Staff Induction Pack

We Intr

Welcome to the Undeb Bangor staff handbook, the start of what will hopefully be an exciting journey for you. Congratulations on being appointed for one of our staff positions. This handbook has been prepared to provide a basic guide to working in the Students’ Union. Your first few weeks in post will be geared at making sure that you have access to all of the information and resources you need.

Undeb Bangor is a successful, vibrant and exciting organisation, and students are at the heart of everything that we do they’re why we exist. We aim to both represent and provide services for our students; by working with us you will be helping to achieve that goal. As an organisation we want an environment that is fun, professional and provides a great service for our members

Our staff benefit from being part of a close-knit team, our jobs are challenging, exciting, and rewarding and we expect our staff to be committed, hardworking and enthusiastic

Mair Rowlands

Undeb Bangor Director Mair.rowlands@undebbanor.com

Ind

We pro them to their du and tra and tra departm training manage

HR proc

All the s g y employed by the University and we follow all University policies You will receive central University induction and training and can find the University Staff Handbook here. The University also offer training and development opportunities that Undeb staff can take advantage of

A Little Bit about Undeb Bangor...

We're a Charity!

We are an independent, democratic charity led by students and funded mainly through a block grant from Bangor University. Whilst we do work closely with the University, we are a separate and distinct organisation and decisions are taken internally by our members. Charity status also requires us to have a Board of Trustees, which ensures we comply with legal, financial and reputational guidelines, and which is made up of five full-time Sabbatical Officers, four student trustees and four external trustees.

We're run by students!

We have a team of five dedicated elected Sabbatical Officers elected to represent students to ensure that students’ ideas, needs and wants are being acted upon and developed. We have five sabbatical posts each with their own remit and responsibility: President, VP Education & Welfare, VP Societies & Community, VP Sport & Health Living, UMCB President..

They work in the SU full-time, and are elected on the basis of their ideas and guide the work of the staff during their time in office. Supporting the Sabbatical Officers are the Students’ Union professional staff, an experienced team supporting the delivery of our Strategy and campaigns and enacting the policies of the Sabbs, working together with the University to improve the student experience of all students!

WE’RE INDEPENDENT FROM THE UNIVERSITY

Whilst we work really closely with departments from all across the University, technically we are a separate organisation. This is important for several reasons, but mainly it means that if students have a problem while at the University - whether that is their course, accommodation, library or other issues they can come and talk to us. And they can do this in the confidence that we can take up the issue with the University and help to resolve it

WE REPRESENT STUDENTS

This means that the Sabbatical Officers sit on University Committees and pass on students’ opinions about decisions and changes. They also meet with the local Council and NUS to tell them what students think on certain issues. We run Student Council, and the Course Rep Scheme and have elected student-led committees and project leaders running our clubs’ societies and volunteering projects to represent different student groups, and to make sure that students have a voice and that it is listened to across the University and are part of organising campaigns and events.

OUR SERVICES

We run the Sports Clubs, Societies, Volunteering Projects, UMCB (Welsh Union), the Course Rep Scheme and our Student Council and offer a professional and confidential academic advice service. We are focused on delivering the best activities and experience for our students ensuring that students’ views, priorities and passions remains at the heart of everything we do.

OUR PURPOSE

We represent, empower, and support you at Bangor University, setting you up for your future.

OUR PRINCIPLES

Our Purpose, Promise & Principles

OUR PROMISE

We promise to listen to you, adapting to your needs in order to support you.

Our principles will frame and underpin our work and approach over the time of this strategy and our culture will be led by these principles:

WE ARE ACCESSIBLE AND INCLUSIVE TO ALL STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY: This means that we are there for you irrespective of your gender, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, physical ability, identity and cultural background.

WE ARE HERE TO SUPPORT YOU: We're sure that you will have an amazing time at Bangor University, but we want you to know that when life throws a curveball, we will be here to provide you with support.

WE ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF STUDENTS: This means that by holding elections each year we have student leaders who will represent your voices to the university, the community and the country!

WE CHAMPION THE WELSH LANGUAGE: We are proud to celebrate the cultural and historic importance that helps makes us so unapologetically Welsh.

