STUDENT COUNCIL IDEAS FOR CHANGE UPDATES
IDEA FOR CHANGE Urgent Action for Women’s Safety on Campus
DATE APPROVED 2nd April 2025
ACTIONS
UPDATES
DATE
Improve lighting and security across campuses.
Estates & Security have confirmed lights are regularly checked. They are happy to meet with students regarding areas of concern. All lighting in the De Hav car park has recently been replaced to brighter lights.
14th May 2025
Lobby the University to relaunch the Brave Voices campaign.
This will be assigned to the Elected Officers in October 2025.
19th September 2025
Lobby the University to improve the Report & Support system to ensure that it explicitly recognises different forms of harassment and violence in the initial reporting stages, preventing students from being deterred due to their incident not matching the current, narrow description.
This will be assigned to the Elected Officers in October. Report & Support has been replaced with Speak Up. There are a range of options for students to identify their experience, including an open text box that allows students to describe the incidents they've experienced.
19th September 2025
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ACTIONS
UPDATES
DATE
Launch a research project dedicated to understanding the experience of violence against women on campus.
Final draft of survey question set has been completed having received student feedback. The SU Insight Team are now in the process of applying through (first) the UH Student Voice Implementation Panel, and (next) the UH Ethics Committee for permission to undertake the research project within this academic year.
5th December 2025
The National Student Survey (NSS) included an optional survey for gathering feedback around the prevalence of sexual violence on campus. The University also mirrored the survey and distributed this to all remaining students, where they received a 12% response rate. We will review any additional research that needs to be conducted once the results of these have been shared with us.
14th July 2025
The SU is committed to delivering this research. The plan to wait until data was made available is to ensure the research is scoped out and delivered in the most effective way at the start of the next academic year, when students are present to engage with it. We are in talks with the Dean of Students Office about collaborating on this project.
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ACTIONS
UPDATES
DATE
Update the ‘Safe Club’ webpage (on the Herts SU website) to include...
Webpages have been reviewed to ensure it’s clear for students to report instances of harassment in the nightclub. Students can find full details here.
19th September 2025
the SU is currently working with the University on a new ‘Zero Tolerance, Total Support’ campaign which is all about student safety. Updates will be made to our website to reflect this before the Start of Term.
21st August 2025
Instructions on how to report incidents upon leaving the venue The process for reporting to the SU, University and/or external authorities like the police How to follow up on a report How to collect evidence What actions the University will take against perpetrators Actively enforce a zero-tolerance policy on sexual harassment and spiking in The Forum and put in further preventative measures.
Lobby the University to standardise the reporting process and improve staff training.
New collateral for the venue has already been implemented, highlighting our zero-tolerance approach to things like harassment, inappropriate touching, sexualised comments, exposing yourself and the like. Spiking test strips are already available in the venue which can be accessed by asking a member of staff.
19th September 2025
Further collateral will be rolled out across the venue soon, following the launch of the new ‘Zero Tolerance, Total Support’ campaign we’re running with the University.
14th May 2025
This will be assigned to the Elected Officers in October. Speak Up is the single portal for reporting harassment, and both the resources and staff portals have been updated to reflect the new system.
19th September 2025
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ACTIONS
UPDATES
DATE
Lobby the University to actively promote the Report & Support system in spaces where harassment is common, like university buses, bus stops, in the LRC and teaching areas.
The Women Students Officer is actively engaging with the Dean of Students to obtain a detailed plan and timeline for promoting the university’s ‘Speak Up’ reporting system. While awaiting a response, Shruti has taken proactive steps to raise student awareness by collaborating with the Marketing team at Herts SU to record an awareness video about the reporting system, which was published on the Hert SU page on 14th December. She will continue to follow up to ensure the full promotional plan is implemented.
15th December 2025
This will be assigned to the Elected Officers in October.
19th September 2025
Actively track the progress of the mandatory consent training project and apply pressure to ensure the University delivers this training in 2025.
This will be assigned to the Elected Officers in October to formally track. We have spoken with the Dean of Students who has confirmed that the consent training has been sent out to all students to complete. Students have four weeks to complete the training, and they will be sent reminders and chased if they do not complete the training.
