Student Trustee

Vacancy at Roehampton Students' Union

Student Trustee

Salary £ Voluntary

Roehampton Students' Union

Details

Student Trustees hold exactly the same legal responsibilities as all other members of the RSU Board including being formally appointed as Company Directors of the charity. But they bring something to the Board that no other trustee can: the current, lived experience of being a student at Roehampton.

Your role is not a passive one. We’re looking for an active, engaged, and independent trustee who happens to have a perspective that is uniquely valuable at board level.

• Help ensure RSU works to fulfil its charitable purpose and acts within its Articles of Association.
• Support RSU’s compliance with charity law, company law, and other applicable legislation and regulation.
• Contribute to ensuring RSU is financially sustainable, with appropriate oversight of income, expenditure, and long-term resourcing.
• Support effective strategic planning and engage with processes for monitoring and evaluating RSU’s performance against its goals.
• Help ensure that effective governance policies and procedures are in place across RSU’s activities.
• Contribute to identifying and managing risks to the organisation.
• Actively participate in the work and decisions of the Board.
• Support a culture of scrutiny and accountability in relation to RSU’s senior leadership, including the Chief Executive.
• Uphold and demonstrate RSU’s values and protect the reputation of the organisation.
• Adhere to the Nolan Committee’s seven principles of public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership.
• Help ensure robust safeguarding frameworks are in place and that any safeguarding risks are identified and acted upon.

In addition to the shared responsibilities above, Student Trustees play a particular role in:

• Bringing an authentic and current student perspective to board discussions, helping trustees understand the real impact of decisions on the student body.
• Ensuring that students from a range of backgrounds, including postgraduate, international, mature, and part-time students, are considered in board deliberations.
• Acting as a bridge between the student community and the Board, while maintaining your independence as a trustee.
• Contributing to RSU’s commitment to student-led governance at the highest level of the organisation.

You do not need prior experience of board governance to apply. We will provide a full induction, ongoing training, and support throughout your term to help you fulfil this role with confidence.

We don’t expect you to arrive with all of this and many of these skills are things you’ll develop during your time on the Board.

But here’s a sense of the qualities we’re looking for across the trustee team as a whole, and in you specifically.

• The ability to think strategically, ask good questions, and challenge assumptions constructively.
• Willingness to engage with financial information and organisational performance data.
• Sound judgment and the ability to weigh competing priorities.
• Confidence to contribute to group discussion and collective decision-making.
• The ability to work as part of a team and collaborate with a wide range of people.
• An understanding of, or genuine curiosity about, the issues affecting students and higher education.
• A commitment to good governance, safeguarding, and equality, diversity and inclusion.

• A commitment to RSU’s values, mission, and charitable purpose.
• Enthusiasm for student wellbeing, student empowerment, and improving the student experience.
• Willingness to take an active role in the leadership of RSU, including board meetings, committees, and working groups.
• A passion for learning and personal development, including your own.
• A strong sense of integrity and a willingness to be transparent and accountable.
• A commitment to the collective decision-making principles of the Board.
• A dedication to championing equity, diversity, and inclusion in all board decisions.

We take trustee development seriously. This isn’t a role where you’ll be thrown in at the deep end.

• You’ll receive a thorough induction from the Chair, and Chief Executive before your first Board meeting.
• Your development will be guided by regular skills reviews, and you’ll receive training tailored to your needs.
• You’ll have ongoing support from the Chair and Chief Executive throughout your term.
• Reasonable travel expenses will be reimbursed.
• On completion of your term, you’ll receive a formal reference from RSU’s Chief Executive.

We want to be transparent about what the role involves so you can make an informed decision about applying.

RSU holds four to six full Board meetings per year, each lasting around two to three hours. These take place on our Roehampton campus.

We ask trustees to read the Board papers ahead of each meeting, usually around two hours of reading time.

There may be occasional additional invitations to attend staff events, away days, or working groups, these are optional but valuable.

To apply, please complete our online application form by clicking below. As part of your application you’ll need to submit a recent CV and a cover letter of no more than two pages.

In your cover letter, please cover three things:

• Why you’d like to join RSU as a trustee.
• How your personal values align with ours.
• What knowledge, experience, or perspective you’d bring to our Board.

When writing your cover letter, refer to the Student Trustee Role Description on pages 9-10 of the role pack.

You don’t need to address every point just help us understand what you’d contribute and why this matters to you.

We also recommend you read our Strategic Plan which is available on our website.

• Applications close: 9am Monday 1 June.
• Shortlisting: Week commencing 8 June (you’ll hear by Friday 12 June if selected).
• Interviews: Week commencing 15 June.

We’ll let you know what to expect from the interview when we contact you about shortlisting including question themes.

Notes

Position: Student Trustee (three positions available)

Number of vacancies: We are recruiting for up to three positions. Two vacancies exists under RSU’s current Articles of Association. A third vacancy will be created if proposed amendments to the Articles are adopted at a General Meeting in May 2026.

Term: 1 July 2026 until 30 June 2027 (one year term which can be extended to two years where an individual remains a student at the University). The first two appointees will formally join the Board on 1 July 2026. If three positions are filled, the third appointment will formally take effect from 1 August 2026.

Hours of Work: Four to Six Board of Trustee meetings throughout the academic year (between two and three hours each), plus reading time.

Contract: Voluntary, unpaid. Reasonable travel expenses reimbursed.

Location: Roehampton SU, London.