WE VALUE DIVERSITY: We fully recognise the differences between our members and how this can build strength, we want to build multicultural communities and bonds that will stay with us forever

OUR STRUCTURE

The Students’ Unions has two departments, each headed by a Manager. Within these, a number of functional teams exist, each with a Lead staff member for each area of work, and coordinators and administrators Here’s a copy of our organisational chart which includes our governance structures and staffing structure

Our Services and Departments

The work of the Sabbatical Officer Team and the Students’ Union will be supported strategically through the following two staff support departments:

Finance and Operations Department:

Finance and Operations Department: supports the development of day-to-day operations and financial management, budgeting, auditing and financial policies and procedures and the running and support of the Student Centre, governance support, office management, health and safety, human resources, communications and marketing and Union resources.

Membership Development:

Membership Development: Supports the work and development for all areas of Student Opportunities and Student Voice, including our democratic and representative based activities including our Course Reps and Student Council; research; academic advice and welfare projects; volunteering and community, sports clubs, societies, and UMCB (Welsh language union); sustainability, fundraising, campaigning and student leadership and skills development for our members and student leaders, and health and safety provision for our activities

OUR STAFF

Students Union Director – Mair Rowlands

Mair is responsible for the day-to-day management of the SU staff team and to ensure that officers have the necessary support and guidance. She is also responsible for the strategic direction and performance of the Students’ Union and ensuring that the SU operates in a legally complaint manner and manages its resources to best achieve its charitable objects. She reports directly to the Board of Trustees of the Students’ Union and the President of the Students’ Union.

Finance and Operations Manager – Sharon Brown

Sharon is responsible for strategic management of all Undeb operations and finance functions for the Students’ Union, including the Student Centre, Communications and Marketing, and internal administrative, operational, and financial functions. Sharon ensures that the Union is operating within its budget and is legally compliant with financial regulation.

Our Staff

Executive Assistant / Operations Lead – Llinos Gashe

Llinos as the Operations Executive Assistant / Operations Lead services the Trustee Board, and offers governance and administration support to the Director, Sabbatical Officers and Trustee Board Llinos supports the running of internal finance and operations including supervision of the Students Centre, office management, health and safety, and human resources operations and related project activity

Finance and Operations Administrator – Alison Roberts

Alison provides frontline administrative and finance support to the Students’ Union, Student Centre and the Finance and Operations Team. She supports a range of administrative tasks and acts as point of first contact for people visiting the Students’ Union, she also leads on all vehicle bookings and MiDAS tests.

Finance and Operations Administrator – Charlotte Goodhew

Charli provides frontline administrative and finance support to the Students’ Union, Student Centre and the Finance and Operations Team, and provides direct team administration and finance support and is the main administrator and first point of contact for financial enquiries.

Communications and Marketing Lead – Ffion Jones

Ffion is responsible for ensuring the Students’ Union communicates effectively with students and other key stakeholders, coordinates and leads our communications, marketing and design work. Ffion supports campaign and project activity, and supports to identify sponsorship opportunities, and delivering a wide range of creative marketing and PR campaigns.

Website and Digital Content Coordinator – Ffion Hughes

Ffion is responsible for ensuring that the Students’ Union website and digital and social media platforms are relevant, responsive and engaging. Ffion leads on the development of the Undeb Bangor website and development and operational delivery of digital communications and content.

Our Staff

Membership Development Manager – Rob Samuel

Rob is responsible for the strategic management and the operational development of the Union’s Membership Development Services provision which includes all Student Voice and Student Opportunities activity in accordance with the Union’s strategic goals, ensuring they operate as effectively and efficiently as possible and meet the needs of our members. Rob also acts as the Deputy Returning Officer for our elections.

Student Voice Lead (Democracy & Campaigns) – Natasha Sellers

Tash is responsible for the support, development and operational delivery of Student Voice activities, and our Democracy and Campsings activity

Student Voice Lead (Academic Experience & Insight) – Lucy Lloyd

Lucy is responsible for the support, development and operational delivery of Student Voice activities, and specifically our Academic Experience and Insight activity.

