Our Students' Union Strategy & Strategic Plan 2019/25

BECOMING YOUR UNION

From Good to Great: A Strategic Framework for the University of Sussex Students’ Union 2019 - 20251

CONTENTS

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Our Vision

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Our Principles

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Who We Are Here For

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Our Impacts

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Our Activities and Outputs

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Our Focus

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Our Position

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Our Resources

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Our Improvements

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Our External Relationships

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Our Communications

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Our Vision We will provide the services and representation that students want in the way they want to access them.

We will become a digital Students’ Union and the number one destination for help and advice for our members.

Our building will be the home of the student community at Sussex, and offer a space for every one of our members to make the most of their time at University.

Our students will understand what a Union is for and that it is run by students just like them. They will also know that we have a positive impact on their university life and education.

We will be a Union that actively engages all students at Sussex.

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We believe that students should be at the heart of the Students’ Union and the University. Our role is to ensure everything we do has a positive impact in the lives of all our members and that they are aware of that impact.

To do this we follow five key principles:

5. Inclusion: We provide the representation

and services that meet the needs of all of our diverse membership. We are an ethically driven and progressive organisation that puts liberation and social justice at the heart of what we do. We continue to embed equality, diversity and inclusions in all areas of our work and representation.

4. Advice: Because we listen

1. Accuracy: We will always

put students before service.

By actively involving students in deciding what our services should be and how our services are run we provide services that students actually want and use. And by facilitating student leadership in our representation we accurately reflect the views of our membership.

OUR PRINCIPLES

2. Availability: Students can

access all of our services and representation how and when they like; by opening up our spaces, removing barriers to participation and becoming a truly digital union, students will be able to access us 24/7.

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to and act in accordance with students interests we understand the issues that affect them. We will become a trusted source of advice and information that helps students to have the best time that they can at Sussex.

3. Partnership: By working in partnership with students as leaders, staff and volunteers ensures we work in accordance with the values, needs and interests of the students at Sussex. It also ensures that the diversity of our organisation reflects the diversity of our membership.

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Who we are here for: The Students’ Union is here for all our students, from the most involved to those who have never heard of us.

No matter their course or level of study, interests or politics, sexuality or nationality, who they are or want to be - we provide space for everyone.

Our work benefits current and future students at the University of Sussex, BSMS and IDS, as well as those recently graduated within the first three years of starting their careers.

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Our Impacts YOUR EMPLOYABILITY Enhancing student employability We aim to positively impact our students’ lives beyond the duration of their degree. We will ensure our students have the best start to their future careers, and offer opportunities to gain valuable skills and experiences that can be used after their time at Sussex. We want our students to leave Sussex with the skills and confidence they need to fulfil their potential and inspired to make a positive difference in the world.

YOUR WORLD Building communities and benefiting society We know and value the power inherent in our student community to achieve change, and through community organising we build student leaders and movements to make a sustainable, positive impact on society and the environment.

WE WILL ENSURE: • More students feel confident that they will find employment once they graduate • More students have access to employment and volunteering opportunities whilst studying at Sussex

YOUR EDUCATION Defending an inclusive, quality education We are here to ensure students at Sussex get the most from their education and are active partners in shaping their experience at University. We ensure all students’ voices are listened to in decision-making within the University, and work with students from marginalised groups to make their education reflective of their lives.

WE WILL ENSURE: • The curriculum is positively impacted by student representatives and learner feedback • There is greater satisfaction from students across all demographics in the quality of their education

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WE WILL ENSURE: • More students taking both individual and collective action to combat climate change • There is greater student participation in the local community that is both recognised and valued

YOUR WELLBEING Improving student life and wellbeing We are here to make student life better; from cheaper travel to campus to better quality housing; from greater inclusion to better mental health support.

Through effective student representation and student-led campaigning we will identify and resolve the issues our students care about.

WE WILL ENSURE: • More students across all demographics feel connected, safe and supported • Fewer students drop out of study due to non-academic issues

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YOUR ACTIVITIES

YOUR SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

Supporting student activities and events

Providing outstanding, student-led commercial services

We build and support a student community with space for every student.

