ULawSU Strategy 2024-2027

Our 2024-2027 strategy has been developed in collaboration with students, student leaders, our governing board and staff from across the University of Law.

On this page you'll find:

• An Introduction to our Strategy
• Our Vision and Mission
• Our Organisational Values
• Environmental Factors
• Our Challenges and Opportunities
• How we'll achieve the strategy including our Plans and Enablers
• Our hopes for the future of ULawSU

You can also download a copy of our Strategy Document here.

Introduction

"The University of Law Students Union are committed to being the representative voice of students at the University of Law.

Over the years, we’ve grown and we’ve developed but we’ve not always got it right. We know we’ve got a way to go to increase engagement and awareness of the SU, to do better for our 17,000+ students.

To develop this strategy, we’ve listened to students, taken time to reflect and understand what we need to do to make life better for every student at ULaw. Feedback from students highlights the need for improved communication, increased student representation, enhanced support services, and develop more community engagement opportunities.

As your student representatives, activists, organisers and trustees, we’re excited for the future of the SU. We look forward to fostering a culture of collaboration with the University to address issues facing students, ensuring our community feels heard and supported."

Peter Bolaji, Co-President Academic Affairs & Uche Adika, Co-President Union Development (2024-25)

 

 

Our Values

Our values are who we are, what we stand for and most importantly what we do. We work to live them every day.

 

We lead together

We are led by students, for students. Student leadership and voice is at the heart of everything we do. Students aren’t just a seat at the table, they’re leading the discussion, together.

We keep things clear

We are open and honest about our decision making. Students hold us accountable for our actions and challenge us to do better. If we can’t do something, we’ll always share why and work with you to find a different solution.

We experiment with new ideas 

We don’t just follow the status-quo, we try new ways of working and are excited by innovative ideas. We approach our work with curiosity and fresh ideas.

We utilise our data

We are the experts on student experience at ULaw and champion student voices to help make positive, informed change.

We fight for fairness

We don’t give up easily. We persistently advocate for better student experience and challenge barriers and discrimination wherever we find them.

We dismantle barriers

We are committed to levelling the playing field, ensuring every student has access to the support, and community they need.

 

Our Environment

The Students’ Union is operating in an ever shifting context that is important to consider when delivering our strategic priorities.

Cost of Living Crisis

The rising cost of living impacts all students, particularly those from lower income backgrounds. Students are having to make difficult choices around balancing paying bills, studying and working, limiting their time to engage in the Union. This has also had an impact on the University and Union’s access to funding.

New UK Government

With a new UK government in place, elected in July 2024, policies affecting higher education and broader student issues like housing and finance, are rapidly evolving.

Racism & Discrimination 

Far-right rioting and a rise in discrimination has left many of our students feeling unsafe and at risk. We have an active responsibility to challenge injustice and foster an environment of safety, equity and inclusion for every student.

Campus Geography

With campuses across the UK, internationally and online, it’s difficult to provide an equitable experience to ensure all students feel connected, engaged and have an excellent experience. This is a particular challenge with a current staff team that work entirely from home.

Mental Health & Wellbeing

We’re seeing an increase in students seeking support for their mental-health and wellbeing. With long NHS waiting lists and a difficulty accessing services in the community, we must be proactive in supporting students, ensuring they can thrive while at ULaw.

Climate Change

Now more than ever the climate crisis is urgent and all sectors and organisations need to reflect on their impact on the world. We are committed to living sustainably and promoting environmental responsibility across the student body.

 

Our Challenges & Opportunities

We have a huge amount of challenge and opportunity ahead of us, and are ready to take these on, to deliver better for students.

Our Challenges

Campus Equity

Ensuring all students across our various campuses have an equitable and engaging experience is a significant challenge. The diversity of location, online campus and satellite campuses make it difficult to provide a consistent level of service.

All-Staff Understanding

There is a gap in University staff knowledge and buy-in when it comes to the Students’ Union. Our purpose has not been clear, and has led to a lack of alignment and missed collaboration opportunities with colleagues.

Getting the basics right

We lack many of the established processes and mechanisms you’d expect us to have. This has led to us being inconsistent and inefficient with some of our operations.

