What’s it like being an SU Officer and Trustee?
Morgan McArthur, Activities and Development Officer 2021–22, answers some questions about her role as a Trustee. All of Sheffield SU’s full-time Officers are also trustees, alongside 5 student trustees, and 4 external trustees. The Board of Trustees in the group of people with ultimate responsibility for everything that the Students’ Union does. It is responsible for the governance and financial and strategic management of the Students’ Union.
What have you done so far in your role as a trustee?
As the Chair of our Trading and Finance Committee, our committee has changed and discussed multiple areas of SU Finances, including our Delegated Authority Matrix (who can authorise which amounts of money, to smooth activities back into function after COVID-19), Risk Register for the organisation, and review financial accounts and performance of SU Outlets. Linked to my role as Chair of Trading and Finance Committee, I have also been appointed as Chairperson and Director of SUSU Services (the SU’s Trading subsidiary, responsible for events, central services and nursery trading) and we have been working on some exciting projects in these areas coming out of COVID-19!)
What’s the difference between being an Officer and a trustee?
I see the roles as very separate but both bring equal importance into decisions I make — one of the first things we learnt in our training for the Officer and Trustee roles was the importance of wearing different hats for different situations, and that in itself has helped me organised my roles well! As a Trustee, I’m trusted with financial approvals, making decisions utilising my experience of the role and it’s internal in terms of being part of a cog in a huge structural system, whereas as Activities and Development Officer, I get to see the day to day amazing work our students carry out, from the decisions we make at Trustee Board.
What have you enjoyed the most about your role as a trustee so far?
The most fun part of being a Trustee for me have been the Trustee Boards — I chair Trading and Finance Committee and I sit on Nominations and Board Effectiveness committee with external trustees as well. These are the opportunities for us to discuss the overarching, top level implications of decisions to the Students Union as a whole, and it’s fantastic to work on both the top end of decision making (Trustees) whilst also seeing the students who these decisions impact in my day to day role as Activities and Development Officer through our wonderful societies and students!
What experience and skills has the role given you?
Charity understanding — before I became an officer I just saw the role as Trustee as an add on to the officer role, but as I’ve been able to develop in the position I’ve gained a lot of understanding about how charities work and how they impact people. Since becoming a Trustee of Sheffield Students’ Union, I’ve also become the Treasurer and Trustee of the British Youth Council, utilising my skills and experience of charity finance management for another youth led, impactful organisation continuing once I’ve finished my time as an SU Officer and Trustee at Sheffield Students Union.
Find out more about our Board of Trustees, and how you could become a student trustee on our website.
