Extra Information:
Currently academic societies struggle a long to gather momentum and convince people to join for free or for a specific fee, however many students don't really understand why they should join and what value this membership has.
For example, in the architecture school we have 1000 students studying and at most we have 50 members of the society. this is really not representative and doesn't in anyway promote the SU as a space for all students.
I know other universities like Manchester and Oxford have automatic membership and they have incredible engagement form their students for the society.
Students pay a lot in fees and the least they should expect is to be a member of the society for the degree they study.
I feel this will help the SU become more active in the student life and will help promote the SU as an inclusive and representative part of the student life at UWE.