This is a guest post by Alex Dwek.

The year 2009 has been a challenging time to be a student. We are in more debt than ever before and facing the worst job crisis for almost 20 years.

Jewish students are no different in that they are facing these same difficulties, but they also have the additional task of preserving their Jewish identity.  For some this involves balancing student life with keeping kosher, observing Shabbat whilst for others this involves more of a cultural element or their own personal ties towards Israel.

Jewish Societies on campus are there to help fill this void. They seek provide a range of educational, cultural and social events along with opportunities to be involved in political campaigns. The Union of Jewish Students (UJS) plays a dual role in providing funding as well as linking these 43 Jewish societies around the country through a series of nationwide initiatives.

Has this been successful?

In the past two years UJS has transformed into a professional and efficient organisation. It has more than doubled the amount of Jewish societies it supports and has created a series of flagship events ranging from a nationwide football tournament to social action days where Jsocs give back to their local communities.

These changes have without doubt revitalised the core membership of the Union. But there are still thousands of Jewish students on campus who are not being provided for.

To simply dismiss these students as apathetic is wrong. There has without doubt been a decline in participation over the last five years.  Young peoples’ attitudes have changed and organisations such as UJS need to adapt to their market.

I believe that one of the ways UJS can widen its appeal is by providing online interactive services for Jewish students focusing on careers, accommodation and travel.

Hosting career seminars with top industry leaders, and having job and internship listings will help ease fears of unemployment. Providing students with an online list of legal housing rights and frequently asked questions will protect them from dodgy landlords. Creating an online interactive Jewish student travel guide, where people can access a list of Kosher places to eat and points of contact all around the world.

What makes these different to the current events on offer is that it appeals to almost every Jewish student regardless of their interests or level of observance. It doesn’t rely on high attendance levels or vast amounts of money being spent, but can be accessed by everyone.

Student services are just the first phase of increasing participation in Jewish student life. Once UJS becomes students’ first point of contact, I believe that attendance levels for other events such as education and culture will increase dramatically. Until UJS has access to this wider audience, it can create all the events it wants but it will still face the problem that students don’t know about the organisation and most importantly, what it can do for them.

Student organisations like UJS are in the unique position that their members are not adverse to new approaches and ideas. I believe that if UJS gets this right then it can create a model that can be used by a whole range of other communal organisations facing the very same problems.

Alex Dwek is a third year Economics and Politics Student at the University of Manchester and is running to be Chair of the Union of Jewish Students. Elections take place across the country between 29th Nov- 3rd Dec. For more information about Alex’s campaign visit his Facebook election page or the Union of Jewish Students website.

You can read previous guest posts by Alex Dwek here, here and here.