Our Team

Here at Herts SU, we have a small team of permanent staff who each have very big ambition. They support the Elected Officer team and are in turn supported by a large team of student staff. On this page you can get to know each of our staff members a little more!

Senior Management

The Senior Management team takes the lead on strategic decisions for the Students' Union. They oversee all of the departments, ensuring they are working towards the goals of the organisation, all the while championing the Union's values.

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Rebecca Hobbs

Chief Executive Officer

Rebecca is responsible for ensuring the strategic objectives of the Union are achieved in line with the vision and values agreed by the Board of Trustees. Rebecca works collaboratively with all staff in the Union, the Elected Officers and the Senior Management team of the University. She regularly monitors and reports on the Union's performance against the organisation's strategic objectives and annual KPIs.

Alun Minifey

Head of Operations

As Head of Operations, Alun oversees The Forum Hertfordshire, Marketing & and Student Activities teams. He has full responsibility for all aspects of the bars, entertainment, health & safety and promotion related to the venue. He is also the Health & Safety Officer for the Union, leads on environmental and sustainability including Green Impact and advises and helps where needed. Alun also works closely with various University departments to ensure our partnership remains strong.

Leena Patel

Head of People and Resources

Leena oversees the HR and Finance teams. She has overall responsibility for the welfare of staff and for providing guidance to senior and professional staff on all HR related matters. She leads on the implementation of processes within the HR and Finance functions, to deliver the Union’s strategic plans. She ensures the Students' Union's HR and Finance teams abide by the professional and legal guidelines, including employment law. Leena is responsible for ensuring policies and procedures are regularly updated in line with legislative changes. On top of this, she manages the employee benefits offered by the Union.

Stephen Owen

Head of Student Services

As Head of Student Services, Steve oversees the management of Advice & Support and the day-to-day management of the Student Voice department. He leads the direction of the two departments to deliver on strategic objectives. Steve also supports the Elected Officers to ensure students are represented effectively both academically and non-academically.

Advice & Support

Our Advice & Support Centre provides free, confidential and impartial advice to support on a wide array of matters which can affect UH students. Our lovely advisers can offer guidance on academic appeals, budgeting, complaints and so much more. Whether you need specific support, or just want to talk, don't hesitate to come and speak to someone in the team.

advice@hertfordshire.su

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Faith Goligher

Advice & Support Manager

Faith manages our Advice & Support service. Faith supports the Academic & Welfare Advisers in delivering advice and support to students that require this service. She also works closely with partner organisations so that we can bring initiatives onto campus such as a Legal Clinic and Puppy Play Days.

Steph Keegan

Academic & Welfare Adviser

Steph is one of our Academic & Welfare Advisers. She can provide advice and support to any student that requires this service.

Hayley Jessener

Senior Academic & Welfare Adviser

Hayley is one of our Academic & Welfare Advisers. She is able to provide advice and support to any student that requires this service.

Student Activities

Our Student Activities team takes care of Raise and Give (RaG), societies, Trident Media and volunteering. In addition to supporting these student-led initiatives, the department runs a large volume of activities and events throughout the year for students to get involved with. Bigger events include those that fall within the Cultural Series, our Battle of the Campuses programme and the Students' Union Awards ceremony.

societies@hertfordshire.su

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Natasha Capal

Student Activities Manager

Natasha manages the Student Activities department. She is responsible for the support and development of student-led groups and an extensive events programme. Natasha's team has a huge role to play in the delivery of Freshers' Week and Refreshers' Week, working with the University to maximise the impact of these programmes. One of Natasha's priorities is ensuring there is diversity in the calendar of events. This is largely achieved through a comprehensive Cultural Series programme, a programme of events that celebrate popular cultural/religious holidays, designed to represent the vibrant and rich community of students at UH.

Mia Dickson

Events Coordinator

Mia works on the delivery of all non-commercial events run by the Students’ Union. This include Freshers and Refreshers, Battle of the Campuses, the Cultural Series, seasonal events and smaller ad hoc activities. It is the responsibility of Mia to ensure that the events the Union runs are relevant to students' interests and that they comply with health and safety regulations. She is also on hand to provide support to student-led groups when they run larger events, ensuring they are as successful as possible.

Emily Wildash

Student Activities Development Coordinator

The Student Activities Development Coordinator plays a huge role in facilitating the growth of our student groups, supporting them through training, development opportunities and frequent communications.

Jessi Gonzalez

Student Activities and Operations Coordinator

The Student Activities and Welcome Desk Supervisor provides administration and operational support to facilitate the development and maintenance of our student groups. They also oversee the day to day running of our Welcome Desks.

Student Voice

Our Student Voice team works hard to represent the academic interests of all students at UH. This is achieved through means like Student Council, Student Reps, School Community Organisers, Campaign Officers and in-depth research. The department also helps the Elected Officers to campaign effectively based on the feedback and research they collate.

reps@hertfordshire.su

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Lizzie Kiely

Student Voice Manager

As the Student Voice Manager, Lizzie oversees the Union's representation work, including a huge network of School Community Organisers and Student Reps, campaigns and research projects. Lizzie is also responsible for all things democracy and governance, such as the Students' Union Elections, AGMs and Student Council. The department also offers hands-on support to the Elected Officers, helping them to campaign effectively based on student feedback.

