About

What is UMSA?

The Universities at Medway Students’ Association (UMSA) is the students’ organisation for the Universities of Greenwich, Kent and Canterbury Christ Church at the shared Universities at the Medway campus in Chatham Maritime. 

The Association provides representation, activities and wide-ranging services to its 9,000 students and is the fastest growing student organisation in the UK.  This includes 2 nationally award winning bars, a convenience store, a student advice centre and a JobShop to find part time work for students. In addition, the Association operates numerous sports clubs and societies through its student activities centre and boasts over 1000 active members. Highlights include a growing number of successful sports teams, a campus magazine – 'UMM' (Universities at Medway Magazine), various fund raising activities and an annual boat race between the universities on the river Medway.

The Association employs a mixture of career and student staff and is based in the Jellicoe and Pilkington buildings. The organisation turns over £750,000 per annum, is a non-profit making organisation because it reinvests its commercial revenues into offering better activities and services to its students. 

The Association is a partnership between the students’ unions from the Universities of Greenwich, Kent and Canterbury Christ Church and works in collaboration with its stakeholders to achieve its goals. The partnership is unique in its structure and aims to be recognised as the model of best practice in providing representation, activities and services to students of multiple institutions. The Association is managed by Kent Union.

Am I a member of UMSA?

Students are automatically members of the Association by virtue of their registration to one of the institutions based at Chatham Maritime.

Am I a member of National Union of Students (NUS)?

The Association is an associate member of NUS because all of the partner students' unions are affiliated to the National Union of Students (NUS).

To apply for an NUS Extra card, please go to the Pilkington Reception or order one online at www.nus.org.uk/nusextra   Don't forget to select your University/College and then select the Pilkington Building at Medway as the delivery destination.  

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES 

The Association places value on environmental issues and has won awards from the systems it implements for students and staff alike to work together in recycling, being energy efficient and purshasing/selling Fairtrade products in the offices and student shop. The Pilkington Reception also has a recycle point where mobile phones, batteries and printer cartridges can be handed in to be recyled and there is a daily shut down procedure to save energy in the UMSA offices.  Here are some websites giving you up-to-date information about how you can do your bit to look after the environment. Happy recylcing!

http://www.recycling-guide.org.uk/rrr.html

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/

http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/