The University of Plymouth Students’ Union (UPSU) is an independent, democratically led charity whose core purpose is to represent the needs of all Plymouth University students. We have been working on the development of our new Strategic Plan since October 2014, consulting with our students, staff and trustees, as well as other key stakeholders within the University and our local community. Based on the extensive and thorough feedback we have received, we’ve identified six key strategic ambitions that we need to focus on to ensure that we continue to deliver our vision ‘to transform lives through experience’. We have also reviewed our vision, mission and values, to ensure that they are still relevant to UPSU. As a result of this process it is clear that our vision and mission are still current, however, we have refreshed our values which will be at the heart of all that we do. Our new Strategic Plan will need to be flexible and adaptable to our everchanging environment. We will continually consult with our students to confirm that we are on the right path and ensure that we always have a positive impact on our students’ experiences. We are very excited about our new Strategic Plan and confident that we will strive towards achieving our strategic goals to meet the needs of our diverse student body.
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Gina Connelly Chief Executive
sarah bowman
UPSU President 2013-15
Since our 2012 plan we have: delivered a full governance review ensuring both our democratic structures, Trustee Board and governing documents are fit for purpose and that we are well governed. had a major refurbishment in the summer of 2014 creating some amazing new spaces with more of a focus on daytime usage.
grown to over 6,000 downloads a year of our redesigned SU app. seen an increase of our permanent staff by 56% to 82 employees. our turnover has seen an increase in 54% to ÂŁ5.5 million.
empowered our students to deliver 120 societies and 57 sports clubs.
seen the transfer and successful delivery of sports facilities on campus.
trained 293 student representatives each year ensuring they have the skills to represent the voice of our members.
seen a significant growth in our commercial areas, particularly in catering and events.
employed over 470 student staff per year giving them valuable skills to enhance their employability. handled over 4,700 cases each year in our advice centre. received over 2 million page views per year on our newly designed website.
set up our own student focussed lettings agency. supported student fundraising which has resulted in generating over £210,000 a year for local and national charities. expanded our volunteering service to support over 17,800 hours of student volunteering locally and nationally. moved in to the top 20 students’ unions in the country through the National Student Survey.
Our Vision
To transform lives through experience.
Our Mission
To make a positive impact on the lives of all our members, through understanding, empowering and delivering on their needs.
Our Values
Our values are the words that we use to describe how we behave as an organisation. They define how we go about our work and activities.
Student Led
We place students at the heart of everything that we do, so that all of our decisions are made for the benefit of our students and the organisation.
Progressive
We look to the future, seeking new opportunities and partnerships. We are innovative, inclusive, creative and happy to work in collaboration with others.
Fun
We want to ensure that your time with us is as enjoyable as possible.
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Empowering
We provide opportunities for our staff and students to develop their life skills, to use their initiative and make a positive difference to their lives and communities.
Democratic
We are student led through strong democratic structures. We believe in the principle and power of democracy.
Sustainable
We make sure we have, and will continue to have, resources available to protect our ability to meet our members’ needs now and in the future.
strategic ambitions Our six key strategic ambitions are areas which we will focus our priorities on over the next three years to deliver our mission.
Representation & Democracy
participation & engagement
employability
support & wellbeing
communities
sustainability
Within each ambition there are key strategic goals that we will focus on.
The Union is an independent, democratic and student led charity, whose core purpose is to represent the views of our students, to facilitate and drive positive changes and improvements to their University life. We aim to achieve this through effective representation, campaigns and activities.
work in partnership with the University to review and develop the academic representation structures. continue to evaluate the effectiveness of our democratic processes and systems to strengthen the student voice within the Union, the University and the wider community. actively encourage our student membership to participate in all of our elections and referenda. listen to our students first to determine priority campaigns; let everyone know about them and communicate their impact. improve collaborative working between our Executive Officer and Advice teams to ensure that the individual help our members receive is the best it can be.
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ensure our students are represented at Union, University and wider community meetings in order to affect decision making. build and develop a strong and effective Executive Officer and Student Voice team. continually seek and provide opportunities for our students to feedback their views so we remain relevant to their needs. evaluate the “Students as Partners� initiative.
