when organizing than adults, since these students may soon be graduating and leaving their schools behind, leaving only a limited window of time in which they can create change. Do you agree or disagree with her statement?  
• What are the pros and cons of organizing young people who may only be at a school for a short period of time?  

Reading Two

The Power of Student Unity in Seattle and Philadelphia

pdf version Providence is just one example of a high school student union. Philadelphia and Seattle also have powerful student unions.

In an article published by Teen Vogue in April 2023, Seattle Student Union leader Natalya McConnell told the story of how her organization formed and what the issues it has taken on. She wrote:

In December 2021, Franklin High had to close because of threats of violence. Then, in January, Seattle students returned from winter break with COVID-19. Thousands of cases were reported in Seattle schools in just one week, including 63 at Franklin. With other Franklin High students, I created a petition calling for better COVID safety measures in the school, and students shared it widely on social media. Within a few hours, the school district agreed to switch Franklin to remote learning for the rest of the week. But we weren’t done. Students organized a demonstration at school district headquarters. Soon, the district had granted our second demand, providing N95 masks for all students and school employees. At the demonstration, I collected student contact information and formed a group chat with those who wanted to become more involved. The demonstration had kick-started a youth movement across Seattle. Within a couple days, a group of students, ages 12 to 17, met and discussed a name for the organization we wanted to build. Seattle Students for Covid Safety? Seattle Students Demand Covid Safety? What if we wanted to fight for more than Covid safety? After all, young people face a lot of problems. We then came upon the perfect name: Seattle Student Union. The name does not limit us to a particular issue, and it highlights the source of our power: unity. Over the next year, our group staged protests advocating for gun control, stood against the overturning of Roe v. Wade, marched in solidarity with teachers on strike, and fought to keep cops out of Seattle schools. The group took time to establish a structure and reach out to more students. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/washington-state-assault-weapons-ban-students

On November 8, 2022, a student shot and killed another student at Ingraham High School in Seattle. In response, the Seattle Student Union gathered grieving students and began pushing the Seattle City Council to increase mental health funding for schools and organizing for stronger state gun control laws. As Natalya McConnell continued :

We gathered students across Seattle, connecting with the news media and focusing students on a concrete demand…. Student presence and the demands of our fellow gun control advocates could not be ignored. On March 8, the ban on the sale of assault weapons passed the state House; on April 8, the bill passed the state Senate. A few weeks later, April 25, Governor Jay Inslee signed the assault weapons ban into law. I am so proud of this victory. We hear of one horrific shooting after another, but lawmakers only offer “thoughts and prayers” instead of removing the perpetrator: guns. If Congress won’t pass a federal assault weapons ban, students will keep fighting to do so at the state level. Earlier this year, Illinois became the ninth state to ban these destructive weapons; now Washington is the 10th. We’re making it known that, with aggressive organizing, students have the power to protect ourselves and reduce gun violence. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/washington-state-assault-weapons-ban-students  

The Philadelphia Student Union Was founded in 1995 by students concerned about the poor quality of their education. According to the “Mission and History” page of their website, the student union focuses on “education justice organizing and leadership development.”  

This includes:

• Youth-led chapters inside schools, where members develop specific campaigns to address problems in their schools which impact them directly such as over-policing in schools, establishing restorative justice programs and addressing problems with the school building…. [Chapters] also facilitate discussions on current events and broader social justice topics to encourage ongoing connections between what is happening within the school and what is happening in communities across Philadelphia as well as the rest of the country.
• Citywide meetings where members from across the city participate in training on how to become facilitators and organizers on issues that impact students throughout Philadelphia….                          
• Arts and Cultural Programming where members learn about the history of how arts has been used by social justice movements, both in the US and throughout the world, to tell stories of injustice and as a means to challenge those in power to address these problems.

https://www.phillystudentunion.com/our-mission-and-history

In 1996, the Philadelphia Student Union organized a 2,000-student city-wide student walk-out to demand $15 million in school funding, implementing restorative justice practices in West Philly high schools (which reportedly decreased violent incidents by 70% between 2007 and 2010), winning a less punitive discipline system, dress code accommodations for gender nonconforming students, and a 2014 die-in in support of #BlackLivesMatter.

While other cities may not have groups that call themselves student unions, a variety of other areas are home to multi-issue student groups that organize around similar topics. Examples include Oakland Kids First , a city-wide coalition of youth organizations that has recently worked to lower the voting age in Oakland, the statewide group Californians for Justice , or the VOYCE Project , an alliance led by students of color in Illinois.

In each case, young people have been able to bring together their peers and push for improvements that directly affect their lives as students.

• What  most struck you about this reading? Why?  
• Do you have any questions about what you read?
• What are some of the ways that student unions in Seattle and Philadelphia have organized to make change? What examples stood out most for you?
• Does your school have a student union or something similar? Would you be interested in getting involved in one?
• If you were responsible for starting a student union where you live, what issues would you focus on first? How would you go about getting the attention of decision-makers?

—Research assistance provided by Sophia Zaia

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The Crucial Role of Student Unions on College Campuses

Student unions, often considered the heartbeat of a college campus, play a fundamental role in shaping the overall college experience for students. These hubs of activity are essential in fostering a sense of community, enhancing student engagement, providing opportunities for growth and development, and advocating for student rights and interests. In this article, we will delve into the multifaceted importance of student unions on college campuses.

1. Community Building and Social Interaction:

Student unions serve as a hub for social interaction, fostering a sense of community among diverse student populations. They provide a space for students to come together, share experiences, and build lasting relationships. Through various events, clubs, and organizations, student unions help students connect with peers who share similar interests and passions, creating a supportive network that can last a lifetime.

2. Enhancing Student Engagement:

Student unions are instrumental in engaging students in campus life. They organize a myriad of activities, including cultural events, workshops, guest lectures, and recreational opportunities, that enrich the college experience. Active involvement in these activities not only provides students with a break from academic routines but also helps them develop essential life skills such as leadership, communication, and teamwork.

3. Personal and Professional Development:

Student unions often house student government bodies, offering platforms for leadership and professional development. Students can run for elected positions, gaining experience in decision-making, event planning, budget management, and advocacy. These experiences are invaluable in preparing students for their future careers, providing a real-world application of skills learned in the classroom.

4. Advocacy and Representation:

Student unions act as advocates for the student body, representing their interests and concerns to the administration and other stakeholders. They play a crucial role in ensuring that students have a voice in shaping policies and decisions that affect their academic and social experiences. Through collective action, they can address issues related to student welfare, campus facilities, tuition fees, and more.

5. Cultural and Diversity Celebrations:

College campuses are often a melting pot of cultures and backgrounds. Student unions organize events that celebrate this diversity, promoting cultural understanding and appreciation. These events not only educate the campus community about different cultures but also encourage inclusivity and respect among students from various backgrounds.

6. Student Services and Support:

Student unions are central in providing essential services to students, including career counseling, mental health support, academic advice, and resources for personal growth. By offering a wide range of student-centric services, they ensure that students have the support they need to succeed academically and personally during their time at college .

7. Alumni Connections and Networking:

Student unions often maintain relationships with alumni, creating networking opportunities for current students. These connections provide invaluable mentorship, internship opportunities, and career guidance. Alumni often return to campus to share their experiences, creating a bridge between current and past students and helping to establish a strong alumni network.

In conclusion, student unions are a cornerstone of college life, serving as a catalyst for personal growth, community building, advocacy, and engagement. Their role in enriching the overall student experience cannot be overstated. Students and universities alike should recognize the vital importance of these institutions and continue to invest in and support their initiatives for the betterment of the entire campus community.

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#LeadingSDG4 | Education2030

Student unions: Ensuring the right to quality and accessible education for all

This article is part of the Young Trailblazers series. In this series, we feature youth and students who are transforming education on the ground and driving progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4).

The added value of student unions in education decision-making

Global student movements play a key role as drivers of progress in education. In particular, they serve as springboards for student education advocates to tackle critical issues alongside policymakers. For Ellen Dixon, “student unions are the pragmatism of Paulo Freire’s ‘education is freedom’, that were set up focusing not only on education but on how education connects to the rights and freedoms of students, teachers, and communities, in and out of classrooms and lecture halls.” Dixon adds that at present, it is the global student movements’ support for education for peace, sustainability, promotion of education financing, climate and gender justice, and access to education during emergencies that are the core priority issues.

A meaningful way to democratize education and improve representation

As a global phenomenon occurring in almost all parts of the world and having roots to the 1600s-1700s at European universities such as the University of Bologna and Edinburgh University, student unions emerged with the spread of university structures globally to give each nation a union, or unions. This allows for very complex and rich histories that resemble the educational politics of the nations they are in. Fast forward to today and we find that one of the recommendations proposed in the United Nations Secretary General’s " Our Common Agenda ," is for meaningful, diverse, and effective youth engagement, including through better political representation—a premise that student unions can offer. 

When asked how such structures allow for a more dynamic space for student engagement, Dixon reiterated that since student unions are set up in a government-like framework rather than a trade union, the configuration allows for representative democracy. While not every student is directly engaged in each decision-making procedure, each student’s interest is reflected thanks to an “elected representation”.   

According to Dixon, who has her roots in New Zealand where national student unionism boasts a strong 100-year-old history, student unions are reinforced as an essential part of the democratization of education. By maintaining excellent relationships with various ministries and non-state education actors, they provide for a balanced representation of students’ interests in the political discourse. However, this is not the case for all countries. For some, “student union activists are blacklisted by authoritarians for their activism,” added Dixon. 

Student unions act as catalysts of change at the local, national, and global levels

Student unions have made a difference globally by creating a network of networks. They operate across different levels, serving as integral parts of a complex web that includes local, national, regional, and international groups. At the local level, student union structures exist as an interface between students on secondary schools, higher education campuses, or education institution workers. The proximity to the student body enables unions to directly address the needs and concerns of their peers: provide advocacy services, hardship grants, foodbanks, hospitality services, fund an independent student media, provide policy advice on committees and boards, and much more. 

At the national level, they work with government and national-level entities, such as trade unions. At the regional level, they act as inter-regional bodies engaging with the likes of the European Union and the African Union on education policy. The integration of networks between political parties, governments and NGOs at the regional level is done through agreements, research, policy work, lobbying, campaigns, protests, negotiations, and networking. Their key outputs are supporting funding for programmes, influencing of legislation and policy, and engaging with media.  

At the global level, unions bring awareness of education policy at an intergovernmental level and support education financing by donor nations. The global student movement also engages with international organizations, having for example previously held consultative status at UNESCO many years prior.  In 2016, the European Students’ Union invited student unions from across the world to a “Global Student Voice” Conference that produced the “ Bergen Declaration ”, calling for universal cooperation for education between student unions.  This led to discussions in Ghana in 2019 for the collaboration between regional platforms, the All-Africa Students’ Union , the Commonwealth Students’ Association , the European Students’ Union , the Organizing Bureau of European School Students’ Unions , and the Organización Continental Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Estudiantes to form what would become the Global Student Forum in 2020.

By increasing the voices and advocating for the interests of young people, global student movements with student unions at the core play an essential role in ensuring the rights of students for quality and accessible education. This serves as a compelling call for students to actively engage with their respective constituencies, at the local, regional, national, or global level, and drive meaningful change in education.

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• SDG: SDG 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

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STUDENTS’ UNION GOVERNMENT, A TOOL FOR DEMONSTRATING TRUE DEMOCRATIC VALUES

A students' union government is a student organization present in many tertiary institutions which protects and defends the right of students on campus. 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, or by becoming an elected officer. Some students' unions are politicized bodies, and often serve as a training ground for aspiring politicians. The combination of the youthful enthusiasm of the various members, a general lack of serious consequences for decisions, and a student media(if any) that is itself often partisan, inexperienced, and under no financial pressure to slant coverage to please a broad readership encourages very vigorous campaigning, debate, and political gamesmanship. Students' unions generally have similar aims irrespective of the extent of politicization, usually focusing on providing students with facilities, support, and services.This reviews how the students union governments (SUG) can be deployed as a training ground for youths an upcoming politicians in order to entrench true democratic values lacking in our society today.

