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Union Council (29th April 2026)

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Name of Committee Union Council
Date and time 29th April 2026, 10:00
Place The Loft (above the SUSU Shop), Highfield Campus
Opening
1. Welcome and Introductions

Temporary chair was elected as Chair was not present and no deputy nominated. Virgil Friedman (english dept. president) volunteered and was approved by show of hands.

2. Minutes of Previous Meeting
3. Conflicts of Interest

None raised.

Sabbatical Officer Reports
4. VP Education Report

Presented as attached. The following questions were raised:

- Who are the examination and assessment briefs for, and what is their contents? Everyone, if needed. They will be part of proper Uni guidance, strongly encouraged, and shared with students for reps to push.
- Where are all of the examination and AERs videos going? Centrally the Uni has an exams SharePoint that will host the whole suite of exam focussed videos and will include them in Exam Comms.
- When is the examination error recording consultation planned to happen? All stakeholders have been contacted directly, and consultation was shared in the Sabbs Fortnightly email.
- Would the PGCE Education Course Rep elections be a separate election to normal election periods? Yes, following the same pattern as UoSM, UoSD, and Medicine elections.
- What has been your involvement with the university's AI policy? Have been offering wider context and pointing out inconsistencies between faculties. Different groups are writing their AI guidance to suit their areas. Academics are also quite varied in terms of how much they want AI to be involved in their teaching. 

It was noted that the University's Academic Registrar has retired so some work relating to their role is on pause until the role is filled.

5. Union President Report

Presented as attached, with additional points from work since report written:

- City council will continue subsidising evening fares
- Putting out a transport survey – this will go out in May to feed into changes to be made over the summer
- Have met with Uni’s contract manager – trying to find a good middle ground where buses work for students but also UniLink.
- Have put some video content from the SusuSabbs account highlighting changes that have been made in the Shop and the Stag’s – these have performed well and got good engagement, shown by increased number of You Make Changes received
- Bench has been added to Redbrick so students don't have to stand when waiting for the Safety Bus. Details on safety bus have been publicised so more people know how it works.

The following questions were raised:

- Do you have a timeline for gathering bus data and ensuring it reaches the relevant students? This will work through the university's transport survey. Unlilink have rider data but it isn’t good – frequency of buses can be increased but underused buses tend to have their frequency reduced (making them less useful, so usage goes down, etc)
- What is nightbus frequency? Will need to double check, more frequent at weekends. 
- How can Sports fixtures be suggested for showing in Stags? Students can DM SUSU Instagram accounts or e-mail subars@soton.ac.uk. Would be good to have a simpler method to get in touch.
- Is there anywhere we can find an overview of all the SUSU Social Media channels/IG accounts? We should link these together - will chat to Marketing!
- Is SUSU working on anything to improve busyness of venues on 'off' days? Planning to try out soup/meal/cake of the day to encourage students into the Bridge on specific days. Happy to hear more ideas! Things like Quiz & Chips seem to work well.
- What is being done to inform students of Renters Rights Act changes? Govt rules say rental agencies have to do this but yes working with housing groups to ensure students are informed.
- When is Building 75 (the North Easy Quadrant) planned to open? September 2027
- Could live info on Safety Bus be displayed on the SUSU website or MySouthampton? Don’t have live info as it doesn’t follow set routes – can’t share location as it drops people off at their houses and we don’t want to dox people!

6. VP Sports Report

Report was circulated but VP Sports not present to present. No questions raised.

7. VP Communities Report

Report was circulated but VP Communities not present to present. No questions raised.

Annual General Meeting
8. SUSU Accounts

Sonia Cottrell (SUSU CEO) presented relevant section of SUSU Trustees' report and explained its relevance to the AGM.

Attendees voted to approve (12 approve, 0 reject, 0 abstain).

9. SUSU Auditors

Sonia Cottrell (SUSU CEO) presented relevant section of SUSU Trustees' report and explained its relevance to the AGM.

Attendees voted to approve (12 approve, 0 reject, 0 abstain).

10. SUSU External Affiliations

Sonia Cottrell (SUSU CEO) presented relevant section of SUSU Trustees' report and explained its relevance to the AGM.

The following question was raised: Do any affiliation costs flex with student numbers? No but AdviceUK changes with number of advisors, BUCS with number of sports teams.

Attendees voted to approve (12 approve, 0 reject, 0 abstain).

Election Dates
11. 26-27 SUSU Election Dates

Proposed election dates were presented as attached. Attendees voted to approve (14 approve, 0 reject, 0 abstain).

Closing
12. Any Other Business

None raised.

Key: P (Papers Provided), PF (Papers to Follow)