Lots of universities operate Twitter accounts (some listed here on Liz Azyan’s site), but what about the Student Unions?

I’ve long said that the Student Union (or Guild of Students) is a wonderful resource that’s often overlooked by students as just a group that sets up events and handles societies.  But a Student Union is so much more and it’s there for you!  It acts as a representative to all students, working on your behalf to get as much possible to help and support you as you study.

I’ve scoured the Twitterverse to find which Unions have Twitter accounts.  The list is below. They’re worth keeping an eye on as a quick way to stay up to date with events and news.

If I’m missing any that you know of (or run), let me know via Twitter (universityboy) and I’ll add it to the list.

99 Students’ Unions on Twitter (last checked January 2012)

Aberdeen – http://twitter.com/ausatwit
Abertay – https://twitter.com/#!/abertayunion
Aberystwyth – https://twitter.com/aberguild
Anglia Ruskin – http://twitter.com/AngliaRuskinSU
Aston – https://twitter.com/#!/aston_guild
Bangor – https://twitter.com/#!/bangorstudents
Bath – http://twitter.com/BathSU
Bedfordshire – https://twitter.com/#!/bedssu
Birmingham City – http://twitter.com/bhamcitysu
Birmingham – http://twitter.com/guildofstudents
Bolton – https://twitter.com/#!/UBSUnion
Bournemouth – http://twitter.com/sububournemouth
Bradford – http://twitter.com/ubuonline
Brighton – https://twitter.com/#!/subrighton
Bristol – https://twitter.com/#!/ubunews
Brunel – http://twitter.com/brunelstudents
Bucks New Uni – https://twitter.com/#!/buckssu
Cambridge – https://twitter.com/#!/CUSUonline/
Canterbury Christ Church – http://twitter.com/christchurchsu
Cardiff – http://twitter.com/cardiffunion
Central Lancashire – http://twitter.com/uclansu
Chester – https://twitter.com/#!/chestersu
Chichester – http://twitter.com/Chi_Union
City – http://twitter.com/CULSU
Coventry – http://twitter.com/cusu
Cumbria – https://twitter.com/#!/cumbriasu
De Montfort – http://twitter.com/demontfortsu
Derby – http://twitter.com/udsu
Dundee – https://twitter.com/#!/dusa_theunion
Durham – https://twitter.com/#!/durhamsu
East Anglia (UEA) – https://twitter.com/#!/UnionUEA
East London – https://twitter.com/#!/uelunion
Edge Hill – http://twitter.com/edgehillsu
Edinburgh – http://twitter.com/EUSA
Essex – http://twitter.com/EssexSU
Exeter – http://twitter.com/exeterguild
Glamorgan – http://twitter.com/GlamSU
Glasgow – https://twitter.com/#!/gusrc
Gloucestershire – https://twitter.com/#!/yoursu/
Goldsmiths (Uni of London) – http://twitter.com/goldsmiths_su
Greenwich – https://twitter.com/#!/sugreenwich
Heriot-Watt – https://twitter.com/#!/HWUnion
Hertfordshire – https://twitter.com/#!/uhsutweets
Huddersfield – https://twitter.com/#!/huddersfieldsu
Hull – http://twitter.com/Hullstudent
Imperial – http://twitter.com/icunion
Keele – http://twitter.com/keelesu
Kent – http://twitter.com/KentUnion
Kingston – https://twitter.com/#!/kingston_su
Lancaster – https://twitter.com/#!/lancasterSU
Leeds – https://twitter.com/#!/LeedsUniUnion
Leeds Met – http://twitter.com/leedsmetsu
Leicester – http://twitter.com/PercyGee
Lincoln – http://twitter.com/lincolnsu
Liverpool – https://twitter.com/#!/LGoS/
Liverpool Hope – https://twitter.com/#!/LiverpoolHopeSU
Liverpool John Moores – https://twitter.com/LiverpoolSU
London Met – https://twitter.com/#!/londonmetsu
London South Bank – https://twitter.com/#!/LSBU_SU
Loughborough – http://twitter.com/loughboroughsu
Manchester – https://twitter.com/#!/UMSUnion
Manchester Metropolitan – https://twitter.com/#!/manmetunion
Middlesex – http://twitter.com/mdxsu
Newcastle – https://twitter.com/#!/LiveNUSU
Northampton – https://twitter.com/#!/northamptonSU
Northumbria – http://twitter.com/Northumbriasu
Nottingham – http://twitter.com/UONstudentnews
Nottingham Trent – http://twitter.com/Trentstudents
Oxford – https://twitter.com/#!/ousunews
Oxford Brookes – https://twitter.com/#!/oxfordbrookessu
Plymouth – http://twitter.com/UPSU
Portsmouth – http://twitter.com/portsmouthsu
Reading – https://twitter.com/#!/rusutweets
Roehampton – https://twitter.com/#!/RoehamptonSU
Salford – http://twitter.com/Salfordsu
Sheffield – https://twitter.com/#!/sheffieldsu
Sheffield Hallam – https://twitter.com/hallamunion
Sheffield Hallam (Officers) – http://twitter.com/hallamofficers
Southampton – https://twitter.com/#!/YourSUSU
Southampton Solent – https://twitter.com/#!/solentsu
St Andrews – http://twitter.com/standrewsunion
Staffordshire – http://twitter.com/StaffsUnion
Stirling – https://twitter.com/#!/stirlinguni/
Sunderland – http://twitter.com/sunderlandsu
Surrey – https://twitter.com/#!/Surrey_Union
Sussex – http://twitter.com/USSU
Swansea – http://twitter.com/SwanseaUnion
Teeside – https://twitter.com/#!/teessidesu/
University Campus Suffolk – http://twitter.com/UCSunion
University College London (UCL) – https://twitter.com/#!/UCLU
Warwick – https://twitter.com/#!/WarwickSU
West London – https://twitter.com/#!/wlsu
West of England (Bristol) – http://twitter.com/uwesu
Westminster – http://twitter.com/westminstersu
Winchester – http://twitter.com/winchestersu
Wolverhampton – http://twitter.com/wolvessu
Worcester – http://twitter.com/WorcesterSU
York – https://twitter.com/#!/yorkunisu
York St John – https://twitter.com/#!/ysjsu