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This review examines Zachary Crispin’s The Fundamentals of Students’ Unionism, an empirical assessment of student unions in Canada containing ideas as to how student union operations should be best conducted. The book contains two sections, the first consisting of organizing campaigns and developing political student movements, while the second examines legislative and financial requirements of student unions within federal, provincial, and institutional contexts. The book uses Canadian case studies and the author’s experiential knowledge to conclude that the Canadian student movement needs to be broadened, but biases in the argument’s premises in terms of political ideologies of ideal student leaders and acceptance of existing student union structures without critique impede upon the achievement of such a goal.

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India has developed a complex tradition of student politics. Student unions are organized both within universities and across universities but affiliated with political parties who compete in elections to control posts in universities and colleges. In past, in many campuses student election has showed ridiculous scene of politics. Present study is focused on student's view in this connection.

Mohammad Sajjad

The State is trying to curb the students movements, therefore, there are suspicions against some of the Subramanian report on education's recommendations, says Mohammad Sajjad. The Committee for the Evolution of a National Education Policy, headed by former Cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian, submitted its report to the Union human resources development ministry May 27. Even though the 200­page report is yet to be made public, reactions from certain quarters on certain aspects of the report have started appearing in the media. Its segment of student politics has attracted some attention. At least two student activists of Jawaharlal Nehru University, (Shehla Rashid, in The Indian Express, and an alumnus, Kavita Krishnan, on Scroll.in), have reacted on this segment of the Subramanian report said to be making some recommendations towards curbing student activism. While the report seems to have kept itself oblivious of some of the best examples of healthy practices of student activism on certain campuses of our country, these well­meaning critics of the report also appear to be shying away from reflecting upon huge degenerations which have set in the students' (and teachers') politics across campuses. However, what is even more objectionable about this report is the composition of the members of the Subramanian committee. The learned members don't seem to have been known as practitioners of healthy student activism.

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Given the crises that have characterized activities of the Students Union Government in recent times at the Polytechnic culminated in the suspensions and impeachments of some officials in the Union’s Government, this crucial exercise could not have come at a better time than now. A cursory glance at titles of all the papers scheduled for the 2-day exercise shows that practically all the spheres of Students Union Government activities are captured; and I feel greatly humbled and honoured to serve as one of the Paper Presenters at this important occasion.

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The importance of university, students and students’ union partnerships in student-led projects: A case study

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education

ISSN : 1467-6370

Article publication date: 25 September 2019

Issue publication date: 5 December 2019

This paper aims to explore a single-institution case study of partnership working between students, the University and Students’ Union, through four student-led sustainability projects. The paper analyses the role and value of these partnerships and provides advice for other institutions on effective partnership working between these stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

A single case study of partnership working with multiple embedded units of analysis (four projects) is presented based on reflections of practitioners involved in the projects who have different roles within the University and Students’ Union.

The longevity and effectiveness of student-led projects, and disciplinary-breadth of students engaged, can be enhanced by greater collaboration with, and integration into, University and Students’ Union systems. Partnership working between different stakeholders is key to overcoming challenges and the success of student-led projects, helped by key staff “enablers”. These projects provide myriad learning opportunities for developing change agency skills, even where projects are relatively short-lived and could be seen as failures in terms of longevity.

Research limitations/implications

This analysis is based solely on practitioner reflections, with limited direct quantification or qualitative data on the projects’ impacts on the students themselves.

Originality/value

This paper draws together the experiences and reflections of four practitioners with different roles within the University and Students’ Union across four different projects and provides advice to generate student-led sustainability projects which have longevity and impact for wider student populations and future generations of cohorts.

• Partnerships
• Sustainable development goals
• Co-curriculum
• Hidden curriculum
• Students’ unions

Briggs, S.J. , Robinson, Z.P. , Hadley, R.L. and Laycock Pedersen, R. (2019), "The importance of university, students and students’ union partnerships in student-led projects: A case study", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education , Vol. 20 No. 8, pp. 1409-1427. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-01-2019-0050

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Sarah Jayne Briggs, Zoe P. Robinson, Rachel Louise Hadley and Rebecca Laycock Pedersen.

Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

Introduction

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), referred to as “a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all” ( United Nations, 2019 ), encompass intertwining and interdependent economic, social and environmental challenges. Higher Education Institutions have a key role to play in the achievement of the Goals through their research, education, and their own operations and estates, and wider community involvement. One of the ten targets under Goal 4 “Quality Education” is “to ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development[…]” ( United Nations, 2019 ). With 80 per cent of world leaders having attended university, universities have a major responsibility to ensure their graduates have the knowledge, skills, and values to help business, government and society progress towards a more sustainable future ( Chalkley, 2006 ; Shephard, 2015 ; Winter et al. , 2015 ). The aims of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) can be achieved in universities through many different routes, including the formal curriculum, the co-(informal) curriculum – the activities that students can become involved in outside their formal programme of study; and the hidden curriculum ( Hopkinson et al. , 2008 ; Lozano et al. , 2013 ) – the potential learning created by the environment in which students work, study and live.

Engaging with ESD across the formal, informal/co- and hidden curricula within universities inevitably impacts on many different stakeholder groups, including the Students’ Union’s permanent staff and elected sabbatical officers; academic staff and professional services staff that support the student experience; the education, research and enterprise missions of the University; estates and operations staff, encompassing diverse activities from accommodation, purchasing and catering; and the students themselves.

In this paper, the “University” will be used to refer to Keele University in its capacity as a Higher Education Institution, its various functions and stakeholders that facilitate those functions, including academic staff for research and education, estates and operations staff in teams ranging from grounds to accommodation and the sustainability team in their capacities directly linking to ESD. The representations of these teams within this paper are based on the authors’ experiences and reflections of those experiences rather than based on discussion or consultation with other stakeholders and team members.

Keele Students’ Union (KeeleSU) is an independent charitable incorporated organisation, with its own departments, staff members, leadership team and student-led strategic plan. The overall purpose of a Students’ Union (SU) in the UK is to represent students’ interests; they are led by students, for students. For this reason, Students’ Unions have an “Elected Officer” team made up of students who are elected by the student population to represent their needs and interests in the next academic year. These elected officers lead the strategic direction of the organisation to ensure that the services being offered are in line with student interest. The organisational structures of Student Unions’ across the UK vary significantly in terms of size, structure, funding, facilities and support from the University. Students’ Unions exist as independent organisations to achieve effective representation of their members (the students) by providing student perspective to University strategic plans, operational processes and academic development. Whilst representation of students is the primary purpose of any Students’ Union, it is crucial to note that depending on the structure of the organisation, Students’ Unions in the UK may offer a variety of additional services to students including advice and support services, activities such as societies and sports clubs, volunteering opportunities, part-time jobs, social events and commercial services including eating and drinking outlets and shops. They can be misconceived to be solely responsible for social aspects of student experience and can equally be misunderstood to only be relevant to politically engaged students, neither of which are accurate perspectives. This paper highlights various departments within Keele Students’ Union including Volunteering, Student Voice, Activities and Commercial Operations. Each of these departments has dedicated staff who are responsible for coordinating different services for students.

Despite occasional conflict, the underpinning objectives of both a University and a Students’ Union is a commitment to the largest stakeholder group, the students ( Mora, 2017 ), and to the “student experience”, whether through the formal, co- or hidden curricula. The “SU” will be used in this paper to refer to its full-time staff as contributors to this partnership, but it should be noted that the SU is not separate to its members, the students.

Whilst by no means restricted to ESD work within the University, the partnership discussed in this paper, between the institution (Keele University) and the SU (Keele Students’ Union), illustrates the positive impacts an effective SU–University partnership can deliver.

ESD opportunities in the formal curriculum are often dependent on the particular interests of the staff teaching on modules and the University’s commitment to embedding sustainability education in this way. However, the co- and hidden curricula can also provide many opportunities to engage students with ESD ( Hopkinson et al. , 2008 ; Lozano et al. , 2013 ). These three “curricula” types frequently overlap, for example, where the formal curriculum provides opportunities for student learning through involvement in research into improving the sustainability of the campus’ estate and operations, feeding into living laboratory approaches. Alternatively, campus-based sustainability improvement projects may be student-initiated, sometimes catalysed by learning in the curriculum ( Robinson, 2019 ). Such projects can provide a wide range of learning opportunities, including opportunities for inter-disciplinary and transdisciplinary working with different disciplines and external organisations, and may have greater transformative potential than purely formal “academic” curriculum experiences ( Winter et al. , 2015 ).

Campus-based sustainability improvement projects can face many challenges. One challenge is that academic projects, physical spaces, facilities, operations and necessary data and know-how are led and held by different parts of the University. Cross-university projects therefore inevitably involve diverse stakeholders, requiring close partnership to maximise the benefits to all parties and minimise potential conflict. This emphasises the need for partnership working, relating to Goal 17, “Partnership for the Goals”, and implicitly, the need for the SDGs to be considered holistically to enable their potential to be achieved fully ( Le Blanc, 2015 ; Nilsson et al. , 2016 ).

This paper explores the role of collaboration between the University, students and SU in four student-led sustainability projects, as well as the challenges faced, and what we can learn about partnerships for sustainability between these stakeholders to maximise the benefit and impact of the projects, highlighting the importance of SDG 17.

Methodology

This study uses a single case study approach ( Yin, 2009 ) to examine collaboration between the University, students and SU on student-led sustainability projects. This paper inquires into four separate projects involving partnership working between these stakeholders. This study is therefore positioned as “practitioner research” in which the practitioner (in this case, sustainability and student support professionals) inquired into their own practice (in this case, supporting student-led sustainability projects through collaboration) ( Trahar, 2009 ). The reflections of four different practitioner-researchers (the authors) with different positions within the partnership are drawn on to triangulate the learning from each perspective providing inferential validity, and enhancing the internal validity of the analysis. The case study does not seek to be statistically generalisable or to generate external validity, rather the goal is to expand and generalise theories ( Yin, 2009 ) which may be applicable and useful to analogous situations of others. As a result of these “insider” roles, there are greater opportunities for drawing on contextual and tacit knowledge ( Brannick and Coghlan, 2007 ). However, there is more potential for the researcher as “insider” to sway the analysis with personal biases. Incorporating perspectives from four authors working with the projects in different ways provided opportunities for these biases to be challenged, however, improving trustworthiness ( Patton, 2015 ).

Keele University is a rural campus university of over 600 acres in North Staffordshire, England, making it the largest single-site university in the UK, with a student population of around 10,000. The University was the first new university after the Second World War, established by its founder Lord Lindsay as an “educational experiment” with the purpose of training students for a new kind of society and economy based around the ideas of interdisciplinarity and community ( Keele University, 2019 ). In 2008, the University Council (the University’s highest level governing body) committed to a “deep green” philosophy. Shortly after that, sustainability was articulated as a key part of the University’s strategic plan, mission and vision; the University’s learning and teaching strategy; and through individual strategies relating to environmental management, education for sustainability, energy, carbon management, recycling and waste management, procurement, food and catering. The University has adopted the strapline “embedding sustainability in all that we do”, and endeavours to achieve this through a model of distributed leadership and responsibility, supported by a core team of “sustainability professionals” comprising the Environmental Manager, Sustainability Project Officer and Director of Education for Sustainability, with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor the University’s Strategic Lead for sustainability. Keele’s Education for Sustainability Strategy aims for all students to graduate having had the opportunity through the formal, co- and hidden curricula to engage in activities and learning that will help them view decisions in their personal and professional lives through a sustainability lens.

