Students’ Union
Strategy & Strategic Plan 2011 - 2014
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Contents .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Introduction from the President Introduction to the Strategy Our Membership What we want to achieve Our resources and Improvements Introduction to the Strategic Plan Our Key Achievements The Plan for Improvement Engagement Student Voice Experience Organisation
05 07 08 10 12 15 17 18 20 22 24 26
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USSU Strategy Introduction Cameron Tait A strategy, and the resultant strategic plan, gives the University of Sussex Students’ Union a set of goals to head towards over the next few years. The nature of the Students’ Union is such that a new team of FullTime-Officers leads the Union each year. For so many reasons this is fantastic; it means that Officers have enough time to deliver on their manifesto pledges, yet not so long that they lose their democratic accountability. The annual changeover also means that the Union remains fresh, current and relevant with the changing needs of the student body. Whilst a year was enough time to make some key changes within the University, such as the return of all examination feedback and a redesign of the University’s scholarships and bursaries package, it was not enough time to make real structural change to the Union itself, something that was long overdue. So this plan addresses that need. We decided that we needed to be ambitious. Sussex was already a
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well renowned Students’ Union across the country and we aimed to really set the standard in student representation, personal development, and making change in the University and local community. Most importantly, however, we recognised changes were taking place across the Students’ Union sector that contradicted what we were hearing in our own consultations. Students wanted to be actively involved in the running of their own Students’ Union. The strategy, therefore, looks to create a Students’ Union with students at every level: in governance, in leadership, in provision, involved. I know that with the leadership of the 2011 / 2012 Officer team and the excellent staff team supporting them, the Union will move from strength to strength not only in this next year, but for many years to come. Cameron Tait President 2010-2011, The University of Sussex Students’ Union
Cameron Tait
Introduction from the President As the University of Sussex is entering its 50th year it is a great opportunity for the Students’ Union to reflect on ourselves, our position within the University community, the wider community and most importantly on our interaction with students and the support and opportunities we offer them. The Students’ Union is made up of every student studying at Sussex and BSMS (Brighton and Sussex Medical School). This strategy is the result of a year of extensive consultation with students, staff, volunteers and officers. It outlines very clearly who and what the Students’ Union is and more importantly what we want it to be and how we want to get there. It starts off with the Unions’ purpose, our vision and our values. These will be at the core of everything we do and want to achieve and these are what makes us unique and what will hopefully inspire you to participate and take action. The Students’ Union aims to be a membership organisation that is
run by its members and acts in the interest of its members. In other words the Union aims to be a strong union that is democratically led by students and a base for the entire student community. An organisation that empowers students to be active participants and an organisation that is progressive and critical in order to promote educational and social change. We can be proud of what Sussex Students’ Union has achieved over the past half decade and in the way the Union has contributed to making the University of Sussex what it is today. This strategy will enable us to improve ourselves, the university experience of the students at Sussex and will enable us to continue to fight for fair, equal and quality education.
David Cichon President 2011-2012, The University of Sussex Students’ Union
David Cichon
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Introduction to the Strategy Student Unions’ Purpose The Students’ Union’s charitable object, as detailed in its constitution, is the advancement of education of students at the University of Sussex for the public benefit. Our Vision As a union we aim to be more than a purely representative body providing services. A students’ union should be integral to all students’ social lives, personal development and their educational experiences. Students should not be passive consumers but active participants providing services, experiences and complementary education for themselves. Together we will help to set the social agenda, ensuring that students are equipped and inspired to make a positive difference to their university experience and society. Our Mission To enable students at Sussex to make a positive difference to their University experience. Our Aim By 2014 we will become a leading organisation in the fields of student participation, representation and engagement. Our Values
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Our Membership Students at the University of Sussex Total Number of Students:
12,575
Type and level of study:
23% (3,479) Postgraduate 77% (8,362) Undergraduate Percentage of: Part time students - 18%
Ethnicity: White - 75% Black - 7%
Students over 25 - 32% Students with a known disability - 11%
Mixed - 4%
Students from lower social economic groups - 19%
Chinese - 3%
BME students- 13%
Unknown - 5%
Data supplied from Higher Education Statistics Agency.
