2019 Shortlist | University of Bristol Students’ Union (Bristol SU)
University of Bristol Students’ Union (Bristol SU)
Shortlist – Board Diversity and Inclusivity
Who they are
Bristol SU works for the advancement of education for students at the University of Bristol. It promotes the interests and welfare of students during their course of studies and represents, supports and advises student members through its social, cultural, recreational and sporting programmes. It is the recognised representative channel between students and the university administration and any other external bodies.
The Student Union’s services include a lettings agency, 350 clubs and societies, student volunteer groups, a bar/café, shop, advice centre to help students with their wellbeing, a ‘fit and fab’ programme, student networks to support minority groups such as LGBTQ+, BAME, women and many more.
What they’ve achieved
The Bristol Student Union has demonstrated a unique responsiveness to the changing landscape in which it operates, as well as an ongoing commitment to diversity within an organisation that naturally experiences a high rate of turnover among the board and other stakeholders. The 15-person board is composed of external trustees (usually experienced professionals over 25 years in age), sabbatical trustees (either students on a gap year from studies to act as a trustee, or graduates serving in the role immediately upon completing their studies), and student trustees. The board includes people from diverse religious and racial backgrounds (10 identify as something other than Christian, and five as non-white British) as well as eight young trustees (aged 18-25 years), eight women, and three people with disabilities. The leadership of the board and the executive team in this area was recognised when the Clerk to the Board won the ‘Most Inspiring Individual of the Year’ award at the National Centre for Diversity Awards, and the Chief Executive won the ‘Diversity Champion’ Education Award.
Why they were shortlisted
Judges were shown good evidence of impact from board-led initiatives, as Bristol SU was able to articulate its five-year strategy and give good examples of practical techniques or concrete interventions that board members were taking to increase diversity, such as its effective trustee mentorship scheme. Significantly, the board’s documented five-year strategy highlights equality and diversity as one of its leading values, and a special committee for board development annually reviews the Student Union’s success in achieving equality and diversity through trustee appraisals and exit interviews as well as the processes in place for recruitment and elections. Trustees also receive a comprehensive induction pack, annual training for their roles on the board, and participate in team-building activities. The trustee mentorship programme, pairing young trustees with the more experienced external trustees, allows the board to be more responsive to the immediate concerns of the student body and consider more drastic action. Younger trustees might be more comfortable with the board taking risks to meet students’ needs, but the mentorship programme allows them to work through problems, solutions and risk assessments with more experienced trustees before the board takes collective action.
