Volunteer External Trustee | University of Portsmouth Students' Union

UPSU is a forward thinking organisation with a vision of “delivering a positive impact with every Portsmouth student”, offering a wide range of services and activities to support and enrich the lives of our students. What difference will you make? Trustees will support the implementation and development of our three strategic aims Academic Success - All students’ academic outcomes are improved as a result of the work that we do - making this the best we can for UoP students through our charitable aims of Representation, Development and Welfare Social Capital - Students are supported to find themselves, be themselves, connect and belong Future Readiness - Students’ futures are made clearer and enhanced by the work that we do What are we looking for? The right candidate will thrive in a student led, highly responsive environment and have an enthusiasm for supporting and guiding a student organisation. They will command confidence, have sound judgement and strong communication and... leadership skills. To support our current strategic direction and bring new skills to the Board, the essential skills, knowledge or experience required are AI / Digital Communication Finance Charity Experience - governance, leadership and strategic direction Due to the current make-up of our Trustee Board, we are not actively searching for candidates with skills, knowledge and experience related to the Student Union and HE sector and we would welcome candidates from other sectors or regions to apply. That said, we would very much like to encourage anyone who feels that they could bring something to our Board to apply, regardless of experience - our purpose and values also lead us to welcome first time Trustees too! We are strongly dedicated to embedding equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within our community and we are passionate about creating a welcoming and inclusive environment which supports everyone from recruitment through to appointment, regardless of your background. We welcome applications from all talented people and as part of this commitment, we are working to improve the diversity of our Trustee Board to ensure that it is as relevant and representative of our student community as possible and are actively encouraging applications from underrepresented groups. Board meetings sit 4-5 times per year and in addition we ask our Trustees to share their expertise in supporting one of our sub-committees. The roles are voluntary and whilst we welcome all applicants, the requirement for regular meeting attendance may suit people within easy travel time to Portsmouth. What will you be doing? The University of Portsmouth Students’ Union (UPSU) is an independent charity that exists to advance the education of all students at the University of Portsmouth. Our vision is to have a ‘Positive Impact with every Portsmouth student’ and we aim to have both immediate and legacy impacts through our range of inspiring services and activities. We are a successful and vibrant organisation that, despite the challenges that many organisations face in the current climate, has an exciting future ahead of us. We are dynamic, agile and never complacent, always striving to improve and better serve the rights, needs and wants of our diverse membership of around 28,000 students. We are looking for two people to join our Charity Trustee Board to support the Union through its next steps. UPSU has implemented a new 3 year Strategy from August 2023 and as always, our Strategy sets the direction for UPSU and ensures we are all focussed on the right things for the benefit of all University of Portsmouth students. A strong and active Board is crucial for us as we develop and implement our strategy, face challenges, maximise opportunities and endeavour to create an even better Union; one that continues to be flexible and agile enough to react quickly to the changing needs and interests of our student members and achieve our vision of ‘having a Positive Impact with every Portsmouth student’ Apply Job!