This analysis is informed by varied perspectives from authors who work across the University and Students’ Union. The first author (Briggs) is the University’s Sustainability Project Officer, funded from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office, who reports to both the Director of Education for Sustainability and the Environmental Manager who is based in the Estates and Development Directorate. Briggs works closely with students, the SU, and teams across the University to implement the University’s sustainability objectives. Briggs was previously a student at Keele University and, as a student, was involved in sustainability in both the co- and formal curricula. The second author (Robinson) is the University’s Director of Education for Sustainability, a 0.3 FTE position with a remit for embedding sustainability across the formal curriculum and wider student experience, held by a full-time academic and Professor of Sustainability in Higher Education. The third author (Hadley) is the Student Voice Coordinator whose role is based at the Students' Union. Hadley’s role is to enable effective student representation in all aspects of the University, within Keele SU and externally, including on matters of national HE policy. The fourth author (Laycock Pedersen) is a current PhD student whose research explores the student-led campus allotment project, sharing many challenges with other student-led projects. In the past, Laycock Pedersen was also a former part-time Sustainability Project Officer and Teaching Fellow in Environment and Sustainability at Keele University. This paper draws on the experiences and reflections of these four authors through the iterative paper-writing process in which they focussed on the aims of the projects and how the partnerships manifested and the enablers and barriers to the partnerships’ support of projects’ aims.

Three of the four authors are not students; therefore, this paper mainly presents reflections on the student experience from external partners rather than the direct experience of students themselves. However, the authorial team has considerable insight into the student experience as each author interacts with students involved in the projects. Two of the authors have greater insight into the student perspective as one of the authors is still currently a doctoral student, and another is a recent graduate. However, these might not represent the perspective of a “typical student”; therefore, the review of a manuscript draft by an individual who was a “lead” student involved with three of the four projects was used to bring in a more conventional student perspective.

The projects and partnership analysis

This section explores the University and the Students’ Union partnerships of four student-led co-curricular sustainability projects, identifying common features between projects, potential obstacles to their success, and the opportunities projects present for embedding ESD and the SDGs into the student experience ( Albareda-Tiana et al. , 2018 ).

The Great Donate

focusing on signposting students to onsite British Heart Foundation (a UK charity) collection banks to donate unwanted clothing and homeware (for resale in their charity shops);

collecting unwanted bedding and towels for a local animal shelter; and

collecting unwanted items (i.e. printers) from international students to distribute to future cohorts.

a local problem of “holiday hunger” – food poverty during school holidays ( Graham et al. , 2018 ); and

tackling the problem of non-perishable food being thrown away in campus halls of residence when students moved out.

The “Great Donate” scheme also expanded to collect kitchen equipment from departing students, which was made available to students at the start of the next academic year. This aimed to reduce the disposal of reusable items that students could not take home, and help future cohorts of students save money by buying donated goods. This also generated funds for the student-led sustainability society, as well as raising awareness of responsible consumption and production (SDG12).

Challenges in the initial operation of the scheme included: locating collection boxes in a single location (Halls’ social spaces) instead of in individual kitchens, causing problems such as spillages of open food; dirty items being left at collection points; infrequent collection leading to conflict with cleaning staff and other building users such as causing obstructions; lack of sufficient storage space for collected items; and lack of human resource for subsequent sorting and distribution of items. Collection of donations from social spaces relied on volunteers, which through conflict with academic or social commitments or students leaving for the summer once exams finish could lead to insufficient volunteer numbers. Another challenge was engaging the whole student community, as some kitchen items and food were still being thrown away. Communication failures between University Accommodation Services and students impacted this, and have since been addressed.

To overcome some of these challenges and mitigate negative impacts that could threaten continuation of the scheme, greater partnership working across a wider range of stakeholders was needed. A key development was involving the Head of Portering which led to University portering staff collecting boxes and delivering them to the local food bank, reducing the load on student volunteers. Collaboration with Accommodation Services Managers and Cleaning Services enabled relocation of donation points to kitchens instead of social spaces, increasing student engagement through greater convenience to donate items, whilst reducing the likelihood of food spillages by removing the need to move items between buildings. Top-down support for the scheme also ensured engagement from all Accommodation Services Managers, an aspect which varied between Halls of Residences when students first launched the scheme, and meant that in some Halls potential contributions from students were ultimately disposed of in general waste.

Collaboration with the SU Volunteering department helped to ensure adequate and reliable involvement of student volunteers for collecting, sorting and storing items by advertising the programme as an official volunteering opportunity and including it as an activity that can gain volunteer recognition on the students’ final university transcript. This incentive helped to engage students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds (rather than limiting engagement to sustainability society members or students studying environmental-focussed programmes). Other processes that engaged more diverse students included providing “rewards” for volunteering, a more regular schedule for the required activities, and leadership and coordination opportunities. Partnership with the SU has helped address other challenges, such as engaging with off-campus students wanting to participate in the scheme, and the use of their commercial dishwashers to speed up cleaning items. This facilitated student volunteer involvement in other aspects of the scheme, such as measuring impact, thereby providing more meaningful experiential learning opportunities.

‘The Great Donate’ requires students coordinating it to develop systems thinking (a key sustainability skill (Sterling, 2004 in Dawe et al. , 2005 )), leading to a better understanding of how the University (as a complex system) functions, how to work across multiple scales to leverage change, and how actions may have emergent, unintended consequences (both good and bad) ( Wiek et al. , 2011 ). The project generates positive social, environmental and economic impacts for students, staff and wider society. Through donating food items and kitchen/household items, students connect to the local community and the issues faced by future students. The scheme also makes a quantifiable difference – in 2017, almost 3 tonnes of food was collected providing an estimated 8,000 meals for people experiencing food poverty. Since 2013, more than £50,000 of donations have been made through the British Heart Foundation “bring banks”, with £10,000 worth being donated in 2017 re-using a potential 8 tonnes of waste ( Keele University, 2018 ).

This collaboration between stakeholders has led to more effective and efficient operation of the scheme. Continued reflection by stakeholders including the Environmental Manager, Sustainability Project Officer, Accommodation Managers and Activities and Community Sabbatical Officer at the SU has identified potential future improvements, including promoting the scheme to avoid students purchasing kitchen items before arriving at Keele; creating boxes of kitchen equipment that students can pre-order before arriving at Keele; collecting items from postgraduate students leaving at different points in the academic year; greater involvement of off-campus students living in private rental accommodation; and measuring kitchen equipment donations to calculate impact. Crucially, developing the University and SU stakeholder partnerships through meetings involving representatives of all stakeholders has demonstrated student demand for the scheme, improved communication and planning, and increased institutional commitment to the scheme contributing to its future continuation.

Keele Food Co-op

Keele Food Co-op was launched through the Think:Green student society which is a sustainability focussed student group set up through and supported by the SU. Its aim was to help students access seasonal, organic and locally produced vegetables free from plastic packaging at point of purchase and was supported by funding from the National Union of Students. Keele students initiated, developed and ran a veg-bag scheme, including ordering produce, taking orders through the SU website, producing communications and marketing materials, and packing and selling the produce to students and staff for collection from a weekly stall. The scheme launched fruit bags in its second year, and in 2017 the scheme was successful in applying for funding to expand further into dried goods (although this was not realised as originally planned).

The student initiators of the project overcame a number of barriers to its establishment, including conflict between the scheme and a weekly vegetable market outside the SU, sourcing suitable suppliers, and establishing a payment mechanism through the SU. Keele Food Co-op continued to face challenges however, including attracting sufficient student volunteers to run the time-intensive enterprise; stock management; and receiving enough orders to provide the variety of produce that customers desired. There were also challenges with variable prices both in terms of increasing costs of produce from suppliers and reducing costs of organic produce in local supermarkets; availability of cheaper ‘wonky’ vegetables in supermarkets; significant delivery charges; and the relatively limited demand for fresh produce from students lacking confidence and experience cooking with fresh produce. Increasing prices for the veg-bags caused by rising delivery charges led to a decrease in the customer base. This, coupled with reduced marketing after the lead student left, resulted in erosion of the scheme.

Difficulties in attracting student volunteers may in part have been due to the initial reliance on ‘lead’ students who contributed a significant amount of their own time to ordering produce, packing bags and selling veg-bags, and too much reliance on friendship groups as a source of volunteer energy. Conflict arose from students feeling excluded if they could not commit the same amount of time as others (i.e. through timetable clashes between running the scheme and attending classes), or had different visions for the scheme, highlighting a common problem of unequal power distribution that volunteer-managed non-profit organisations can experience (Rothschild-Whitt, 1979 in Jain, 2012 ) as well as the problems associated with student transience and “cliquey-ness” ( Brodie et al. , 2011 ). Although other students continued running the scheme, it ultimately ceased operation 18 months after the initial lead student graduated.

Despite the decline of the veg-bag scheme, the commitment of students to this student-led enterprise led to a new initiative. With the support of management at the Students' Union and the Sustainability Project Officer, students were successful in developing the idea that had initially been proposed by Keele Food Co-op to sell dried goods. A successful application for funding from alumni, and reallocation of the NUS funding from the dried goods expansion, facilitated the launch of “Weigh to go” – a packaging-free section of the SU shop with ethically sourced products within the SU building. The SU adoption of operational management of the initiative ensures the longevity of a facility available to the whole Keele (and local) community every day and year-round. It also enabled ethically sourced products such as bamboo toothbrushes and detergent refills to be added to the shop’s range. The responsibility and workload for student volunteers is also significantly reduced meaning they can engage with the project in other ways, ultimately preventing the conflict between academic and co-curricular activities that can occur for engaged and committed students ( Leung et al. , 2011 ). With a percentage of the profits from the new ‘zero waste shop’ going towards student-led sustainability activities, the project demonstrates how the impact of partnership between students and staff members at the Students’ Union has allowed a student-led initiative to grow into something new and more impactful, and also to act as an enabler itself, furthering the resources available for sustainability initiatives in the future.

Sustainability Voice Representatives

Sustainability Voice Representatives (SVRs) are students who have a formal responsibility for driving forward sustainability through their courses, as part of the academic representation programme, overseen by the Student Voice department at the SU who are responsible for ensuring the effective representation of students in all aspects of the student experience including, as in this case, the academic experience. The inspiration for SVRs initially came from the University’s Law School, who created a ‘Green StARs’ (Student Academic Representatives) scheme as part of their engagement with the NUS Green Impact accreditation scheme in 2014-15. This initiative prompted the University’s ESD team and the SU’s Student Voice team to collaborate to introduce the role across all Schools in the University. The SU’s Student Voice team liaised with the University’s Quality Assurance Manager, whose remit includes overseeing quality standards of degree programmes, to gain agreement to develop the role and add an agenda item for programmes to consider sustainability during Staff-Student Voice Committee meetings.

The University-wide SVR role was launched at the 2017 Student Voice Conference run by the SU, which trains student academic representatives to facilitate the provision of feedback between students and programme teams about their academic experiences. Specific sustainability training for the SVRs was provided by the Sustainability Project Officer. A sustainability breakout session was also included in the annual ‘School Staff Champions’ meeting’ in February 2018, where the SU provides support and guidance to administrative and academic staff ‘champions’ about the academic representation programme within Schools. This session facilitated dialogue between the Student Voice Coordinator, Sustainability Project Officer and staff surrounding the new initiative and key concepts including the SDGs.

The SVR role faced a number of challenges in its first year (2017/2018). Despite initial positive interest from students across diverse programmes at the 2017 Student Voice Conference, engagement was impacted by a break between a Student Voice Coordinator leaving the SU and the current co-ordinator being appointed. Once the new Student Voice Coordinator was in post, action was taken to re-build the network of interested students. Additional training was delivered during an exhibition curated by the University’s ESD team to coincide with the NUS SDG Teach-in week. This training enabled the Sustainability Project Officer and Student Voice Coordinator to promote the SDGs and their link to disciplines, facilitate discussions and provide support around approaches to embedding sustainability into modules. Following the 2018 Student Voice Conference an embedded process was established, led by the SU as part of Student Voice administration, to communicate with and support SVRs.