Okay, I wasn’t going to say anything, but now so much seems to be kicking off in HE that I’m going to mention it and explain what I’m up to…

First off, TheUniversityBlog is going to return to a much more regular posting schedule in a couple of weeks.  Secondly, with a number of recent life changes, I have been taking a break on a number of levels…with limited success. 🙂

I was meant to be spending a month or so relaxing and spending very little time online, very little time researching, very little time writing, and very little time doing anything much HE related.  I planned to keep up to date with what’s happening, but not do much else.

That hasn’t really happened.  I’ve been working on a number of projects and I’ve even posted a few things here in the last month (as you’ve probably seen).  I suppose it suggests I’m happy with what I’m doing, but it’s still naughty when I promised myself a complete break before digging in full on…Anyway, I will be back with a smile in a couple of weeks with more information, advice, comment, and the like.  Get ready!

However, there’s been a load of negative (grrrr!) developments of great importance to students in the last couple of days.  Given the magnitude of what’s been going on, I thought I should at least mention these right now.  So here goes (with links to further info):

1. Student maintenance grants and loans will be frozen in 2010/11, but tuition fees are increasing by 2.04%. Tuition fee loans will increase to cover the new cost of fees, but that’s no consolation.

BBC News
NUS
Guardian
Parliament Written Statement

2. Graduate job prospects are looking their bleakest in years as top employers cut jobs and competition is more fierce.

Guardian 1
Guardian 2
NUS
BBC News

3. Prospective students are less likely to find a place in this year’s Clearing, after the number of available places is cut. This is bad news at a time when more people than ever want to study in HE.

Times Higher Education
Times Online – Have you thought about studying in the US?

4. Some university Vice Chancellors have made shocking comments in a research paper that Times Higher Education has seen. One of the most controversial for students being:

“We all know that education is a commodity that can be bought and sold, often at a very high price.  So universities are busy doing that – charging students a large amount of money to study in England because it is a popular destination. Branding and marketing take the front seat, and education is in the back.”

Times Higher Education – V-Cs’ candid views slip out online

From these stories, it’s clear that things are uncertain right now, whether you’re a current student, prospective student, or recent graduate.  But it’s certainly worth keeping an eye on.  If there are any major developments, I’ll let you know.  And expect a better ongoing flow of information in a couple of weeks’ time.

Seems like I chose a bad time to chill out.  Let’s see if I really do last two weeks before getting totally stuck in with the blog…and beyond!