## Student Officer Guide PDF (2025-26 Edition) A comprehensive 44-page branded PDF guide created from the [[How to be an amazing Student Officer]] MOC and its sub-notes, plus additional original content. ### What the Guide Contains The guide distils the knowledge across 70+ vault notes into a structured, readable format for new-in-post officers. It follows the officer's journey from "what is this role?" through to "how do I thrive?" **Part 1: Understanding Your Role** - What the role is, trustee responsibilities, [[The Seven Principles of Public Life|Nolan Principles]], [[Officer First 100 Days|First 100 Days]] roadmap, tips from former officers **Part 2: Your Organisation** - [[Salford SU Strategy]], the loneliness BHAG, [[Salford SU Departments|departmental structure]], [[Salford SU Governance|governance]], [[Salford SU Finances|finances]] **Part 3: The Bigger Picture** - [[Higher Education]] regulation, [[University of Salford]], [[Students' Unions]] history and future, [[Salford SU Stakeholders|stakeholder map]] **Part 4: Issues You'll Face** - [[Student Cost of Living Crisis 2022 onwards|Cost of living]], [[Student Mental Health and Student Support|mental health]], [[Belonging and Fitting In|belonging]], [[Tackling Loneliness at Salford|loneliness strategy]] (4 I's framework), sector issues **Part 5: Skills for Success** - [[Leadership]], [[Team Working]], [[Mindful Communication|communication]], [[Reflection]], [[SMART objectives]], [[PICK Chart]] **Part 6: The Officer You Want to Be** - Core attributes, [[The Stockdale paradox|Stockdale Paradox]], [[Imposter Syndrome in Officers|imposter syndrome]], [[Officer Wellbeing and Self-Care|self-care]] **Quick Reference** - [[Higher Education ACRONYMS!|Acronyms glossary]], key contacts, further reading ### Additional Content (Not in Original Notes) The PDF includes content created specifically for the guide that has been captured back into the vault: - [[Officer First 100 Days]] - practical month-by-month roadmap - [[Imposter Syndrome in Officers]] - normalising self-doubt using the Neil Gaiman/Armstrong story - [[Officer Wellbeing and Self-Care]] - practical self-care guidance ### Visual Elements The guide includes seven custom diagrams: 1. Board of Trustees composition 2. Departmental structure org chart 3. The 4 I's loneliness framework 4. Tuckman's team development stages 5. PICK Chart prioritisation matrix 6. Nolan Principles visual 7. Stakeholder map (concentric circles) ## MY NOTES ### Session: 2026-06-09 - Word Doc Rebuild and Org Structure Correction **Summary:** Rebuilt the Student Officer Guide as a branded Word document (.docx) using the [[ussu-branding]] skill (Salford SU brand colours, Work Sans font) and [[eds-voice]] skill (sentence length variation, fragments, contractions). Then corrected the organisational structure section following Ed's confirmation of the summer 2025 restructure, and updated the finance partnership reference. **Key decisions:** - Guide produced as .docx (not PDF) so Ed can make direct edits - Org structure updated from the old directorate model (Advocacy/Engagement/Central Support) to the post-restructure flat model (CEO, DCEO, Heads of Department) - Counterculture finance partnership replaced with the new shared services partnership with University of Manchester SU and Manchester Met SU - Vice Chancellor corrected to Professor Nic Beech (was incorrectly Sheridan) - Added shared SU/University corporate vision: "students know that they matter to the university" - Staff-Officers Roles Matrix section expanded with more detail - Mollie Foster confirmed by Ed as Head of Data and Impact (was Head of Advice and Wellbeing until the Summer 2025 restructure). Key People note and her person note updated 2026-06-09. **Org structure confirmed by Ed:** - CEO: [[Ed Moloney]] - [[Alan Warnock]] - Head of Commercial - [[Mollie Foster]] - Head of Data and Impact - [[Lauren Beckett]] - Deputy CEO (DCEO) - [[Bethan Bedwen-Evans]] - Head of Marketing and Communications - [[Tom Astle]] - Head of Student Opportunities - [[Sam Gill]] - Head of HR and Admin **Vault changes made:** - Updated [[Salford SU Departments]] with the correct post-restructure structure and finance partnership. Previous directorate structure preserved in a "Previous Structure (pre-2025)" section for historical reference. **Files produced:** - `x/Student Officer Guide 2025-26.docx` - the branded Word document (built with docx-js, ~100KB) **Open questions:** - Confirm Mollie Foster's exact title - vault sources are inconsistent ("Salford SU staff" in [[Key People]] vs "Head of Data and Impact" in the NIHR bid note) - Ed to review the full document and make any further corrections directly in Word ### Session: 2026-06-09 - NUS Gap-Check, De-Staccato Rewrite, New 'Doing' Sections **Summary:** Checked the guide against the NUS *Officer Induction 2026* report, then did a full prose rewrite to fix the over-applied [[eds-voice]] fragment cadence (writing had become too staccato), and added four new "doing" sections plus a skills-audit appendix. Rebuilt as a branded .docx using [[ussu-branding]] (dark green cover, white logo lockup, Work Sans, green headings, mint pull-quotes). **Gap analysis (guide vs NUS report):** The guide was strong on "knowing" and "being" but light on "doing" (NUS knowing-being-doing model). Top gaps identified: campaigning/influencing, committee skills (the "Committee Meetings" heading was literally empty), the "different hats" model, data curiosity/impact-vs-outputs, practical workplace basics, media/digital, knowing-your-membership/allyship, negotiation. Ed chose to add the top four "doing" gaps + skills-audit appendix only, and signpost the rest. **New content added:** - *The Different Hats You Wear* (Part 1) - trustee vs representative vs individual member, and switching between them - *Committee Meetings* (Part 5) - filled the previously empty heading: read the papers, know why you're there, pick your moments, declare conflicts, watch the experienced people - *Campaigning and Making Change* (Part 5) - theory of change, power-mapping, choosing a route, evidence, working with staff - *Using Data and Evidence* (Part 5) - data curiosity, Goodhart's Law, impact not outputs, use the Data and Impact team - *Appendix: Officer Skills Audit* - adapted from NUS report Appendix 1, six skill areas as scoreable tables (1-10 + evidence) **Writing fix:** Full de-staccato pass across all six parts. Removed clustered three-beat fragment cadences; kept rare earned punches. Verified programmatically: 0 paragraphs with 3+ consecutive ultra-short sentences. Body now ~6,900 words. Also fixed typos carried in the docx ("effects"->"affects", "acct"->"acted", "worth through"->"work through"). **Files produced:** - `Student Officer Guide 2025-26.docx` - rebuilt branded Word doc, 31 pages, validates clean **Still to do:** - The seven custom diagrams (Board composition, org chart, 4 I's, Tuckman, PICK, Nolan, stakeholder map) are still stripped out - need restoring to match the original PDF formatting Ed wants to return to - Key Contacts section is role-based scaffolding only - needs real contact details - Mollie Foster title CONFIRMED 2026-06-09: Head of Data and Impact (was Head of Advice and Wellbeing pre-restructure). Vault updated. - Tom Astle title CONFIRMED 2026-06-09 by Ed: Head of Student Opportunities. Corrected the stray "Head of Student Experience" references in [[Key People]] and [[Salford SU Departments]].