Strategic Plan 2019-2022

Swansea University Students’ Union is a
charity led by students, for students.
Ffion Davies
President 2020/2021

Contents
Our strategic plan for 2019-2022 sets out our goals for the
next three years across seven themes:
Academic1
2
Social
Connecting Locally
and Globally
3
4
Looking Ahead
Student Journey
5
6
Governance, Management,
People and Resources
Partnership and
Relationship with the
University
7

ACADEMIC

Academic
We aim to review the roles of our Part Time Officer
Teams so that they are better engaged with the
SU and help us to achieve our goals
We will...
research current trends in other SUs, evaluate best
practice and appraise options that will enable us to
engage better with our Part Time Officers (PTO’s)

Academic
We aim to hold the University to account and
seek positive change for our membership to
maximise the student experience
We will...
analyse how we drive for change and learn how to better
effectively campaign to make positive changes for our
membership
review our partnership agreements with the University to
ensure that they align with our own goals and objectives
work with the Joint Working Partnership Group (JWPG)
to create more commercial opportunities that improve
the services across the University campuses
enhance, develop and restructure the Student Rep
system
improve the experience of PGR students based on
research and feedback provisions

SOCIAL

Social
We aim to improve our engagement with the
students at Bay Campus so that they feel
represented and a part of our SU
We will...
improve our presence at Bay Campus by reviewing the
design and use of our space
appraise the delivery of our services and events at Bay
Campus
seek more feedback from students at Bay Campus so
that we can provide better support and improve their
student experience
improve the nightlife at Bay Campus and run more events
so that students can socialise together and feel part of
the SU
continue to enhance the Fresher’s experience at Bay
Campus by holding dedicated events as well as its own
Fresher’s Fayre

Social
We aim to provide more opportunities
for students through volunteering and
participation in Clubs and Societies
We will...
ensure that there is enough bookable space available to
encourage and meet the demands of student societies
allocate resources to our Societies to ensure that they are
adequately funded to support their activities
work with the University and investigate the possibility
of creating more specialised society space such as that
required by the Dance Society and Gaming Society
look into the feasibility of developing a Society App that
will support and increase student engagement with our
societies
strengthen our relationship with Discovery and third
sector organisations so that we can collectively provide
more volunteering opportunities

eview our Swansea Student Media (SSM) so that we are
able to provide the best support possible, both now and
in the future, to our student volunteers
review the current structure and arrangements between
the SU and Sports Swansea so that it represents,
encourages and offers the best opportunities possible for
students to get involved in sport at all levels
Social
We aim to provide a diverse range of student-led
events, activities, trip and retail services
We will...
provide events that are welcoming, safe and appeal to
all our members including increasing the number of nonalcoholic
events within our venues and outside spaces
aim to develop retail services that cater to all of our
student community

CONNECTING
GLOBALLY AND
LOCALLY

Connecting Globally and Locally
We aim to reduce our environmental impact and
encourage our membership and staff to adopt
sustainable management practices
We will...
set SMART objectives that align with the University’s own
sustainability objectives
campaign to reduce the use of plastic in our venues and
across campus
run environmental initiatives in our commercial outlets
that recognise and reward best practice
agree a budget to support our environmental
objectives
achieve Green Impact Award
work with the University in pursuit of their ISO 140001
objectives and retainment of the accreditation
work with the University on the Aspect and Impact (A&I)
objectives
communicate our environmental objectives to our
staff
ensure that our Part time Elected Environmental Officer
plays a key role in helping us achieve our environmental
objectives
open a new retail outlet that promotes environmentally
friendly living and offers a range a products to support
zero waste initiatives

Connecting Globally and Locally
We aim to better engage with our alumni and
enhance the benefits available for our Honorary
Life Members
We will...
set up a database of alumni students to support
communication and encourage engagement
look at ways to offer opportunities to our alumni beyond
university
engage with our alumni to raise charitable funds
(including through a third party such as Just Giving) and
will seek opportunities to utilise their valuable skills and
experiences since leaving Swansea University
enhance our Honorary Life Membership (HLM) benefits

Connecting Globally and Locally
We aim to have a better Welsh language focus
We will...
offer services in welsh, ensuring signs are equally worded
in size Welsh/English
audit our levels of compliance with our Welsh Language
Policy, as contained in our Articles of Governance, and
which is based on the NUS Wales Welsh Language
Charter
develop our new Welsh Affairs Full Time Officer role (FTO)
to promote awareness and use of the Welsh language

LOOKING AHEAD

Looking Ahead
We aim to increase the employability of students
by providing opportunities to gain transferable
skills that enhance personal development
We will...
hold seminars such as Ted Talks and Lightening Talks to
inspire creativity and encourage the sharing of ideas
work with the University’s employability academy (SEA)
on aligning our employability objectives in order to
maximise opportunities for students
improve our induction and training for our student
employees to provide the key skills necessary to support
their own personal development
continue to develop our Union Collective (UC) initiative
in order to provide practical business advice and
support to students enabling them to have best possible
opportunity for success