19th September 2025
We ask that Herts SU work with the university to call for immediate investment in producing an anti-harassment and consent education campaign on campus, within campus accommodation, at university bus stops, and on UNO buses. We are calling for an evidence-based prevention campaign. This campaign must receive adequate investment and resources.
We’re collaborating with the University on the new ‘Zero Tolerance, Total Support’ campaign. This is being launched in the 2025-26 academic year.
14th May 2025
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IDEA FOR CHANGE Improving Transparency & Accountability at Herts SU
DATE APPROVED 2nd April 2025
ACTIONS
UPDATES
DATE
Require Student Council minutes and Elected Officer reports to be publicly available within two weeks of each meeting.
This has been done for the 2024-25 academic year and diarised for the 2025-26 academic year for continuity.
14th May 2025
Provide students with at least four weeks’ notice before each Student Council meeting.
This has been done for the 2024-25 academic year and diarised for the 2025-26 academic year for continuity.
14th May 2025
Create an annual calendar of Student Council meetings at the start of the academic year and share with all student leaders.
This has been done. The first email of the year to student leaders will include all the dates. This is being sent on 1st October 2025.
19th September 2025
All of the dates have been scheduled for the 202526 academic year and they will be communicated to students at the start of the new academic year.
14th May 2025
This has been uploaded onto our ‘Student Council’ webpage and will continue to be updated.
26th September 2025
Implement a clear, public tracker where students can see progress on all ‘Ideas for Change’ actions.
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IDEA FOR CHANGE Improving Transparency & Accountability at Herts SU
DATE APPROVED 2nd April 2025
ACTIONS
UPDATES
DATE
Publish a monthly update of the Elected Officers’ achievements - including progress on any ‘Ideas for Change’ actions.
Jubair has been providing a monthly update on the Herts SU website since he started his role in July 2025. The rest of the Elected Officer Team has just started their roles, and monthly reports will start from October 2025.
19th September 2025
Due to the time of year, this has been pushed forward to the new academic year. These will likely start from October when the Elected Officers have finalised their action plans for the year.
14th May 2025
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IDEA FOR CHANGE Allow Free Society Memberships & Free Event Entry for Non-Members
DATE APPROVED 2nd April 2025
ACTIONS
UPDATES
DATE
Amend Bye-Law 5, Section 7.3 - removing the requirement that all societies must charge at least £1 for memberships.
This has now been updated and added onto the website.
15th May 2025
Permit societies to allocate up to 20 free tickets per event for non-members.
This change has been approved and reflected in our Bye-Law accordingly.
15th May 2025
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IDEA FOR CHANGE Bring Back the Forum Piano
DATE APPROVED 3rd December 2025
ACTIONS
UPDATES
DATE
Herts SU to lobby the University to bring back the Forum Piano.
This Idea has been assigned to Mariangel, HML Officer to work on.
5th December 2025
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IDEA FOR CHANGE Transparency and accountability for the Student Council.
DATE APPROVED 3rd December 2025
ACTIONS
UPDATES
DATE
All Ideas for Change whether they pass or are rejected, should be uploaded to the SU website.
This will be added onto the SU website from the next Student Council meeting onwards.
5th December 2025
All names and the society/school of all representatives that voted for and against an Idea for Change to be published on the SU website along with the information about the Idea.
This will be added onto the SU website from the next Student Council meeting onwards.
5th December 2025
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IDEA FOR CHANGE SU Mentorship Scheme
DATE APPROVED 3rd December 2025
ACTIONS
UPDATES
DATE
The SU to create a mentorship programme that helps new students settle into university life by matching them with continuing students or alumni.
No updates currently.
5th December 2025
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IDEA FOR CHANGE Shuttle Bus Route to include Hatfield Railway Station
DATE APPROVED 3rd December 2025
ACTIONS
UPDATES
DATE
Herts SU to lobby the University to add Hatfield Railway Station to the shuttle bus route.
This Idea has been assigned to Jubair, SU President and Nabir, SPECS Officer to work on.
5th December 2025
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