Most students develop a handy range of skills at university - research, cooking in a microwave, being able to drink their own body weight in snakebite and black - but being able to hold their own in a meeting of high-powered figures is not usually one of them.
That’s what Ben Smith had to do when he became a student member of Aston University’s board in 2010.
“There were about 25 people on the board – only one was another student and most were external,” he recalls. “I knew straight away there was going to be an issue with credibility. A lot of them didn’t really know what the student union was about, particularly the externals.
“So in the very first meeting I took a slot, and I gave a presentation about what the union was and what we wanted to do. From that moment on, I found that I didn’t have many issues.”
His time on the board came at one of the most controversial moments in recent higher education history - as the plan to triple tuition fees to £9,000 was being mooted. Smith voiced his opposition to the move, but quickly realised it was a losing battle.
“It became pretty obvious early on that the fees were going to rise anyway, which was frustrating,” he says. “But it then became more of a case of what we were going to do to make sure students got the best value for money that they possibly could. They clearly weren’t going to get three times the amount of value, but I wanted to get them as much as possible.”
It was “a very difficult position to be in”, he says, but it spurred him and his fellow student representative to fight hard. They reported back to the board on concerns raised at monthly student union council meetings (which were open to everyone), and consulted with the student senate to discuss academic matters.
“Group work came up time and time again as a problem,” he says. “And it makes sense. If you’re in groups for large pieces of coursework, you don’t have as much influence over the grade you get, so it was understandable that students wanted less of it. And we managed to cut it down, to an extent.”
Smith scored other victories too. In the wake of the fee hike, he persuaded the university to grant all first-year students free access to an extracurricular language programme as a means of “adding value”. And there were smaller wins, including gym memberships, internet discounts and credit towards books. But a big triumph came when he convinced the board that longer library opening hours were needed during the exam period.
“That was a big bone of contention for students,” he remembers. “The library was about to undergo some renovation, and there just wasn’t enough space or access to computers.”
He won, but these victories didn’t always come easy. “There were occasions when I would say something about the student body and a couple of external board members would dismiss it,” he continues. “They’d say: ‘We would love to do that, but we are in a position where we need to have a certain level of revenue.’ Or: ‘We’d love to be able to listen to the students on this but we can’t do that.’
“But there was never anything malicious or rude, it was all quite open. There were two members of staff on the board who had a very strong student focus – that obviously isn’t the case with all university staff. They helped me a lot and were certainly on my side.”
Ultimately, Smith says he would recommend taking a place on a board to others. “There were hurdles, and I know that some people who have been in similar roles have found it far more difficult to get respect,” he says.
The key, he believes, is that he and his fellow student representative “showed that we had something about ourselves” by taking an active role and defending their ideas. He says he has maintained many of the connections he made in the role, and has benefited from his understanding of how boards work.
And the gain for universities is clear, he says. “It means they can say they’re consulting with the student voice, which is important. When tuition fees went up, students became more like customers, and you’ve got to appease your customers or no one’s going to come to you.
“They were getting the message that they really had to listen to the student voice and adapt, and I think we helped them get that.”
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