Your Students’ Union and our promise to you: YOUR MEMBERSHIP BOOKLET
#proudtobestaffs
WELCOME
#proudtobestaffs
Every student is a member of Staffordshire University Students’ Union. That means you! Your Students’ Union is a student led organisation that strives for the best experience for you. You’re a member of the Students’ Union as soon as you enrol which strives to represent and support you and ultimately provide you with not only the best student experience but make you Proud to be Staffs. Your Union is a registered charity, which means any profits it has at the end of the year from running trading services, go back into other services for students and not to bonuses and shareholders. The Union receives an annual grant from the University with extra money coming from its bars, shops and other commercial ventures. Every single penny the Union makes is invested into its services to provide bigger and better student opportunities.
We are working with the University to achieve our vision: That every student will be proud to be part of Staffs (#ProudToBeStaffs)
You are also part of a bigger family www.nus.org.uk/en/nus-extra (Buy yours now) Staffordshire University Students’ Union is affiliated with NUS. The National Union of Students (NUS) is a federation of affiliated Students’ Union, Guilds and Associations. The NUS represents the views of over seven million students in the UK. Being part of Staffordshire University allows you to reap the benefits that NUS provides for students. So grab your NUS Extra discount card. NUS Extra gives you exclusive student discounts in selected stores and online. NUS Extra cards cost £12 and can be upgraded for an International Student Identity Card (ISIC) for an additional £1.99. Cards can be purchased online and then collected from the Students' Union reception at Stafford, Stoke or delivered to your home. Get your card now and start saving!
#your student officers www.staffsunion.com/officers
Here are your officers‌ Your officers were elected by the membership in February, and are here to represent you, and ensure you have a voice in the running of the University. Feel free to pop in for a coffee, a chat or even a rant. Mel, your Students’ Union President alongside Dayo, Tom, Louise and Yashwanth, your Vice Presidents, has been elected by the student body to represent you. The team continue to implement a five year strategy that began in 2012 and focuses on: Celebrating quality and student success at Staffs / How we can engage all students / Getting to know you better / Ensuring our students are well served / How to develop you throughout your student experience.
#Be the Change www.staffsunion.com/union/council
Better Staffs Forum This forum approach is to broaden the input from students, and make decision making more accessible to the membership. The Better Staffs Forum is supported by elected students, who are there to source student views and represent you. Those views are passed onto a panel of students that are randomly selected before each meeting to have the power of voting. The elected students cannot vote, they can only advise. This new approach is there to encourage all students to get involved in student democracy and understand the power of your vote.
Student Council Student Council is traditionally the governing body of the Students' Union. It is composed entirely of students with voting members exclusively elected by the student body. Alongside Student Council for this year, the Union will be running a pilot scheme with three forums. Last year Student Council voted to try out the approach where there are forums for Better Union, Better University and Better Community.
What are Student Academic Reps (STARs) www.staffsunion.com/advice/academicreps Our Student Academic Representatives make sure that the University and Students’ Union know exactly what students think and want, striving for positive change to improve the learning experience at Staffs. How can they help me? Each cluster of related courses has an elected representative for each level to gather views from his/her coursemates and feed those comments back to the University. Your representative can then work with the Students’ Union to make positive changes in the University that may improve your experience. Great! How do I become a Student Academic Representative? Anyone can nominate themselves to become a STAR and with all of these great benefits why wouldn’t you? • Gain transferable skills. • Improve your CV. • Receive formal recognition for your voluntary work. • Receive rewards through a loyalty card scheme that includes free entry to nights out, free meals and Amazon vouchers. • Have a positive impact on the student experience. • Training opportunities will be available.
Get Involved by volunteering www.staffsunion.com/volunteering We offer a wide range of volunteering opportunities through our Involved Scheme. This is a great opportunity to contribute to the local community and to meet and engage with a range of different people. It is really eye catching on your CV and it is up to you how much time you volunteer. Opportunities include working as a youth mentor; helping out in a local school, sports coaching, conservation work or if you would prefer a one-off volunteering experience we can help you pull this together.We’re also a part of the Staffordshire Graduate programme so the hours you put in can also be recognised as part of your degree.
Need some advice – online web chat and telephone appointments www.staffsunion.com/advice The Student Advice Centre (SAC) offers confidential and impartial advice on a variety of issues that students might need guidance on. Our professional team are experienced in: • Student finance • Academic affairs • Student housing • Debt management And if there is an area beyond their expertise, then they have the contacts to refer you appropriately. In addition, there are a number of online self help materials which you can access from the website. We offer appointments on both campuses as well as drop in appointments, we can advise by telephone, email or you can chat with us online.
Students’ union advice www.staffsunion.com/advice/moneydoctors Money Doctors is part of the Students’ Union Student Advice Centre. Find out how we can help you keep your finances healthy and make your money achieve what you want it to. Last year, Money Doctors secured £739,201 additional funding for its students. The SAC secured £596,103 additional funding for Staffs students in 2013/14, so drop in for a chat to see how we can help you.
Check list Chat to us online Vote in the Leadership Race online Become a Student Academic Representative Place a nomination for the Student Experience Awards Watch Varsity coverage live online Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat and Instagram. Just search for staffsunion
Key Contacts Mel
mel.ramsay@staffs.ac.uk
Twitter: @staffs_mel
Yashwanth
yashwanth.nooka@staffs.ac.uk
Twitter: @staffs_yash
Dayo
dayo.odubonojo@staffs.ac.uk
Twitter: @staffs_dayo
Louise
louise.mason@staffs.ac.uk
Twitter: @staffs_louise
Tom
thomas.hope@staffs.ac.uk
Twitter: @staffs_tom
#ProudToBeStaffs