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This research aims to explore in detail aspects of the role and character of student unions as venues for live music in post‐war Britain. Guiding questions ask: what part have student unions, entertainment officers and the wider body of students – in their role as consumers – played in the economics of the live music business? What is specific to the business of live music in student unions? How is this sector of activity related to national and local scenes, promoters, non‐student audiences and the wider popular music culture and economy?

The research draws upon formal and informally archived sources to formulate definitions and scope for research, tracing the historical emergence and fortunes of popular music programming in universities.

The research traces a history of professionalization of music provision by students, a result of co‐ordination efforts by the National Union of Students. It outlines the specific character of live music business in student unions as determined by its subsidized nature.

Sources for research are unevenly preserved and the scope of activity – historical and contemporary is considerable. Further empirical research is required in order to fully explore this important, if neglected area of cultural and economic activity.

The role and character of student unions in the economy of the music industry is rarely considered and this paper offers set of concepts for further research and detailed historical insights into this sector of business.

‘Over my dead body’ said the Vice‐Principal. He was reacting, somewhat predictably, to the suggestion that a students' union might be formed in the college. No doubt it was the word ‘union’ that gave rise to his fears of strikes and bloody‐minded shop stewards. However, there is a students' union flourishing now in that particular college, and the Vice‐Principal is still alive, and I imagine quite reconciled to the idea, but his fears must have been echoed by many people in authority in further education, especially when they read the often lurid press accounts of sit‐ins at the LSE and ‘Red Rudi’ in West Germany. Why then have a students' union in a technical college?

At last there are signs of progress in the developments of students‘ unions in technical colleges on a national scale. The National Union of Students for many years has included technical college students in its membership and has run an annual discussion conference for them, but it has naturally been mainly preoccupied with the interests of university students and more recently with students in CATs and colleges of education. The Department has advised LEAs and colleges that an autonomous students’ union should exist and that it should be supported by a substantial compulsory annual subscription. In many colleges rapid progress has been made and reluctant principals have been chivvied along. The students are now confident of making comparable progress in the technical and art colleges on which they will now concentrate attention. They have met the Secretary of State more than once on this question and in the summer they entertained the Minister of State, Mr Goronwy Roberts, in a lively conference which forcibly drew to his attention the gap in standards between the two halves of the binary system. The circular letter on technical college unions issued by the Department in September is a tribute to their initiative and persistence. Some of the demands of the students‐separate students‘ union buildings, halls of residence and students’ flats‐are Utopian in the context of our present crisis but in others they can have better hopes of success.

At this year's National Union of Students' Technical College Conference an NUS vice‐president, Mr Albert Swindlehurst, suggested that the age of technical college entrants be raised to 18. Such a move, so ran his argument, would put an end to teaching staff over‐ruling the students' unions in colleges where the students were very young, and would remove the present inhibitions on social life caused by the lack of bars where students could gather in convivial fraternities.

Discusses the long existing and confusing problems of establishing the relationship of who is, and who if not, a dependent worker. Reflects developments which have occurred in British law as it affects the employment field, plus an evaluation and analysis of some of the different types of employment relationships which have evolved by examining, where possible, the status of each of these relationships. Concludes that the typical worker nowadays finds himself in a vulnerable position both economically and psychologically owing to the insecurity which exists.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the NUS (National Union of Students)’ Alcohol Impact programme is attempting to change patterns of student drinking using findings from the 2017 Students and Alcohol national survey conducted by NUS as context.

The 2017 Students and Alcohol national survey results were gathered via the distribution of the survey using the NUS’ database of NUS extra cardholders. A total of 2,215 responses was collected. Using this information, the author has approached this paper as a case study of NUS’ Alcohol Impact Programme.

Results from the 2017 Students and Alcohol national survey demonstrated that although there was a misalignment between what students perceived their peers were drinking prior to university and what they were actually reporting drinking, there was the persistence of harmful behaviours reported after consumption of alcohol. Feedback from partnerships involved in the Alcohol Impact programme has shown measurable improvements in areas including the inclusion of non-drinkers and anti-social behaviour.

Rolled out nationally, Alcohol Impact could be used to take positive steps in addressing the harmful consequences of student alcohol consumption.

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.

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.

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

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.

The purpose of the paper is to explore and analyse the history of the predominantly Malaysian Network of Overseas Students Collectives in Australia (NOSCA), that existed from 1985–1994.

The paper is based on extensive archival research in the State Library of New South Wales, the National Library of Australia and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Archives. It makes particular use of the UNSW student newspaper Tharunka and the NOSCA publications Truganini and Default. It also draws upon nine oral history interviews with former members of NOSCA.

The NOSCA was particularly prominent at the UNSW, building a base there and engaging substantially in the student union. Informed by anarchism, its activists were interested in an array of issues–especially opposition to student fees and in solidarity with struggles for democracy and national liberation in Southeast Asia, especially around East Timor. Moreover, the group would serve as a training ground for a layer of activists, dissidents and opposition politicians throughout Southeast Asia, with a milieu of ex-NOSCA figures sometimes disparagingly referred to as “the NOSCA Mafia.”

While there has been much research on overseas students, there has been far less on overseas students as protestors and activists. This paper is the first case study to specifically hone in on NOSCA, one of the most substantial and left wing overseas student groups. Tracing the group's history helps us to reframe and rethink the landscape of student activism in Australia, as less white, less middle class and less privileged.

This paper examines the exercise of Black employee voice in South Africa over the past 53 years. Black workers constitute almost 4 out of every 5 workers in the country and experienced racial oppression from the time of colonisation up to the end of apartheid in 1994. They are still congregated around the lower skilled occupations with low incomes and high unemployment levels.

The paper draws on the theory of voice, exit and loyalty of Albert Hirschman, but extends voice to include sabotage as this encapsulates the nature of employee voice from about 2007 onwards. It reflects a culture of insurgence that entered employment relations from about that time onwards, but was lurking below the surface well before then.

The exercise of employee voice has gone through five phases from 1963 to mid-2016 starting with a silent phase for the first ten years when it was hardly heard at all. However, as a Black trade union movement emerged after extensive strikes in Durban in 1973, employee voice grew stronger and stronger until it reached an insurgent phase.

The phases employee voice went through were heavily influenced by the socio-political situation in the country. The reason for the emergence of an insurgent phase was due to the failure of the ruling African National Congress government to deliver services and to alleviate the plight of the poor in South Africa, most of whom are Black. The failure was due to neo-patrimonialism and corruption practised by the ruling elite and politically connected. Protests by local communities escalated and became increasingly violent. This spilled over into the workplace. As a result many strikes turned violent and destructive, demonstrating voice exercised as sabotage and reflecting a culture of insurgence.

The purpose of this paper is to present the current state of student volunteering in English universities, and show how it contributes to some of the core activities of higher education, including teaching and learning, employability, and public engagement. The paper goes on to describe challenges currently faced by student volunteering, and opportunities for its future development.

This viewpoint article utilises the experiences and observations of two former higher education community engagement practitioners who are now working at a national level to raise the profile of student volunteering, and reviews recent policy and practice related to this subject area.

Although student volunteering has a long tradition in English universities and there has been investment in the provision over the last decade, student volunteering is currently at a critical point. Without stronger evidence of impact, continued funding and an integrated approach to its development, student volunteering will not meet its full potential for higher education.

The paper has implications for higher education senior management, employers, community and employer engagement practitioners within higher education, and students. It advocates that integrated approaches are needed at national and institutional level to support the development of student volunteering.

The paper utilises the unique experience of former practitioners who now work in national roles, exploring a wide range of contemporary sources.