Structures and decision making

UCU's supreme policy-making body of the union is its annual congress. Congress includes separate annual meetings of UCU's further and higher education sector conferences, where policy particular to these areas is decided.

Member-led

Members of UCU belong to branches or local associations, which are generally workplace-based. These members directly elect their own officers who negotiate and represent members locally, with support from full-time staff in regional offices throughout the UK. They also elect delegates to the union's congress, either directly or, from smaller institutions and workplaces, through aggregations of smaller branches and local associations.

Find your branch information here

Members also directly elect their representatives on UCU's national executive committee, from constituencies based on Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and six broad English geographical areas.

Executive

Members of the national executive committee (NEC) of UCU, elected by UCU members include HE and FE members, some of whom are elected regionally, some on a UK-wide basis, plus equality seats and officers of the union. The NEC is responsible for conducting the union's business between Congress meetings. The executive comprises a number of sub-committees:

• Higher education committee
• Further education committee
• Strategy and finance committee
• Education committee
• Recruiting, organising and campaigning committee
• Equality committee

Plus there are a number of equality standing committees and special employment interest groups (see below) which advise the NEC's work.

Equality standing committees and special employment interest groups

Advisory committees of the non-executive members are elected by annual delegate meetings:

• black members' standing committee
• disabled members' standing committee
• LGBT members' standing committee
• women members' standing committee
• Anti-casualisation committee
• Medical Research Council staff committee
• Academic-related staff committee

Plus there are also annual national meetings for:

• land-based members
• adult education members
• prison education members
• post-92 university members

National and regional links

UCU also has a number of regional and national committees to co-ordinate discussion and activity between branches, and, in the case of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, annual meetings held to decide specific national policy.

General secretary

The post of general secretary, the union's most senior official, is currently held by Sally Hunt who took office on 1 June 2007.

Full details of all these arrangements can be found in the UCU rule book..