People & Culture

Whilst our staff team has grown over the past four years, we are only now embedding a positive and collaborative team culture. This gap has impacted staff morale, collaboration opportunities as well as individual and team development.

Our Opportunities

Partnership working

Strengthening our partnerships with the University is an exciting opportunity to enhance our impact and drive towards achieving our shared goal of students having an excellent experience at ULaw.

Cross-city collaboration

Delivering more cross-campus initiatives and partnering with local Students’ Unions on shared campaigns and goals will allow us to increase our resource, share best practice and create a more vibrant student experience.

Developing student leaders

We know we have the expertise to help student leaders grow and develop their skills. We know these leaders being connected to each other and our Co-Presidents will also mean far better outcomes for students and a greater impact.

Innovation

With less structured, embedded areas of work, we have the flexibility to experiment and innovate with new projects and new ideas to deliver our strategy. We’ll try new ways of working, look at increasing our income through non-traditional routes and launch initiatives that work for our students.

 

How we'll get there

We recognise that our strategic priorities or “pillars” aren’t standalone projects. To deliver an excellent student experience and prepare students with the skills, community and connections for life after ULaw we know our priorities must be interconnected. No matter where students start their engagement journey with the Students’ Union, we will work to increase their engagement and move them through a journey of support, community and development.

 

 

We are there for students

97% students say the Students’ Union’s top priority should be providing support, advice & guidance (ULawSU Survey, August 2024)

Students can’t leave their worries at the classroom door. Studying in a cost of living crisis, with long NHS wait-times, and difficulty accessing suitable housing, students are struggling with their basic needs. We know this has an impact on their ability to engage in their studies and student life more generally. We also know this is even more difficult for those who face additional barriers to engagement.

Even then, students exist in an education system that doesn’t afford fair opportunities. Whether that’s at a structural level, such as the black awarding gap, or dependant on location or course-type, where students receive a widely varied quality of experience.

Through 1-2-1 advice & signposting, effective academic representation and dataled campaigning, we’ll support students on the issues that impact them the most.

We will:

• Expand our advice service to provide support on a broader range of issues
• Recognise where we aren’t the expert and partner with local and national community organisations to provide students the support they need, where they need it
• Identify student-issue trends to inform focused, data-led campaigns
• Create spaces and opportunities for peer-to-peer support

We’ll measure our success by:

• 90% students say the Students’ Union has their back
• Achieve “Very Good” Representation & Campaigning in NUS Quality Students’ Union Benchmarking
• 80% in National Student Survey (NSS) Q25
• Increased progression and retention rates for students who have engaged with the Students’ Union

 

We build community & connection

69% students say the Students’ Union’s should help students to meet one-another (ULawSU Survey, August 2024)

Students that feel connected and valued in a community are far more likely to stay at University and succeed (Sheffield Hallam University, 2021). Yet nearly all students report feeling lonely at least once in the academic year (Department for Culture, Media & Sport, UK Gov, 2023). We understand that without any intervention or change, there is also greater impact on students from lower socio-economic backgrounds or people of colour.

We know that connecting students, building community and fostering a sense of belonging can only be a good thing; not just for student experience right now, but for life after ULaw too.

Through societies and student-led initiatives, face-to-face and online activities and SU organised events, we’ll build student communities that make students want to stick around.

We will:

• Improve support and development for societies & student groups, from initial idea to succession planning
• Launch a society generation initiative focused on course-based societies and liberation groups
• Deliver events & activities that foster community building
• Develop networking opportunities for students to gain career-focused connections

We’ll measure our success by:

• 80% students have a friend that they made at ULaw
• 70% students are tagged in our engagement ladder as an engaged student, a student leader or a change-maker
• A society for every course
• Engagement in societies mirrors the diversity of the student population within a 1% margin

 

We make change

Making change ranked as the third highest priority for the Students Union in its next strategy (ULawSU Survey, August 2024)

Student voice and democracy is the beating-heart of students’ unions. With a historical backdrop of years of successful student campaigns locally and nationally, we continue to drive positive change for the benefit of students.