Olivia-Jane Bradley

Graduate Campaigns Coordinator

The Graduate Camapigns Coordinator plays a central role in developing and delivering engaging campaigns for the benefit of students here at Herts. Olivia is also on hand to support students that wish to lead their own campaigns, as well as providing support for our networks.

Warren Bingham-Roberts

Representation Coordinator

As Representation Coordinator, Warren supports the representative side and structure of the Students' Union, working closely with Student Reps and School Community Organisers to help them drive positive and meaningful change within their schools. Warren also oversees Student Council, the main representation forum of the Students' Union, as well as postgraduate representation and general Student Rep/SCO communication.

Danielle Bradford

Research Coordinator

As Research Coordinator, Dani helps the Union gain a deeper understanding of the students at UH in terms of their experiences and needs. This enables the Union to ensure we are effectively representing their priorities. Dani completes various research projects throughout the year, gathering feedback that can be actioned upon by the different teams, as well as analysing and keeping up to date with national research and sector trends.

Commercial

A world class entertainments venue, The Forum Hertfordshire is our on-campus nightclub. Every penny students spend here is reinvested into enhancing the student experience through Union initiatives.

mediasales@hertfordshire.su

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Jon Constantine

Operations Manager

Jon manages The Forum Hertfordshire. His role includes overseeing all aspects of bar operation and entertainment/event management. Events that fall within Jon's remit includes Freshers' Week, Summer Ball and all the weekly nighttime events that happen in between. Jon also takes the lead on the promotion of all commercial events.

Monica Yianni

Bars and Events Manager

The Bar and Events Manager's primary responsibility is to manage club nights at The Forum Hertfordshire, dealing with customer issues and ensuring nights run smoothly. Monica oversees a team of more than 60 casual staff members, including bar staff and the tech team. Ensuring the venue and staff members work to a high standard falls within her remit, so that The Forum can offer the best possible service to clients that use it. This includes student events and private hires, which range from University bookings to corporate events and birthday parties.

Finance

Our finance department oversees all of the Union's financial activity. They handle all internal and external payments, as well as making sure all staff - permanent and casual - are paid.

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Luci Ablett

Finance Manager

Luci's main role is to reconcile the takings which come from the Forum. She looks at any discrepancies, keeps track of the floats being used and carries out regular compliance checks. Other aspects of her role are bank and Barclaycard reconciliations, payment runs and monitoring stock and transfers between venues. Luci records and monitors income received at both Welcome Desks and the website. She also assists with budget preparation, VAT returns, monthly cash flows and management accounts.

Jill Trott

Senior Finance Assistant & Payroll

Jill's role includes processing the monthly payroll for permanent staff and weekly payroll for student staff. She also deals with holiday pay, Auto Enrolment, HMRC submissions and Gender Pay Gap reporting. Jill process supplier invoices and raise sales invoices for the Union and UHSU Enterprises Ltd, in addition to credit control. Jill also handles petty cash claims, credit card expenses and the preparation of month end accounts and year end accounts.

Stephanie Tomlinson

Senior Finance Assistant

Stephanie prepares the monthly management accounts, reconciles balance sheet controls, processes internal transfers, assists in annual budgets and subsequent forecasting for the remainder of the year, maintains the fixed asset register, prepares year end audit schedules and ad hoc analysis reports as required.

Human Resources

Our HR department takes care of all staff employed by the Students' Union. They make sure that the welfare of staff is a priority, in addition to guiding staff in how to comply with our policies and practices.

recruitment@hertfordshire.su

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Eve Peacock

HR & Training Administrator

Eve's job role involves both permanent and student recruitment from the initial advertising to appointing and issuing contracts. She also deals with all permanent employees and Elected Officer training after it has been authorised by line managers. Beyond this, Eve assists the Head of People and Resources with the Union’s wider HR function, including the management of facilities.

Marketing

The Marketing department works hard to ensure that all Union activity is promoted. They work closely with the Advice & Support, Student Activities, Student Voice and Venues teams to make sure that their projects are communicated effectively to students.

website@hertfordshire.su

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Samantha Gibson

Acting Marketing Manager

The Marketing Manager oversees the marketing and communications for Hertfordshire Students' Union. This includes everything from communications planning and reporting to coordinating graphic design and distribution of print materials. Samy also leads on developing and maintaining the overall SU branding and signage, design and functionality of the website, Marketing Strategy and UH staff communications.

Gemma Smith

Graphic Designer

The Graduate Graphic Designer is responsible for creating all artwork needed by the Students' Union. Gemma's role is especially varied as she produces graphics for a range of digital channels, creates artwork for each of our departments and works towards strengthening our branding across both campuses. She has been key in giving our branding a much needed refresh, creating templates for various platforms and producing bespoke artwork.

Chloe McKendrick

Marketing Executive

Chloe leads on delivering marketing and communications for the events and activities that the Students’ Union hosts, working closely with the Student Activities team to ensure their initiatives are promoted effectively to the student population. Key areas of promotion across the year include seasonal events, the Cultural Series, the Students' Union Awards and Student Choice Awards.

Natasha Crump

Marketing Executive

Tash produces the marketing and communications for Advice & Support, the Vice President Community & Vice President Education. Her remit includes the promotion of our Advice & Support Centre, Elected Officers, Campaign Officers, Student Reps, SCOs and any other initiatives being led by the Student Voice team.