We do this by providing outstanding opportunities, experiences and events that are relevant and accessible to all our students. We are continuously evolving and changing to provide what our students tell us they want from their union, as we know our students are experts at knowing what will make their time at Sussex the best it can be.

We operate an ethical, student-led, social enterprise. All of our trading activity and operations directly benefit our members, both as customers and employees, and remain profitable - we put student need before profit, not instead of profit. All profits from our enterprise are invested back into the charity to support its services and activities.

WE WILL ENSURE:

WE WILL ENSURE:

• Student life is positively impacted through Students’ Union activities and events • Student activities and events are used by over 80% of all students

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• Students’ enjoyment of their University experience is increased • Increased revenue for the charitable activities of the Students’ Union

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Our activities and outputs

We provide high quality student focused services and student representation to improve life for all students at Sussex. We do this by shaping our work around what our students tell us they want and need, with the intent to provide our students with the space, tools, experiences and knowledge in order to grow student leaders and a vibrant student community.

Enhancing student employability by: • Collaborating with the University to increase student input into the development and delivery of employability services • Increasing the awareness of the transferable skills our student staff and volunteers gain and ensure they can demonstrate these • Increasing student awareness of employability services and opportunities • Increasing the support and facilities for student cooperatives and other entrepreneurial societies • Actively working towards the success of the Sussex Award scheme • Increasing the number of student jobs and graduate placements within the Union

Defending an inclusive, quality education by: • Ensuring 85% of students will be satisfied that we represent their academic interest • Working with the University to make meaningful progress in lowering of the BAME attainment gap • Working with the University to develop a powerful, effective and inclusive Student Rep Scheme • Building our research capacity to gain a better understanding of the issues affecting academic outcomes • Working with the University to increase accessibility to better academic facilities and study spaces • Working with the University to increase the number of BAME academic and faculty staff working at Sussex

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Improving student life and wellbeing by: • Increasing the availability and affordability of bus travel and the safety and facilities for cycling to campus • Improving the access to decent and affordable housing for students on campus and in the city • Improving the accessibility of university for students with disabilities • Increasing provision of accessible mental health support available at the University • Improving the support for students affected by sexual violence, domestic abuse, harassment, stalking and hate crime • Ensuring the University collects accurate data on marginalised groups to identify and act on any welfare-related issues

Supporting student activities and events by: • Ensuring social activities and clubs and societies have over 90% satisfaction from both home and international students • Collecting impact data that demonstrates the positive impact that Union services have on students’ lives • Having the student demographic represented across all union activities and events • Increasing the number of BAME students in sport and society executive positions and student media roles • Supporting more society and media outlets to receive national awards • Increasing student spaces and facilities where students can meet, study and play

Building sustainable communities and benefiting society by:

Providing outstanding, student-led commercial services by:

• Providing greater support for students’ sustainable actions and initiatives

• Increasing the profitability of our existing and new businesses areas • Improving diversity in commercial services staff at all levels • Increasing the number employment opportunities available to students and to enhance their employability • Ensuring our impact is recognised as a positive and progressive part of the University community • Reducing our negative impact on the environment • Increasing the number of commercial outlets we operate on campus

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Increasing the number of students volunteering in the community Supporting more student-led campaigns through community organising Creating an active Citizens UK B&H chapter and local University chapter Increasing the number of existing courses that include sustainability in their content

• Facilitating more students to vote in national, local and campus elections and referenda

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The work we will focus on We will strive to have a positive impact on as many students as we can through advice and support across our online platforms. Our ambition is to become a ‘digital first’ students’ union and the first choice for Sussex students looking for help and information.

We will increase our representation, campaigning and lobbying activity to achieve meaningful outcomes that all students know about. Our ambition is to have knowledgeable, powerful representatives that are respected and listened to by the University and that students understand their importance to their university life.

