Steve Ralph, Head of Student Voice
Steve is a very passionate and dedicated person who has democracy written all over him, hence he is our Head of Student Voice, overseeing democracy, governance and representation of students.
Due to the nature of his role, the work he does has a direct effect on students. His fantastic ability to juggle many things at once as well as energetically manage his team of staff means that he always on top of things, delivering top notch work.
Fostering collaboration between students and staff members
Steve manages the Student Voice team who literally give our students a voice. They look after our academic representation system which sees on average 1 in 26 students (1,000 in total) becoming a rep each year. They also help the sabbatical officers, especially the VP Education role, in so many ways that without them we would find it extremely difficult to do our job properly. They organise events and campaigns with sabbatical officers throughout the year, such as Speak Week which received more free text comments than the NSS last year and this year received 3,000 individual cards and the number of individual comments is likely to be around 10,000 making it a huge source of qualitative data used both by the Union and University. Without the fantastic management provided by the nominee that would not be possible, at least not to that extent.
The nominee is also integral to running our SU elections, senate and AGM. These democratic processes will involve nearly 10,000 students throughout the year and this would not be possible without Steve and his leadership as well as the team morale that he brings to the staff, officers, students and volunteers.
Our AGM had over 600 attendees this year and passed important policy on free speech and mental health as just 2 examples and the senate regularly passes policy to enhance the student experience. However they only work because of the job Steve does in coordinating, communicating and then executing these events. He regularly has to deal with last minute deadlines, alterations and problems that come up but they never stop democracy and the student voice being heard because of his hard work and dedication.
The student voice team that he leads is still relatively new but is recognised as the area we have made greatest improvement in and where we should focus more efforts going forward.
The effect of Steve's work
Aside from being results driven, Steve is also a very caring person, providing support to the team whenever needed. He is always attuned with the needs of his team members, always ensuring that they are not over-working and of course maintaining a healthy relationship between themselves. Furthermore, this level of care is reflected in the work he does for the institution, where he carries out duties that affect the Students’ Union as a whole very passionately.
Last but not least, as a Muslim BME sabbatical officer, I have first-hand experience of how inclusive Steve is as a person which is always reflected in his work. Being heavily involved in democracy, governance and representation requires that one is inclusive by nature and Steve is the perfect example of this, always considering the wider as well as minority student population in decisions and actions.
Steve effectively is democracy in our institution, the cornerstone of what we are built on and that enables us to function to our highest capacity.
All in all Steve is a pretty great guy and I really do think that he absolutely deserves this award, even if it was solely based on the amount of work he puts into this organisation to ensure that our student members are a well satisfied bunch!
