Thursday 21-07-2022 - 15:30

Bringing students’ unions together

 

The year ahead may be one of the most significant in the history of students’ unions as our work faces increased hostility from the government and parts of the media. The movement will be squeezed financially as we all face increased costs and a poorer university sector. On top of this, students expect more from all of us to support them through the cost of living crisis and ensuring they get value for money from their increasingly expensive university experience.  

How we manage these challenges without losing focus on our work on equity will define our year. 

We will only get through this by working together. 

SU22 Communities of Practice allows the movement to come together to discuss these challenges. This will not be a standard conference full of talks and workshops but instead a chance to learn from each other and build networks of people who work in similar areas, institutions or locations to you.  

The conference will be focussed on discussions in five key areas:  

Helping our members - How do we best support students through the cost of living crisis?  

Leadership on Race Equity – How do we learn from each other to become anti-racist organisations? 

Doing more with less – How can we match our members increased expectations of their University experience when many of us (and our institutions) are facing financial difficulties.   

Changing the national conversation – How can we best navigate the ‘culture wars’ and show the amazing work we do?   

Building your network – How can we continue these conversations in our communities of practice, regional networks and mission groups? We will have facilitated discussions in the following Communities of Practice: 

• Presidents 
• Activities Officers 
• Wellbeing Officers 
• Community and Inclusion Officers 
• Communications and Marketing 
• HR and People 
• Finance 
• Commercial Services 
• Senior Managers/CEOs  

The conference agenda is now available to view on the website but here's a snapshot: 

Conference topics 

• Student cost of living crisis: What is the sector doing? 
• Making friends and influencing people: How do we get people to like students’ unions? 
• Understanding the pressures on university finances 
• Regional collaboration: University of Nottingham SU and Nottingham Trent SU City project 
• Learning from the charity sector 
• Race Equity in Higher Education: Next steps 

Refreshments and entertainment  

• Morning and afternoon refreshments supplied daily 
• Conference dinner with live entertainment and an opportunity to socialise with others from across the sector! (Provided for delegates attending both days) 

Spaces are limited, be sure secure your place before tickets sales close!  

#SU22CoP