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Asian - 4%
Other - 2%
Gender:
Female - 58%
Male - 42%
Domicile:
Top 10 countries of domicile:
UK - 8,876 EU - 948 Other - 589
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What we want to achieve Increasing the number of students actively engaged in the running of Union activities and democratic processes empowering them to take ownership of their union
Removing social and academic problems affecting students both on an individual and a collective level
Increasing students’ personal development and enjoyment of their University experience
Increasing the awareness of student issues ensuring that students’ views are integral to all decisions affecting them so that their best interests are served with no groups being unfairly affected
Increasing students’ impact on their local environment ensuring they are recognised as a positive and progressive part of the university and the local community and are inspired to affect change at a local, national and international level
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Our Core Activities
Our Focus
We operate an advice and representation service providing individual advice and student representation on university committees and at a school level. We support student representation through training and briefings and ensuring that our democratic systems are functioning and effective.
All of our activities, including our commercial services, must be student-led and have a direct positive impact on students’ lives. We will concentrate on improving the university experience for existing and future students and wherever possible look to facilitate students providing their own services over other methods.
We facilitate the creation and organisation of various student led media outlets, sport clubs, general interest societies, RAG, support groups and we provide a community volunteering brokering scheme. We provide advice literature, information and workshops and help train other providers of student support services. We run awareness campaigns and lobby decision-makers both locally and nationally on the key issues affecting students. Together with student groups we run various key events throughout the university and cultural calendar and also general entertainment and other opportunities for students to meet and socialise with each other. As a provider of student run space we facilitate student debate and discussion and act as a platform for political activity, social action and student self governance and liberation. Recently we have introduced a student run computer repair service and are currently developing a student lettings agency.
Our Position We differ from similar organisation and services because we are committed to student participation and strive to be a facilitator of services as well as a provider.
All of our activity is completely student led through active democratic accountability and student involvement. We are also an ethically driven organisation committed to acting responsibly in all of our actions and decisions.
Through our commercial trading services we operate social venues and retailing that provides essential services, employment opportunities for students and revenue to support our non-commercial services. Throughout all of this we encourage student participation and involvement and provide many supported voluntary roles within the Students’ Union itself.
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Our Resources and Our Resources and Improvements Improvements How we will resource ourselves over the next three years: We will aim to increase our annual block grant to a level that covers the cost of our core services and to agree a mechanism for calculating that level with the University. We will also look to use our charitable status to increase our income from external grants and funds for student led projects and seek other sources of funding from within the University for jointly provided services such as Sussex Plus. Commercially we will aim to make our services more profitable by improving our operations and increasing our trading year. We will look to diversify our trading income so as not to be solely reliant on the traditional areas, especially where income is declining at a national level. We will look to increase online sales and find additional sources of income from new services such as the student lettings market.
What internal improvements we need to make: Over the next three years we will actively aim to engage with more students. We will do this through improving our democratic accountability and developing and supporting our democratic structures to make them simple and empowering. Our aim is to make it easier for students to understand how to get involved and feel encouraged to do so. We will improve our transparency and actively seek to engage more students through increased interaction with union officers, more effective individual and collective representation and through our social policy work. A key aspect of encouraging participation will be making greater use of volunteers,
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more support for general student involvement in all our activities and ensuring our activities and services are of the highest quality. We must ensure that all groups of students are involved within the Union and pay special attention to those groups often excluded. We will become better at communicating the services we offer and our impact both to students and the University. But our communication must also be two way and we must improve our ability to listen to and understand students’ needs through better use of new technologies, social media and research. We will also concentrate on providing events that enrich the University and cultural calendar that are not provided elsewhere. We must improve our HR practices, staff engagement and embed equality and diversity into all of our work. We must also ensure we are sustainable, both financially and environmentally. We will need to look for new ways to provide existing services through partnerships and collaboration that delivers real benefit and value for money but also train staff to be facilitators of students services rather than providers. Most importantly our services and activities must be student focused and student led and we must be flexible enough to adapt to their changing needs and priorities.
Our external relationships
How we wish to be seen by others
We seek constructive engagement with the university; we expect the views of students to be taken seriously and considered in all relevant decisions taken within the institution. We want to develop a more structured relationship with the other service providers within the University and to have greater influence with the local authority and national bodies such as NUS. We would wish to develop relationships with local communities and suppliers that match our ethical and political values and to work in unity with the campus trade unions. We see other universities and students’ unions as partners in the provision of higher education.