We will ensure our liberation work continues to be a priority across the Union and the

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University to make Sussex a truly inclusive community. Our ambition is that all students at Sussex feel connected, safe and supported.

We will support, facilitate and promote as much student-led activity as we can; creating more student roles, building student leaders and providing more space for fantastic opportunities and activities. Our ambition is for all students to be active in the Students’ Union.

We will grow our commercial services, offering quality experiences and valued student employment and development. Our ambition is to operate all commercial outlets across campus.

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How we are different to others We are proud to be the home of our student community and student voice at Sussex. We build our community by building leaders, movements and power with our students, many of which are from from disadvantaged or marginalised groups.

We ensure voices society otherwise wouldn’t listen to are heard, by supporting our students to be part of resolving the issues that matter to them. We believe this is intrinsically valuable not only to our students but everyone, as our students are part of building a strong and vitalised civil society.

We differ from similar service organisations because students aren’t just our customers - as our trustees, staff members, volunteers and service users students are actively involved in shaping and deciding what we do.

We are an ethically-led organisation that values its employees. We work to empower our officers, staff and volunteers, supporting them to provide the best services and representation we can. For our student staff we provide a good level of pay, excellent training and development and the ability to shape the direction of our services that cannot be matched by similar organisations.

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Within our outlets we strive to reflect the alternative culture of the city, being less corporate than the other commercial outlets on campus, and to be a viable alternative choice for students to that of city venues and services.

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How we will resource our work We will secure future funding of the Union by establishing both our services and representation as outstanding in the eyes of both our students and University.

We will make sure the University knows we are worth investing in by demonstrating that we are a well run and valued students’ union. This can only be achieved by increasing satisfaction amongst students by promoting our achievements and increasing participation. To achieve this within resources we must become a ‘digital first’ organisation.

We need to ensure that our existing commercial services remain profitable. We will look to enhance existing revenue streams where we can but only if they add value to the student experience. We will also need to look to other sources of income, both from other areas of the University and from external sources.

We must aim, where possible, to make new projects and schemes self funding. We should also look to develop services that go hand in hand with University strategic priorities, and work together to improve our University for our students.

Ultimately, all projects and services must be driven by student demand, interest and needs, using student participation to continuously evaluate what we provide.

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The internal areas and functions we will improve 1.

To successfully increase the number of students engaging in the Union, we need to transform our digital offer. The key priority will be to develop a Digital Strategy to ensure we better meet the needs of our membership through digital technology. We will ensure our website is relevant and accessible, develop more mobile platforms and move more of our content into video to allow students to access our representatives and services wherever and whenever they want.

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Communication will become a core activity for all staff. Our communications need to prioritise student activities, our achievements and the support we offer; students need to understand what a students’ union does and how we can support them. We need to develop how we measure and communicate our impact, ensuring that we create meaningful change that is recognised by both the membership and the University.

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3.

We will continue to embed equality, diversity and inclusion into all of our operations and activities. We will prioritise increasing the ethnic diversity of the Union’s permanent staff, student staff and volunteers. We will also strive to ensure that traditionally marginalised groups are well represented within the Union’s democratic activities and our services users.

We will also continue to pursue the development of new student spaces, ensuring it meets the needs of our diverse student body and stays true to the Union’s values.

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We will improve support to student reps and elected officers to provide a strong student voice at a school and department level. We continue to develop online feedback tools and build on our partnerships with the University.

We will refocus the work of key staff to give the organisation the capacity to support officers to advocate for urgent academic and welfare crises faced by students, from issues such as housing allocation to course closures.

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Through the use of community organising methods and strengthening student committees we will create student leaders to really shape the services they use and help us to identify and remove barriers to participation.

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We will increase student participation in societies and groups. Our engagement with student volunteers running our clubs, societies, student media and campaigns needs to be improved. More funding will be found and directed towards the student groups themselves.

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8.

We will look to reduce the administrative burden and break down internal barriers to create more space for staff to work together across departments to provide the best experiences for students. .