Representation Coordinator - Niamh Ferron

Niamh is responsible for the development and delivery of democratic and representative activity within the Union including Course Representatives, Student Council, elections and policy and UMCB representation activity

Academic Advice and Welfare Projects Coordinator – Tara Hine

Tara provides one to one independents advice and support on academic and education-based issues to students as well as working closely with elected Students’ Union Officers to develop and coordinate a range of rights/welfare awareness and preventative campaigns and activities

Student Opportunities Lead – Kathryn Hughes

Kat is responsible for the support, development and operational delivery of Student Opportunities, supporting the development of members and student leaders of Students’ Union Sports Clubs, Societies, Volunteering Projects and UMCB.

Our Staff

Sports Clubs and Societies Coordinator - William Medforth

Will is responsible for supporting student led sports sports clubs and societies in all of their areas, including health and safety, guidance, equipment and facilities. Will provides support to our sport clubs and society members and executives, facilitating student involvement and development in sports and societies This role is also responsible for all UMCB activities that are sports and societies related.

Volunteering and Community Coordinator – Josie Ball

Josie s responsible for supporting our SVB student led volunteering projects and creating new volunteering opportunities, she is also responsible for our widening access and community outreach work, and sustainability projects. Josie provides support to our volunteers, and project leaders in facilitating student involvement and development in volunteering and community outreach. This role is also responsible for all UMCB activities that are volunteering and community related

Membership Development Administrator, 0.6 FTE - Helen Turner

Helen as the Membership Development Administrator assists and provides day to day operational and administrative support to the Membership Development Team with their work developing student led activity and democratic and representative based activity

Student Staff Positions

We have recently introduced new student staff positions to the team and the following posts will be filled for the next Academic Year, which will be term time positions

Student Centre Assitant x 2

Communications and Marketing Assistant x 2

Volunteering and Community Assistant

UMCB Assistant

Sports Assistant

Societies Assistant

Sustainability Assistant

Student Voice Assistant

Sabbatical Officers

The main work of the Students’ Union is split into several areas of political responsibility for the student officers. The Sabbatical officers make sure that students are represented in every aspect of university life, including academia, and to ensure student can take part in sports, societies and volunteering The Sabbatical Officers elected by the students for the students have a big impact on the decisions made within the University and are present at senior University committees and work closely with staff and students to deliver real change Below is brief description of each sabbatical position

President – Nyah Lowe

The President is the lead officer of the Union and head of the Sabbatical Officer Team, and the lead representative of the Union to the University, liaising between the Students’ Union and University Executive The President works on local and community matters and with local and national partners The President is the Chair of the Board of Trustees and is the lead officer on matters relating to the Budget, Strategy and Union democracy

Vice-President Education – Elsie Pearce

The VP Education is the officer responsible for the Union’s Education remit, with particular focus on matters of national and local education policy, funding and quality This shall also cover all matters dealing with postgraduate education The VP Education is responsible for the Students’ Union Course Representative system, ensuring regular liaison with the University and individual Academic Schools and Course Representative Council.

Vice-President Societies & Volunteering – Sam Dickins

The VP Societies & Volunteering officer is responsible for the SU Societies and Volunteering remit, liaising closely with university and representing students on matters relating to Societies and Volunteering and ensuring that groups have the resources and information they require to function, as well as eencouraging and promoting members’ participation in societies and volunteering Works with the VP Sports and UMCB President in coordinating a training programme for committee members of AU, Societies, Volunteering Groups and UMCB groups.

Vice President Sports & Healthy Living – Lewis Thompson

The VP Sports & Healthy Living is responsible for the SU Sport remit, liaising closely with University and Sports Department, representing students on matters relating to sport. They are responsible ensuring that the Athletics Union clubs have the resources and information they require to function. Works with the local community and national bodies on sporting matters and facilitation of inter-university sports events They work closely with VP Societies and Volunteering and the UMCB President in coordinating a training programme for committee members of AU, Societies, Volunteering Groups and UMCB groups. They encourage and promote members’ participation in both competitive and recreational sport in the University, offering assistance through the Athletic Union