As an organisation we want to be seen as being progressive in our outlook, well informed, relevant to all students’ lives whilst being supportive and empowering. We want students to feel that by getting involved they will be able to effect real change, not just within the Union and the University but also within society. We wish to be seen as a ‘critical friend’ and as a partner in the provision of education at Sussex by the University but also as an asset that is worth investing in.
As an organisation we want to been seen as being progressive in our outlook, well informed, relevant to all students’ lives whilst being supportive and empowering.
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We carried out extensive research on the views of our officers, staff, volunteers, customer and users of our services through surveys, interviews and focus groups and held away days with managers, officers and staff.
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Introduction to the Strategic Plan How we decided on the priorities of this plan We have spent the last year doing a lot of consultation with students, staff, volunteers and officers to help inform this plan. We have looked at the results of surveys carried out by ourselves, most notable the annual USSU Questionnaire, which in 2010 received over 700 responses, as well as analysing survey results carried out by national organisations such as the International Student Barometer, National Student Survey and the NUSSL Student Lifestyle Survey. We targeted specific groups that we knew rarely used our services with our What Matters To You? Survey with 600 respondents from International, Postgraduate, Mature and Part-Time students and students with dependants. We also made use of detailed research work carried out by other sector bodies such as the NUS Wave Of Change report and NCVO’s State Of The Voluntary Sector and Participation: trends, facts and figures. Key findings of our research and analysis The overriding factors that come through the research regarding the Students’ Union is that we are performing well, receiving high satisfaction rates from our customers and service users. We also have a very actively engaged student body in areas such as democracy and student-led campaigning. But there exists considerably large groups of students that feel alienated and unsupported by the Students’ Union, most notably postgraduate, mature, part-time and international students and students with dependants. Sussex has a high number of postgraduate and mature students compared to other HEIs on top of this the institution is looking to considerably expand its intake
of international students over the next three years. Although a relatively small group of students, student with dependant children have very acute, specific needs that are currently not being adequately addressed by the either the Union or the University. The other key area of weakness identified regarding student involvement was a lack of democratic accountability and openness and weak support for our internal democratic processes. We also need to continue to address the perception of high profile activities such as entertainment that can reflect poorly on our other services and look to increase the overall awareness of Students’ Union services and membership benefit amongst the student body. Our ability to communicate effectively, particularly using online social media is a key factor in this. Limited resources is the other key factor that needs to be addressed. In addressing these issues this plan must take advantage of the high levels of student engagement and highly regarded services. We must combine these strengths with our ability as an organisation to be flexibility and responsive and the commitment and quality of our staff, volunteers and officers.
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Our Environment The higher education sector is changing and we are about to enter very challenging times. HE has received huge cuts in its budget that will affect universities and students’ unions. The level of fees students will have to pay for their education will treble and this in turn will affect how they view their education and what they will expect from their institutions and the services they receive. Within this environment the student voice has never been more important and strong representation will be essential. Student development will also become more important with students wanting to turn their experiences into transferable skills so that they will be better able to secure graduate employment. Above all we need to ensure that our services continue to be efficient and high quality.
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There are also opportunities in this new environment; the rise of digital media offers a fantastic way to engage with members and to enable much higher levels of participation. With new legislation meaning students’ unions becoming registered charities there will be new opportunities for fundraising. Additional sources of income must be sought from new services such as the student lettings market; an area that could potentially provide revenue for the Union and huge social benefit for our members. We must also look for new ways to provide existing services through partnerships and collaboration that delivers real benefit and value for money.