We have a great deal to offer our diverse student body, yet some students feel excluded or are unable to become involved for a variety of reasons. Equally some students are involved in social activities in the Union but never engage with the democratic processes that make students’ unions truly unique and important for students’ lives. We believe that by working towards increasing and deepening participation, both students and the Union will be strengthened, creating lasting effects on their overall University experience.
actively encourage our students to participate and engage in all activities which will enable them to unlock their full potential. ensure the development of our own sport objectives and facilities as well as working with the University to develop their strategy and facilities. provide additional resources to further develop our student led societies and activities. seek to improve our engagement with students no matter where they are; actively delivering our services outside of the Union building.
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provide a diverse range of events, activities and services to meet the needs of all of our students. undertake continual research and provide opportunities for feedback in order to further improve our understanding of our students’ needs and to tailor our offering.
Securing a job and enhancing their employability is very important to our students. We will look to provide a variety of opportunities for them to develop skills that will enable them to seek employment now and in the future.
maximise opportunities for our students to acquire experience, skills and knowledge to facilitate both their personal development and leadership skills. work in partnership with the University to ensure that the relevant extra-curricular activities undertaken by our students are formally recognised. actively raise awareness of how our students’ participation in extra-curricular activities can enhance and improve their employability prospects. work in conjunction with the University Careers and Employability service to ensure we compliment one another’s activities.
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implement an online e-learning platform, enabling us to deliver effective training whilst allowing students and staff to record skills and experience gained through working at the Union or taking part in our activities. seek to employ student staff wherever possible.
The wellbeing of our students and staff team is essential for them to enjoy a happy, healthy and fulfilling life. The Union will provide support, advice and information to contribute to their positive wellbeing.
ensure that the welfare of our staff team is a priority and invest resources to provide information and guidance to improve their holistic wellbeing. continue to build upon the strengths of our advice centre. deliver wellbeing campaigns on the areas that our students highlight are important to them, with particular focus on mental and physical health awareness and support. provide and facilitate opportunities for activities to accommodate all students and help with physical wellbeing.
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provide a safe and healthy environment for students, staff, contractors, and visitors. aim to support our students financially by delivering value for money in all that we do.
University life is much more than just studying; we want our students to get the most out of their experiences. Their community might be their course, the activities they are involved in, where they live, study or socialise. We will ensure that we support, promote and develop all communities that our students are part of.
investigate new and innovative ways to increase engagement with our harder to reach student communities. focus on improving the services and cultural opportunities for our international students. create a vibrant and diverse social programme to enable our students to develop lifelong friendships in safe and welcoming environments. proactively build and maintain relationships in the local community, ensuring students’ issues are a priority and their successes are celebrated, so they feel a sense of belonging.
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provide the best services we can to ensure that our student communities flourish. continue to be the most student focused lettings agency and work to improve the quality of student rental housing. further develop our digital and physical communication channels and harness the power of data, to ensure that our diverse student communities feel connected to one another and the Union. celebrate the successes of all of our communities.
For the future success and viability of the Union we need to ensure that we develop and maintain quality services and activities, with ethical and well-informed decision making, delivering long term financial stability.
continue to invest and develop our infrastructure so that the Union and its staff remain efficient, up to date and are able to deliver high quality services both now and in the future.
continue to develop the support and guidance we provide to help our entire student led activities and decision making opportunities to be as sustainable as they can be.
seek to gain University support and funding to secure additional space for our student activity areas, so we can further develop and grow the opportunities available.
act responsibly in all that we do, committing to best practice in ethical, social and environmental issues, while still providing best value for our students.
build and maintain a well-trained engaged, passionate and committed staff team so that they have the tools and confidence to innovate and continually improve. explore new financially sustainable sources of income and ensure that our trading activities are relevant and commercially viable in order to be able to invest their surpluses back into the Union.
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seek to operate our buildings and services in the most sustainable way, recycling more and continuing to reduce our carbon footprint, benchmarking against best practice. continue to review the effectiveness of our governance structure in line with best practice in order to be an effective charity.
(Left to right) Emily Hamilton-Peach (VP Societies & Sport) Rich Skipper (VP Welfare) Sarah Bowman (President) Will Holmes (VP International & Outreach) Ruth Titmuss (VP Education)
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The University of Plymouth Students’ Union is constantly seeking to improve and adapt to the everchanging needs of our vast and diverse membership. Whilst this Strategic Plan addresses core developments in our future progression, we are always listening to feedback from our stakeholders and welcome and value these opinions to help us to shape a UPSU that works for all.
University of Plymouth Students’ Union is a registered charity in England & Wales No. 1143614