Surrey Students’ Union, Guildford
12:00 Monday 19 August – 13:00 Wednesday 21 August
Agenda – Day 1
| Development | Education | Communications & Strategy | Community Engagement & Wellbeing | |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Registration & Lunch Union Building entrance | |||
| 13:00 – 13:45 | Welcome and Opening Plenary – Welcome to the University of Surrey Alex McKee & Liam White – CEO & President , Surrey Students’ Union and Emma Rowsell – Director of Student Life, University of Surrey Rubix | |||
| 14:00 – 15:00 Session 1 | Chief Executives Networking The Committee Room | What does a Course Rep system look like in 2024/25? Herts SU Essex SU ARU SU The Basement | What’s next for communication with students? (Who are they, what do they look like, how to they want to be contacted) Jo Walters – 25 Dots The Front Room | Mental Health First Aid Part 1 & 2 Sian Lovesey- Head of Advice – Lisa Rowe – Head of People Engagement and Development, Essex SU £15 03/04 DK 02 |
| 15:00 – 16:00 Session 2 | Freedom of Speech – Your Responsibilities Peter Robertson – Charity Director, NUS The Front Room | The Future of the Night Time Economy Mike Kill – CEO, Night Time Industries Association and Jade Johnson – Community Manager, Surrey SU Mike Kill from NTIA will be joined by Jade from Surrey SU to highlight the current condition of the Night Time economy both inside and outside of Students’ Unions. Rubix | Student Nightline at Surrey Liam White – Union President Zoe Wilkes – Support Manager, Surrey SU Surrey Students’ Union has been operating a volunteer run Nightline for many years. This session will explore how we recruit, train and support our student listeners to run this essential service. The Basement | |
| 16:00 – 17:30 | Communities of Practice Networking Hari’s Bar | |||
| 17:30 – 19:00 | Free time | |||
| 19:00 – 20:00 | Dinner Rubix | |||
| 20:00 – 23:00 | Entertainment Quix Rubix | Alcohol Free Entertainment Board Games The Front Room |
Agenda – Day 2
| Development | Education | Communications & Strategy | Community Engagement & Wellbeing | |
| 09:30 – 10:00 | Welcome to Day 2 – Surrey’s Approach to Student Accommodation Alex McKee – CEO, Surrey Students’ Union and Alan Sutherland – Director of Campus Services, University of Surrey Rubix | |||
| 10:00 – 11:00 Session 3 | GDPR – a practical application in SU’s Barbara Reynolds – Director of Finance and HR, Essex SU Rubix | Strategies and resources SUs should implement to create and maintain a good community with their International and PGM students Dan Ummu-Salamah – Development Officer, Portsmouth SU This explores strategies that UK student unions can implement to enhance communication and foster a sense of belonging among international and PGM students, addressing cultural barriers, social isolation and systemic challenges. The goal is to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for all students. The Basement | Immigration advice through the Students’ Union Sian Lovesey – Head of Advice, Essex SU The Front Room | |
| 11:00 – 12:00 Session 4 | Risk Assessments – Are Yours Suitable and Sufficent? James Lackovic – Head of Commercial Operations, Surrey SU The Basement | Ten regulatory levers to pull for students Jim Dickinson – Associate Editor, WonkHE A lot of regulation is around – on everything from complaints about halls to placement students and from disabled student access to harassment. But that doesn’t mean that universities will automatically respond, and when they do there’s plenty of wriggle room in interpretation. This session will summarise some of the big opportunities to pull the regulation lever to make things better for students in the year ahead. Rubix | The Power of Personas: Unleashing our Student Data Joshua Smith – Insight Manager Southampton SU The session is about how Southampton University Students’ Union are utilising the data they hold about students to better understand how they engage with the SU, why they behave the way they do, and shape how they engage with them. They’ll cover the personas they’ve built and how they are starting to inform everything they do, from communication and events to representation and their wider student experience. The Front Room | |
| 12:00 – 13:00 Session 5 | Unlocking new income generation potential through Media sales and Advertising Zaid Mahmood Rubix | Social Media Content Strategy and incorporating student content Lambert Chan – Digital Content Creator, Chloe McKendrick – Marketing Executive, Herts SU The Basement | Medicinal Cannabis – Awareness for Students’ Unions Hadley Keenan – Events Associate, Solent SU How SU venues can remain legally compliant and support patients. The session will cover the basics of the law, what medical cannabis is, how staff can correctly verify prescriptions, and examples of positive/negative engagements with patients. The Front Room | |
