Wednesday 23 April 1969 was the date in which The Open University received its Royal Charter. From that point on, the lives of millions of people would be changed through the opportunity to gain access to higher education. The need for a Students Association was soon identified, and it came into being in 1972.
During April, we celebrated the Charter Day of The Open University and 50 years of working together. The words of our President, Sarah Jones, sums up the partnership perfectly:
"Without The Open University, there would be no OU Students Association; our histories are interwoven, and we have shared the goal of improving the educational journey of OU students for the past five decades. That is why throughout April, we are celebrating the collaborative work we do with the OU. This crucial work is always for the benefit of our students. We want to talk about why, in 2022, our partnership is stronger than ever."
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The Students Association's student representatives are constantly collaborating with The OU to enhance the experience of students. Read more about how this works.
Collaboration with The OU – student representatives
Discover how we have been working with The OU in Northern Ireland to publish our own student manifesto for the Northern Ireland Assembly elections.
The Northern Ireland election manifesto
The OU Students Association collaborates with so many areas of The OU, but our relationship with the Office of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Students (PVC-S) is something we're particularly proud of.
Collaboration with the OU: the Office of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Students
The OU’s student volunteer scheme, providing students in secure environments with access to essential library resources, reached its 300th enquiry in April too!
Providing library resources to students in secure environments
April also saw the third birthday of The Hoot! Our Vice President Engagement Fanni Zombor took a trip down memory lane to look at our special online (and student-led) magazine.
Happy Third Birthday to The Hoot!
We also launched our new podcast, The Association Conversation Station. The first episode was about the collaboration between the Association and The OU (how we collaborate together well, but remain independent from one another). You can listen to it below via Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other platforms.
The Association Conversation Station – Episode 1