Policies and priorities
Our policies are decided by students and reflect our vision for student life.
Our priorities are the six policies we promise to focus on and try to fix first.
Our priorities
Liberation student support
HSU should create a clear and specific plan to support liberation students, including access to funding, extracurricular activities, and training for staff.
Lead: Molly Pemberton
Mental health and wellbeing support
The University and HSU should ensure students' mental health and wellbeing is supported.
Lead: Layla Barrett
Cost of living
The University and HSU should support students during the Cost of Living crisis.
Lead: Martha Mitchell
Ethical careers and investments
HSU should lobby the University to align its careers services and investments with ethical principles by rejecting partnerships with the arms and extractive industries, committing to sustainability, social justice, and human rights, and prioritising the wellbeing of students, communities, and the environment.
Lead: Sarah Lahreche
Drug and alcohol harm reduction
HSU should take a harm reduction approach to drug and alcohol use, and prioritise students' safety in relation to drugs and alcohol.
Lead: Abi Marchant
Academic misconduct and University regulations
The University should improve its regulations and procedures around academic conduct to ensure they are transparent and comply with OIA guidelines.
Lead: Shafaq Sajid
Our policies
We're aware these are all important too, and we'll get to them when we can.
Fossil Free Careers
HSU should lobby the University to end partnerships with oil, gas, and mining companies, implementing an Ethical Careers Policy that excludes them and ensuring its events nor platforms provide visibility or endorsement to these industries.
Arms Free Careers
HSU should lobby the University to reject partnerships with arms companies, adopting an Ethical Careers Policy that excludes the arms industry, collaborating with peace organisations, and ensuring its events nor platforms provide visibility or endorsement to these companies.
Additional Course Costs
HSU should lobby the University to ensure additional course cost documents are up to date and accurately reflect what students are spending on their courses.
Integrated healthcare placement support
The University should improve its support for Healthcare students on integrated placements.
Anti-racism at HSU
HSU should ensure it is an actively anti-racist organisation.
Student employment
Students should have as many opportunities as possible to earn money alongside their studies.
University communications
The University should improve communications to students around significant changes, including timetabling and issues relating to the new buildings.
Sustainability
HSU should ensure it is environmentally sustainable and has a clear sustainability strategy.
Disability training and accessible events
HSU should ensure that all staff receive disability training to increase understanding and should deliver accessible events for students.
Sexual health
The University and HSU should provide students with resources, advice, and information about sexual health.
Timetabling
The University should ensure timetables are convenient for students.
Inclusive practice and lecture capture
The University should ensure that Baseline Inclusive Measures, including lecture capture, are applied consistently across the University.
Ethnicity degree awarding gap
The University should work to reduce the ethnicity degree awarding gap.
Software provision
The University should ensure all students have access to the appropriate software required to succeed on their course.
Sandwich placement support
The University should ensure all students are given correct information about sandwich placements and work experience, support students in finding an appropriate placement, and give consistent support to students while on placement.
Community, belonging, and academic societies
The University and HSU should collaborate to ensure students feel part of a wider community at Hallam, including through academic societies.
Want to be part of the action?
Join us to workshop practical plans for tackling our priorities.
No experience needed - just your thoughts, enthusiasm, and creativity.
Officer priorities
Each Officer is assigned a HSU priority to lead on, but they also have individual priorities.
Martha Mitchell
President
Martha's priorities
Sustainability
- Sustainability Strategy
- University Fossil Free Careers Policy
- Sustainability Working Group
- Sustainability Week
- Sustainability Society
Catering
- Aspect Court > HPO Café
- Repurposing Catering Spaces
Cost of Living Support
- Cheaper Transport
- More accessibility for more students
- Maintenance Loans + Grants
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Shafaq Sajid
International Students' Officer
Shafaq's priorities
Internships & Placements
- Courses & Certifications
- Jobs Fair
- Interdepartmental Internships
- Alumni Networking Event
- Skill Development Sessions
Cultural Integration
- Sports
- Global Exchange Cafe
- Festivals
Cost of Living Support
- Flexible Payment Plans
- Scholarships
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Layla Barrett
Wellbeing, Sport and Physical Activity Officer
Layla's priorities
Club Experience at Sport Hallam
- Financial Support for Sport Hallam Clubs
- Varsity Structure & Engagement
- Transport Links
- Recognition
Student Inclusion
- Campaigns & Charities
- Social Sport Programme
Diet & Nutrition/Wellbeing
- Wellbeing Resource Proposal
- Diet & Nutrition Classes/Sessions
- Wellbeing Classes in Halls of Residence
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Sarah Lahreche
Business, Technology and Engineering College Officer
Sarah's priorities
Sandwich Placement Support
- Embedded Placement Support
- Improved Careers Fairs
Community & Wellbeing
- Rep Recognition & Socials
- Wellbeing Sessions
- Society Engagement
- 'Women In…' Event
Improved Software
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Abi Marchant
Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences College Officer
Abi's priorities
Embedded Placements
- Placement Campaigns
- Placement Support in HSC
Wellbeing
- Mental Health Space
- Accessibility & Visibility
- Continuation of Sexual Violence Prevention
Community
- Society Engagement
- Representation
- SU Visibility
Employability
- Skills Development
- Sandwich Placements
- SU Workshops
Molly Pemberton
Social Sciences and Arts College Officer
Molly's priorities
Sense of Community & Belonging
- Society Engagement
- Representation
- Course/Department Collaboration
- Varsity
Career Paths & Futures
- Local Industry & Business Links
- Soft Skills Development
- Employability Support
Cost of Living Support
- Cheaper Transport
- Course Resources
Wellbeing
- Accessibility & Visibility
- Bespoke Workshops
- Collaboration with Dep Reps & College Wellbeing Advisor
Lead Rep priorities
Lead Rep priorities consist of two objectives:
- NSS/PTES objective - to improve a low score from the 2024 NSS/PTES data in their School or Institute.
