The University of Southampton Students' Union, branded and commonly known as SUSU (a contraction of Southampton University Students' Union), is the students' union at the University of Southampton in southern England, United Kingdom. SUSU operates a number of facilities for students at the university, represents the students to the university and at the university council, as well as providing support services and social activities. The union is financed through its operations, a grant from the university, and additional benefits brought by its charitable status.
It is based on the main Highfield Campus, which is where most of its facilities currently exist, but the union also operates a presence at the Winchester School of Art and helps student societies and groups at the other campuses of the university. All students at the university become members of the union automatically unless they specifically request to opt out. Its operation is enshrined in law through the Education Act 1994, the university charter granted in 1952, and the Union's constitution.
Strategic direction is shared between the chief executive and the five elected Sabbatical officers who are elected each year from the student body.
History
Pre-university The origins of the students' union lie following the creation of the Hartley University College in 1902, which saw the Southampton-based Hartley Institute become a branch of the University of London and adopting the structure more akin to universities. This included the first students' union, simply known as The College Union, in 1903, although it only became self-governed by students in 1921 with the introduction of the basic structure of one male and female member from each faculty. During this time, the union oversaw the expansion of student societies and clubs, including the student newspaper, the Wessex News, in 1936.
In 1940, the West Building (numbered Building 40 as part of the later numbering plan), a three-storey brick building across the road from the rest of the university buildings, was constructed and dedicated for student social use with common rooms, offices, games room, and a large attached refectory (now referred to as Garden Court). Following the Second World War, the university began to expand, passing 1,000 students for the first time, from a starting point of 171 in 1902.
Late 20th century In 1952, the University College was granted a royal charter to become the University of Southampton, which led to an expansion in the number of students and of the university itself. Part of the charter stated that 'There shall be a Union of Students of the university which shall have such representatives on the Council and Senate of the university' and so with the creation of a new Southampton University, as it was colloquially known, there was a reformation of the union as Southampton University Students' Union, or more simply, SUSU. In celebration, the games room of West Building was renovated into a bar, which would be extended with a sun room to form what is the current 'The Stag's' pub. The student union during this period continued with a growing number of societies, regular dances and annual Union balls, and the annual Rag day, where students processed in fancy dress through the streets in the aim of raising money.
During the 1960s, the university was set to expand at an even greater rate, following the publication of the Robbins Report, with a large number of new buildings added to the campus, new halls of residence added to the surrounding area of Southampton and more students, aiming to teach 4,000 students by the end of the decade-long masterplan in 1967. The Union reacted to the changes to the university's make-up and courses through new innovations such as the first Arts Festival in March 1961 to respond to the opening of two new buildings to house the Arts Faculty and the offering of courses in the Arts for the first time. The annual events of the Rag day and the Union dinner were both heavily criticised in this time, for being unruly and elitist respectively, with the Rag day having to be cancelled in 1960 after the university threatened disciplinary action and was only resurrected in 1963 while the Union dinner remained. The era also saw the beginning of widespread protests and political action on campus on a wide range of topics from local issues to international solidarity events.
With the expansion of the Union's activities, efforts were made to expand the union's facilities. The 1955/56 academic year saw the adoption of a financial policy by the university to allow the Union to expand into the full West building and by 1960/61, they had fully occupied the building and taken over day-to-day operations. In 1967, a new Students' Union building (Building 42) was completed, which was to become the headquarters and main building for the union and remains to this day. Designed by Sir Basil Spence, it was a four-storey building of modern design on the edge of a valley formed by a landscaped quarry, allowing it a low profile at street level. The new building contained a 475-seat refectory (still used and branded the Piazza), ballroom, bar, shop, and a debating chamber that was also suitable for musical performances. Sports facilities were also extensively incorporated into the building and became the only on-site sports facilities until the Jubilee Sports Centre was built on campus in 2004. These included squash courts, judo room, billiards room, table tennis room, activities room suitable for fencing and dancing, and a sports hall suitable for basketball, badminton, cricket, and tennis practice. The facilities were well used and respected by students when they opened. To cater for students' more domestic needs, the new Union building also included a laundry and ironing room, hair washing room, bath and shower cubicles, and studios for pottery and painting, which has not sustained demand. Shortly after this, the West building, which was connected to the new building by tunnel, was refurbished to house a TV room, Radio club room, offices for Wessex News, a second hand book and record exchange, and club and society meeting rooms.
