Dear all,
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NUSSU ACADEMY
It is heartening to note the tremendous amount of hype and interest generated with the establishment of the new NUSSU Academy. This open letter serves to shed more light on the rationale behind the introduction of the NUSSU Academy and our twin missions.
Why NUSSU Academy?
In brief, the NUS Students’ Union (NUSSU) is a huge organisation and all full-time matriculated NUS students are NUSSU members. Amongst the approximately 27,000-strong membership, we have a pool of about 500 active volunteers across our NUSSU Executive Committee, 9 NUSSU Committees, 14 Constituent Clubs and 8 Associate Bodies.
From our years of volunteering experiences in NUSSU, we recognise that there is a huge information asymmetry across our active volunteers. We are also cognisant of the differing strengths and capabilities across our volunteer pool. There have been sporadic efforts to provide volunteer training but the efforts thus far have not been sustainable and the one-size-fits-all approach adopted has not been truly effective.
Our raison d’être
In our vision of a participatory Union, every volunteer matters. Hence, we hope that by establishing the NUSSU Academy, we can provide a customised range of workshops and specially-tailored trainings to cater to the different segments in our spectrum of volunteers to build up everyone’s core competencies. Institutionalising these efforts with the inception of the NUSSU Academy would further enhance the sustainability of our volunteer development initiatives. It is our hope that volunteers of NUSSU will be able to enrich themselves while volunteering by picking up important life skills that would be useful to their future careers.
Apart from spearheading the volunteer development initiative, the Academy will also play the crucial role of a think-tank by providing thought leadership on the Union’s future. Being an organisation steeped in history and heritage, there will be a strong desire to hold on to traditions as it is often easy to maintain the status quo. However, the comfort of preserving the status quo often results in an organisational stasis. In order to meet the evolving needs of our constituents, it is thus crucial for NUSSU to constantly evaluate our policies, initiatives and governance to stay relevant.
What will NUSSU Academy do?
The NUSSU Academy’s primary role as a volunteer developer of the Union is to create opportunities for personal growth of volunteers through workshops, master classes and Communities of Practices.
For fresh volunteers, we want to introduce them to the crucial foundations of the Union – such as NUSSU’s organisational structure, our mission and modus operandi. They will also be equipped with important secretariat skills such as note-taking, financial budgeting and event management knowledge. These include the intricacies of proposal writing – how to present concepts and ideas with coherence and clarity. These basic knowledge are vital in the operations of the Union yet they are often taken for granted.
For more experienced volunteers, advanced workshops will also be available to equip them with the relevant skills required such as facilitation techniques to help them conduct more effective meetings and focus group discussions. In addition, we will also invite external speakers to conduct master classes in domains like design thinking, innovation and scenario-planning. These accumulated knowledge will help to contribute and value-add to the collective strengths of our volunteer pool.
As a learning organisation, the NUSSU Academy will help to facilitate the sharing of best practices and mutual learning across our constituent bodies through our Communities of Practices. The informal sharing networks will be convened around clusters such as ‘Communication & Engagement’, ‘Event Management’ and ‘Student Welfare’. Collectively, they will supplement our existing efforts such as the Union Tea sessions to reduce information asymmetry and further promote cross-fertilisation of ideas.
Serving its secondary role as a think-tank, the NUSSU Academy will also embark on research to study the governance models and initiatives of our foreign counterparts overseas. We hope to gather the best practices from abroad and adapt it into our local context to shape a more thriving and vibrant campus life for students in NUS. The recommendations proposed from the research will be circulated for further deliberation by the NUSSU Council and Executive Committee.
Who will be running the NUSSU Academy?
The NUSSU Academy is a voluntary ground-up initiative mooted by senior and experienced volunteers of the Union who share a common desire in supporting volunteer development. For a start, the members of the Management Board of the NUSSU Academy will be spearheading the conduct of these workshops.
In future, we hope to be able to get interested external partners to conduct these workshops pro-bono. We also welcome fellow NUS students who are keen to support the NUSSU Academy’s work to join us.
Workshops, master classes and Communities of Practices will be held in the NUSSU-run Yusof Ishak House premises such as the student lounge, conference rooms and meeting rooms. Participation in the NUSSU Academy’s activities are open to all active NUSSU volunteers and free-of-charge.
Conclusion
The NUSSU Academy is a humble ground-up initiative that aims to sow the seeds for the future of the Union. The NUSSU Academy is founded on the principles of ‘gotong royong’ (communal self-help) and our commitment is to invest in the future. Our deliberate decision to conduct most training in-house serves to facilitate infusion of our shared organisation’s ethos – responsibility, accountability, integrity and dedication. By bringing volunteers from different backgrounds and constituent bodies together through the NUSSU Academy’s activities, we hope to be able to forge a closer Union.
We hope that the NUSSU Academy will progressively gain traction and benefit more volunteers with the growth of training opportunities. In the long run, we wish to see more volunteers stepping up to conduct courses to develop the personal growth of their peers. Through our dedicated training and mentorship, we hope to build a steady pipeline of capable volunteers to bring the Union to greater height so as to ensure the Union’s continued dynamism for successive generations to come.
We must always remember that NUSSU is no ordinary student organisation and it cannot afford to stand for mediocrity. As NUSSU volunteers, we must continue to upgrade and improve ourselves. As an organisation, we must continue to learn from the best. We must continue to be the forerunner in spearheading change to improve the lives of our fellow students.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Soh Yi Da
Dean, NUSSU Academy
35th NUSSU Council President