Our Key Achievements Over 3000 students voting in online elections
Almost 1000 students volunteering within the Students’ Union
Introduction of Union Volunteering Scheme with student volunteers now operating five key areas of Union services
Successfully lobbied for all work to be marked and returned with 15 days
Successfully lobbied for 24 hour library access
Successfully lobbied for exam papers to be returned to students once they have been marked
Successfully lobbied for exam papers to be returned to students once they have been marked
Invested in refits to our advice centre, common room, shops and bars
Introduced a management training programme for all managers, key staff and supervisors
Introduced customer service training for every member of commercial staff team
Introduced Equal Opportunity monitoring across the whole organisation
Commercial turnover up from £2,284,000 in 2005 to £3,804,000 in 2010
Gold Students’ Unions Green Impact environmental award
Gold Best Bar None award for responsible operation of alcohol licensed premises
Achieved Investors in Volunteers accreditation
Highest rating of any 1994 Group University students’ union in International Student Barometer
Led the process for the University of Sussex to awarded the status of a Fairtrade University
Completed a successful redevelopment and re-branding of the Students’ Union and website
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The Plan for Improvement Strands
There are four strategic strands running through all four areas of the union’s strategic plan with a key goal for each strand.
Participation
Increase the numbers of students involved in Union and University decision-making and in the running of all Union activities and services Key Goal 1 - by 2014 we will have: Over 50% of our members would have voted in a Students’ Union election and/or referendum at some stage in the year
Ensure that all sections of the student body are involved in what we do, especially minority groups
Diversity
Key Goal 2 - by 2014 we will have: The demographic of the overall student body is reflected positively across all Union activities, democratic structures and services
Ensure that whatever we do and the services and activities we offer are of the best they can be
Quality
Resources
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Key Goal 3 - by 2014 we will have: Achieved a SUEI Silver award with over 85% of students agreeing that we have had a positive impact on their university experience
Ensure we have the necessary resources to achieve our objectives and the long-term future of the Union as a sustainable enterprise both financially and environmentally Key Goal 4 - by 2014 we will have: Our annual block grant at a level that covers the cost of our core services with an agreed mechanism for calculating that level
The Plan for Improvement Areas
The four key areas of the plan are each divided into three sections. They are:
Engagement
Student Voice
Experience
Organisation
• Communications • Volunteering • Hard-to-Reach Students
• Democracy • Representation • Advice
• Clubs & Societies • Events • Community
• People • Technology • Sustainability
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Engagement Communications We will communicate in a timely and effective way with the membership using the same methods they use to communicate with each other. We will create a coherent message based on students’ needs rather than Union priorities.
Volunteering We will expand both the number of volunteers running our services and the amount of services run by volunteers. We will continue to develop the existing volunteer roles within the Union to offer a valuable and rewarding developmental and social experience for those students that volunteer with us and with groups and projects within the community.
‘Hard-to-Reach’ Students We will improve our representation for traditionally underrepresented groups with specific focus on postgraduates and international students; mature and part-time students; students with childcare responsibilities; BME students and students from Widening Participation backgrounds. We will ensure that their needs and views are heard and met within the Union, the University and the local community. We will increase the number of students from these groups that engage with the Students’ Union both in existing activities and services and through the creation of new services specifically for these groups. We will also encourage more students from these groups to become actively engaged in the provision of their own services and activities through societies and campaigning.
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By 2014 we will have: Volunteering
Communications
‘Hard-to-Reach’ Students
Participation:
Participation:
Students will contribute over 70,000 hours of voluntary work within the campus and local community
At least one campaign to be run on an issue relevant to one of these groups a year and concerns of these groups to be included in any other Union campaigns
Diversity:
Diversity:
Diversity:
We will have targeted marketing and communications for at least four of our identified ‘hard-to-reach’ student groups
Conducted an Equality Impact Assessment for Union volunteering to ensure no group of students are excluded from participating
Developed and implemented an organisational strategy for engaging with these identified students groups
Quality:
Quality:
Quality:
90% of students volunteering within the Union will rate their experience as Good or Excellent
75% of Hard-to-Reach students rating the Students’ Union Good or Excellent in annual survey
Resources:
Resources:
Resources:
Reduced our printed material by 50%
Trained all key Union staff in volunteer development and facilitating volunteer-led services
Additional funding for a new post to support these groups from the University
Participation:
Over 250,000 unique visitors to our web site per year At least 2500 members opening the fortnightly newsletter
Our market research respondent data accurately reflecting the demographic of the student body
Developed and implemented a communications strategy across the organisation 80% of students responding in the annual survey feel that they are well informed of Union activities
Increased marketing and communications expenditure by 50%
At least 25% of our membership will be involved in voluntary activity through the Students’ Union
The demographic of the overall student body is reflected in the students volunteering through the Students’ Union
Developed and implemented a Union Volunteering Strategy
Provided dedicated financial and staff support for all Union volunteers
75% of International Student Barometer (ISB) respondents using our services
Conducted Equality Impact Assessments for all new Union services to ensure that they do not exclude these groups
A 95% satisfaction rating for Students’ Union in ISB
A dedicated budget to support these groups
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Student Voice Representation We will develop and support relevant and accessible representational structures to ensure we represent all of our members. Our social policy campaigning will be targeted and organised to deliver real change and benefit to our membership. We will also increase our role at a national level ensuring that the voice of Sussex students shapes the future of student politics and higher education.