A challenge for SVRs is overcoming negative perceptions about the relevance of the role within Schools, particularly where staff and students do not automatically see links to sustainability and their curriculum. SVRs need support and guidance to tackle conversations surrounding embedding ESD, and also where to signpost queries that could be better responded to by the ESD team. This potential issue also highlights the importance of staff engagement with the role within Schools. Flint et al. ’s, (2017) research found that student academic representation was seen as strongest where a positive commitment from staff (at all levels) existed. It also highlights the ESD team’s role in promoting ESD within all Schools, working with Learning and Teaching Directors, and supporting programme teams with advice and resources. The SVR process also has the potential to facilitate a previously inaccessible dialogue to the ESD team including student feedback, how programme teams are responding to that feedback, as well as informing student-led approaches to embedding ESD in the curriculum.

This initiative is in its early stages and is a means of facilitating discussions around sustainability in the curriculum with students as the drivers of those discussions. The SVRs are a formalised point of contact for student input into curriculum review and design within Schools ( Bovill et al. , 2010 ). This is an opportunity for all student academic representation systems; there could be a shift in focus from providing feedback on past experiences within programmes, to what Flint et al. (2017 , p. 39) refer to as “a forward-looking and enhancement focussed role through, for example, increasing involvement in curriculum design and development.” A survey conducted by the SU at the end of the 2017/18 academic year showed that 72 per cent of SVRs would like a more active role in designing programmes and modules across the University, demonstrating potential future impact if the SVR role was developed and utilised in this way.

Feedback from SVRs at the end of the 2017/18 academic year demonstrated that ‘Sustainability’ has been added onto some Student Staff Voice Committee agendas, however measuring the actions and impacts from this aspect of the role remains problematic. Whilst we have an ability to monitor discussion through formal meeting minutes, more effective methods of measuring and monitoring the actions taken, policies that are implemented and impacts from the process have not yet been established.

The partnership between the ESD team and the Student Voice team in this programme enables students to receive expert knowledge of sustainability within the curriculum whilst preparing and supporting them to navigate conversations within their School using academic student representation expertise provided by the Student Voice team. The ESD team also gains further insight into the current awareness of Education for Sustainability in Schools and opportunities for developing it.

Student Sustainability Bungalow

The Student Sustainability Bungalow was established in 2011, driven by students studying Keele’s BSc Environment and Sustainability programme who wanted to “live what they were learning”. Support from the Environment and Sustainability Programme Directors and the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Environment and Sustainability led to a partnership and collaboration with the Estates and Accommodation teams that identified a bungalow on campus with accommodation for four students. It consisted of a communal kitchen, living area, and large garden area to enable students to grow their own food and experiment with sustainable living.

The student initiators aimed to create an exemplar of sustainable student living to inspire other students to engage with pro-sustainability behaviours and projects and to engage with an immersive experience of living more sustainably than standard halls accommodation allowed. Each year four students live in the Bungalow and drive their own sustainability projects. Selection of the housemates is carried out by the Director of Education for Sustainability (who was also the Environment and Sustainability programme director for many years) who oversees the project. The housemates self-nominate themselves to undertake roles relating to data collection (mainly waste and energy monitoring), communications (i.e. social media, blogs), garden maintenance and project leadership. There is an expectation that students will produce a report at the end of the academic year on their activity and as a ‘feed-forward’ for the next year’s housemates.

The Sustainability Bungalow has experienced numerous challenges and has often been a source of conflict between students and the operations teams within the University. It has developed a negative reputation with some operations staff, yet within the University as a whole there is strong support for the initiative, with the vision of the Sustainability Bungalow feeding into future halls development projects.

Housemates have often had strong sustainability values and been keen to challenge the University on perceived ‘unsustainable’ actions. The Bungalow has played the role of a ‘hub’ for students with strong sustainability values and interests in activism. These values have led to the development of several major ‘change projects’ including the previously mentioned ‘Keele Food Co-op’ and ‘The Great Donate’. Involvement with these schemes has led to problems including students hoarding items that they felt should not have been thrown away and storing Great Donate stock before storage areas had been made available. These actions caused access problems for cleaning staff, general health and safety risks, and fire hazards. Some items had also been stored outside making them unusable and risking them becoming waste, creating additional work to remove them, and creating difficulties for Grounds teams to maintain grass and hedges. Frustrations for the project and new housemates were also caused through valuable shared resources such as books and kitchen equipment for communal cooking being disposed of when previous housemates moved out due to communication failures between University teams.

Reflections on the successes and conflicts with the project has identified that the need for a central point of contact is pivotal. This is provided through the Sustainability Project Officer, enabling consistent communication lines between students and key staff, and maintaining a more positive relationship. This highlights the importance of communication in retaining support from key stakeholders in student-led projects, not only for their success in the present but also to ensure the continuation of the project. It is crucial that Bungalow housemates understand their responsibility for the legacy of the project as their actions could impact the future of the project where it relies on collaboration with and support from stakeholders. Fortunately, different teams across the University have demonstrated an appreciation of the value of exploring student-led projects regardless of whether they remain active.

The project has academic oversight from the Director of Education for Sustainability and more regular support from the Sustainability Project Officer, along with a small budget to support housemates’ projects while living in the Bungalow. The Sustainability Project Officer meets regularly with the housemates, but can be contacted at any point for support. At the start of the project the Director of Education for Sustainability, who already had a formal academic relationship with the majority of students living in the Bungalow, was more directly involved with the project. However, support being provided by a member of the ESD team who is not involved in the students’ degree programmes helps provide greater separation between the formal and co-curriculum, and public and private aspects of students’ lives at university. This addresses some potential conflicts that could arise from power dynamics inherent in staff-student relationships ( Healey et al. , 2014 ).

Other support for the housemates is provided through the same channels that other students would access (i.e. accommodation-based enquiries to report faults or Student Services for advice and guidance). There is no financial advantage to students living in the Bungalow – they pay the same fees, but do have access to a different sort of living space. They are also able to live on campus in their second year, whereas they would normally be required to move off campus. To make the expectations of living in the Bungalow clear to students at an early stage, and to provide an opportunity for dialogue, in addition to their standard accommodation agreement, residents are required to sign a ‘Sustainable Student Bungalow Agreement’ outlining ‘house rules’ and expectations. However, as there is no repercussion for the students of not following these rules (as, for example, there is no financial benefit to living in the Bungalow), there are no formal mechanisms to manage students’ engagement with the project. Future iterations of the project are likely to address these issues through formalised contracting and fee arrangements, which will require further collaboration with Accommodation Services and Finance.

The garden can present a challenge for students who have little experience of growing their own food. Where previous students have neglected the garden, new housemates can find tackling weeds and making the garden productive a challenge. Students living in the Bungalow who have an interest in food growing are often also involved with the student allotments on campus, and can therefore struggle to choose between the garden at the Bungalow and engaging with the student allotments. Many crops are also ready to harvest during the months when most students are absent from the University, which can lead to wastage of crops and negative perceptions about being able to get a return on the effort put in to growing food ( Chaplin and Wyton, 2014 ; Comerford Boyes, 2008 in Hopkinson et al. , 2008 ). One way to address this is to involve students who are on campus at different points in the year, for example, postgraduate students. The Bungalow food growing area is part of the students’ private residence, rather than a neutral public space, therefore involvement of other groups in the maintenance of the garden needs to be carefully negotiated, being sensitive to students’ private space and their feeling of ownership for that space.

The Bungalow also has an area of shared social space which has become a meeting place for discussions and events for students interested in different aspects of sustainability, resulting in high numbers of visitors to the Bungalow. Although this increases the reach of and engagement with sustainability activities linked to the Bungalow, the increased occupancy puts additional wear and tear on the building, specifically on flooring when visitors fail to remove dirty footwear. Additional occupancy of the Bungalow also has implications for measuring energy consumption and waste generation i.e. when cooking communally, making it more difficult to measure whether students are actually living more sustainably. There are also limits on the capacity for the building which, if officially monitored, could cause further conflict with accommodation staff. The Bungalow residents are also required to host external visitors on occasions, for example, during Open Days or sustainability conferences, putting additional pressures on their living spaces.

Previous housemates’ use of the social space has created a legacy for hosting events such as VegSoc (a student society focussed on vegetarianism and veganism). This has the potential to put some students off applying to live in the Bungalow, or create a sense of obligation for new housemates to continue hosting events. On the other hand, the enrichment of student experience that has been gained through these events throughout the years should be recognised, and the sense of community provided through these sorts of activities can improve an individual's sense of belonging during their student life. It can also create additional workload in terms of cleaning and washing up however.

The Sustainability Bungalow is now recognised as a key sustainability feature for the University, showcased to external stakeholders and visitors at Open Days and conferences. Lobbied for by students, supported by academic staff and enabled by the ESD team, Accommodation and Estates teams, this project has encouraged further developments in sustainable living within the University, all as a result of the collaborative approach to sustaining this student-led innovation.

In each of the student-led projects explored in this case study, students have had the opportunity to engage with experiential learning, providing opportunity for deeper learning and understanding to be developed ( Kolb, 2015 ). The projects provide different levels of opportunity for students to be immersed in sustainability issues ( Figure 1 ) as active participants, gaining purposive experiences through changes to their own lives and the world around them ( Brodie et al. , 2011 ). By providing students with an immersive experience of sustainability issues through different projects, students encounter real-life sustainability problems and scenarios that they can learn from ( Dawe et al. , 2005 ), whilst developing skills and attributes such as problem solving, creativity ( Kearsley and Shneiderman, 1998 ), negotiation, marketing and communication, in a way which can be hard to replicate in the formal curriculum. The projects align with engagement theory through engaging students in learning through interaction with others and being involved in tasks that are worthwhile ( Kearsley and Shneiderman, 1998 ). This echoes constructivist learning approaches through the participatory and experiential nature of the projects, whilst providing intrinsic motivation for students due to the meaningfulness of the projects they create ( Kearsley and Shneiderman, 1998 ). The students perceive value in the activities through seeing impact on their student peers, the University community and the wider student community. In all projects, students work as team members applying skills such as communication and through collaboration, students create solutions to a problem they have identified, whilst donations of food, goods or time and effort enable students to benefit the University, future generations of students and wider society.

Enabling aspects to maximise student-led project outcomes

Key stakeholders.

All of the projects explored have involved key “enablers” ( Hopkinson et al. , 2008 ) in the form of stakeholders from both the University and SU. As described in the respective sections above, the different University and SU departments involved in the projects have provided the specialist knowledge and support needed for each project to exist and to develop. Where different departments within the University or SU have engaged in the student-led projects, there is impact, whether that be to initiate a project, to ensure the continuation of a project or to further the impact and scale of a project. Initial support from academic staff lobbying the University helped to establish the Sustainability Bungalow; the Student Voice team at the SU enabled the introduction of SVRs as a University-wide initiative; and 'The Great Donate' was made accessible to all Halls of Residence through contributions from the Environmental Manager, Portering team, Accommodation team Cleaning Services and the SU Volunteering Team.

The introduction of a Zero Waste Shop in the Students' Union was made possible through internal University (and external NUS) funding, support from SU senior management and the efforts of the SU Sabbatical Officers. This is testament to the initial actions of the students involved in Keele Food Co-op and an example of the pivotal role each branch of the partnership can play in enabling change. Involvement in these projects gives students the opportunity to engage with University structures, processes, networks and stakeholders to develop relationships and generate an understanding about how change happens and the range of people involved in achieving change.

Communication and early planning

The most vital resource to set up and maintain student-led projects is the time of those involved. Where multiple stakeholders are involved with different working practices and schedules, organising meetings that accommodate everybody’s diaries can be difficult. Different working practices can also lead to frustrations from different stakeholders. Students and staff work on different timescales and as such have different conceptualisations of time which can affect their relationships ( Laycock Pedersen et al. , 2019 ). Students are often frustrated at the seemingly slow rate of progress from University operations, and University staff frustrated by what is seen as unreliable communication and response to emails from students, who may not use email as their main form of communication. Encouraging a culture of empathy, face-to-face interaction, asking for help, and collaborative working between students and staff can support students in making progress in student-led projects. Early planning can also ensure that where schemes and projects need to align with other institutional commitments and timetables, resources and plans can be put in place.

