| Institution | Staffordshire University |
|---|---|
| Location | Sisulu Building, College Road, Stoke-on-Trent, England, ST4 2DE |
| Established | 1992 |
| President | Jamie Robertson |
| Sabbatical officers | Vic Casambros (Communications Officer), Kim Hargreaves (Education & Welfare Officer), Gary Richardson (Student Activities Officers), Emma Harris (Commercial Services Officer) |
| Trustees | Sabbatical Officers; Katy Mitchell, Liat Norris, Malik Moiz Uddin, Rizwan Muhammad. |
| Members | c. 17,800 |
| Affiliations | National Union of Students, British Universities and Colleges Sport, UAF, Stop the War Coalition |
| Website | http://www.staffsunion.com |
Staffordshire University Students' Union aims to represent and to advance the education of students at Staffordshire University.
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The Union is run by a Board of Trustees, which is constitutionally responsible for its management and administration; with the student body - via Referenda, General Meetings and Council - holding the power to set Union policy. The Board of Trustees has, at its absolute discretion, the ability to overturn policy set by the student body should they consider it to have financial implications, be in breach of legal requirements or charitable objects or if it affects the discharge of the Board of Trustees' powers.
The student body annually elect twelve councillors to sit on council who are responsible for the general policy setting of the union. They are also joined on council by thirty Student Academic Reps (StARs), who are elected by fellow StARs at their conference; alongside the chairs of four liberation forums - BME (Black and Minority Ethnic), LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans), Women and Students with Disabilities. The day to day operation of the union is handled by the Executive Committee, who are held to account by Council and General Meetings; alongside the General Manager, who is held to account by the Board of Trustees. All positions, bar the five sabbatical officers, work on a part time voluntary basis.
The students union has been awarded a number of awards for the activities it takes part in, especially with environmental issues. This has resulted in moving from a Bronze NUS Green Impact Award in 2008/09, to a Gold in 2010/11.
One Media Group (OMG) is the name for the student run media at Staffordshire University Students Union. OMG replaced what was previously known as GK Radio. Its main activities are a student radio station, that broadcasts on the internet, online TV and online news and entertainment. [1]
For entertainment the Union provides two main venues at each campus; Legends and The Lounge at Stafford, and Leek Road Venue (LRV) and Verve at Stoke. The Lounge and Verve also work as separate, smaller venues for use at other times - alongside the Ember Lounge and the Squeeze Box, both located on the Stoke campus. The union provides a wide range of regular evening events at both campuses: Legends and The Lounge hosts 'Mukky Duck' on Friday nights; and the LRV and Verve hosts 'Gobble' on Wednesday nights and 'Super Friday' on Friday nights. Both campuses also host regular karaoke, open mic and quiz nights at their smaller venues.[2] Throughout the year the union also plays host to live music nights which in the past have included Wheatus, Alan Fletcher, The Hoosiers, Jedward and The Wanted. The Union also hosts The Summer Ball towards the end of the academic year at the Stoke campus.[3]
Wednesday afternoons are put aside for the Union's activities groups to carry out their weekly events and fixtures. These include the Netball, Rugby union and Football sides, as well as each campus's 5-a-side leagues. In the 2009-10 the men's Volleyball team rose to prominence after forging links with local club Newcastle (Staffs) Volleyball Club reaching the Volleyball England Student Cup Finals, securing promotion in the BUCS Championships, beating neighbours Keele in the varsity fixture and losing out to Loughborough University in the BUCS Cup.
The 2007/08 Sports season saw the Rugby Union 2nd's based at the Stafford campus be promoted to Staffordshire University 1st's after both winning their league and finishing in the BUSA National VASE top 16. In recognition, they received "Sports Society of the Year 2007/08" by the Student Union
Staffordshire University also holds a Varsity competition with the nearby Keele University. This was hosted by Staffordshire in 2009, in which they won, hosted by Keele in 2010, in which Keele won and hosted by Staffordshire in 2011, in which Keele won.
The Union also help organise a variety of clubs and societies for students to get involved in - which range from sporting activities mentioned above to non-sporting groups such as a Drama society, Dance club and Afro-Caribbean society[4]
The 2011-2012 elections saw three of the previous year's officers return in the same role, one move into a new role and one new member join the officers. They also saw one of the sabbatical officers elected uncontested. The sabbatical officers elected[5] for the 2011/2012 year are:
The Commercial Services Officer, Emma Harris, sits on the Ethical and Environmental Committee, moving from the Purchasing and Scrutiny role she held in the previous academic year, of NUSSL - the commercial arm of the NUS, and the Communications Officer, Vic Casambros, sits on the steering committee for the National Union of Students Black Students' Campaign. The previous year's president, Fiona Wood, sits as the Mature Students' Rep on the NUS NEC.[8]
The elections for the 2010/2011 officers were notable for including the election of a full slate to office.[9] The sabbatical officers elected[10] for the 2010/2011 year are:
The Commercial Services Officer, Emma Harris, sat on the Purchasing Scrutiny Committee of NUSSL, and the President, Fiona Wood, had acted prior as the convenor for WMANUS, an organisation the student council disaffiliated from in November 2009.[11] Alongside this, Jamie Robertson and Adam Hedges, that years Student Activities Officers, were the first sabbatical officers to work as a job share in NUS history.
| 2009/2010 | 2008/2009 | 2007/2008 |
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| 2006/2007[A] | 2005/2006 | 2004/2005 |
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| 2003/2004 | 2002/2003 | 2001/2002 |
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| 2000/2001 | ||
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A This year is out of trend with previous years on the sabbatical officers sign, in not strictly following the President, Communications, Commercial Services, Education and Welfare and Activities order of the post-2003 years. Yuki Luo started as Communications Officer but then became acting President taking over from Muhammed Nasim