Advice We will continue to develop a professional, independent advice and casework service that meets the needs of our members. As part of this we will also develop and greatly expand the Advice and Representation volunteering scheme to enable service development and provide rewarding volunteer opportunities.
Democracy We will increase the number of students involved in the democratic structures of the Union both in terms of those standing for positions and those voting. We will strengthen our democratic structures to increase accountability and engage students in leading and influencing the direction of the Union, the University and national student issues that affect them.
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By 2014 we will have: Advice
Representation Participation:
Participation:
At least one Sussex representative at a national level in the student movement every year of this plan
Established a student mediation scheme
85% of Student Representative positions contested
Created a schedule of volunteer-led advice services and outreach activities and ensured sufficient volunteers to operate them
Democracy Participation:
Over 15% of students voting in a Students’ Union Councillor election at some stage in the year Over 90% of students knowing that they are a member of the students’ union and that we are a democratically accountable, student led organisation. All Member Meetings attaining a minimum of 450 students attending
Diversity:
Diversity:
Diversity:
The demographic of the overall student body is reflected in those nominating themselves for student representatives and officers
A system that prioritises social policy evidence relating to minority and hard-toreach groups into tangible action
Established delivery plans for improving democratic involvement of all underrepresented groups identified in the 2011 Democratic Working Group review
Quality:
Quality:
85% of respondents to User Survey ranking service Good or Excellent
A new training programme for all union officers and Council members with an 85% attendance
Resources:
Resources:
Run at least one awareness campaign on minority issues in every year of this plan
Quality:
Implemented all recommendations from the 2011 Student Representative Scheme review Published at least 3 campaign objectives each year of this plan and achieved at least 3 of the objectives across the course of this plan
Conducted an Equality Impact Assessment for the advice service to ensure all groups of students have equal access to the service
Obtained a relevant quality standard for the advice service
The demographics of our membership will be reflected in the candidates and in those members voting
Implemented all recommendations from the Democratic Working Group 2011 review
85% of our membership agreeing that we effectively lobby the university on their behalf
Resources:
Dedicated staff support for social policy work development
Permanent A&R Volunteer Coordinator post Dedicated administrative support for officers, volunteers and staff working in the advice service
Dedicated staff support for the Union’s democratic processes
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Experience Clubs & Societies We will expand the scope and widen the participation in Students’ Union activities to achieve more students involved in quality activities. We will improve our support for our active students and create a high profile, quality RAG for Sussex. We will also increased accessibility to sport, focusing on underrepresented areas, groups and disabled students.
Events We will develop an improved events programme ensuring all our provision remains focused on the requirements and diversity of our entire membership. Through our cultural events we will provide opportunities for students from different cultures to meet and celebrate together and to mix with students from other backgrounds. We will also make sure that students themselves are at the heart of providing the events and entertainment that we provide and facilitating students to provide their own events and entertainment.
Community We will continue to engage with the local community in a positive and constructive way; providing a voice for students within the community but also help highlight the positive impact that students bring to the city and the local area. We will also seek to increase our contacts with community voluntary groups and to continue to increase the number of students that we place within them.
