1. Supporting your officers when they return from an Officer Development Programme course
SU Conference 2014

2. This session will cover:
Course lead developers
Big changes to ODP 2014
U-Learn
Pre and post training conversations
Key activities for each course
Key questions to ask officers

3. Course lead developers
David Malcolm (Head of Social Policy)
Welfare and Community course
Bethan Payne (Regional HE Consultant)
Education and Representation course
Rosie Hunnam (Student Opportunities Co-ordinator)
Leading Student Active Involvement
Amanda Stanford
Getting to Know your Membership
Small and Specialist Students’ Unions
Lead and Change

4. Big changes to ODP 2014
Opening up the final days of Education and Representation and Leading Active Student Involvement to front-line staff
Delivering Lead and Change in partnership with Movement for Change
Pre-course learning and materials will be available to delegates on NUS U-Learn platform

5. U-Learn

6. Pre-training discussions
Why you are attending the course?
What topics does the event cover?
What development objectives do you hope to achieve?
What you would like to be able to do differently/better after attending?
How might you share the learning with other officers and/or staff?
Amanda to deliver

7. Post-training discussions
Discussion 5-10 days after attending:
Course content
What was the officer’s overall view?
What elements did the officer find most, and least, useful and why?
How relevant was the content to the officer’s area of work?
Amanda to deliver

8. Post-training discussions
Learning
What has the officer learned from the event?
Has the officer acquired the skills and knowledge expected?
How will this be applied to their role?
What new ideas has the officer returned with?
Discuss issues surrounding barriers that may arise to hinder the application of the learning
Amanda to deliver

9. Post-training discussions
Sharing learning:
How will the officers pass on any key learning points to other officers and/or staff
Deliver a presentation
Create a blog – written or video
Sharing course materials
Work with other officers to see if any learning informs any planned activities, e.g. campaigns
What other practices do you use?
Amanda to deliver

10. Any questions?

11. Welfare and Community Key activities:
Consider the role and context of welfare and community work, both on a national and a local level
Consider their objectives for their term in office and the other pressures they will deal with
Reflect on the challenges in policy or practice they face and how to tackle them
Develop the skills to build successful campaigns and achieve change

12. Welfare and Community Key activities:
Attend a number of interactive knowledge and skills workshops delivered by key experts
Consider the importance of evaluating and celebrating their work
Develop a strong network of other welfare and community officers for the year ahead
Test what they have learned

13. Welfare and Community Questions to ask officers when the return?
How do they view the role of the welfare/community officer now?
Do they need to challenge any attitudes in the students’ union?
What impacts/outcomes do they want to focus on this year?
Who do they think they need to contact now to build key relationships/a coalition with this year?

14. Welfare and Community Questions to ask officers when the return?
What focus will they have on the general election?
What do they believe their ‘new deal’ asks should be?
How will they build in evaluation into their work now?
Have they identified any further training/development needs?

15. Leading Active Student Involvement
Key activities:
The valuable role of student opportunities within society
Reflecting on the terms ‘employment’ and ‘employability’
Participation in guided visualisation of homophobia
Developing tools and ideas for driving up quality within student opportunities
Teaming up with 4/5 likeminded officers in an ‘action learning set’ to support each other over the year ahead

16. Leading Active Student Involvement
Questions to ask officers when the return?
Which workshops did they attend?
How can we change and update our processes and systems to make them work better for students?
Who is in their action learning set and how are they going to work with them this year?
How do they see themselves as a leader?

17. Education and Representation
Key activities:

18. Education and Representation
Questions to ask officers when the return?
INSERT

19. Any questions?

20. Getting to Know your membership
Key activities:
Participation in a guided visualisation of homophobia
Cluster activity in relation to different questions that will explore the diversity within their training group
Participate in the ‘Here I stand’ exercise to explore their opinions/beliefs (without judgement) on difficult issues
Final reflection activity delivered as a ‘goldfish bowl’ exercise
Identify personal learns and potential actions

21. Getting to Know your membership
Questions to ask officers when the return?
Feeling or reflections on the different exercises of the course?
What workshops did they attend
‘Light bulb’ moments of a change in their viewpoint on a particular issue
What actions did they wrote on their postcard to achieve in:
1 month
3 months
6 months

22. Small and specialist students’ unions
Key activities:

23. Small and specialist students’ unions
Questions to ask officers when the return?

24. Lead and Change Key activities
Exploring the role of an organiser for change and the difference between a leader and an organiser
Exploring the meaning of power in the context of community organising and students’ unions
Negotiation skills practice session
Recognise the power of a public narrative and practice their own compelling political story
Developing skills in a real-life listening activity
Amanda to deliver

25. Lead and Change Key activities
Participation in an exercise to explore their power and privilege as an officer
Define strategy and tactics for a change campaign – whilst working in partnership with the institution/community
Set up a support network with other officers through action learning techniques
Fibchester exercise – practicing skills and using the tools they have acquired during the course
Amanda to deliver

26. Lead and Change Questions to ask officers when the return?
What is their understanding of power? Any new knowledge or perceptions?
What is their understanding of organising for change? Leading change?
What new negotiation techniques have they learnt? How do they plan to apply these?
What was their key learns from the listening activity?

27. Lead and Change Questions to ask officers when the return?
Who is in their support network? Plans to keep in touch/work together?
What are their key learns from the Fibchester exercise?
What was their strategy for change (campaign)?

28. Any questions?