A day in the life of an officer
A day in the life of an officer will vary on the portfolio of the officer and the time of year. As an officer, you will attend meetings with student groups, student leaders, external organisation, senior management within JMSU and LJMU, University committees, and events and pop-up unions.
The role of an officer is:
- Complete your manifesto: the reason you were elected in
- Continue representing and speaking to students
- A trustee of JMSU
Pop Up Union 🎆
Attending a pop-up union with JMSU staff to promote progress on your manifesto, get students feedback across a variety of topics, and increase engagement in JMSU opportunities.
Meeting with Pro Vice Chancellor (Student Experience) 🤝
Meeting with the Pro VC Student Experience to talk about any senior university topics, giving feedback, asking questions, and maintaining a close relationship to strengthen connections for future change.
University Committee 🗣️
An active member of a handful of university committees, you will read the papers in advance, contribute to and sign off on JMSU reports, and feedback to the committee ensuring student voice is at the heart.
Student Leader Training 🙌
Supporting the development of student leader training, it’s up to you if you deliver parts of this, but it’s important you are present and speaking to JMSU student leaders as you will work with them closely over the academic year.
Campaign event 📢
Anything from a movie night, an external speaker event, workshop or fair; you will attend this as the face of the union and encourage students to attend and gain feedback from them.
Officer filming 🎥
This could be for a specific campaign, or for our marketing and comms team to post on social media. You will be included in a range of quirky and fund methods of student engagement and loads of students will see your face promoting opportunities.
Catch up with senior leadership team (SLT) 😎
You will work very closely with the whole JMSU team, but particularly with the CEO and Heads of Department, who help you navigate your role, and identify risks and opportunities to your decisions and work towards the Unions strategy/organisation goals.
Officer meeting & lunch 🥗
The four of you work closely, and often must make decisions together, so it’s important you communicate, update, and respect each other. That’s why you meet weekly and go for lunch so you can build strong connections and ensure you have each other's back.
Board of Trustees (BoT) 💼
As an elected officer, you are also a Trustee of the organisation which means you have responsibility to ensure the workings of the organisation are in the best interest of students at LJMU. The CEO will provide reports and advice to the team of trustees (student and external), and make sure that the staff team are working towards organisational goals, and that as a charity JMSU are working within the boundaries of byelaws, the charity commission and the law.
BoT takes place quarterly, but it’s one of the most important meetings you attend as an officer.
Manifesto catch up 🙋🏾♀️
It can get busy at JMSU, so weekly or fortnightly manifesto catch ups mean you are consistently supported by coordinators and managers, and that your manifesto is constantly being worked on for students. This is also an opportunity for you to raise any concerns you have and learn about project management.
Catch up on e-mails 📧
Lots of people will be e-mailing you, from students to LJMU staff, and while you check your e-mails every day, it’s best to set aside some admin time to make sure you are following up with each query professionally and in a timely manner.
The Weekend 🎉
At JMSU, the team work Monday to Friday, which gives everyone the weekend to relax and re-charge. There are a couple of days throughout the year where you may have to work one weekend day, but you can take that time back in TOIL (Time in lieu) when you’re not busy.
Some additional meetings/events you can’t see on the calendar
Graduation 🎓
You will be invited to attend graduations and even speak at the ceremonies. It’s a great opportunity for you and the officer team to celebrate graduating students, meet some senior leaders, and have your first public outing as the newly elected officer team.
Conference 🎙️
You’ll have the chance to attend NUS Lead & Change Conference, which is a great opportunity to meet officers from other big and small students’ unions across the country. You’ll attend workshops, classes, and events, and by the end of it you’ll be a pro!
JMSU Working groups 💪
The team have a set of working groups, led by key individuals, that focus on specific events or projects such as Freshers or Elections. As an officer, you may sit on some of these working groups to give student perspective to the staff team.
All staff briefing 📊
An important meeting for the whole staff and officer team, the staff briefing is run by the Head of HR and will give updates and key information. This usually includes a fun team-based activity to make sure the team are all working cohesively.
TOIL 🤫
During busy periods, like Freshers, you may work longer hours to meet the needs of the business. When things quiet down, you can take that time back to re-charge and take time out.
Individual 1-2-1's 🖖🏾
You will have 1-2-1's with key staff, usually a manager and a coordinator who is closely linked to your portfolio. I.e., Education Officer will meet regularly with the Voice and Support Manager. This is so you are aware of what’s going on and have the chance to feedback.
University department meetings 🏫
Depending on your role, you might meet semi-regularly with the Teaching and Learning Academy, or Student Advice and Wellbeing department, to help bring your manifesto to life, work on a JMSU-LJMU project, or report and feedback on specific topics.
Student or student group meetings 🏀
Sometimes students will want to meet with you and the officer team to share concerns, raise complaints, or ask for support. You may meet with individual students or groups to hear them out, and plan to move forward, with the help of the JMSU team.
It’s important for you to remember that you shouldn't give wellbeing, mental health, or academic advice, and that in those cases the student or groups needs professionally sign-posting to the correct person or service that is best suited to support them.