Whether it’s working together at course level to improve assessments, giving feedback about an on-campus experience or challenging the local government over transport costs - we’ll be there. Students should have the opportunity to shape the world around them and the Students’ Union will be there every step of the way to help make the change you want to see.

Through new ways of giving feedback, improving our data & insight and delivering high-quality training and support, we’ll champion student change-making.

We will:

• Increase mechanisms for students to feedback on the issues that matter to them
• Embed a culture of student-partnership so students are actively involved in making the change they want to see
• Partner with the University to put data & insight at the heart of our work and change-making
• Train and support students to be excellent campaigners

We’ll measure our success by:

• 100 student-led initiatives for change are launched and achieved
• 90% students report they are able to make change on the issues that matter to them
• Achieve 70% in NSS Q24
• 90% students report they can shape the Students’ Union

 

Our Enablers

We can’t grow and develop without a solid foundation.

Alongside our key strategic pillars, there are four areas of organisational development we are committed to over the next three years.

1. We are the experts on students at ULaw

Data & Insight should be at the heart of our work. We will be the go-to for student opinion and feedback at ULaw and will be clear who engages with us, and at what level.

We will:

• Review and re-launch our website including utilising its data and membership management system
• Develop a student insight strategy to put data at the heart of our work

We’ll measure our success by:

• Presenting an annual impact report to the University Exec & Student Parliament
• Identifying what level of engagement every student at ULaw has with us

2. We are an excellent place to work

People are our greatest resource and we know a supported and developed staff team, will deliver excellent results for students.

We will:

• Develop a people & culture strategy including continuing our work on reward & recognition

We’ll measure our success by:

• 100% staff report they feel valued and supported in their roles
• Achieve Investors in People 'working towards'

3. We operate independently

In line with our 2023 referendum and in partnership with ULaw, we will develop the strong culture, governance and systems needed to run an independent charity.

We will:

• Launch our Independence Steering Group to take action towards independence
• Develop the strong internal processes and policies we to run an independent organisation
• Explore income generation opportunities to develop a diverse and sustainable financial plan

We’ll measure our success by:

• Achieve registered charity status by 2027

4. We build strong partnerships

We can’t do any of it alone. We will prioritise working in partnership with colleagues across the University of Law and our external stakeholders to deliver excellent student experience.

We will: 

• Continue to develop relationships with staff and departments across the University
• Develop a shared partnership-agreement
• Actively work on shared-deliverable such as the TEF 2027 student submission

We’ll measure our success by:

• Deliver 10 cross-department projects in line with both the University and Students’ Union’s strategy

 

Our Future

This strategy is more than a document that lives in a drawer.

We’ll be working to embed our strategy into our everyday working practice. Each year, we’ll launch an annual plan to combine our elected co-president manifestos with this strategy and its priorities. Each quarter we’ll develop objectives to deliver against our annual plan and every-single-week, we’ll reflect and share how we’re doing. We’re excited to build a strong, independent union that puts innovation and student voice at its heart.

Each year we’ll look to deliver an impact report to review our success and communicate to our students and stakeholders. We’ll use data-collection and review opportunities across the year to make sure our priorities stay relevant and respond to student needs.

 

A message from our Governing Board

As Chair of the University of Law Students’ Union Governing Board, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped shape the development of our new strategic plan. To every student who provided feedback, every staff member who participated in a workshop, and to Cassie O’Boyle (Interim SU Manager) who drove the plan forward, thank you. This document is proof of our commitment to Lead Together to make life better for students at the University of Law.

Our new strategic plan for 2024-27 clearly sets out how we intend to achieve our ambition to build an active, exciting and ambitious community where every student leaves ready for life after ULaw.

The Students’ Union is at the start of an exciting new chapter. Through this plan we embark on a mission critical path of growth and development, as we seek to more effectively deliver for students at ULaw.

In 2023, students at ULaw voted overwhelmingly for the Students’ Union to become an independent charity. The Governing Board supports this position,and we hope that through this critical journey of development, we can deliver the student mandate and achieve independent charity status by the end of this strategic plan.

We have a solid plan, and now we need to deliver it. I would encourage everyone in the ULaw community to get involved as we take the students’ union forward together.

Benn Rapson, Chair of the ULawSU Governing Board