UMCB President – Celt John

The UMCB President is a Welsh speaker and represents all Welsh speakers and learners. They are the officer responsible for the Students’ Union’s Welsh Language remit, liaising closely with university and representing students on matters relating to Welsh Language The UMCB President liaises with the University, local community, and national bodies on issues regarding Welsh language provision and widening participation amongst Welsh speakers. They work closely with the VP Societies and Volunteering and the VP Sports and Healthy Living in coordinating a training programme for committee members of AU, Societies, Volunteering Groups and UMCB groups They encourage the inclusion and promotion of the Welsh language and culture in all University and Union affairs

Democracy

Democracy is one of the central values of the Students’ Union. Our democratic bodies exist to make sure that the SU is being run in the best possible way for the benefit of the students at Bangor. The Union is governed by the Union’s Articles of Association. The Articles is the legal governing document of the Students’ Union: it sets out the purpose of the organisation, its rules and regulations and its basic operating procedure Almost all the student officers and volunteers are elected by a ballot of all students, or those involved in the particular club or society. It is vital that staff remain entirely neutral

throughout all elections and other democratic processes (General Meetings, Student Council, and Referendums etc )

Student Council meets 3 times per term and is the body that exists to guide the work of the SU and hold the sabbatical officers to account. Student Council has the power to create policy of the SU. Once adopted, the ideas that they generate become projects for staff and officers to deliver

Course reps are volunteer roles within their academic schools and feed into various different representative systems at different levels.

Club/Society/Project Committee Members – The large majority of students that are officers or volunteers within the SU are within the variety of AU clubs, societies or volunteering projects that exist, students spend a year or so volunteering for one of these committees, perhaps taking responsibility for a sports team kit, being the treasurer of a student society or leading a project with SVB. We also have the AU Exec, Societies Exec and Volunteering Executive committees who are elected in to their roles and work closely with our sabbatical officers

The All-Student Meeting happens yearly and is open for all students to attend and performs legal functions set out in the 1994 Education Act (which details rules that Students’ Unions have to follow.

A Phew Things to Consider

Staff exist to support officer ideas and ensure that projects and activities happen Staff are appointed for their experience and expertise and are expected to advise and engage with officers

It is appropriate to challenge ideas to help hone and sharpen them, however it is essential that the officers are seen to lead. Whilst the sabbs’ role is to lead the organisation, they do not have line management responsibility for staff. Issues of job performance, grievance and responsibilities should be dealt with via your line manager and not through sabbatical officers Concerns you may have about decisions and instructions should be raised through them Equally, issues sabbatical officers have staff members should be directed through the Union Director, not directly with the staff member concerned.

We believe that working in the Students’ Union can be highly rewarding and engaging The Union is committed to ensuring that you are able to develop professionally in your time working for the SU –this will be done through one-to-one meetings with line managers, appraisals and training opportunities. If you find a course that you want to go on – tell your line manager.

Key Information

Here’s some key information and the important information you need to know. Annual Leave and Holiday: The normal holiday year runs from the 1st August to the 31st July You have 27 days annual leave entitlement; you must get approval for your annual leave by your line manager In addition to your personal annual leave entitlement, all staff and officers also have additional holiday during times of university closure which equates to a further 15 days during 2022–23. These days include Christmas, Easter and Bank holidays and are detailed here

Car Parking:

If you are working on site and you have a car, you can get a university parking permit which allows you to park in a number of university car parks. The parking permit costs £58.00 annually, and you can find more information on how to order a permit here.

Equipment:

When you start in post you will be provided with a laptop, screen keyboard and mouse, and as we ' ve adopted dynamic working, this will mean there will be some office and remote working, and we will need to know what your set-up is at home and if you need any further equipment. Any other equipment requirements can be considered in discussion with your line manager. You will also receive a staff ID Card which will need to be collected at the Deiniol Library and we can set-up salto access for you to SU spaces.

Remote and On Campus working:

We have adopted a set of Dynamic Working principles with a mixture of on campus and remote working All staff are currently required on site 2 days per week as a minimum, we will share a copy of our dynamic working principles with you.

E-mail account:

You will get a Bangor University staff IT outlook account, but we will set-up a @undebbangor.com alias for you, this is for publicity to illustrate that the Students’ Union is independent from the University

Useful Links:

Undeb Bangor Strategy

Articles of Association and Governing Documents

Undeb Bangor Bye-Laws

Bangor University HR resources

Undeb Staff resources on website