Devina Whitwell is the Director of Employability and Skills. Her responsibility is to oversee and support the skills team in the delivery of Your Students’ Union services. The aim is to ensure that you as our students have the best opportunity to improve and identify your skills and to give you opportunities to engage in experiences to help you become more employable.

Jodie Liversidge is the Employability Skills Manager at Your Students’ Union. Jodie oversees the Volunteering program, Skills Workshops and Events along with Your Students’ Union Rewards and Recognition schemes. There are lots of opportunities for you our students to get involved across the year whether you want to develop your soft skills such as networking or gain some volunteering experience and get recognised through our Leadership Award or Digital Badges! All of which can help make you more employable when you graduate.

Debra Jackson is the Add+vantage Programme Manager.  Debra organises the Your Students’ Union modules, and even helps with some of the teaching. Add+Vantage modules are a great way to learn about something new, as well as gain new skills and experiences whilst at University.

Manbir Rai is the Training Coordinator within Your Skills department. He works closely with various departments within Your Students’ Union. In the role he develops and creates exciting digital training programmes that will be used to enhance the current skills held by staff, you our students, and the wider community.

Tracy Reay is the Volunteering and Community Coordinator at Your Students’ Union where she looks after everything concerning Volunteering. Tracy delivers some great volunteering opportunities you can all get involved with such as the Volunteering fair and Taster days. If you find yourself with little or lots of time to spare, Tracy has the activities just for you. Why not come along, say hello at one of her Drop-in sessions to find out more. You find updates relating to Volunteering by following us on Instagram @yoursu.activties. 

Kevin Kirugi is the Employability Project Co-ordinator at Your Students’ Union. Kevin coordinates current projects, including the Leadership Award, Badges, and skills events which he shares through our Instagram @Yoursu.skills. These opportunities are open to you our students and best of all they are free.

Ruth Randell is a BSL Employability Lecturer for year 1, 2 and 3 students. A Brilliant part time lecturer and with wealth of experience teaching basic British Sign Language. The aim of the BSL modules is to improve students' confidence and reduce their fears of meeting a deaf person, so there would be no need for them to run off when the encounter a deaf person! Ruth is now able to show students ways to self-reflect to see what employability skills they have developed from engaging with BSL.

Marian White is also a BSL Employability Lecturer teaching introduction British Sign Language modules. Marian has been delivering BSL at Your Students’ Union for five years, giving her a wealth of experience which she shares with her students. Students taking a BSL module can gain key signing skills and have a chance to develop themselves.

Rudolph Asumda is one of the Add+Vantage lecturers. He delivers various modules such as Effective Communication, and Volunteering in the Community. The Effective Communication Skills module provides students with vital communication skills for the world of work while the Volunteering in the Community module offers 20 hours of volunteering experience which prepares students for the challenges of the world of work. As a lecturer of these modules, Rudolph offers tutorials to students and provide the necessary student support to enable students successfully study and carry out assessments for these modules.

Connor Thongsab-Jalil is also an Employability Lecturer in the Your Skills department at Your Students’ Union. He focuses on teaching components of the Add+vantage modules such as Placement, and Teacher training courses for students in their first, second and third year. Connor organises opportunities for students to have some valuable classroom time in schools and ultimately bridge the gap between University graduates and the labour market.