We recently met up with the following members of the Volleyball Club (SUVC) to find out more about what they get up to: Matt, club President, (joined Men’s 1^st Team, joined 2 years ago), Phoebe, Higher Education Volleyball Officer, (joined Women’s 1^st Team, joined 2 years ago), Christina (Women’s 1^st Team, joined in her second semester 2 years ago), Coco (Women’s 1^st Team, joined since the start of this academic year), Owen (Men’s 1^st Team, joined at the start of the academic year) and Brendan (joined 2^nd Team last year, advanced to Men’s 1… Read the rest

Who’s looking forward to the return of our annual Academic Awards this May? We certainly are!

We all know that one person who has gone above and beyond academically. Maybe it’s a lecturer who gave an inspiring talk which led to your interest in a particular area of study? Perhaps your course has improved this year as a result of the fantastic work by one of your Academic Reps?

Whoever it is, make sure you nominate them for an Academic Award so we can celebrate their achievements at the Academic Awards Ceremony this May. It’s quick and easy to … Read the rest

UPDATE 22/02/18: A second blog detailing the ‘teach-outs’ organised with UCU can be found here

On Thursday 08 February 2018, our Education Zone met for an extraordinary meeting of the Zone to discuss the recent announcement of industrial action by the University and Colleges Union (UCU).

The Education Zone is one of our groups of elected student representatives who makes decision on specific academic issues on behalf of the student body. This is where previous instances of industrial actions have been discussed. The meeting was also attended by a number of students, and we’d like to extend our thanks to … Read the rest

In the recent National Student Survey 2017 results, the University of Southampton Students’ Union received a satisfaction rate of 48% for academic representation. We are disappointed with this result but we are confident that we can, and will, do better for our students.

We already have several projects planned to strengthen academic representation this year: we are pushing to make online submissions available to all students, lobbying for functioning online module choice and we will work with the University to improve teaching and feedback quality.

Whilst the NSS Students’ Union question focused on academic representation and interests, we believe many … Read the rest

Who do you think has gone that extra mile academically?

Perhaps you know a lecturer, Personal Tutor, or Academic Rep that has inspired you or really gone out of their way to support you in your studies. If you think they deserve recognition, why not nominate them for an Academic Award.

We’re hosting our annual invitation-only ceremony on Thursday 11 May at The Cube, where we will be wearing our best finery to celebrate the academic achievements of University staff and our Academic Reps.

You can nominate a deserving person before midnight on Wednesday 15 March to receive an award … Read the rest

You have until 13:00 on Friday 21 October to nominate yourself in our Autumn Elections!

Nominate at www.unionsouthampton.org/nominations

Do you want the opportunity to enhance your CV, do something you feel passionately about and improve your student experience all at the same time? Run for one of these positions:

Nominations for our Summer Elections are now open – you have until Wednesday 4^th May to nominate yourself for one of hundreds of positions that will equip you with new skills and impact on the experience of your fellow students.

If you’ve never considered becoming part of the Students’ Union team, here is just a snapshot of what our Course Reps have achieved for students.

Law

• Secured extended opening times for the Law building during exam periods.

Chemistry

• Secured print credit from the Faculty for all students on this course.

 Electronics & Computer Science

• Worked with University staff to

Union Awards Season is upon us! We want to celebrate the people who have had a real impact on you here at university, whether that’s through excellent teaching or academic representation, fantastic sporting achievements or great volunteering successes. Whatever you want to celebrate, our awards have got it covered.

As you may remember from our previous awards blog, we’ve merged our Course Rep Awards (CRAs) and Excellence in Teaching Awards (ETAs) to form the all new Academic Awards – one unified celebration of the academic achievements across both staff and students.

Nominations for this award are now open, so what … Read the rest

This week we caught up with Linda Baines, a postgraduate mature student studying a PhD at the Business School. We asked her about life as a mature student who studies from afar. Grab a cuppa and read Linda’s story here…

I’m a part-time self-funded PhD student at Southampton Business School and I live some 70 miles away from campus.  I started my PhD in September 2011 when I was still working full-time.  I caught the “research itch” when I was undertaking my MSc and I realised that if I wanted to achieve a life-time ambition, it was now or never.  … Read the rest

Results are now in for the WSA Academic Reps Elections, with a record number of nominations having been received. More than double the amount of students put themselves forward for positions compared to last year’s elections, which is great news!

With no voting required, we would like to congratulate the following students who will be your Academic Reps for this year!

BA Fine Art, Year 2 – Georgia Zelly

BA Fine Art, Year 3 – Jessica Cox 

BA Graphic Design, Year 3

Samantha Burstow 

Ciaran Ramsay

BA Illustration, Year 2 – Elinor Grey

BA Illustration, Year 3 – Luke … Read the rest