OUSU criticized for its 'excesses'
A position paper released by the Keble MCR claimed strong disaffection with OUSU, charging it with wasteful use of high subscription fees, and urging the University to shoulder a larger proportion of its financial burden.
Of the 15 universities used for comparison, Oxford was the only one whose Student Union charged a subscription, and also received by far the lowest institutional grant.
The paper called on OUSU to "trim its excesses", questioning the need for seven sabbatical officers and pointing out that "enough OUSU publications are published for every student despite the fact that a majority have no use for them".
They mentioned that disaffection is particularly keen amongst postgraduates, who are less tied to Oxford life than undergraduates.
The paper has already aroused controversy, and OUSU President Will Straw was highly critical of its conclusions and methods.
He claimed that it was "very badly researched" and noted that no other collegiate university was used for comparison. He argued that, at Oxford (as at Cambridge) the institutional block grant is distributed between colleges and OUSU, accounting for the appearance of inadequate OUSU funding.
Straw mentioned that OUSU publications consistently delivered a net financial gain.
He also said that the decision to increase the number of sabbatical officers was made by three separate student councils, reflecting a large majority and serious deliberation, and was dismayed that the report's authors did not contact him.
22nd May 2003