Newcastle University Union Society
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| Motto | Mens Agitat Molem - Mind moves matter |
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| Established | c.1970 (merger of the JUS and the SRC) |
| Institution | Newcastle University |
| President | Adam McIntee |
| Location | King's Walk, Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
| Members | c. 17,800 |
| Affiliated to | National Union of Students, Aldwych Group, British Universities Sports Association |
| Homepage | http://www.unionsociety.co.uk |
The Newcastle University Union Society is the students' union of Newcastle University, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It aims to represent students' interests at the university as well as providing much-needed services on a daily basis.
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[edit] History
The Union Society as it is today was born out of the merger of several earlier student organisations.
The earliest of these were the Junior Union Society founded in 1880 which arranged debates and dances, and the Union Society. The Union Society as it was, dealt almost solely with student societies and entertainment. Governed by a Union Management Committee comprised of President (in the Chair), the Lady President, two Vice Presidents (one male, one female) and the Secretary, members of staff from King’s College, including the Bursar, and the Society Steward, this structure remained in varying forms until well into the 1950s.
The Students’ Representative Council (SRC) of the then Armstrong College, was formed in 1900 to represent all students in matters of policy and to the Board of Professors, remained a separate entity until 1981-82 when it merged with the Union Society.
With the construction of the current Union building in 1925, the care of the building was vested in a separate Board of Trustees, appointed by the University Council. The Trustees are responsible for maintaining the fabric of the original building but also play a role as scrutinisers of constitutional changes and as channels of appeal in certain matters.
The Union Society, in its current form as provider of on-campus entertainments, student services, welfare & debates, has been established since 1970.
[edit] Building
Unlike the majority of other students' unions in the UK, the Union Society owns the building in which it is housed. The Union building - the centre for students' administrative, social and leisure activities - was built in 1924 following a generous gift from Sir Cecil Cochrane, a major benefactor to the University.[1] It is built in the neo-Jacobean style and was designed by the local architect Robert Burns Dick, whose firm designed the Laing Art Gallery, the towers of the Tyne Bridge and Spanish City in Whitley Bay. It was opened on the 22nd October 1925 by the Rt. Hon. Lord Eustace Percy, who later served as Rector of King's College from 1937 to 1952. It is a Grade II listed building.
The building has 5 floors, toilet facilities are located on each floor, except the Ground Floor:
[edit] 2nd Floor
Global Café: A small venue, holding approximately 300 people, it provides an interactive arena for both bands and their audience. Currently undergoing some refurbishment, the decor is akin to that of an outdoor roof terrace, with a central semi-circular bar, uplighting and voiles across the ceiling.
Management Offices: Housed in the extension corridor, built in 1964, all departmental managers, the General Manager and three of the Sabbatical Officers (the President, the AU Officer and VP Activities) are based here. The General Office can be found on this corridor too.
The Lounge: Currently being re-roofed, the Lounge is a location normally used by Medsoc, Newcastle University's medic society, for their term-time Friday night functions prior to Solution.
Entertainments Office & NSR studio: The melting-pot for all the Union's events is normally found on this floor, opposite the extension corridor, along with NSR in the next room. The re-roofing project, however, has forced a move to the floor below to the old Committee Room B, with NSR in the old bookshop on the Lower Ground floor.
[edit] 1st Floor
MLK Café: The one-stop food outlet for vegetarian & health-food meals to eat in or take out. It is normally open on weekdays at lunchtimes and is quite popular with students wanting a Fairtrade Latté or a smoked salmon bagel, replete with cream cheese.
Job Shop: Open to Newcastle University students, the Job Shop provides students with temporary or permanent positions to aid funding their studies (and nights out) whilst studying for their degrees in Newcastle. It is found at the far end of the extension corridor.
Student Advice Centre: Often referred to as 'the SAC', this invaluable port of call provides students with independent advice on any matter that may be affecting them, such as housing issues, problems with their programme of study, applying or renewing student visas and most legal issues.
Committee Rooms: Again in the extension corridor, these are primarily hired out as meeting venues for the numerous student societies, as well as serving as the temporary home for the Entertainments Office.
Print Shop: All manner of printing and copying is done here, from the creation of Summer Ball tickets to the binding of theses. Rates are competitive and provide an alternative to the resources available at the University itself.
Endsleigh Insurance Office: The in-house branch of Endsleigh Insurance, providing contents, car and holiday insurance to the students of Newcastle University.
Sabbatical Offices: Both the VPs for Student Support and Democracy & Training are located on this level, on the main corridor.
SCAN Office: This is the main office for the volunteer organisation, SCAN, Student Community Action Newcastle. The main endeavours of this organisation are to support the local community through volunteer projects, as well as providing the Nightline service for students out of normal office hours. It also runs the Union Safety Bus, a service that will get students home later in the evening in safety, for a nominal charge.
Formerly a hair salon was provided on this floor, which ceased trading in summer 2005.
[edit] Ground Floor
Main Entrance & Reception
Mens Bar: Named after the Latin word for mind, derived from the old Armstrong College motto mens agitat molem, this is the main bar of the Union Society. The Mens Bar is open daily during term-time, serving both non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages and limited light snacks. The atmosphere in this bar is generally lively and the people friendly. Major sports events are shown on the three plasma screens and the big projector screen located near the bar entrance. Games machines are also provided in here. It plays host to the Union Quiz on Tuesday evenings and is the focal point for most nights out and pub crawls.
Cochrane Lounge: Designated as the olde worlde bar-food counter of the building, a selection of hot and cold snacks are served here. A decor of flock wallpaper and leatherette seats, with a bar provided every weekday evening, gives students an area to relax away from the Mens Bar.