- Project objective - to improve an area of the student experience they're passionate about or that's important to students in their area.
College of Business, Technology and Engineering
James Christian
Sheffield Business School
Email James
James's priorities
Course: BA Business & Management (with Law)
NSS: Ensuring assessment and feedback is consistent across Sheffield Business School
Project: Create a Course Rep community to bridge the gap between Course Reps and the Lead Rep.
Seethal Thomas
Sheffield Business School
Email Seethal
Seethal's priorities
Course: BA Business & Management (with Law)
PTES: Improve organisation and management in Sheffield Business School for postgraduates, namely that changes on the course have been communicated effectively and that students are encouraged to be involved in decisions about how the course is run.
Project: Help to improve employability support for students, ensuring the offer covers all areas of study.
Cameron Swann
Engineering and Built Environment
Email Cameron
Cameron's priorities
Course: BSc Building Surveying
NSS: Improve quality and frequency of feedback, both formative and summative in the School.
Project: Improve support and help to solve issues amongst Access & Participation Plan (APP) students.
Rahul Bakhtiani
Computing and Digital Technologies
Email Rahul
Rahul's priorities
Course: MSc Big Data Analytics
NSS: Improve assessment and feedback, specifically formative feedback in the school.
Project: Ensure students feel more prepared to start and complete their degree.
College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences
Aimee Hastings
Health and Social Care
Email Aimee
Aimee's priorities
Course: BSc Child Nursing
NSS: Improving how clear it is that students' feedback is acted on.
Project: Improve employability offer in Nursing & Midwifery and Social Work, Social Care & Community Studies.
Hannah Szanto
Health and Social Care
Email Hannah
Hannah's priorities
Course: BSc Physiotherapy
NSS: Improve staff-student communications in Allied Health Professions.
Project: Create a student-facing guide for university.
Sara Raza
Biosciences and Chemistry
Email Sara
Sara's priorities
Course: BSc Biomedical Science
Project: Creating a one-stop shop document for placement applications, interview prep and other tips and advice.
NSS: Working with Course Reps, staff and students to better close the feedback loop.
Lynette Morrison
Sport and Physical Activity
Email Lynette
Lynette's priorities
Course: BSc Sport Coaching
NSS: Improve assessment and feedback, specifically how clear the marking criteria is to assess students' work.
Project: Contribute to clearing timetables on a Wednesday, both morning and afternoon for students.
College of Social Sciences and Arts
Wren Foster
Creative Industries
Email Wren
Wren's priorities
Course: MFA Fine Art
NSS: Investigate and strengthen communications to all students in Creative Industries about the mental health services across both the University and the SU.
Project: Investigate and aim to improve visibility of SU and University services surrounding the academic interest.
Fay Trakaki
Creative Industries
Email Fay
Fay's priorities
Course: MArch Architecture
NSS: Investigate and assess the ongoing issues regarding feedback across Creative Industries and look into ways of improving this.
Project: Work towards tackling the Cost of Living in Creative Industries courses through looking at materials costs.
Katie Lane-Spouge
Sheffield Institute of Education
Email Katie
Katie's priorities
Course: BA Hon Primary Education (5-11) with QTS
NSS: Investigate and improve organisation and communication on Education Courses, especially with regards to timetabling and placements.
Project: Improving the signposting and awareness of Mental Health Services and their processes both at the SU and The University.
Martha Strafford
Law and Justice
Email Martha
Martha's priorities
Course: LLB Law
NSS: Investigate and develop a safe, social space for the Institute of Law and Justice where students can feel part of a community and a sense of belonging (Mental Wellbeing)
Project: Work towards increasing the sense of community and effective communication between Course Reps in the Institute of Law and Justice.
Adam Reynolds
Social Sciences
Email Adam
Adam's priorities
Course: BA Politics
NSS: To improve communications surrounding mental wellbeing services across the Institute.
Project: To increase and encourage engagement in extracurricular activities within Social Sciences (academic societies, events etc).
Representation
We hear your feedback and work with the University and Sheffield's wider stakeholders to resolve issues and improve the student experience.
Use our tracker to monitor progress on key student issues.
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Bye-laws
Our bye-laws are a set of rules that outline how we operate. They include what you can expect from us, what we expect from you, and how we'll work to make your time at uni better.
Hallam SU bye-laws
Think we should work differently? Any Hallam student can make changes to the bye-laws, either via a Referendum or via a vote at a Members' Meeting.
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