Durham Student's Union: A Sad State of Affairs

(The full version of an article published in Palatinate, Durham University's student newspaper.)

A new Senior Management Team has recently been appointed at the DSU to help revitalise the long-suffering Union, and to create better facilities for Durham students.

The Student’s Union has suffered a number of problems in previous years, including financial debt, and other issues which are still affecting Dunelm House. Despite the continuing success of club nights such as Planet of Sound and Revolver, the Union is now becoming a less and less popular place for students to go during the daytime.

One reason the Union has lost popularity amongst students is the demise of the Riverside Café, which once sold hot food, fruit smoothies and Starbucks coffee, but is now a sorry collection of wonky tables, dim lighting and expensive coffee, at £1.85 for a latte.

Even Kingsgate, voted the Best Bar in Durham at the 2008 ‘Best Bar None Awards’, used to have a take-away pizza facility, which has never been replaced since its closure two years ago.

Despite the DSU website’s claim that “On average 3000 students a day come into the Union to make use of the various services that are based in Dunelm House”, the deteriorating appearance of the Union teamed with its poor facilities has seen it plummet in popularity, and is a far cry from the hive of activity it was two or three years ago.

The new Senior Management Team, including a new Commercial Services Manager, now wants to develop the Union and to improve student facilities. A strategy has been agreed for 2008-2010 to overhaul the Union in an effort to put it back as the hub of student activity. This includes plans to re-develop the Riverside Café in summer 2009, and to reintroduce catering facilities to provide snacks such as paninis in both the café and Kingsgate bar.

Even after these proposed long-term plans have been carried out, the DSU will still be a far cry from the array of facilities offered at other universities. Nottingham University’s Student Union, for example, even incorporates a fruit and vegetable market and a university book store.

Sue Sibley, the new Marketing Officer at the DSU, hopes to integrate more student input into the Union, possibly through student satisfaction surveys and focus groups, so that the Management Team can act according to the needs of Durham students.

She said: “The Union has undergone a long period of continuous upheaval, and the result of some poor decisions being taken several years ago is still reverberating in the DSU.”

“The DSU now needs to provide a social space for students: somewhere that people can come and have a drink or something to eat.”

The Management Team hopes from now on to keep students updated about changes at the Union, including details of the strategic plan, which aims to make the DSU the heart of the Durham campus.