Airport Lounge: A seating area and pool tables can be found here, working as an overflow for both the Mens Bar and Cochrane Lounge and the venue for many lunchtime hustlers.
Courier Office: Home to the Union Society's newspaper 'The Courier', which has been published since 1948. Budding journalists are honed to perfection in here writing for the weekly edition of 'The Courier'. 'The Courier' will be marking its 60th complete year of publication in 2008 and is the only independent voice for Newcastle University's students. Whether it was the rise in tuition fees of 2006, the AUT strikes or the annual debate on multiple occupancy conversions of homes in Newcastle's suburbs to provide living space for students, The Courier was always at the forefront of the action with its commentaries and opinions, written by students for students.
[edit] Lower Ground Floor
Box Office: The Box Office is the place to buy tickets for all events in the Union building, from the gigs to club nights. The Box Office also serves as the cloakroom for most evenings.
Union Shop: Sandwiches, sweets, magazines, newspapers, stationery and household goods are just some of the offerings found in the Union Shop. A sub-branch of the Post Office can be found here too, providing a quick & easy alternative to the branches in the city centre for students in a rush.
NSR Studio: Formerly a bookshop was provided on this level, where students and graduates could bring their unwanted textbooks to be sold to other students. The shop ceased to exist in September 2006 and the space is now the current home to the studios of NSR (Newcastle Student Radio.)
[edit] Bassment
Formerly Level 1, the Bassment underwent an extension into the University's old Refectory in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Currently, it provides four rooms, food outlets and the largest venue in the Union building.
Bassment: A venue with a capacity of around 1200 people, this is a good medium sized venue for bands to get the crowd jumping in. It hosts the Union's longest bar and provides a good level of seating on a raised platform to the left of the stage. It is also the main room for all club nights, including the student-only Solution, where the vast majority of people can be seen at 2am as the lights go up.
Beatz: A smaller side-room with a capacity of around 450, this venue provides a good stage for comedy nights & acoustic sets and is highly popular during Solution and Brighton Beach nights. A small bar serving bottled drinks is located towards the far end of the venue.
Green Room: Used mainly as an overflow and quiet room, this room was formerly the Real Ale and the Irish Bar in the Union. A full bar, open on major nights, is located to the left of the entrance.
Blue Room: Formerly the Agrics Bar, this room is now used as the temporary location for Medsoc. The bar is limited and serves medics & invited guests only.
Chilled Out & Hot Stuff: The two food outlets on the Bassment level, Chilled Out provides create your own sandwiches, while Hot Stuff provides limited hot meals.
[edit] Structure
The Union Society is run by five sabbatical officers and approximately eleven part time unpaid officers.
The officers report to the Union Council which is the 'parliament' of the Union Society and is made up of: The Officers, Society and Club Representatives, Sub Council Representatives and University School Representatives.
Most of the officers sit on the Executive Committee which usually meets once a week. The Executive Committee is the body that gives the go-ahead to changes and new ideas that will affect the Union Society as a whole.
The Union Society also employs around 300 people in various ancilliary roles, such as portering, Bar staff & the Entertainments Crew. These departments all respond to their various line managers, who in turn, are answerable to the General Manager.
The General Manager works closely with the President to ensure the Union Society's standards and procedures are preserved.
[edit] The current Sabbatical Officers
excluding the President:
Sophie Nicolaysen - VP Student Support
Alice Wainwright - VP Democracy & Training
Anthony Keane - Athletic Union President
Julia Moore - VP Activities
[edit] Events
Solution is the Union's regular student night, open only to NUS members and their guests. This takes place on a Friday night in the building, starting at 8pm with a finish of 2am. It has previously been named Positive or, circa 2001, due to the warm nature of the Bassment, the originally-derogatory term of "Sweatpit".
Newcastle University Freshers' Week, previously known as the First Year Conference (or FYC), is unique, as it is organised by four elected part-time sabbatical officers of the Union Society. The event has gained a national reputation for being one of the largest and best Freshers' Week welcome events in the country. In 2002, The Guardian published an article on university life at Newcastle University and included the following quotation: "Newcastle University deserves every inch of its reputation for having a first class freshers' week, and other universities should follow suit."
Other regular Saturday nights at the Union include: Brighton Beach & Freaky Dancing, with the once a term Arcane, where the whole building opens up for a night of dance, glowsticks and general madness until 5am.
A good line-up of nationally acclaimed acts have passed through the Union Society on their way to the top, these include Maximo Park, Snow Patrol, Kosheen, Goldie Lookin' Chain and Damien Rice. As with all student unions, it's a great place to catch the bands of the future.
[edit] Recent Election Results
Elections for the 2007/8 Sabbatical & Part-time Officer positions took place on 15 March 2007 with the following candidates taking up the said positions from 1 August 2007 until 31 July 2008:
[edit] Sabbatical Officers
President: Jamie McDonnell
Activities Officer: Scott Adam
AU President: Lydia Oxenham
Editor of the Courier: Gemma Davies
Student Support Officer: Rosie Duffield
[edit] Part-Time Officers
Campaigns Officer: Rachel Hosey
Chair of Union Council: Michael Duffell
Conveor of Debates: Oskar Avery
Convenor of Disciplinary: Laurence Seviour
Ethics and Environment: Jen Miller and Katie Whitehouse
Executive Officer Without Portfolio: Becky Allen
Gender Equality: Anushka Mehrotra
LGBT Officers: Barry Griffiths and Neil Iley
Racial Equaility Officer: Michael Oliver
RAG Officers: Claudia Campbell and Sandra McAlister
[edit] Notes
- ^ Bettenson, E: "The University of Newcastle upon Tyne : a historical introduction, 1834-1971". University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1971. ISBN 0900565322
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