Students leading with staff support

Although many student-led projects arise from student societies or can be inspired by content covered in the curriculum, there is a limit to the amount of time that students can commit to sustainability projects, particularly in an era when many students also have part-time paid work commitments ( Curtis and Shani, 2010 ; Hall, 2010 ). There is also a tendency for students to want to drive their own new projects, rather than “fit into” an existing initiative set up by others. Some projects will have a naturally short life span, ending when the interested students either run out of time or commitment, or leave the institution. These need not be seen as failures if they have provided benefit and learning during their lifespan, especially where they have catalysed new projects or challenged the status quo. There are also many projects which have a tangible benefit to the wider University community, and a case can be made for the University and/or SU to provide structure and support (for example, partnering with the SU volunteering team) to ensure a greater legacy and longevity of a student-initiated project.

The partnership’s role begins with providing the resources and platform to make projects a reality and continues through supporting their longevity and development, as well as sharing students’ achievements and project outcomes so their impact is recognised and celebrated. A staff member can gain added job satisfaction from being involved in student-led sustainability initiatives, derived from learning new skills, working on projects in line with personal values, or through having an active role in enhancing the student experience.

Providing space to fail

As the co-curricular activities discussed here are student-led and supported by other students, elected officers and members of staff, they afford students a safe space to venture beyond their comfort zone and approach challenges in a space where they are permitted to fail without significant or adverse consequences. Failure and “crisis” are thought to have considerable pedagogical potential ( Kapur, 2008 ), particularly in generating agency to act in times of decisive change ( Houwer, 2011 ). This safe space provides an important avenue for students to explore change making for sustainability while alleviating the fear of failure as part of their degree, and without impact on their degree classification.

Developing reflective practice to aid learning

Action and activism does not itself automatically lead to learning, without the inclusion of reflection ( Boud et al. , 1987 ; Kolb, 2015 ). To fully benefit from the projects outlined and for students to value the potential of learning from co-curricular activities, reflective practice needs to be considered as part of a co-curricular experience. Likewise, other project stakeholders need to reflect on the learning from projects to improve the project or future projects. While reflection is relatively easily achieved through the formal curriculum where reflective practice has become a common part of assessments ( Harvey et al. , 2010 ; Barton and Ryan, 2013 ) and often part of formal continuing professional development, this is more difficult in the co-curriculum sphere ( Harvey et al. , 2010 ) therefore it will require the partnership to create a culture of reflection and reflective practice as part of co-curricular activities and opportunities.

Barriers to student-led project achievements

Weak stakeholder relationships.

Although the student-led projects outlined in this paper were initiated by students and are supported by staff and elected officers, their sustained operation has been largely due to wider stakeholder involvement across the University. This means that key staff “enablers” ( Hopkinson et al. , 2008 ) need to develop and maintain good relationships with a wide range of University and SU stakeholders. In addition, key staff “enablers” need to support students to understand the range of stakeholders impacted by any ‘change’ project. Staff can either mediate all of the stakeholder relationships, or help students to establish and develop these stakeholder relationships in a relationship based on shared-power ( Helferty and Clarke, 2009 ). Although the latter holds greater risk, there are also greater benefits to students in developing change agency skills, with students gaining a greater understanding of different stakeholders and organisational structures, as well as developing an understanding and sensitivity to different priorities and pressures of stakeholders, and how to take these into account to help projects thrive. Well-supported students and well-managed staff-student relationships can also help counteract the problematic negative view of students from operational University staff, while involvement of a wide range of stakeholders can also lead to innovations and adaptations drawn from engaging different perspectives.

Failing to achieve interdisciplinarity

Although co-curriculum projects have the potential for greater interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity than is easily achieved in the traditional formal curriculum, the degree of involvement of students from different disciplinary backgrounds in the projects outlined is less than would ideally be observed. There is a strong overlap in the pool of students involved in the different projects, and where many of the projects arise from. Keele is one of only around ten institutions in the UK that run a sustainability-focussed undergraduate degree. Although not a very high recruiting programme, the course brings together students with a passion for sustainability, catalysing many major student-led sustainability projects on campus. The downside of this is that there are already often strong bonds formed through the formal curriculum, reinforced by shared co-curriculum activities and often strong shared values and behaviours. This can give an impression of “cliquey-ness” ( Brodie et al. , 2011 ), and make these projects less appealing for students who do not feel they “fit the mould”. The partnership has had the opportunity to tackle this barrier through one project, by informing student representatives with the expert knowledge held by the ESD team. With 18 elected student officers making up KeeleSU’s Union Council and nearly 400 academic representatives being trained and supported by the Students’ Union, there is wide scope in the potential to reach students from across disciplines.

Disengagement from activities

Where a sustainability society offers a flexible structure and the opportunity to be involved in a variety of activities, students may engage with that society as a result of just one of those activities being of interest to them, which can be problematic if that particular activity does not continue. A key reason for disengagement with student activities is where students find themselves unable to uphold all of their commitments and balance this with their academic priorities. British Universities and Colleges Sport (2018) found that the biggest barrier to activity was “too busy with studies”, with 76 per cent of students citing this as their main reason for not engaging with some form of physical activity. Whilst this cannot directly be applied to the sustainability projects discussed in this paper, the figure highlights the tendency of students in 2018-2019 to prioritise academic work above other aspects of their life, including health and lifestyle, suggesting a need for greater communication from different sources, including academic staff tutors, of the benefits of involvement with co-curricula activities.

Stakeholder transience

where key students who have initiated and led projects leave the University;

if staff with personal passion and who are ‘key enablers’ leave the institution or SU; and

transience of ideas and buy-in to a project from stakeholders due to changing priorities and staff.

Some projects are naturally smaller scale and may only last a year; others may struggle to get beyond the planning stage due to lack of interest, resources or competing commitments; others may have interest and resources but just do not work in reality at that specific point in time.

Student transience can cause problems for student-led projects, both in terms of students leaving universities, but also in terms of students reducing their involvement whilst remaining at their institution due to competing interests and commitments from academic deadlines ( Leung et al. , 2011 ) or other co-curricular commitments, leading to the depletion of the pool of volunteers ( Nesbit et al. , 2017 ). This can lead to the loss of knowledge retention and continuity in a project ( Laycock Pedersen and Robinson, 2018 ), which can cause further disengagement, slow down progress or halt a project. Collaboration between students, the University and SU teams can help to address some of these issues, and help develop a legacy of student-initiated projects, as can be seen with “The Great Donate”, “Keele Food Co-op” and the “Student Sustainability Bungalow”. In these cases, University or SU structures have grown to support the initial student-led ideas, whilst still maintaining student leadership. More formal involvement of SU or University stakeholders can develop effective communication of a project to attract students from wider disciplines as well as support student leadership, creating a wider team of students with allocated roles to ensure distributed responsibility for the project, helping reduce turnover and burnout of the volunteer pool ( Brodie et al. , 2011 ; Nesbit et al. , 2017 ). Increased staff support can, however, cause students to move away from leading on projects once they become embedded in institutional processes to start new campaigns where they perceive a requirement for action ( Helferty and Clarke, 2009 ).

The student-led co-curricular projects presented in this paper provide real-life experiences of sustainability that offer significant learning potential about driving change, but encompass several challenges, some of which can be overcome by effective partnership through different parts of the University and Students’ Union. Furthermore, they offer opportunities to link in with multiple SDGs, and to enable students to become members of an ‘energetic society’ who effect change as active citizens or members of civil society, driven by their personal concern relating to tackling sustainability challenges ( Hajer et al. , 2015 ).

Through partnerships between students, (whether through formal mechanisms enabled by SU staff or through smaller student groups) and Universities, collaborative spheres can be created that foster and encourage engagement and participation in new and existing student-led sustainability initiatives that can offer learning for all participants engaged in the collaborative process ( Healey et al. , 2014 ). Immersive experiential student learning opportunities through the co-curriculum can reinforce and develop theoretical formal curriculum learning. Whilst parts of the University’s Estates and Operations remit and its staff may sometimes feel relatively removed from the educational and research aspects of the University, this paper demonstrates that through partnership, they in fact contribute to the shared objective of the “student experience” and helping students develop skills and knowledge in driving change for sustainability.

Whilst they are not without unique challenges, the projects highlighted in this paper demonstrate the potential for student experience to be enhanced through partnership between a University and a Students’ Union, particularly when working collaboratively on student-led initiatives. This collaborative process also delivers an opportunity for students and staff, whether they are from the University or Students’ Union, to become agents of change for a more sustainable future.

Level of immersiveness of student-led sustainability projects at Keele University – SVRs, Keele Food Coop, The Great Donate halls move out scheme, and the Sustainability Bungalow – explored within this case study. The level of immersiveness is based on students being engaged as active participants in the projects

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support of the Higher Education Academy and National Union of Students whose funding has helped facilitate several projects. They acknowledge the wealth of energy and commitment of the students who have led and worked on the range of projects covered. They acknowledge in particular Mr Sam Gibbons for his insights and would thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

Corresponding author

About the authors.

Sarah Jayne Briggs is a Sustainability Project Officer at Keele University and Graduate of Keele’s Undergraduate Environment and Sustainability programme. Sarah’s undergraduate research project exploring social media as a mechanism for engaging users with sustainability was published in the Meliora International Journal of Student Sustainability Research . Sarah’s research interests are in engaging students and staff in higher education with sustainability through the curriculum, co-curriculum and wider campus activities, including through gamification of learning.

Zoe P. Robinson is Professor of Sustainability in Higher Education and Director of Education for Sustainability at Keele University, UK. Zoe is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a National Teaching Fellow for her work in the area of Education for Sustainable Development. Zoe’s teaching and research focuses on the broad area of sustainability in higher education with particular research emphasis on educational approaches, covering the development of sustainability as a field of research and study, supporting interdisciplinary learning and activist learning for sustainability.

Rachel Louise Hadley is the Student Voice Coordinator at Keele University Students' Union. Rachel graduated from Lancaster University with a degree in English Language where she developed her experience in the student movement holding collegiate and society officer roles during her undergraduate studies. Rachel's current role is to enable effective student representation in all aspects of the University, within Keele and externally, including on matters of national HE policy. Her interests are in developing student academic representation to incorporate crucial aspects of student interest and personal and professional development including employability, sustainability, inclusiveness and social learning.

Rebecca Laycock Pedersen is a Doctoral researcher in the School of Geography, Geology and the Environment at Keele University in the UK. She lives in Karlskrona, Sweden, where she works at Blekinge Institute of Technology's Department of Strategic Sustainable Development. Her research focuses on sustainable food systems, urban agriculture, education for sustainability and sustainability activism.

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American Student Union papers

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Assorted printed materials of the American Student Union and other student and youth organizations of the 1930s and 1940s make up these papers. The American Student Union, founded in 1935 in Columbus, Ohio, was a left-leaning organization of high school and college students. The literature of the organization contained in this collection stresses pacifism, human rights, equality, unionism, and the dissemination of education. Also stressed are anti-fascism and support for the Spanish Republic. Among the materials in the papers are a constitution, newsletters, minutes of meetings, convention proceedings, guides for chapters, programs, financial statements, resolutions and position statements, several pamphlets by Joseph P. Lash, clippings, ephemera, and related items. Also included in these papers are similar materials relating to the American Youth Congress, founded in 1834 in New York. This was another left-oriented youth group made up of college, church, trade union, and other organizations, and concerned with unemployment, education, public health, and social legislation to benefit youth. Finally, there are a few papers from several other youth groups, including the Campaign for Youth's Needs and Work Camps for America. Scattered throughout the papers are several pieces of correspondence of Robert E. Lane, a Harvard graduate who entered Yale Graduate School with the class of 1942 but never finished his degree. A portion of these papers belonged to Lane, who appears to have been a member of several of the organizations represented here. Materials relating to the Yale University Chapter of the American Student Union may be found under call numbers Yeg 8 / +Am 3n and Yeg 8 / Am 3.

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Miscellaneous printed material, news releases, pamphlets, and other publications of the American Student Union. Also included is material relating to the American Youth Congress and other student organizations.

