Lsu Strategic Plan 2009

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Strategic Plan

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Ensure everything the Union does aims to:-

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Be Green and ethical

• Driven by Sound Impact to set a standard of excellence

• Develop our staff and officer education

• develop our campaigning work• act honourably with all our

partners• The highest standards of

openness and honesty with all our clients

• Being good employers to our permanent and student staff

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Develop a global perspective for us and our members

• Matching Halls and Countries• Broadening Universal Thursdays• Developing Erasmus• University world wide developments

and links

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Expand opportunities for all students to get involved to benefit their personal and career development.

• Student activities more accessible– Give it a go or variety club– Make forming new socs better

• Student Staff and volunteers– Flag up the skills gain from experience– Offer advice for CVs• Mention some things that add credibility

to the Union– IIP– IIV– other awards

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Sustaining excellence through sustained improvements by..

• Improvements to management systems and practices– publishing our risk register and

developing stronger risk management systems• Report on implementation• Review

– publishing our HR Strategy• Report on implementation• Review

– Maintain and develop our quality measurements• Surveys• Mystery customers• Focus groups

• web stats/Publicity audit• Health and safety audits

– Develop our use of KPIs and targets for all departments and sections

– Use awards and Quality marks as objective evaluation and drivers of excellence• SUEI• Sound environmental impact• Best bar None• IIV• IIP• Best Student experience• Igrad survey• NSS

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Sustaining excellence through sustained improvements by..

• Increasing our impact on national organisations

• NUS• NUSSL• AMSU• Sectional Associations

– NASTA– BUCS– Rag

– Better reputation management• Continue to develop our alumni

work– Complete the new life membership

offer

– Continue to develop social events

• Develop our working partnerships– At Loughborough– In London– Consider other possibilities– Develop our working partnerships– University departments– College– Imago– SDC– Facilities management– Charnwood Council– Residents Groups– Local and regional Students unions

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Key areas for development

Establishing financial and commercial stability and sustainability

Making our communication with members effective and interactive

Making sure the Union governance and Planning works as it should

Making sure the Student Voice is taken into account by anyone who takes decisions that affect Loughborough Students

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• Continue Commercial success to stabilise this income source overall– Venue

• Bars can expect marginal decline• Function business should grow to

compensate– Shops

• Marginal profit increase– Nursery

• profits to rise with occupancy– Landlord

• Maintain occupancy in the light of economic down turn and Internet

• Rent reduction are inevitable

– Developing our catering services in

partnership with Imago• Linked in to University meal card• Catering in JC's• Linked to imago marketing Union for

functions• Some spending on refurbishment and

equipment• Develop better facilities for sports meals

– New commercial ventures• Car boot sale• developing a business plan/proposal for

a new employment agency – Marketing

• Advertising venues are under threat• Growth in E-commerce

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• Working with the University to establish a sustainable fee regime– Develop an agreed outline of what the Union does for the fee– Establish benchmarks of performance

• ensure funding is appropriate to sustain activity• Fundraising and grants– Participate in NUS initiative

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Establishing financial and commercial stability and sustainability (3)

• Develop and maintain our building as the hub of the student community and a first class facility by:-– Making it the physical demonstration of our values and

excellence– Continuing to be an outstanding venue

• refurbish Room1• Queue awnings down the side of the building• Admissions till arrangement• Improve toilets in Fusion especially female

– Develop proposals for a major refurbishment of the Piazza, bookshop and entrance in 2010• Facilities bookings

– Possible SDC staff• Employment agency• Union services reception• Knock through Bookshop and entrance

– Improving the entrances • Art work• Screens• Colour scheme

• Tidiness and presentation• Night time impact

– making it more user friendly and easy to navigate• Improvements to maintenance and cleaning

– develop its daytime use• JC's• Furniture in Piazza• Student activities• External bookings

– Re allocating the existing Student advice space• Student voice for part• New Staff agency• Something else

– being a model of sustainability• Target 4% reductions on energy each year• Target 4% reduction in land fill waste• All investment should be based on whole life cost

calculations• As far as possible all refurbishment should reduce

environmental impact• Ongoing investment in building to reduce environmental

impact and cost

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Making our communication with our members effective and interactive by...

