University of Sheffield Union of Students
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| Institution | University of Sheffield |
|---|---|
| Location | Western Bank, Sheffield, England |
| Established | 1906 |
| President | Dom Trendall |
| Other sabbatical officers |
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| Members | 26309 student members (2014) |
| Affiliations | National Union of Students, Aldwych Group, National Postgraduate Committee, Nightline, UKCOSA, Sheffield Chamber of Commerce |
| Website | Sheffield Students' Union |
The University of Sheffield Union of Students is the representative body of students at the University of Sheffield. It is run by a team of eight elected sabbatical officers.
The forerunner of the University was Firth College (1879) which had both a Student Common Room and student societies including an Athletics Union. The Common Room Committee specifically had a 'chairman/woman' indicating equal status (unusual for the time) with a woman student winning the earliest known election in 1896. However, for the University itself, a Student Representative Council (SRC) was formed in 1906, with the name 'The University of Sheffield Union of Students' being first used in 1923. The first SRC had 20 men and 10 women elected, with 4 men and 3 women as officers. There was a Student President and two Vice-Presidents, one male and one female. For some periods it was called the Guild of Students.
The building for the new university, now called Firth Court, had two common rooms for students, one for men and one for women in which events could be organized. There was initial reluctance to hold dances on university property, but eventually dances were held in the main hall at lunchtimes and evenings. The University acquired two small buildings in 1928 to serve as student clubs, but the Union did not get a separate building till 1936, the Graves building (funded by J. G. Graves and designed by the Professor of Architecture, Stephen Walsh). This building is still present within the complex, though the interior is much altered.
Because of the expansion in numbers, a new building was constructed in 1960-61 adjacent to the Graves Hall,and linked to it, which is the basis of the current Union building. A link block had what was claimed to be the longest Union bar in the country. A further expansion of the building took place in 1978, and various refurbishments occurred thereafter until 1993–6 when there was extensive reconstruction and extension, to accommodate a further increase in numbers, creating a substantially new building, designed by Mott Architecture.
In addition to the Union building, the Union shared facilities with the University in adjacent buildings; University House and the Octagon Centre. A major development project was completed in 2013, integrating University House into the Union building and providing an enclosed bridge to the Octagon Centre.
The Students' Union aims to "advance the education of Students" by "representing the students of the University locally and nationally, organising services and activities to meet their needs" and "taking positive measures to encourage and build a student community which respects and celebrates the diversity of its membership".
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