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The American Student Union was founded in 1935 in Columbus, Ohio. It was a left-leaning organization of high school and college students stressing pacifism, human rights, unionism, anti-fascism, and support for the Spanish Republic.

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American Student Union Papers (MS 714). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/12/resources/4242 Accessed June 11, 2024.

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Student elections: why should you stand?

Becoming a students' union officer allows you to bring about the change you'd like to see in your institution. It also looks impressive on your CV. Learn more about running in a student election

Participating in an extra-curricular activity while at university has substantial career benefits; yet graduate employers often look for something more. Assuming a more active role within the students' union, or its numerous societies and sports clubs, is a good idea.

There are many elected roles available, with some requiring greater involvement than others. While societies and sports clubs host voluntary elected positions to run alongside your studies, the students' union offers numerous paid, full-time sabbatical roles - such as president, vice-president, education officer and welfare officer- that can be held for one or two years.

Learn more about  the importance of extra-curricular activities .

'I decided to run for election as I had been the men's rep on our students' council for two years and had developed a passion for student voice and welfare,' says Joe Bigland, VP welfare officer at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) Students' Union (SU).

'Additionally, the democratic processes in the union showed me the influence that officers and student reps can have and I built a manifesto that I thought could harness that influence and help students.'

If you're considering running in a student election, Joe highlights some of the reasons you should give it a go:

• It's a great way to give back to a union that has looked after your interests at university.
• It's a rewarding job as you get to see a change you've implemented and think 'I did that'.
• You get the opportunity to create change in huge institutions for years to come and make life better for future students.

Here are a few things you should bear in mind before kicking off your campaign…

The advantages of standing in a student election

First and foremost, elected students have the ability to drive change. By leading campaigns or organising events, you can steer the direction of your society, sports club or wider university, and advance the causes that you and your peers believe in.

Involvement extends to wider university matters for those in more senior roles. Sabbatical officers sit on major committees with the vice-chancellor and the senior team - providing an invaluable insight into the higher education sector. You really get to understand what the university does and see how it works from the inside 

Taking a more active role also allows you to interact with students from a variety of  backgrounds and this can result in strong, long-lasting friendships. You'll work with a diverse range of people, including academics, university senior management, university staff, union staff, the wider community and importantly, the eclectic make-up of students.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of becoming involved in your students' union is boosting your employability. The experience you'll gain will look great on your  CV  and you'll be able to use relevant examples from your time in office to back up skills in your  cover letter  and at  interview . Tasks such as managing budgets and running effective meetings develop qualities such as drive, leadership, influencing, multitasking, organising, communication and negotiating. Having to make decisions that may be unpopular with your peers also enhances resilience.

'The biggest advantage is the experience you get on the job,' agrees Joe. 'Not many people can say that they became a trustee of a large charity and a company director while taking a gap year or having recently graduated.

In the three months I've spent in this job, I've gained professional experience in public speaking, events planning, policy review, problem solving and presentation,' adds Joe.

The disadvantages

There are, however, some drawbacks; most notably the fact that increased involvement results in increased time pressures. For the more demanding roles you must be willing to sacrifice much of your time, which may impact upon your studies or social life. Discover  how to balance work and study .

Joe highlights the demands of the job. 'I won't sugar coat it, there can be quite a few challenges. The stress is a big factor, going from being a student to having strategic input in an entire organisation can be pretty daunting.

At UCLan, SU officers have to attend student casework meetings, things like student complaints and academic misconduct, which means that we sit on panels that decide whether or not students get expelled for breaking the rules. That can be hard to do, especially as we were students ourselves not too long ago.

It's also easy for your social life to revolve around the SU. The issues that you face day-to-day can dominate conversations outside of work, and all of these factors result in you thinking about the SU 24/7. All officers have to protect their free time and ensure they have some time away.'

How to win a student election

The best way to win a student election is to follow the advice of previous successful candidates. But remember that the more demanding roles will require greater preparation.

• Believe that you're the best person for the job  - Have confidence in yourself and truly believe in what you stand for if you want people to vote for you. If you don't believe you can win, nobody else will.
• Organise your manifesto  - Know in advance what your campaign will focus on. This involves combining your personal beliefs with those of your peers. Figure out your 'brand' and capitalise on your unique selling points. Keep the message simple and recruit a good support team.
• Practice public speaking  - You'll be doing plenty of this before and during your tenure, so it's important to hone your communication abilities. Take up every opportunity to practice speaking in front of an audience - be this through course assignments, work presentations or hobbies.
• Be visible  - If you want to win an election you need to be recognisable to student voters. You won't win by just printing your face on a few posters. Get out and about on campus - chat to students face-to-face.
• Don't over promise  - Be realistic and honest throughout your campaign and don't make promises you can't keep. If you need a bit of guidance on what's plausible speak to current union officers.

With that in mind, in Joe's experience it's all about how much you care. 'If students can see how driven you are to improve their experience, then they'll vote for you.

I also think it's important to not just do social media campaigns, sometimes in-person canvassing can be very effective. It depends on the culture and layout of your university, but make sure you consider all options to figure out what might work best.'

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Essay on Union is strength

The union can be referred to as ‘one for all and all for one’. When some people united to make a group or union, they feel more powerful and strong than they were in individual situations. And this feeling of power and confidence increases their physical and mental strength. This nation has several examples of unity when it has been proved that “Union is strength”. We all realize and accept the power of unity and by being united no one can harm us at the social, physical or financial levels. History proves that without unity no war can be won whether in the case of India’s Independence from British rule or in the case of several wars that happened among various kings in India.

Sample Essay on Union is Strength for Students

Essay 1 (400 words).

The power of unity and feeling of togetherness is the biggest need of any living kind whether they are human or any other living kind like birds or animals. They all require being in a group or union to face unwanted or critical situations coming in their life.

A single person whether is physically too powerful but cannot live alone and cannot face different circumstances in life. A person always needs someone and by being united even a physically week person can also face the negative situation in an easy and efficient manner with the help of his family and friends due to having unity.

Various stories are based on this fact about unity and its power, which we have heard in our childhood and now tell those stories to our children. Various examples are taken in those stories related to the power of unity. One is about some pigeons which were trapped in a net by a fowler and when they decided to be united they got success in flying along with the net.

Unity has various examples like a big sea is made of countless single drops, a rope is made of a number of single threads and a huge building consists of various single bricks. These examples show the strength of Unity. Even this whole world is made of uncounted molecules and atoms. Thus we can feel and experience the power of union.

The union is strength proves at a different level:

We can start describing the power or strength of union from our family. Having unity among family members, a family can handle any kind of situation whether good or bad. Unity in a family gives a person physical and financial security along with mental support.

Now we talk about the unity in the nation, a country is safe and secure until the people living here are united and unanimous. A country with having unity among citizens of it can tackle any kind of national crisis. And at the international level, the common problems of the whole world like global warming and terrorism also need unity among all countries and people to solve it.

Conclusion:

Globally, many problems are raising their head like global warming or problem of terrorism and it is needed to be united in a manner to handle and tackle these crises and at some level, it has been possible for various countries to be united and together for facing this situation in recent past years.

Essay 2 (600 words)

Introduction:

“Union is strength” means unity is the biggest power that can defeat or face any kind of situation or problem existed in this world. We all have heard a lot of stories about the strength of union in our childhood, one of them was about a farmer who had four sons but they always fought against each other.

Some day their father gave a stick to them and ordered to break it, everyone quickly broken it then the father asked them to collect all the sticks and bind it with rope. Again he asked his all sons to break it. Everyone tried but couldn’t succeed. Then their father made them realized the power of unity.

Above was the best and suitable example of this phrase of “Union is strength”. Other examples can be seen by us in our nature like uncounted single drops are used to make a sea and uncounted molecules are joined to make this universe. Same as each figure combined to make a punch and number of bricks are used to make a huge building.

Though we all know that at the alone level we all are weak but if we come together and be unite we get more powerful. This power of unity has been proved for many years and in many ways. Various kings were defeated due to the absence of unity and many were won due to the presence of a union.

In fact, in the case of our country India, where India was under British Rule, British people follow the policy of “divide and rule” and ruled them for many years. And in 1947, India got independence when people of it came together and fought against British Rule. Thus many incidents happened in history that realize and teach us the power of Union.

Advantages of Union is Strength

• Physical Security: As we discussed above by having unity we become more powerful at the physical level and able to face any kind of circumstance.
• Social Security: Union is strength does not only relate to physical power but also unity in thoughts and relationships. People who represent a community with unity always feel secured at a social level.
• Financial Security: Being united and gathered by physically, people get financial security as well.

Another phrase that relates to this is “United we stand, divided we fall” means until we are united we are at a strong position and no one can harm us but if we got divided or distributed it will more easy for anyone to defeat us.

At the National level also it is proved that union is strength. This country totally depends on the strength and power of unity. India is the country of different religions and different communities but at last, all the people are Indians and have proud to be Indians.

Any social issue that is standing in front of us can be solved by having unity in people of India whether it is a case of terrorism, corruption, poverty, child labor or overpopulation. No issue is impossible to solve, just require team support which is possible by having unity in their thoughts and efforts.

Unity is the power of any living kind which exists in this world either human beings, birds or animals. The power of unity is the same for all and has different advantages. Each person or other living kind is secure and safe until he is in the group, when they are alone they can be easily troubled or destroyed by anyone. Thus we all should follow this rule to be united and powerful in a manner to handle any circumstance or situation either good or bad.

Related Information: 

10 Lines on Unity

10 Lines on Unity is Strength

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Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Labor Unions — Why Unions Are Important: A Comprehensive Analysis

Why Unions Are Important: a Comprehensive Analysis

• Categories: Labor Unions

About this sample

Words: 768 |

Published: Sep 12, 2023

Words: 768 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Table of contents

The historical context of unions, benefits for workers, relevance in the modern labor landscape, challenges and the path forward.

• Higher Wages: Unionized workers typically earn higher wages than non-unionized counterparts. Collective bargaining allows workers to negotiate for competitive compensation packages, ensuring that their labor is adequately rewarded.
• Better Working Conditions: Unions advocate for safe and healthy working conditions. They hold employers accountable for maintaining safe workplaces, reducing the risk of workplace accidents and injuries.
• Job Security: Unions help protect workers from unfair terminations and layoffs. Through contractual agreements, unions ensure that workers can only be dismissed for just cause, providing job security and peace of mind.
• Healthcare and Benefits: Many unions negotiate comprehensive healthcare plans and benefits packages for their members, improving workers' access to medical care and financial security.
• Retirement Security: Unions often secure pension plans and retirement benefits, allowing workers to retire with dignity and financial stability.

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Building A More Perfect Union Lesson Book

Building A More Perfect Union

National History Day and the National Endowment for the Humanities

The  National Endowment for the Humanities  and  National History Day  created  Building a More Perfect Union   as part of the NEH’s special initiative to advance civic education and the study of U.S. history and culture in preparation for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 

Looking ahead to 2026, we worked with scholars and teachers across the country to create two essays on the American Revolution and 15 lesson plans for middle school and high school social studies classrooms. These materials explore events, legislative accomplishments, and civic actions throughout U.S. history—from foreign policy to civil rights to debates surrounding citizenship— that collectively moved us toward a more perfect union. Each lesson also includes ideas for how to connect themes and concepts related to a more perfect union to other lesson topics presented in  Building a More Perfect Union  to support integration across curriculum.

Toward a More Perfect Union Author: Dr. Serena Zabin, Carleton College

This essay examines the protests and resistance movements that ultimately boiled over into what would become the American Revolutionary War. From the end of the French and Indian War, through the Stamp Act and the actions of the Sons of Liberty, to the Peace of Paris in 1783, this essay covers the origins and events that moved the colonies toward becoming an independent nation.

The American Revolution in Four Questions: Digging Deeper for Unfamiliar Stories Author: Adrienne Whaley, Museum of the American Revolution

Using questions and primary sources to explore the roots and events of the American Revolution, this essay offers a fresh examination of the era and provides a series of questions for teachers and students to consider for further research.