| 13:00 – 14:00 | Lunch Hillside Restaurant | |||
| 14:00 – 15:00 | Plenary – Higher Education under a Labour Government Jim Dickinson – Associate Editor, WonkHE, Jo Holmes – VP Education, Essex SU, Kerry Matthews – Chief Student Officer, University of Surrey Facilitated by Kath Phillips – Head of People & Representation, Surrey SU Rubix | |||
| 15:00 – 16:00 Session 6 | Yes, but what should I post on Linkedin Jim Dickinson – Associate Editor, WonkHE Over the past few years LinkedIn has become one of the key social media platforms for use by officers (and staff, and SUs more generally) – but there’s a problem. Research tells us that when representatives and representative organisations post about themselves rather than their members, it has low, and sometimes negative, impact. This session explores what you can do instead. Rubix | Re-evaluating Success: The Case for Uncapped Resits and Modernisation of Student Representation Marija Solic – Academic Representation Officer, Portsmouth SU Marija, Academic Representation Officer from the UPSU, will share her journey of successfully introducing uncapped resits and an innovative student representation model. In the first 25 minutes, Marija will discuss the idea behind uncapped resits, the implementation steps, and the challenges and successes encountered, highlighting the impact on academic outcomes and student satisfaction. In the second 25 minutes, she’ll present a new approach to student academic representation, addressing obstacles and exploring improvements by examining successful examples from other institutions. This session offers an informative and inspiring look at enhancing our academic environment through targeted policy changes. The Basement | Using student data to direct the work of elected representatives ‘The Big Plan’ Craig Stephens – CEO, Lily-May Cameron – President, Essex SU The Front Room | Mental Health First Aid Part 3 & 4 Sian Lovesey- Head of Advice – Lisa Rowe – Head of People Engagement and Development, Essex SU 03/04 DK 02 |
| 16:00 – 17:00 Session 7 | UK Employment Law Update Sarah Whitemore – Senior Partner, Warner Goodman Join Sarah Whitemore, (Senior Partner) and colleagues from Warner Goodman for a session focussing on the Labour Government’s Plan to Make Work Pay and what that means in terms of changes to employment law. The team will be talking about strategies that employers might adopt to address the headline changes, through a mixture of case scenario discussions and more formal talks. There will be plenty of opportunities for questions from delegates. Rubix | “Alexa, Run My Students’ Union” Using AI to make your union smarter and more efficient Andy Morwood – Change Director, UCA SU The Basement | How we won the King’s Award for Voluntary Service Keith Rowland – Director of Education, Activities and Support, Essex SU The Front Room | |
| 17:00 – 18:30 | Communities of Practice Networking Hari’s Bar | |||
| 19:00 – 20:00 | Dinner Rubix | |||
| 20:00 – 23:00 | Entertainment BINGO LINGO! If you’ve seen someone walking home one night with a 12 foot inflatable sausage, one shoe missing and a big smile on their face, you’re probably not far from one of our shows. Our packed out nights are renowned for their full venue sing-alongs, confetti showers, huge prize giveaways and customer stage battles. Take the plunge. Grab your crew. And we’ll see you on the dance floor. Want Bingo Lingo at your venue? Contact Rhys Hartley rhys@bingolingo.club Rubix | Alcohol Free Entertainment Board Games The Front Room |
Agenda – Day 3
| Development | Education | Communications & Strategy | Community Engagement & Wellbeing | |
| 09:50 | Welcome to Day 3 Rubix | |||
| 10:00 – 11:00 Session 8 | Surrey’s Approach to AI Dr Chris Trace – Head of Digital Learning, Surrey Institute of Education Join Dr Chris Trace, the University’s Head of Digital Learning, to discover more about Surrey’s philosophy on AI, the University’s Institute of Education, what the University has done and plans to do to support and guide students, and plans for the future including working with the AI industry. The Basement | Managing Projects in a Students’ Union Environment John Valerkou – Chief Executive, ARU SU Rubix | Enhancing Campus Safety and Strengthening University Regulations Jo Yau – President 2023/24, Zoe Wilkes – Support Manager, Surrey SU The Front Room | |
| 11:00 – 12:00 Session 9 | Supporting Neurodivergent Staff Regina Zyrek – HR, Learning and Development Manager, Arts SU Sarah Jackson – Head of People and Development, Bucks SU The Front Room | Students for Sensible Drugs Policy Connor Sutherland – Welfare Officer, Portsmouth SU Rubix | ||
| 12:00 – 12:15 | Closing Plenary Liam White – Union President, Surrey Students’ Union Rubix | |||
| 12:15 – | Lunch and Departure Rubix |
