Top tips for democracy reviews, a look at our student voice programme and a chance to increase your advice centre capacity

So, you're thinking of reviewing your democracy? Some top tips

Congratulations! It's a big step and can be a huge undertaking, but if you can create and innovate a new way to engage students, find out what their issues are and then do something about those issues - and it works, then it will absolutely be worth the hard work.

So, grab a cuppa, get comfortable, and we'll run through the top tips together.

Here are my top tips for any budding SU Democracy Revolutionaries:

1. Understand why the current structures in the SU do not work
2. Create a case for change and rally support
3. Be organised
4. Co-create with staff and your members
5. Think outside the box

Now, let's run through the top 5 tips in a wee bit more detail:

Understand why the current structures in the SU do not work

We've all heard "if it's not broke, don't fix it" but this does not apply to you. You know that these structures need reviewing and to be replaced by an approach that students will want to participate in. So, what are the key lines of enquiry? Here are some questions to get you started:

• How many students attend ** insert name of the large student meeting you run** that are not mandated to attend?
• Do motions/contributions/ideas for change regularly come through from students that are not holding elected positions within the Union? Or, that are not part of the SU bubble?
• How much of your business at ** insert name of the large student meeting you run** cover internal SU matters and the structures/procedures of the SU??This can be ascertained by examining the minutes of previous meetings
• How is attendance from students from other/satellite campuses or sites?
• How often to motions/stances/policies passed actually result in the change that is resolved. Very often you'll see students, officers and reps passing motions internally and there's a loss in momentum and the resolves may never get achieved. Have you done the work to follow that through? If the answer is no then what's the point of having the policy in the first place?
• Are the day-to-day duties of the full time sabbatical officers more operational in nature of representational? This could reflected in the job description or exhibited in the daily execution of the role. Do the representatives actually represent?
• How much time are officers able to spend listening to students? It's all well and good going to meetings and "representing'" the student voice - but has this involved listening to students either themselves or through researchers/insight/policy staff? If not, ask yourself if they are advocating "student voice" or in fact "sabb voice"?

So these are just a few questions you can investigate to understand how democracy may be broken (or in fact, working) in your SU.

Create a case for change and rally support

Now you know what's broken and what needs fixing, but large change projects are all about people - respecting people's feelings and helping them to navigate the change. For people in the SU to see the system as you do, you need to demonstrate the ways in which the structures and the roles are broken. Breakdown some of your findings above and present them to the senior managers in the SU, the full time officers, key groups of reps and committees. There are lots of parts to a democracy review and the change that ends up coming in could have a ripple effect that you are not thinking of, so it's important to discuss the issues openly and get support for running a democracy review process.

Be organised

A relatively simple one here but very important. Make sure you make use of project management tools and you map out the project in detail, dust off that project management training you've had (but make sure you heed the advice above about being people-centred).

You will need to work backwards, as there will be dates probably already in the calendar that will impact your plans. You will want to plan out the critical path for approval for any proposal, through Trustee Board, relevant committees, etc. You will also want to consider elections and the buy in and ownership of new officer teams and representatives that may move into their terms mid-project.

Co-create with staff AND your members

Sure, students can lack the professional experience and skills to understand what makes an effective new democratic structure, and by the same token professional staff lack the lived experience that students bring to the table. Guess what? Put that together and you have the dream combination - the views of students and the experience of staff.

If we, the student movement, are to overcome the challenges of student participation that are in our future we need creativity and innovation. You achieve this with diversity of ideas so put them all together and facilitate a culture of co-creation and a safe space to be creative.

There is no better feeling as a facilitator when you see a group of students, staff and officers freely exchanging ideas anfd coming up with solutions together.

Think outside the box

This sounds so cheesy doesn't it? Forgive the cheese. But please, please do not just go looking for the structure that is in vogue, whilst Unions/Associations and Guilds are very similar they are also very different at the same time, it's almost paradoxical. Take the time to examine best practice but create a structure that works for your members, in your context and don't be afraid to create something new and unique.

And finally, don't be afraid to ask for external help

This is where the plug for Alkhemy's services comes in. There are many different cost effective ways in which we could work with you to help revolutionise your democracy. Feel free to get in contact [email protected]

In the meantime, good luck revolutionaries

Student voice staff: jacks of all trades, unsung heroes and an insight to our support programme

I've said it before and I'll say it again, student voice staff in SUs deserve so much respect for the roles they do. One of my most viewed and interacted posts from the last 6 months can be seen below:

This experience really shaped the approach of Alkhemy, setting out to support these staff members. Earlier this year, we launched the Student Voice Support Programme and this involves:

• 3.5 hours of face-to-face coaching and mentoring per month
• Regular check in sessions with mentee and line manager
• An email and instant messaging retainer as well as use of additional asynchronous communication tools
• Access to Alkhemy’s online learning portal for student voice staff members (which includes resources, recorded sessions and tools – launching later 2022)
• Access to regular online facilitated Action Learning Sets, meeting and developing links with colleagues from across the movement
• Plus further benefits for SUs that sign up multiple staff members, such as complimentary consultancy, discounted training and democracy reviews

So far in the first few months Alkhemy have supported student voice staff with:

• Navigating elections and referenda
• Helping shape the support for part time officers
• Support and coaching to navigate the officer/staff dynamic
• Shaping a staff members' approach to drafting a Student Voice Strategy
• Helping to empower staff to job craft and look for internal opportunities for development
• How to organise students and hold 121s
• Project management and scoping advice for democracy reviews
• Career advice (specifically within student voice)

If you or a member of your team could benefit from being a part of this programme - please get in contact with us: [email protected]

What else is going on with Alkhemy this week?

Fresh, new officer induction training. Take a look and get in touch if you are interested in working with us.

Do you want to take advantage of our Alkhemy Adviser Programme? This is a cost effective way to add interim capacity to your SU advice team. Take a look at our website and get in contact for more information.

Get in touch - we'd love to hear from you.

To contact us to talk about stuff, just email [email protected]