Authored by  Kyle Johnson (Topeka, KS), this lesson on the effects of the French and Indian War is framed by the guiding question " How did the French and Indian War influence colonial attitudes toward British rule?"

EDSITEment materials related to this lesson include:

• Colonial Broadsides and the American Revolution
• Empire and Identity in the American Colonies
• Humanities Feature: The History of the Stamp Act Shows How Indians Led to the American Revolution

Coming of the American Revolution

Author Josh Elders's (McMurray, PA) lesson on the Whiskey Rebellion poses the guiding question "To what extent was the U.S. government’s handling of the Whiskey Rebellion justified?" to investigate this turning point in U.S. history. 

• Washington and the Whiskey Rebellion
• Federalists and Democratic-Republicans: The Platforms They Never Had
• The Federalist Debates: Balancing Power Between State and Federal Governments
• The First American Party System: A Documentary Timeline of Important Events (1787-1800)

Created by Katherine Corrado (Purcellville, VA), this lesson on the Monroe Doctrine combines primary sources from across the 19th century to engage students in a debate in response to the guiding question "How has U.S. involvement in foreign affairs shaped a “more perfect union?”"

• The Monroe Doctrine: Origin and Early American Foreign Policy
• The Origins of “Wilsonianism”
• 50 Core Documents That Tell America’s Story
• The Spanish-American War

Erik Peterson's (Santa Ana, CA) lesson on the work of women during the Abolition movement of the 19th century asks students to investigate the guiding question "How was women’s involvement in the Abolitionist Movement an important step toward their political agency?"

• The Forgotten Suffragists
• How Reconstruction Transformed the Constitution
• Chronicling and Mapping the Women’s Suffrage Movement
• Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
• Legislation Impossible: The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Authored by Jeffrey Hinton (Las Vegas, NV), this lesson on African American suffragists asks students to evaluate primary and secondary sources when considering "To what extent did African Americans advance the woman’s suffrage movement?"

• “How Black Suffragists Fought for the Right to Vote and a Modicum of Respect”
• Who Were the Foremothers of the Women’s Suffrage and Equality Movements?
• The Declaration of Sentiments by the Seneca Falls Conference (1848)

Amie Dryer (Prince Frederick, MD) created a lesson on Chinese American resistance to segregation during the 19th and 20th centuries that is framed by the compelling question "How did Chinese Americans challenge the doctrine of separate but equal schools in California and Mississippi?"

• “The Chinese Exclusion Act Raised the Price of Becoming an American”
• Asian American & Pacific Islander Perspectives within Humanities Education
• BackStory: To Be a Citizen? The History of Becoming American
• JFK, LBJ, and the Fight for Equal Opportunity in the 1960s
• “Massive Resistance in a Small Town”

This lesson on the history of labor unions and worker movements by Kristen Rentschler (Columbia City, IN) asks students to consider the guiding question "How did American labor unions work to create a more perfect union for workers?"

• The Industrial Age in America: Sweatshops, Steel Mills, and Factories
• National History Day Resources: Conflict and Compromise in History
• “Railroad Melee”
• BackStory: Women at Work

Marian Cronin-Connolly (Philadelphia, PA) created a lesson on the founding and work of the NAACP for the advancement of civil rights that asks students to investigate the guiding question "How has the NAACP’s mission helped the United States to forge “a more perfect union?”

• Birth of a Nation, the NAACP, and Civil Rights
• NAACP’S Anti-Lynching Campaigns: The Quest for Social Justice in the Interwar Years
• BackStory: Shattering the Glass Ceiling
• W.E.B. Du Bois Papers

Westley Green's (Gautier, MS) lesson on the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act provides a collection of primary sources for students to analyze when evaluating the guiding question "How have American Indians and the U.S. government debated the meaning of American citizenship?"

• What Does it Mean to Be American?
• Exploring the Great Plains Indian Wars and Military Forts in Kansas
• A Nation of Treaties
• American Indian History and Heritage

This lesson on Supreme Court cases brought forth by Japanese Americans created by Robbie See (Livermore, CA) poses the guiding question "As Japanese immigrants struggled to own farmland in California, who was most influential in building an inclusive society: the state, the nation, or the people themselves?"

• Japanese American Internment Camps During WWII
• Pearl S. Buck: “On Discovering America”
• Connecting the Past and Present with the Immigrant Stories Project
• Everything Your Students Need to Know About Immigration History

Using a dinner party-inspired activity, this lesson on women and the civil rights movement by Emily Lewellen (Nashville, IN) asks students to discuss the guiding question "How did women contribute to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States?"

• Grassroots Perspectives on the Civil Rights Movement: Focus on Women
• Voices of Democracy: Women Leaders of the Civil Rights Struggle
• “Tune in Tuesdays: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi”
• The Freedom Riders and the Popular Music of the Civil Rights Movement

Chris Stewart (Forest Lake, MN) created a lesson on Native American civil rights and citizenship that includes the guiding question "How did the rights of American Indians change between the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 and the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968?"

• Not “Indians,” Many Tribes: Native American Diversity
• “American Originals”
• Darkness over the Plain: The Bison in American History
• Teacher’s Guide: American Indian History and Heritage

This lesson on policies and issues related to immigration to the U.S. during the mid-20th century by Sharon Gillette (New Taipei City, Taiwan) asks students to investigate the guiding question "How did Cold War foreign policies shape immigration to the U.S. during the twentieth century?" 

• The Origins of the Cold War, 1945–1949
• Civil Rights and the Cold War
• The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962: The Missiles of October
• The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and Escalation of the Vietnam War

Author Deanna McDaniel's (Westerville, OH) lesson on competing perspectives about the Equal Rights Amendment provides an array of primary sources for students to analyze as they consider the compelling question "To what extent has the debate over the Equal Rights Amendment contributed to a more perfect union?"

• Teacher's Guide: Women's History in the United States
• Women’s Equality: Changing Attitudes and Beliefs
• Super Role Model

Suzan Turner's (Nashua, IA) lesson on the Americans with Disabilities Act includes multimedia and primary source materials for students to examine as they investigate the guiding question "How did the Americans with Disabilities Act lead to a more perfect union?"

•  “50 States of Preservation: The Museum of disABILITY History in Buffalo, New York”
• The Helen Keller Archive: Access for All  
• Digitization of the Helen Keller Archival Collection at the American Federation of the Blind
• Veterans Speak: War, Trauma, and the Humanities

Materials & Media

Building a more perfect union lesson book, related on edsitement, a more perfect union, preparing for national history day, chronicling america: history's first draft, competing voices of the civil rights movement, landmarks of american history and culture, backstory: legislation impossible - the civil rights act of 1964, declare the causes: the declaration of independence.

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Essays on Student Union

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Academic Writing Guide

Writing process.

• Citation and Style

Structuring your Writing

Critical analysis, editing and proofreading, academic support resources.

The writing process can generally be divided into four steps. No writing project will follow these steps perfectly, and you will occasionally find yourself going back to earlier steps or jumping ahead based on what information you need at what stage. Generally speaking though, it is strongly recommended to follow the process as much as you can.

Make sure to outline what areas of research you need to cover before you start reading. Make sure you are using reputable sources, not just articles off the internet. One way to do this is to use sites approved by your tutors or finding authors that you trust and looking at their bibliography to find more sources.

Keep the topic of your work in mind, make sure that all your points are relevant to the question. It is useful to structure your paragraphs as well as the whole essay; this means planning your argument for each paragraph and how you will link each paragraph together. 

The first draft of your work should just be focused on getting your argument and plan on paper, you can re-write it and edit it to the word count later. Make sure that your argument is clear in every paragraph and that your style is appropriate for the essay. 

Make sure to leave enough time for revision and editing so that you don’t hand your work in with easily rectified errors. Take the time to read your work looking for one error at a time. For example if you know that you sometimes miss out articles, read your work through checking only your articles. Then read it through again looking only for verb conjugation. Then again for structure and clarity. Try to read your work through multiple times, looking for only one thing each time. 

Citation and Style

Preferred citation and style varies across departments and even tutors, so always check with your department’s academic guide for what you specifically need to do.

Generally UCL uses either Harvard or Chicago citation styles and guides on how to do this are available online and linked below. Citations are used to give credit to an author, help other readers find the writing that influenced your work, show how much research you’ve done and back up your argument with other works.

As a general rule to avoid plagiarism, if you’re stating something that is common knowledge e.g. that climate change is a threat or that there is a growing trend that more and more animals are becoming endangered, this does not require citation. However if you are quoting someone’s work, stating their argument or using their data, you need to use a citation.

Click here for UCL style guides .

Click here for UCL citation guides .

Introduction

The introduction of an essay should generally be about 10% of your essay, so in a 10,000 word dissertation it should be about 1000 words, in a 2,500 word essay it should be about 250 words. Of course this is not an exact number, but this is the general number you should be aiming for.

The introduction should set the scene of the essay and introduce any necessary background details for the essay. This may be outlining the current situation surrounding your essay, or the historical background to your topic. Additionally you may need to define any terms given in your essay title or explain the parameters of discussion.

Signposting

One way to help structure your essay is to use signposting. Signposting means using phrases and words to guide the reader through the content of your essay. Signposting helps make the point of your essay clear and obvious to the reader. This is done simply through using phrases that make it clear where the essay is going. Below is an example short example with signposting phrases highlighted in orange:

You can read more on signposting here.

Paragraphs help divide your essay into manageable chunks and are a fundamental part of your essay. You should aim to only include one point per paragraph, almost as if you are writing a mini essay each time. This is to make sure that each point is distinct and well-argued before moving on to the next one.

One effective way of structuring paragraphs is ‘PEEL’. Within paragraphs an effective way to structure them is using the PEEL method. PEEL stands for:

• Introduce your point (your own words)
• Add the evidence to support your point (quoted or paraphrased evidence that needs to be referenced)
• Explain how and why this evidence supports your point and what you think of it (your own interpretation and critical thinking)
• Link it back to your overall argument.

One paragraph in an essay about whether animals should be kept in zoos might look like this:

First of all, removing animals from their natural habitat is incredibly cruel. When kept captive, these beautiful creatures become bored and lonely, often leading to a condition called ‘zoochosis’. Animals suffering from zoochosis begin performing anxious, repetitive acts such as rocking back and forth, swaying, grooming themselves excessively and vomiting. Conditions such as this clearly demonstrate that wild animals belong in the wilderness and not in restrictive, prison-like enclosures. Animals must be freed from zoos now, so that this terrible suffering and mental torture ends for good.

(i) State your point (ii) Support with evidence (iii) Explain the evidence (iv) Link to the topic

The conclusion should not introduce any new points or arguments, it should be a reiteration of the argument presented in your essay. Your conclusion may summarise the points made in your argument and may reiterate why they are relevant to the discussion.

If relevant, the conclusion may also link to wider problems or debates in the field, or how your essay contributes to these discussions. You may also include areas where more research is needed or what questions still need answering in your field of research.

Critical analysis is an essential part of the essay writing process. Critical analysis shows the reader (and more importantly your tutor) that you are actively engaged with what you are reading, and you are not just accepting arguments without thinking about the. In other words, you are carefully considering an idea and weighing up the evidence supporting it to see if it is convincing. Then you need to explain why you find the evidence convincing or unconvincing. Finally you must state why you agree or disagree with a good reason.

Often you will not totally disagree with an author’s argument or you may agree with some parts but not all. This means that you have to state which parts of an author’s arguments you agree with and which parts you do not agree with. Sometimes you may even agree with an overall argument but may not agree with an author’s methodology or how they presented their data.

Here are some things to keep in mind with critical analysis:

• Consider the intended audience
• Is the author making a well-reasoned argument backed up by facts?
• Does the author cite sources? Can you verify the facts yourself? Does the information appear valid and well-researched? Is it backed up by evidence?
• Do you detect any bias on the part of the author?
• Does the work update other sources, add new information, or substantiate other material you have already acquired?
• Is the material primary (raw material, first-hand accounts such as diaries, government documents, contemporary newspaper articles, scientific research reports) or secondary (scholarly journal articles, books, encyclopaedia articles)?
• Is the work logically organised? Are the main points clearly presented? Is the work easy to read? Does it flow logically, or is it choppy?

