Emma Brown, Union President
Hi, I’m Emma, your Union President. My role is to represent all students and ensure your voices are heard in the major decisions the University makes. Each week, I sit on the University Executive Board and meet with the Vice-Chancellor and senior leaders. This allows me to bring up the issues that matter to you at the highest level.
Transport & Buses
This week, I met with the university’s transport manager to discuss better UniLink transport links to NOCS and WSA. We also looked at how to keep bus fares affordable. If you have suggestions about bus services, I’d love to hear from you – email me at president@soton.ac.uk
Cheaper Stag’s Pints, Meal Deals, and New Bridge Menu!
I’ve also collaborated closely with our Social Enterprise team to support students during the cost of living crisis. This has included lowering Stag’s pints to £2.75 (Thatchers, Snakebite and Stag’s Lager), making J-Bombs just £1.50!
Our meal deal will move to a two-tier system: sandwiches, pastas, wraps. will drop to £3.75, even though supplier costs are rising. We’re adding our premium sandwiches into a £4.25 meal deal. We aim to help students wherever we can when costs everywhere are rising.
Additionally, the new Bridge menu will launch soon, featuring updated food, coffee deals, cocktails, and sweet treats – check it out from next week!
If you have feedback on any of our SUSU venues, please let us know through our feedback form!
Getting home safely
I’ve also written a blog about getting home safely, so you are aware of the options available after nights out. You can read it here.
Other things your Sabbs have been up to:
In August, we had the chance to attend the RGSU (Russell Group Students’ Unions) at Queen Mary Students’ Union in London. It was great to meet fellow sabbatical officers from across the Russell Group, share our ideas, and hear about the different ways unions are tackling big sector-wide issues – especially changes in government policy and funding for higher education. We also visited the University of Essex in Colchester to catch up with Sabbs from Southern Unions. Both visits were really inspiring, and I’ve come away with plenty of new ideas and fresh energy to bring back to Southampton!
When to talk to your Union President:
You can come to me anytime you want to express your thoughts on important student issues. This includes topics like transport and bus routes, the increased cost of living, improvements for social spaces and facilities, or how SUSU helps postgraduate students. I want to hear from you. My email is president@soton.ac.uk. I want to remind you of our You Make Change platform at any time to submit your suggestions. Each idea is assigned to a Sabbatical Officer, and we’ll explore whether we can make it happen.
I’m here to listen, celebrate your successes, and ensure students are represented in every discussion the University has about its future.
Enjoy Freshers’ Week, and get involved wherever you can.
Joshie Christian, VP Education
Hi all, I want to start with either a welcome, to students joining us this year, or a welcome back, to everyone returning for their next year of study!
I’m Joshie, your VP Education at the students’ union, and my priorities are your student voice, your representation, and helping you to make those changes that shape your academic journey. I work with your Course Reps, School and Department Presidents, and your Faculty Officers, who collectively represent your views at every level across the University.
Throughout my updates, I’ll be sharing things your Reps and I have been working on and sharing opportunities for you to join big projects across the University, and direct me to ensure I’m effectively representing your views and your voice.
Alumni Emails Update
So far this summer, my biggest item was lobbying the University around the proposed closure of the Alumni Email Service, you might have heard from me on this already in my updates to voters in our all-student vote.
The exciting news is that our lobbying has secured a year long extension to everyone’s Alumni Email Account, and an opportunity to opt-in for a second year, effectively ensuring the accounts are around until September 2027.
The next big step for me is to continue lobbying for the University to continue the opt-in process year-on-year, and the University are already exploring this possibility of doing this. You’ll hear more as soon as I can update you!
Across the University
Across the rest of the University, I’m working with the Advancing Assessment Project, planning some big consultation with our reps to suggest improvements to your exam experiences.
I’m supporting with the plans to implement your new Academic Calendar, which was approved at the end of last year, and shifts around the structure of the semesters to support your work-life balance and include a break between semesters.
I’ve been kept busy by a whole host of other university meetings, each of which I’ll tell you about in updates throughout the coming year.
September so Far
The absolute highlights of my first few months as your VP Education has been training a bunch of your fabulous new School and Department Presidents this week, and there’s about to be a chance for you to join them!
A bunch of our School and Department President Roles, one Faculty Officer role, and of course every single one of our Course Rep roles, will be live for nominations in our Autumn Elections from this coming Monday the 22nd!
So, whether it’s for your Course Reps, Presidents, Faculty Officer, or the student members of the Student Council, this election will have roles for every single student to vote for, to decide who will represent you and bring your voice to the University! I can’t wait to meet every single one of our new reps next month, and to invite you into our fabulous family of reps here at SUSU!
