Lawrence Coomber, Union President
On Wednesday 30 April, I attended the away day for the Board of Governors of the University, known as Council. We discussed three major topics: the University’s plan for the future, how AI is changing Higher Education, and how the University is involved in local government reforms and devolution. I was able to bring the students’ perspective into all of these discussions, most notably how students’ are worried about clarity around use of AI in assessments and also how the University can leverage its links to secondary schools to engage new 16 – 18 year old voters when the voting age lowers during this Parliament, as reiterated by the government.
Many of you (people who live in the Portswood Area) will have received an email asking for student feedback on the Bus Gate Trial ongoing at the moment on Portswood High Street. It is vital that you let us know how the change has impacted your lives, and the CEO of SUSU and I will be able to make the student voice better heard on the Steering Group we sit on with Southampton City Council that oversees feedback on the trial. If you haven’t received it or lost the email, here is the link to the Bus Gate Feedback Form.
Grad Ball planning continues in the Project Group I sit on, and tickets are now on FINAL RELEASE! Make sure you get your tickets, available on Box Office.
The Sabbs have also taken over the SUSU TikTok account! Videos by students, for students, of the students are now the standard and expect to see exciting content come out in the future as we show the best of what SUSU is doing (and some fun along the way!).
See you next fortnight!
Rebecca Would, VP Education and Democracy
Welcome back! I know it’s been a busy couple of weeks for most of you with assignments and dissertation deadlines, but I hope you were able to take some time for yourself over the break.
Last week, I ran my Did You Know? Campaign across several of our campuses to support you in understanding some of the uni’s more complicated policies and processes. You can see some simplified information on special cons, extensions and more on the @susu_studentvoice Instagram and on the SUSU website. You can also reach out to the Students’ Union Advice Centre at any time.
This week we have had our summer rep social – thanks to everyone who came along, it was a lovely evening and great to catch up. I have also been in meetings around student voice, skills and PATs. Most excitingly, last night we had our Academic Awards!! Congrats to all the winners and every rep and staff member that was nominated. It was such a lovely evening, and I always love any opportunity to celebrate the wonderful work our reps do!!
Good luck with the final week of deadlines and the start of exams! Remember to look after yourselves. 
Emily Dugdale, VP Activities
I hope everyone had a restful break, and prep for exams is going well. It’s been a while! Over the last few weeks, myself and Conor have been working on some campaigns that our successors will get to launch for Freshers, a society recognition scheme and some awareness surrounding the dangers of initiations. I’ve also been busy with grant round 3 and preparing to look at the new affiliation applications soon. I’m also looking into the archives to see if we can get some history of SUSU to share, which has been really exciting. My other main task at the moment is looking at how money is used by groups to see how we can best prioritise funding going forward.
Lottie James, VP Welfare & Community
Hi everyone! Welcome back from Easter. I hope you’re all doing well and looking after yourselves. Here’s what I’ve been up to over the past fortnight:
- Recorded a BBQ safety video with Conor and our Marketing team.
- Prepared for our very last Senate!
- Progressing with the Halls to Homes guide (it’s almost ready!).
- Started working on a transitions guide into university (and the city) for new students.
- Met with our Insights team to talk about how we can better represent our underrepresented communities at SUSU.
- Shortlisted for the Student Experience Awards – congrats to everyone who has been nominated!
I hope you are all doing well, and I’ll see you next time!
Conor White, VP Sports
Hi all, I hope you are all well! Since the Easter break, the summer sports season has got underway, whilst we have started to round off the Intramural leagues and the final games of the winter BUCS season.
The last few weeks has been all hands on deck across many teams at SUSU, as we approached our awards week. Tonight, we have the Team Southampton Sport Awards taking place, where we recognise all of our students, committee members and clubs’ hard work that has been put in across the year to make Team Southampton a thriving sports community at our university. I can’t wait to reveal who all of our winners will be and celebrate all of your achievements this year! If you would like to keep up to date with who has won, make sure to head across to our Team Southampton Instagram page tonight.
Next week, I will be working alongside the university to develop their strategy for sports, which sets out clear goals for the next 5 years. Thank you to everyone who has already provided feedback on these plans – it has been very insightful to hear everybody’s views on what sport at Southampton should look like. If you would like to be involved in these conversations, make sure to reach out!
Good luck with your final week before exams kick off. Make sure to take time for yourself and relax over this busy period.
You Make Change Updates
You Make Change update: Thank you as always for your ideas and queries. We look forward to receiving more submissions in the next two weeks!