STUDENT JOURNEY

Student Journey
We aim to improve the mental health and
wellbeing of our students so that they feel fully
supported and make the most of their time at
Swansea University
We will...
raise awareness of where support is available within the
current mental health and wellbeing support network
work with the University and campaign to increase the
availability of when this support network can be accessed
by students
increase the number of hours available for students to
access our own Welfare Advisers
continue to work within the Information & Advice Quality
Framework for Wales (IAQF) to aim to achieve the new
welsh accreditation scheme
work in partnership with Student Minds in accordance
with their organisational values of collaborative, and
innovative ways of empowering students to look after
their own mental health and support others

continue to increase the availability of the Live Life to the
Full course through our Advice & Support Centre so that
our memberships can aim to improve their wellbeing and
resilience
Student Journey
We aim to improve the levels of childcare and
standard of facilities at our Nursery in order to
support students with childcare responsibilities
studying at the University
We will...
continue to achieve high Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW)
inspection report ratings which reflect our commitment
to ongoing improvements in delivering quality childcare
ensure that our Nursery leadership is strong and that
staff benefit from training and a supportive management
team
work with the University to improve our current facilities
and secure new and improved long term Nursery premises
and funding
work with our software provider, Nursery Connect, to
improve the administration of our nursery and improve
the communication with parents with regard to their
child’s development and fees

GOVERNANCE,
MANAGEMENT, PEOPLE
AND RESOURCES

Governance, Management, People
and Resources
We aim to have strong leadership with highly
motivated staffing teams who feel rewarded,
have a shared vision and work together to achieve
collective goals
We will...
define measurable objectives across departments and
activities … including our elected officer teams to support
both SU goals and manifesto pledges
review our management team to ensure we have a
balanced staffing structure
implement a new HR software platform to provide
improved support to our staff
continue to review our HR policies so that they are up to
date and fit for purpose
support staff training opportunities to develop our staff
review our staff induction process with a new staff
induction pack
provide an improved handover, induction & training for
incoming elected officers
introduce a buddy system for our elected officer teams for
more accessible guidance and support
offer opportunities for staff to ask questions with informal
SMT on the sofa events

eview our formal meetings structure to ensure they
are effective and encourage communication and
collaboration
provide regular and visual updates to staff to
communicate progress towards achieving our strategic
goals
hold regular celebratory events to recognise and reward
achievements
recognise our past achievements, including members and
staff
establish a record of our past officers and honorary life
members
recognise staff lengths of service and reward loyalty
review staff benefits and how we reward staff on their
achievements

Governance, Management, People
and Resources
We aim to raise awareness of the Students’ Union,
improve how we communicate and make our
membership and the local community proud of
what we do
We will...
use feedback from our membership and use it to improve
our services through a ‘You Said, We Did’ campaign
record and publish our feedback statistics to monitor and
improve performance through KPIs
make it clearer on our website of how to provide feedback
or make complaints to improve our services
set up a ‘Live Chat’ on our website for FTOs and staff so
that our members are able to communicate with us easily
develop a new student engagement strategy which will
review our existing planning of Student Forums, Executive
Committee Meetings, AGM and Officers Q&A
develop an ‘About Us’ page on our website which will
include staff bios

improve how we develop and promote our Impact Report,
which highlights our achievements
make a video that showcases all of our services
effectively promote our services as putting all profits back
into the SU and also brand our events as ‘Brought to you
by your Students’ Union’
develop a Community Engagement Strategy to improve
communication, share information, gain feedback and
harmonise relations
Brought to you by
your students’ union

Governance, Management, People
and Resources
We aim to review and update our Articles of
Governance so that they are fit for purpose and
enable us, as a charitable organisation, to
operate efficiently
We will...
create an Articles of Governance Working Group (AoGWG),
tasked with undertaking a governance review, the scope of
which will be agreed with our Trustee Board
communicate our progress at each stage of the review to
our membership to ensure that they feel involved and part
of the process
use feedback from our membership and stakeholders to
update our organisational Vision, Mission and Values

Governance, Management, People
and Resources
We aim to embed and enshrine principles of
equality in all aspects of the SU and prioritise our
work on equality, diversity and inclusion
We will...
ensure that our Equality and Diversity Policy is fit for
purpose and reflects our organisations commitment to
fairness
schedule in events that promote positive discussion
to help us understand and work towards our equality,
diversity, and inclusion (EDI) targets
set up BAME Student Advisory Committee to represent
student voice, raise issues of race, suggest positive
actions and changes, and link up with the University’s SLT
and Equality structures
campaign to advance equality of opportunity to those
with protected characteristics
develop systems to anonymously record information
as part of our recruitment process so that we can
encourage applicants from all backgrounds to work with
us

PARTNERSHIP AND
RELATIONSHIP WITH
THE UNIVERSITY

Partnership and relationship
with the university
We aim to celebrate our history and be a part of
Swansea University’s 2020 Centenary celebrations
We will...
work with University colleagues and play a key role in the
2020 Centenary planning process
plan and hold a number of Centenary Events which
showcase our historic achievements as a SU as well as
promoting our ambitions for the future