Theme A - Representing and Empowering Our Members
What this means:
- More members are involved in making decisions.
- Members feel that LUU is there to represent them on issues which affect their lives as students.
- We identify and work with other key national groups to ensure the voice of our members is heard on a regional and national basis.
- We engage with our local community and have an effective and productive working relationship.
- All our stakeholders know that LUU is a campaigning body.
To make this happen we will:
A 1. Be a truly legitimate and democratic Union
Lead Staff member – Aidan Grills, Membership Services and Development Director
Involved departments – CDS/Marketing/IT
By July 2009
- We will have commissioned a piece of work to appraise what it means to be a truly democratic Union – numbers or quality of decision making - and draw up an action plan to implement the agreed findings
- We will have clarity around policy making in LUU with an agreed delegated authority document.
- We will have established ongoing communications supporting democratic activity and activities of our key decision-making bodies.
- We will have reviewed the role of Union Council spanning accountability, knowledge base and the role of assemblies to ensure that Union Council is an effective representative body.
- The when where and how of voting and campaigning will have been evaluated.
- The Executive structure will have been reviewed.
As a result of this:
- We will have established new benchmarks on participation including understanding of decision making.
- Union Council will feel more informed and able to hold Exec officers accountable for their work, measured via peer review.
- 90% of members will agree it's easy to vote.
- 40% of members will understand how to submit motions and vote on them.
- Our Executive election and second referendum turnout will be 4,500 respectively .
By July 2010
- We will be working to a more streamlined democratic calendar which makes it easier to communicate and access what is going on.
- Policy changes will be driven by our collective members’ needs and priorities.
- We will have improved mechanisms to increase accountability and profile for all elected officers.
As a result of this:
- We will be performing well against the benchmarks introduced in 2009 for democratic participation which will include the main central body (currently Union Council).
- There will be increased accountability for all elected officers.
A 2. Represent our members in key areas of student life
Lead Staff member- Aidan Grills, Membership Services and Development Director
Involved departments – CDS/Student Advice/Student Activities
By July 2009
- We will have developed a more strategic approach to our representation around the student experience which tracks outcomes.
- We will have developed a clearer structure as to how we manage Union Academic Reps (UARs) and Course Reps and will have launched an online facility for members to access them.
- Junior Common Room (JCR) Committees will have been fully integrated into the support and communication which is tailored to student-led groups.
- We will have run an improved “rate your landlord” feedback campaign.
- The community strategy will have been implemented across all key strands and there will be targeted links with Leeds City Council and local MPs through Executive officers, UCRs and Union staff.
As a result of this:
- 30% of members will know how to contact their Course Rep.
- The landlord feedback programme will have led to recorded improvements in landlord ratings.
By July 2010
- The community strategy will have been reviewed and redrafted based upon stakeholder engagement and our members' priorities.
- The UCR scheme will have been reviewed and updated with resources clearly identified going forward.
- There will have been regular contact between LUU reps and MPs and LCC Councillors.
- The work of our academic reps will be held on a central database so that clear outcomes can be identified.
- Our representation work will have received greater recognition.
- We will have launched a new Community Strategy for 2010-2012.
- 50% of members will know how to contact their Course Rep.
As a result of this:
A 3. Make LUU campaigns more effective
Lead Staff member – James Robertson – Campaigns and Democracy Support Manager
Involved departments – CDS/Marketing/IT
By July 2009
- We will have implemented a strategic campaign including political lobbying and media coverage on the issues of fees.
- We will have developed our communication to relevant stakeholders to ensure they view us as a campaigning body.
- We will have developed a central data base of all our campaigning activity .
- We will have implemented and evaluated our progress under the campaign strategy.
As a result of this:
- 70% of our members will be able to identify an LUU campaign or LUU supported campaign.
- 30% of our members will be able to specifically identify our campaign on fees.
- 20% of non-member stakeholders will view LUU as a campaigning body.
By July 2010
- Where appropriate our campaigns will have been linked to social policy work.
- We will have continued our communication with other stakeholders to ensure they view us as a campaigning body.
- We will have reviewed what LUU as a campaigning body organisation can achieve in the future.
- We will have ensured that members are involved when we plan, deliver and evaluate a campaign.
- We will have undergone external/peer review against the characteristics necessary to be a successful campaigning body.
As a result of this:
- 40% of non-member stakeholders will view LUU as a campaigning body.
- 80% of our members will be able to identify an LUU or LUU supported campaign.
- At least 40% of our members will be able to specifically identify our campaign on fees.
- Through focus groups, members will be able to identify campaign outcomes.
A 4. Actively increasing member involvement
Lead Staff member – Andrew Winter, Student Activities Manager
Involved departments – CDS/Marketing/IT/Student Activities
By July 2009
- We will have commissioned a new piece of market research to understand and define our segmented membership profile.
- We will have listened to what our least engaged members - "customers" and "occasional customers" - would want from LUU to increase their involvement.
- We will have reviewed our communications plan against the defined groups of our members.
As a result of this:
- Realistic but stretching targets will have been established for 2010 to improve member involvement through clearly identified routes.
By July 2010
- A plan of activities will have been established to target activities which will move "customers" to self-defining as "members".
- We will have a communication strategy which is based around targeted groups of our members.
- Our student activity recruitment and democratic involvement will have targeted students traditionally identified as "customers".
As a result of this:
- 30% of our members will consider themselves to "involved" and "highly involved" members.