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By 2014 we will have: Events
Clubs & Societies
Community
Participation:
Participation:
Participation:
80% of Club and Society executive members attending a training event
Support packages and training available for student groups to organise their own events
Over 300 students actively volunteering in community groups and initiatives
Over 4000 registered members in sport clubs and societies
A schedule of volunteer-led events with sufficient volunteers to provide them
Two high-profile, annual events showcasing student activities to the local community
Increased the amount of money raised for charities through RAG, year-on-year, to £25,000
Diversity:
Conducted an Equality Impact Assessment for clubs and societies to ensure no group of students are unfairly excluded from participating The demographic of the overall student body is reflected in the membership of clubs and societies
Diversity:
A well established cultural events calendar attended by students from all backgrounds To have at least 50% of Freshers Week entertainment as non-alcohol based events and events aimed at hard-to-reach student groups
Quality:
Quality:
A 95% satisfaction rating for Clubs & Societies in Student Barometer and International Student Barometer
Introduced a formal training programme for Event volunteers in areas such as promotions, stage management, sound engineering and lighting
Resources:
Resources:
Raised at least £60,000 of external funding for student activities
Invested in new lighting and staging equipment
85% of respondents to User Survey ranking activities as Good or Excellent
Provided fundraising training and resources for key staff
Been in the upper quartile of NSS Social Opportunities ‘entertainments question’
The events budget achieving an overall financial surplus
Diversity:
Run at least one campaign on an issue that affects a minority group of students within the local community Established our Link-Up and Community workshop scheme promoting skill sharing between students and the local community with at least 20 active projects
Quality:
Hold two meetings per year with senior representatives of Brighton & Hove Council to discuss issues affecting students within the city The Rate Your Landlord Survey as a recognised annual event within the city, helping to eliminate bad practice within the private letting sector, with over 1000 respondents annually
Resources:
Raised at least £30,000 of external funding for Students’ Union community initiatives or events
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Organisation People Students’ Unions rely entirely on officers, staff and volunteers. If we are going to be successful we are going to need trained and motivated individuals and teams. We will develop an HR strategy that creates a working environment that builds staff, officer and volunteer enthusiasm based on: 1. Equity & Fairness – ensure that our staff and volunteers are treated fairly at work. 2. Achievement – be clear about objectives and ensure that staff and volunteers understand that their roles are important and useful and to ensure that they are recognised for this. 3. Camaraderie - encourage good relationships across the organisation through crossdepartmental projects, staff meetings and social activities.
Technology We will build on from our work over recent years to better utilise technology to improve our service accessibility and communication with our membership. The key aims will now be to create greater efficiencies, increase student engagement in our democratic structures and student activities and to ensure the Students’ Union remains future proof and relevant through our use of technology.
Sustainability We will ensure that we are financially stable by building the level of our reserves and developing sound strategies for growth within our commercial services. We will continue to improve our environmental impact through reducing our carbon footprint across the organisation and by embedding environmental and ethical best practice into all of our operations.
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By 2014 we will have: Technology
People Participation:
90% of all staff participating in the annual Staff Satisfaction Survey Developed and implemented a staff engagement strategy across the whole Students’ Union
Diversity:
Increased the diversity of our workforce ensuring that all staff have received diversity training and improved recruitment methods and advertising to attract underrepresented groups
Participation:
Developed a new online election system Key services and information available on at least two mobile platforms Student volunteers providing IT support and training within the Union
Sustainability Participation:
Reduced our carbon footprint per employee by 10% over the course of this plan Reduced the overall electricity consumption of students living in halls of residence by 15% per head
Diversity:
Diversity:
Quality:
Quality:
All content on our website in an accessible format that conforms with WAI guidelines
The demographic of the overall student body is reflected in the usage of the Students’ Union’s commercial services
Achieved Investors in Diversity accreditation
Quality:
Achieved Investors in People Silver accreditation Been in the Sunday Times Best 100 Companies To Work For list
All delivery and business plans to be organised via an online project management system Improved end user experience through centralising all PCs and facilitating remote and mobile access to our IT systems
Achieved Green Impact Students’ Unions overall winners at least once Achieved a year-on-year increase in the number of organic, Fairtrade and locally sourced products sold across Union outlets
Resources:
Resources:
Resources:
Increased Learning and Development budget by 50%
A dedicated server for our website
Reduced like-for-like annual electricity and water consumption and general waste by 10% year-on-year and to have less than 5% of general waste containing waste that could be recycled
Invested in new HR software
Replaced servers and all PCs with ‘thin client’ hardware
Maintained our reserves above £200,000 over the course of this plan
Achieved a year-on-year increase in the surplus from our commercial services with an annual trading surplus of at least £250,000 by 2014
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