Earlier this year, the Innovations Fund (worth £25,000) made a much needed comeback. Having been reintroduced by SUSU in early March, the fund has thus far been spent on extension of the Safety Bus active hours (which was useful during exam period when we had a 24-hour library), the Enactus Project and expansion of Focus Sports. The fund was brought back to provide extra support to new projects and student campaigns that could benefit students. Ex-Union President David Gilani commented “we can achieve so much more as a community of students if dozens and hundreds of students are facilitated to … Read the rest

Thanks to iSolutions, students graduating after Summer 2013 can benefit from the creation of new email accounts that they can freely use for the rest of their lives. Normally, students’ University email accounts would be rendered inaccessible three months after graduation and they would have been able to use the Email For Life Forwarding Service, which provides the user with a forwarding address (rather than an email account) which directed all emails sent to their old University accounts to any account they nominate. Now, however, alumni can benefit from a new permanent University account, enabling them to stay in touch … Read the rest

The Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education, or DHLE, is a survey carried out yearly by universities to find out what their alumni have gone on to do after graduating.

The survey looks at both employment circumstances and details of further study of university leavers. All of the information students provide to the University as part of the survey will be used anonymously. This information is then made available on the internet for future applicants and current students as it may be useful to see where their degrees have taken students in the past, and the types of opportunities available … Read the rest

If you find yourself on campus throughout the summer months with nothing to do, never fear, for SUSU is staying open to students and continuing to run exciting weekly activities for your entertainment. Keeping in mind the postgraduates in particular who are required to stay on to finish their projects until the end of the summer, the Union is hosting a range of events to suit all your campus needs and interests. In July, the schedule includes a Wimbledon Final Garden Party on Sunday 6 July in the Stag’s Head from 12pm. For £5 you will be able to watch … Read the rest

Following the proposal made by Union President David Gilani for the creation of a SUSU Recruitment Agency or “Job Shop”, SUSU is now researching how to open the Job Shop so that it can effectively help students to find part-time work whilst studying.

As university fees have tripled since 2012 and maintenance loans barely cover the cost of accommodation, the looming issue is that finances may be acting as a barrier to many students’ education. David writes “all year, SUSU has been working to reduce these financial barriers to education, and our next project is to help students who want … Read the rest

You may have already seen the new “Giving You Great Value” board up in the Concourse of the Students’ Union. It features a pie-chart illustrating how your money that you spend in the Union actually makes its way back to you, the students! Unsure how this happens? It all starts with students using SUSU’s facilities, which this year has increased by roughly £150,000 from previous years. The increased activity that we’ve seen this year allowed SUSU to increase funding to student groups by over £22,600 in January, a figure which is set to increase in next year’s budget. The differences … Read the rest

The Undergraduate Awards are imminent once more, and everyone’s welcome to get involved. The Undergraduate Awards is the world’s only pan-discipline academic awards programme that recognises and celebrates undergraduate level students through their university coursework. The Awards programme is open to all penultimate and final year university students as well as 2013 graduates from all disciplines. To find about more about how to submit a piece of work and to check your eligibility, click here. In terms of your coursework entries, you are welcome to submit any piece of undergraduate coursework which received a 2.1 or higher. For further … Read the rest

As per Union President David Gilani’s determination to not let finances behave as a barrier to education, SUSU is pleased to announce that bursaries available for students has increased to £3million.

Earlier this year, SUSU launched a brief campaign to highlight the importance of bursaries over fee-waivers, which reached over 3000 students over Facebook, the SUSU website, the student blog site and the University website.

This campaign helped ensure that £2.2million in bursaries was to be given out in the last year.

Union President David Gilani writes: “the University has now agreed to change the default option to bursaries, meaning … Read the rest

Back by popular demand: from May 19 – May 23, SUSU will be holding its infamous Stress Less Fest on campus.

With exam period commencing that very week, this is a timely opportunity time to battle stress-levels university-
wide. Many students will be pleased to hear about the return of the Petting Zoo and Bungee Runs on the

Redbrick. The fun-filled week will kick off with the distribution of free bananas and some helpful wellbeing

advice between 11 and 2 on May 19.

This will then be followed by the Petting Zoo on the Redbrick (at long last!), between 11 … Read the rest

We’ve had Mental Health Awareness Day, we’ve had a Mental Wellbeing Conference: now SUSU is planning

another fun-filled Wellbeing Week from 12 – 16 May (just in time for the Summer Exams!). Students will be

encouraged to focus on maintaining their physical wellbeing as the ever-stressful exam period draws closer. The

aim of the event is to promote healthy living by obtaining tips on how to stay fit and eat well, giving out

information on mental and sexual health and even some tips on how to stay on top of your finances. With the

distribution of free condoms, a chance … Read the rest