What is a Student Trustee and What Do They Do?

Friday 25-10-2024 - 09:54

 

Nominations are open for the role of Student Trustee within the Students’ Union. But what is a Student Trustee and what do they do?
 

 

As a charitable organisation, the Students’ Union’s work is overseen by our Trustees Board. The Trustee Board is made up of:


  • Our elected Full-Time Officers

  • Four external trustees, who provide their expertise and guidance to the organisation, and

  • Four elected Student Trustees

 

Student Trustees attend and engage constructively in Trustee Board meetings. They also attend sub-committees of Trustee Board to engage in discussions around more focused aspects of the Union’s governance and work.

Student Trustees are expected to adhere to the seven principles of public life (Selflessness, Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability, Openness, Honesty, and Leadership) and the Trustee Code of Conduct.

You can read a full role description here.

 


Thomas Cross, former Student Trustee, said this about the role:


“Being a trustee is a strange but very rewarding experience.
As a trustee you are there to scrutinise the more operational parts the SU especially the financial side like The Sugarhouse and LUSU shop.
While you'll only attend a full board meeting once per term or so it's a very serious role and you have legal obligations so you need to behave professionally throughout!
Personally I have loved my time as a trustee you have the ability to hold LUSU to account, develop skills that are useful for employment and meet external trustees who have a range of expertise.
To anyone who has an eye for detail, wants to learn new skills and wants to see the SU succeed I'd highly recommend this job!”


Harrison Stewart, former Student Trustee and current Education Officer, said:


“Becoming a Student Trustee was my favourite extra-curricular position that I held before I became a Full-Time Officer. It taught me incredible lessons in top-level strategic oversight and management; financial literacy; legal compliance & risk management; and teamwork in rooms with big-wigs and people who before Board, I would have seen as scary, successful individuals (who you soon come to realise are actually really lovely, clever people that are more than happy to help and explain things).

Being a Trustee of LUSU completely transformed my CV. With my love of Trusteeship, and a transformed CV, I was able less than a year into my first term as a Trustee to become a Trustee at another charity that I still work with today.”
 


Ariana Dell, current Student Trustee, said:

“Being a Student Trustee means you act as a student representative on the board of Trustees for the Student’s Union. You’ll learn practical skills that are rarely found in a classroom such as navigating papers before meetings, reading and understanding risk assessments and learning how a charity operates from a financial perspective. Although this may sound daunting, being a Student Trustee is the perfect environment to learn these skills as you’re surrounded by experts who are more than happy to explain and answer any questions along the way. 

It’s also a very important role that ensures the voices of students are heard within these meetings, you get the chance to contribute to discussions and put forward agenda items for what you believe is important to the student body. I have really enjoyed my time as a Student Trustee, I’ve learnt a lot regarding how the Student’s Union operates, I’m more confident in a formal meeting setting and overall, more confident in my skill set which is useful when applying for post-graduate jobs.”


 
Interested?
Nominations close on Friday 8th November at 6pmNominate yourself here.

Read the elections notice and find out about the other roles available here.


 

Categories:

Governance, Union, University, Voice

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