We will increase student participation in our democratic functions by continuing to find new ways for students to engage in them. We will put our decision making structures online giving students greater access in the way they want.

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Our student campaigns will be underpinned by community organising that not only identifies issues but allows students to find their own solutions, ensuring the change we achieve is truly student-led and student focused.

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We will find ways to improve facilities and support to those student groups setting up and running cooperatives to improve student life.

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13.

We will continue to develop our community engagement and organising activity. Working with the University we will build better links with groups working within the community through the development of the community volunteering scheme and continuing to support the formation of Brighton & Hove Citizens.

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We will improve our data collection of students’ volunteering activity to build up a better picture of the contribution that students bring to the community and support the University in communicating this message.

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We will improve the appearance, feel and accessibility of Falmer House, making it a fun and vibrant place and a Student Hub on campus. As part of this we will greatly improve the amount of free space where students can heat their own food and make hot drinks or just meet to socialise or study.

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We will continue to push our ethical and environmental agenda, reducing the negative and increasing the positive impact our organisation has on the environment.

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We will better integrate ethical and environmental good practices into our day to day work to inspire and support students to drive change within the University and wider community.

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Service improvement and business development will continue to be driven by student employee engagement in our decision-making, increase student jobs and graduate roles wherever possible.

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We will need to ensure the Students’ Union remains a great place to work whatever your role and we must do our best to recruit and develop BAME staff.

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We will move as much of our training and development to digital platforms and look to increase the support and training offered to newly promoted managers to better support student staff.

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Better support for our increasing reliance of IT must be part of the Digital Strategy along with new finance functions to better support and empower staff and volunteers. We need to be able to support staff to work remotely whilst still remaining part of a team.

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Our partners, competitors and external relationships

We will prioritise constructive partnership with the University, and where our interests overlay, work to further the interests and needs of students. This work will focus on employability, the provision of a high quality education and in ensuring the views of students are taken seriously and considered in all relevant decision-making.

We will also work with campus services, such as Sussex Estates & Facilities, whom we see as partners in the provision of the delivery of excellent student experience . Other campus catering and food retail outlets are currently our main competitors but we will work with them if it benefits students.

We see other universities and students’ unions as partners rather than competitors in the provision of higher education.

We will continue to work with the local authority and community groups in areas such as housing and volunteering to help support the University’s community engagement and organising work.

The city, as an alternative destination for students to socialise in, has always been a competitor but we will look for partnerships with businesses that help us achieve our charitable objectives or provide opportunities for us to generate revenue.

Our business partners will see us as supportive, honest and open in our dealings. Wherever possible we will only partner and work with those organisations and business that share our values.

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Our Communications Our communications - how do we wish to seen by others: We want students to see us as an intrinsic part of the student community at Sussex, and a positive part of their life while at Sussex. To do this we need them to understand the role of a students’ union and how we can support them. We want our students to look to our website as the first point of call when they need help or advice. We want students to feel that the Students’ Union and our outlets are their space.

Our communication must be digital first and student focused - giving advice, highlighting issues and services relevant to them and informing them how to participate in what we do and provide, in a way that is relevant and easily accessible for them. We want students to feel that we are their Union - that the Union is led and shaped by students like them.

As an organisation we want the University and other external bodies to see our officers and representatives as an authoritative voice of student opinion and to respect them for their knowledge and understanding of the issues that affect students. We also want them to see us as a partner in the provision of quality services for students and as an asset worth keeping.

To students our commercial services should be seen as student-run, ethical and studentfocused, and that by using our commercial services they are directly benefiting the student body. We want the university and others to see our commercial services as a progressive social enterprise that is a resource of expertise in trading in the student market and making a positive contribution to the campus and the community.

Finally, we want everyone to see our union as an organisation that powerfully organises and supports our students to achieve change on the issues they care about. With us, students will build the power necessary to have their ideas, needs and interests listened to on both local and national issues. We will be the home of powerful, skilful, and excited students - ready to change the world.

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Sussex Students’ Union

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