Finally, a very brief note from the Rubber Duck on my desk. He says: have a fab year, good luck in your studies, and he thinks you’re going to do AMAZINGLY in the election this year!
All the very best wishes from me,
Joshie Christian, VP Education
Ge 'Sparkle' Gao, VP Communities
Hello everyone,
I’m truly honoured to represent you this year. As promised, I have been actively moving forward with my work. Recently, I have been exploring new media channels to better reach international students and provide them with more support and information. At the moment, I am focusing on a proposal around expanding our presence on the Xiaohongshu platform, which allows us to broaden our reach and help students access more timely and useful resources.
Over the past two months, we have also met with Sabbs from different universities to learn more about how they operate. This experience has given us valuable insights and will enable us to provide more effective services to our student community in the future.
In addition, I have been strengthening collaboration with student societies and preparing awareness campaigns on fraud prevention. We are supporting students in their transition to independent living, striving to ensure inclusivity across both Southampton and Winchester campuses, and exploring fair, diverse, and inclusive training opportunities for student clubs and societies.
Looking ahead, I plan to meet with more community presidents, conduct one-on-one interviews, and share these stories on our social platforms so we can reach and inspire more students. I also look forward to meeting many of you in person in the coming month.
I am very pleased to share these updates with you. At the same time, I have been working closely with the University to advocate for more rights and opportunities for our Chinese international students.
Thank you all for your support.
Travis Arthur, VP Sports
I’m Travis, your new VP Sports for this year, and I’m so excited for the year to start! It’s been amazing meeting with so many of our clubs, within and outside of Committee 1-2-1 sessions, through the summer.
I’m thrilled to announce that, after lots of research and consultations, the drink prices within SUSU (Stag’s and the Bridge) have been decreased substantially. You can now get a pint for just £2.75 all day every day!
Also, after working with Southampton Sport, a new Gym Buddy Scheme has been created. This will help students feel more comfortable within the gym, make friends, and possibly even enhance their gym experience.
Lastly, the sports team and I have been busy reviewing grant applications from round 1, and you’ll be hearing back soon.
I’ve also been looking into the Team Southampton awards, making them better than ever and ensuring the prices are kept as low as possible to ensure as many of you can attend.
I am also making strides with our new Sports Executive Committee. Over summer, I’ve been busy interviewing passionate applicants, who will be able to give direct input for the clubs they will come to represent on all decisions that directly affect our sports community. Now all of the representatives have been chosen, in conjunction with the Sports Forums, we will work on making sports at Southampton University better!
I look forward to seeing all of you at the Fresher Fairs and over the coming months. But in the meantime, if you have anything you’d like to discuss, please feel free to reach out to me at any time.
Toby Page, VP Inclusion
To all students arriving in Southampton, welcome! Whether it’s your first year, or you’re a returning student, I hope you’re looking forward to a fantastic year.
I’m Toby, SUSU’s very first VP Inclusion. I’ve been working for the past three months making sure the University is inclusive and accessible to everyone. If you have any inclusivity issues with your lectures, societies, campus — or any aspect of uni life — don’t hesitate to contact me.
So, what have I been up to?
Gender Expression Fund
This year, I want to continue and expand the brilliant gender expression fund that started last year.
I’ve been working on:
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Securing more funding for this year’s Gender Expression Fund
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Preparing to open it on the 24th of September
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Restructuring to make grant allocation fairer
Something Happened? What Now?
This is my page containing all the resources people can use after an incident has happened.
It contains sections for incidents like labour exploitation, discrimination and assault.
The page is now live! If you or anyone you know has gone through something difficult, many resources can be found here, or through Something Happened? What Now? in SUSU Safe under Help & Support.
Student Discipline Guide
In a similar vein, I’ve been rewriting the guide to Student Discipline that can be found in the Advice Centre section of the SUSU site.
I’m in the final stages of this project. I have added a lot of content to the guide, as well as rewriting it to be more accessible.
Society Training
The mandatory training for Society Committees is changing. I’m working to make sure it’s as comprehensive and accessible as possible.
But these projects aren’t all I’ve been doing. Among other things, I’m working on:
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Changing how mental health is handled in university support
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Adding accessibility features and information to room booking systems
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Talking with the Highfield Residents’ Association to improve accessibility of the route between Highfield and Avenue campuses
Over the next fortnight, I’m looking forward to managing the first Gender Expression Fund Requests, publishing the Student Discipline Guide and seeing so many of you at Freshers’ Week!
I’m thrilled to be representing your interests for this academic year. Have a lovely fortnight!
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!