Your argument should be clearly stated in one or two lines in the introduction and conclusion of your essay. The aim of your argument is to show that you can think critically about a topic and come to an original and independent conclusion which is backed up by research.

An argument doesn’t have to ‘come down on one side or the other’. In fact, most often, given the complexity of life, a good argument will offer a nuanced line that rejects any simplicity.

Firstly, what is the difference between editing and proofreading?

Editing: revising a text to ensure the message is clear and coherent for maximum impact. Editing focuses on tone, structure, voice, word quality and quantity.

Proofreading: revising a text to ensure grammar, spelling and formatting are all correct and consistent

The first few readings of your essay should be dedicated to clarity and coherence. Namely, does your essay make sense? Is the argument clear and understood? Are your transitions logical? The second reading should be dedicated to what you know you make errors on. This could be grammatical mistakes you know you make, or structural problems you make often. If possible you should allow time for re-writing and re-working your essay until you’re satisfied. Always make time for proofreading and editing, otherwise you risk making small mistakes which could affect your overall grade.

When editing, things to keep in mind are:

• Overall Structure
• Structure within paragraphs

When proofreading, things to keep in mind are:

• Don’t rely entirely on spelling checkers or grammar checkers
• Proofread for only one kind of error at a time.
• Read slowly, and read every word. Try reading out loud, which forces you to say each word and also lets you hear how the words sound together.
• Separate the text into individual sentences. Read each sentence separately, looking for grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors.
• Circle every punctuation mark to see if it’s used correctly.
• The proofreading process becomes more efficient as you develop and practice a systematic strategy.

Style Guides by Department (UCL)

Check here to see what style guide your department expects students to use

UCL Academc Communication Centre

The UCL Academic Communication Centre (ACC) is a new support service to enhance UCL students’ discipline-specific writing and speaking skills. They work closely with UCL academic departments and faculties to develop tailored workshops, classes and tutorials for native and non-native English speakers.

UCL Writing Lab

The Writing Lab is a free service offered through the UCL Academic Communication Centre which runs workshops, tutorials and support sessions to enhance academic writing and research skills. The Writing Lab's services are available for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Joint Faculties of Arts & Humanities and Social & Historical Sciences, the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, and Psychology & Language Sciences.

IOE Writing Centre

The IOE Writing Centre is one of UCL’s most complete academic writing resources for students. It provides insight into how to manage the writing process effectively as well as links to all of the style guides (e.g. Harvard, APA) available on LibGuides. It also offers straightforward instructions on how to cite effectively to avoid plagiarism

Purdue OWL Writing Lab

Purdue is one of the most complete and authoritative higher education writing resources on the web. It provides clear and detailed guidance on every stage of the writing process and includes useful information on subject specific writing. Note: Purdue OWL uses American English. Usually this is not a problem but if you have any doubt about whether a usage or spelling is appropriate for a British English context, check with our peer tutors or consult the IOE Writing Centre link above

Linguee is a web-sourced comparative usage dictionary for 25 languages. It allows students to search a word or phrase in one language to find authoritative examples of how it is used in web-published text alongside comparative examples from another language. Ask one of our peer tutors for guidance on how to use it most effectively.

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Essays That Worked

The essays are a place to show us who you are and who you’ll be in our community.

It’s a chance to add depth to something that is important to you and tell the admissions committee more about your background or goals. Below you’ll find selected examples of essays that “worked,” as nominated by our admissions committee. In each of these essays, students were able to share stories from their everyday lives to reveal something about their character, values, and life that aligned with the culture and values at Hopkins.

Read essays that worked from Transfer applicants .

Hear from the class of 2027.

These selections represent just a few examples of essays we found impressive and helpful during the past admissions cycle. We hope these essays inspire you as you prepare to compose your own personal statements. The most important thing to remember is to be original as you share your own story, thoughts, and ideas with us.

Ordering the Disorderly

Ellie’s essay skillfully uses the topic of entropy as an extended metaphor. Through it, we see reflections about who they are and who they aspire to be.

Pack Light, But Be Prepared

In Pablo’s essay, the act of packing for a pilgrimage becomes a metaphor for the way humans accumulate experiences in their life’s journey and what we can learn from them. As we join Pablo through the diverse phases of their life, we gain insights into their character and values.

Tikkun Olam

Julieta illustrates how the concept of Tikkun Olam, “a desire to help repair the world,” has shaped their passions and drives them to pursue experiences at Hopkins.

Kashvi’s essay encapsulates a heartfelt journey of self-discovery and the invaluable teachings of Rock, their 10-year-old dog. Through the lens of their companionship, Kashvi walked us through valuable lessons on responsibility, friendship, patience, and unconditional love.

Classical Reflections in Herstory

Maddie’s essay details their intellectual journey using their love of Greek classics. They incorporate details that reveal the roots of their academic interests: storytelling, literary devices, and translation. As their essay progresses, so do Maddie’s intellectual curiosities.

My Spotify Playlist

Alyssa’s essay reflects on special memories through the creative lens of Spotify playlists. They use three examples to highlight their experiences with their tennis team, finding a virtual community during the pandemic, and co-founding a nonprofit to help younger students learn about STEM.

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Union Ordered to End University of California Campus Strikes (1)

By Maia Spoto and Laura D. Francis

The union representing 48,000 of the University of California’s graduate student workers must halt a series of rolling strikes at several campuses over the university’s handling of pro-Palestinian protests after a state judge ordered them to stop.

The school system’s lawyers showed “good cause” for the court to grant a temporary restraining order against United Auto Workers Local 4811, Judge Randall J. Sherman of the California Superior Court in Orange County ruled Friday.

The union and its affiliates can’t strike while the no-strike clauses in the collective bargaining agreements are in effect and until the court holds a show cause hearing, Sherman wrote.

UAW Local 4811 is one of several unions representing academic workers nationwide that have pushed universities to divest from companies tied to the Israeli government, and sought accountability over their handling of protests related to the Israel-Hamas war.

Unions at Brown University, the University of Southern California, and Harvard University have filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, which oversees labor issues in the private sector.

UC filed its lawsuit Monday , saying UAW Local 4811 broke its contract with the school system by calling tens of thousands of workers to strike, delaying end-of-year grades, blocking facilities, and jeopardizing “life-saving research in hundreds of laboratories.”

California’s Public Employees Relations Board denied UC’s request to stop the strikes earlier this week. The union said UC broke state labor law by calling police to break up encampments and changing workplace rules without bargaining because of the protests.

“We are extremely grateful for a pause in this strike so our students can complete their academic studies. The strike would have caused irreversible setbacks to students’ academic achievements and may have stalled critical research projects in the final quarter,” Melissa Matella, UC’s associate vice president for Systemwide Labor Relations, said in a statement.

“From the beginning, we have stated this strike was illegal and a violation of our contracts’ mutually agreed upon no-strike clauses,” she said.

Strike Legality Undetermined

Sherman’s TRO Friday doesn’t reach the merits of whether the strike is illegal under state law.

Labor observers say an ultimate decision on the legitimacy of the strike will come down to whether UC broke the law by calling in police to break up pro-Palestinian encampments and whether the university made material changes to workplace rules without bargaining.

Unions can strike in response to employers’ unfair labor practices even if the parties have a no-strike clause in an existing collective bargaining agreement.

“The temporary restraining order does not mean that the strike has been ruled ‘illegal.’ Decades of labor law establishing the right of unions to strike over serious unfair labor practices is on our side,” the union said in a statement Friday.

UAW Local 4811 also noted that PERB filed its own motion in the case to assert that the board is the appropriate authority to make determinations about California’s labor law, but that Sherman refused to consider the motion at this time.

“It is nearly unheard-of for public employers to try and sidestep PERB’s jurisdiction when faced with an unfavorable decision,” the union said. “The university’s actions notwithstanding, PERB will retain jurisdiction and set the unfair labor practices for trial.”

The case is Regents of the Univ. of Cal. v. United Auto Workers Local 4811 , Cal. Super. Ct., No. 30-2024-01403666-CU-MC-CXC, 6/7/24.

To contact the reporters on this story: Maia Spoto in Los Angeles at [email protected] ; Laura D. Francis in Washington at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stephanie Gleason at [email protected] ; Jay-Anne B. Casuga at [email protected]

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2023-24 Guidance for Artificial Intelligence Tools and Other Services

Ap african american studies policy.

Generative AI tools must be used ethically, responsibly, and intentionally to support student learning, not to bypass it. Accordingly, the AP African American Studies Individual Student Project must be the student’s own work. While students are permitted to use generative AI tools consistent with this policy, their use is optional and not mandatory.  

Students can use generative AI tools as optional aids for exploration of potential topics of inquiry, initial searches for sources of information, confirming their understanding of a complex text, or checking their writing for grammar and tone. However, students must read primary and secondary sources directly, perform their own analysis and synthesis of evidence, and make their own choices on how to communicate effectively in their presentations. It remains the student’s responsibility to engage deeply with credible, valid sources and integrate diverse perspectives when working on the project.  

AP Art and Design Policy

The use of artificial intelligence tools by AP Art and Design students is categorically prohibited at any stage of the creative process. 

AP Capstone Policy

Generative AI tools must be used ethically, responsibly, and intentionally to support student learning, not to bypass it. Accordingly, all performance tasks submitted in AP Seminar and AP Research must be the student’s own work. While students are permitted to use generative AI tools consistent with this policy, their use is optional and not mandatory. 

Students can use generative AI tools as optional aids for exploration of potential topics of inquiry, initial searches for sources of information, confirming their understanding of a complex text, or checking their writing for grammar and tone. However, students must read primary and secondary sources directly, perform their own analysis and synthesis of evidence, and make their own choices on how to communicate effectively both in their writing and presentations. It remains the student’s responsibility to engage deeply with credible, valid sources and integrate diverse perspectives when working on the performance tasks. Students must complete interim “checkpoints” with their teacher to demonstrate genuine engagement with the tasks.   

Required Checkpoints and Attestations   for AP Capstone

To ensure students are not using generative AI to bypass work, students must complete interim checkpoints with their teacher to demonstrate genuine engagement with the tasks. AP Seminar and AP Research students will need to complete the relevant checkpoints successfully to receive a score for their performance tasks. Teachers must attest, to the best of their knowledge, that students completed the checkpoints authentically. Failure to complete the checkpoints will result in a score of 0 on the associated task.  

In AP Seminar, teachers assess the authenticity of student work based on checkpoints that take the form of short conversations with students during which students make their thinking and decision-making visible (similar to an oral defense). These checkpoints should occur during the sources and research phase (IRR and IWA), and argument outline phase (IWA only). A final validation checkpoint (IRR and IWA) requires teachers to confirm the student’s final submission is, to the best of their knowledge, authentic student work. 

In AP Research, students must complete checkpoints in the form of in-progress meetings and work in the Process and Reflection Portfolio (PREP). No further checkpoints will be required. 

College Board reserves the right to investigate submissions where there is evidence of the inappropriate use of generative AI as an academic integrity violation and request from students copies of their interim work for review.  

Please see the AP Seminar and AP Research course and exam descriptions (CEDs) for the current policy on AI and other tools along with guidance on administering mandatory checkpoints.

AP Computer Science Principles Policy

AP Computer Science Principles students are permitted to utilize generative AI tools as supplementary resources for understanding coding principles, assisting in code development, and debugging. This responsible use aligns with current guidelines for peer collaboration on developing code.    

Students should be aware that generative AI tools can produce incomplete code, code that creates or introduces biases, code with errors, inefficiencies in how the code executes, or code complexities that make it difficult to understand and therefore explain the code. It is the student’s responsibility to review and understand any code co-written with AI tools, ensuring its functionality. Additionally, students must be prepared to explain their code in detail, as required on the end-of-course exam.