As the Union expanded, the governance of the Union was updated to introduce sabbatical officers. During the 1970s, the Students' Union began to become more involved with the community and more concerned with having a say in the running of the university and of the UK Government's policy towards the university. In the 1970/71 academic year, the union held a free concert in the summer term to involve the community and provide some community service, which was seen as a success. Towards the end of the 1970s, the university faced financial difficulties and students faced hardship due to a plan by the government to increase tuition fees; however, the Union were prevented from making political donations or campaigning due to its status as an education charity. In response, the Union formed the 'Union Club' in 1979 as an independent body which rented a room in the Union building for £1 a year within which it installed pinball tables, football machines, and a jukebox to raise funds. These funds were unrestricted and it was up to the members what the funds could be spent on; by November 1979, it had raised £900. The club existed right into the 21st century with the policy underpinning it only lapsing in 2014.
Through the 1980s and 1990s, the university's student population continued to expand dramatically (from 6,000 in 1980 to 14,000 in 1998) resulting in the university focusing on research and opening other campuses: Avenue Campus, National Oceanography Centre, and Winchester School of Art in 1996, and La Sainte Union College in 1997. With this, the union's operations had to expand to these other campuses to ensure students there were represented and received a suitable university experience, leading to the creation of officers for the different sites. Other key issues during this period included supporting staff in opposing cuts to the university structure in 1981, cuts to the union's funding (calculated by Union president Jon Sopel in 1981 as being 13.4% in two years), proposals from the university to take back part of the Union building for teaching space (which were later withdrawn), introduction of student loans in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, and the initial lack of accommodation following the expansion of the university but not of halls accommodation resolved from 1994 to 1998. There were also some minor updates to the Union building with the addition of a Sports bar and an external climbing wall. A bigger change came with the construction of a separate two-storey building in 1996, housing the Students' Union shop on the ground floor with the union travel centre and other businesses above as part of the central communal space outside (known as the 'Redbrick').
Early 21st century
With the coming of the new millennium, the Union once again experienced a period of expansion, with 300 clubs and societies being supported by 2019, and the Union's facilities becoming stretched to capacity with large union events, filling the union building's different bars and venues. This led to an extensive programme of works in the main union building costing £3.5 million, replacing the debating chamber with an extension containing a double-height multi-purpose space called 'The Cube' that could be used as a nightclub or as a 330-seat cinema with two bars outside, extra toilets made from a converted squash court, and a refurbishment to the reception and concourse with the ballroom being replaced by a new bar called 'The Bridge' with a view over campus. The building also saw a renovation of the servery for the refectory on Level 3, a new internet cafe off of the refurbished concourse, an overhaul to the building's fire detection and alarm systems, and a new glazed link added to reduce the reliance on the smaller 1960s stairways.
This comprehensive overhaul of the Union building led to a new image for the union and a new logo, based on a segmented circle that could read SUSU when read. The Union was still publicly known by the long name 'Southampton University Students Union' during this period, but with the university very publicly referring to itself as the University of Southampton since the 1990 introduction of their dolphin logo the Union began a period of change, and by 2011, their official name was changed to University of Southampton Students' Union to bring it into line with the university, although the Union was still referred to by the shortened SUSU.
While the union and its members ran fewer protests than in earlier years, there were still occasions for protest and campaigns, on the topics of student loans and fees, climate change, and university strikes. In May 2002, the Union chose to disaffiliate itself from the National Union of Students on the grounds that the organisation was becoming too bureaucratic. Despite referendums in 2010 and 2012 on whether to re-affiliate, this has not happened and the Union remains independent as of 2020.