• Continuing to develop the web site– as the communication hub– Everything should have a link on

there• New items should be News• We should develop comment

boxes– Using other sites

• facebook• Wordpress• Youtube• fliker

– Web 2.00 developments• Ed rate• Other institutional performance

feedback• Housing• Exec

– Comments boxes on pages– Closely monitoring developments

in social media• Twitter• other up and coming

things

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• Developing a reputation management strategy– Developing our use of the " 9 words"

to communicate our values– Raising the profile of the Strategic

plan• Appropriate version for different jobs

– Fold out plan» Staff and volunteers

– Web based Powerpoint» Mass communicationinclude photos and video

– Mind map» filtered for time,

responsibility etc» Working document

• Higher profile on web site• Updates and reporting to council• Trustee reporting

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• Developing a stronger corporate ID for student activities• Focusing on reporting progress and achievements

• Web based impact report• Using student stories to show what we do• Impact of representation

• Increasing the amount of video/animated content available to our media– Powerful accessible and popular– LSU TV for the highest production values– More Vblog quality from others– by spreading the capability through the Union

• Exec• Staff• Section volunteers

– Recruit animators

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Effective communication by:- really understanding what our members need, want, think and do and make sure this drives the Union's work

– Improving mechanisms for using data in decision making• Develop improved systems for analysis of existing

data• Improve mechanisms for drawing conclusions –Cross reference data against target groups– Identify no/low contact members

– Researching Students experience of living and working in Loughborough town

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– Improving mechanisms for using data in decision making• Develop improved systems for analysis of existing

data• Improve mechanisms for drawing conclusions –Cross reference data against target groups– Identify no/low contact members

– Researching Students experience of living and working in Loughborough town

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• Experimenting with new ways to reach students for comment and feedback– Post its– Exec polls– Develop ways to use OST as regular tool– creative use of web

• Continuing to focus on key groups to increase understanding and involvement namely:-– Post Grad– Internationals– College

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Making sure that the Union's governance and planning works as it should by

• developing Union Council's effectiveness– Experiment with other meeting formats e.g. OST• Proposal referred to Exec or Trustees• How they are to be taken up reported back

electronically• Challenges at next formal council• General exec reporting could be a topic proposal

E.G– Develop the profile and role of councillors– Work on the relationship with the Board

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Union's governance and planning• developing mechanisms to monitor the effectiveness of the Trustee Board

– Ensure that there are ongoing mechanisms for Board induction and training– Ensure that good communication exist between the Board, council and executive– Complete board recruitment

• Lay members• New Students

• reviewing how best to support elections other than general elections– Dept. Committee– Programme reps– Sections– Societies– Options

• Separate Democracy unit• Train and support responsible officers and staff

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Union's governance and planning• developing the effectiveness Officers and exec

– Executive Elections improvements and targets• All posts contested• Increase number of candidates• Should we aim to increase the range

– Demographic– mode of study

• Create sustainable adequate staff support • Improve publicity and candidates pack

– Review Exec post• set out clearer job outlines• initiate a discussion on roles

– Change will take at least 9 months

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Union's governance and planning

– Improve exec accessibility and profile• Improve web presence• Video bloging• Exec polls• Reception is effective• Signage of exec weekly

plans/diary's on screen– Make exec and staff roles in

delivering on the Strategic plan clearer• Review sections of the plan at

monthly meetings• Publish updates and progress

– Improve offer training and support• Develop handover plans for each

officer• Make contact with new officers

between Feb and July• Review the training and induction

programme• Better training on budgeting and

budget control• Undertake 360 officer appraisals

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Union's governance and planning• reviewing the effectiveness of the associations

– As our way or understanding specific groups– As the best ways of satisfying their needs– As mechanisms for identifying representative students

• Publishing our delegation of powers document– Report on implementation– Review

• Being more outward looking to get new ideas and challenges– Use external Trustees to assist with broadening our vision– Creating effective partnerships with other Students Unions– Attendance at conferences for Union and sections– International conferences and visits

• Support our global perspective

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• Publishing our delegation of powers document– Report on implementation– Review

• Being more outward looking to get new ideas and challenges– Use external Trustees to assist with broadening our vision– Creating effective partnerships with other Students Unions

• Stimulate and spread the costs and risk of innovation• 94 Group• Other top unions• Shared values Unions• Local Unions

– Attendance at conferences for Union and sections– International conferences and visits

• Support our global perspective

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• Improving financial accountability– Monthly finance committee meeting– Better financial commentaries on management accounts– Review budget and accounting formats to

• consider cost centring overheads• develop core and desecration spending

• Review the role of the Chair of Council• Develop a strategy in relation to college members

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Making sure the Loughborough student voice is taken into account by anyone who takes decisions that affect students by..

• More systematic use of EMT partner mechanism– Executive discussion on issues and

feedback• Getting students represented where it

really matters– EMT– Operations sub-committee– Interview panels

• Wardens• Other key senior posts

– Challenge the "special business“• Establishing Academic Congress

– To support and co-ordinate the union's academic work

• Developing stronger working

relationships with academic departments– Critical Friends group– Work with department committees– Visits and discussion from Student

Voice• Improved feedback of formal

representation– Exec reports– Video blogs from key meetings– News items on key issues

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Making sure the Loughborough student voice is taken into account by anyone who takes decisions that affect students by.. (2)

• Establishing Academic Congress– To support and co-ordinate the union's academic work

• Termly review of all data and feedback– Develop the priority issues for students– Agree key messages to be put forward on students behalf

• Establishing the new student voice service– Student advocates– Ed track– Ed web feedback system

Business

Lsu Strategic Plan 2009