The University of British Columbia (UBC) opened Canada's first International House (I-House) in 1959 after a decade of activism from students and faculty. Students had demanded an I-House to help them find housing, and to ensure that "brotherhood may prevail," as the I-House motto promised. The I-House campaign received support from…

The neoliberal rationale in English higher education promotes institutional and individual competition for economic success, often at the cost of equity and universalism. Within such context, there is a tendency to formalise student voice, for example, through professionalisation of students' unions. This paper argues that neoliberalism and its…

Learning behaviors within the college union has long been critical to the mission of college student union facilities and those who work within them. The rising costs of construction and renovation have created pause as administrators seek data and answers to justify expenses for these facilities. This study aimed to develop an instrument to…

Various scholars have argued that higher education is becoming increasingly similar across Europe as a result of processes of marketisation and neo-liberalisation, as well as the creation of a European Higher Education Area. While much of this body of work has focussed on governance, institutional structures and reforms related to teaching and…

This article explores major challenges facing students, such as mental health, financial hardship and employability. It suggests that well supported and appropriately funded students' unions can play a vital role in improving the experience of students. Their work can be crucial in ensuring students have influence on university decision making, it…

College unions are a common feature on the traditional American campus. The Association of College Unions International, the Association that advances the role of the college union, has long claimed that the college union assists with community building on campus and that the college union is a place where everyone on campus can come to gather.…

This multi-site, embedded case study drew on qualitative data to uncover how Black Student Unions (BSUs) within a large California university system bridged or buffered Black student experiences. The central purpose of this case study was to gain an understanding of the Black students' experiences within the BSU, framing the overarching research…

A managerial model of shared governance is adopted in Hong Kong's public universities to uphold university autonomy. However, with the political confrontation characterised by the rise of student activism, the sustainability of the managerial form of university autonomy requires review and re-exploration. This paper aims to examine the influence…

Black joy can mean a lot of things; here the author is talking specifically about racially affirming opportunities for celebration and recreation on campus. Fostering Black joy on campus is contextually based and will look different based on institution type. Universities need to be intentional in making a commitment to taking Black joy seriously.…

This design case focuses on the design, development, and management of an online student center. In order to bridge and build community among a population of master's students in an online program, an online student center was developed to become a one-stop-shop. This center houses vital program information and helps to foster relationships among…

Informed by policy sociology and a Foucauldian theorisation, this article explores how a selection of sabbatical officers from English students' unions formed their political subjectivity during the policy consultation processes leading to the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. Discourse analysis demonstrated a strong influence of the unions'…

This macro-level, mixed methods contribution analysis evaluates the influence of students' unions internal communication response to the COVID-19 pandemic on staff motivation. Recognising the role individual interpretation and perception play in the receipt of such messages, this paper seeks to understand which motivating factors union managers…

Single-parent families represent a significant proportion of all UK families, but literature suggests that they face challenges in accessing, participating in, and completing Higher Education (HE). This article draws on data obtained from three months of mixed-methods research in 2021 with single-parent students to explore the meanings of being a…

This article explores the recent emergence of 'working-class student officer' roles in students' unions associated with elite UK universities. These student representative roles are designed to represent the interests of working-class students within their universities and sit alongside student representatives for liberation groups and/or student…

This study examines what undergraduate students say they learn about engaging with difference and across cultures in the Michigan Union and the Trotter Multicultural Center at the University of Michigan, a historically white institution. The University of Michigan is a historically white institution because of its majority of white students,…