Campus Bulley » Show me the money
Apparently there is a series of posters on the wall of the SU bar at UEA. These posters inform students exactly where every last penny they just forked out for a VK Apple is going to go. It shows them how much of the money will go to bar funds, how much will go the Union and where the Union will spend the money. Whether these posters actually exist or not (and I’m reliably informed they do), they seem like a bluddy good idea.
Whilst an accounts poster might seem pretty irrelevant as you crack into the £5 VK deal or try and take full advantage of ‘Quids Inn’, I would hope that a lot of students might be interested in the information as they sit in the sun with a Steamboat (£2.00 – where does it go?) at 2pm on a Sunday. Even if accounting isn’t your cup of tea (or pint of Fosters in this case) Sports might be and Welfare certainly should be, all these issues are raised in the accounts.
I’m sure that all the Union financial information is available to students. You probably just have to pop into YUSU towers and ask the nice Mr Burton and he’ll be happy to share. The problem is that I can’t think of a single student (that hasn’t run for the YUSU position themselves) that would bother to do that. That doesn’t mean that students don’t care about Union finances, it means they’re students, and therefore pretty lazy.
The Courtyard has been pretty impressively designed, and I’ve no doubt that YUSU would not be happy with some easy to understand, primary coloured posters ruining the decor. That said, the bar is the best place for this information because it’s where students are most likely to stop and read it, if only to provide a new topic of debate over a few pints of Strongbow (also £2.00 – where does it go?)
I’m not personally interested in scrutinising YUSU’s accounts, just like I’m not interested in wading through college accounts again, but that doesn’t mean that the information shouldn’t be available. All it takes is a nice colouful pie-chart, a quick explanation and everybody’s happy. Easy.
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The posters do indeed exist – I was staring at one this time two weeks ago….
Good idea. Very good idea…
It’s just a shame that students’ unions are not counted as part of the University (and therefore subject to Freedom of Information legislation) – I’m sure there’s a lot of interesting things we could find out about the good work they do that they don’t tell us themselves (and not just the bad).
What a brilliant idea!