University of Brighton Students' Union

Student Activities

The Student Activities zone covers four main areas; sports, societies, events and volunteering.

Its sub-committee Sports Federation (SportsFed) works with SportsBrighton to fund and organise Brighton Universities sports teams; Brighton Panthers

Its sub-committee Societies Federation (SocFed) provides funding, advice and guidance to the 40+ Societies at Brighton Uni, which includes Dance, Drama, Waves cheerleading, LGBT, Conservation, Food Co-op, Pharmacy, Asian and African Caribbean, as well as Bahai', Buddhist, Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups.

Some of the larger events that have run successfully include the, Freshers’ Week, RAG events, summer garden parties and the graduation ball.

Student representation on the Activities & Events Zone Committee is via the 3 Site entertainment Chairs (Brighton, Eastbourne & Hastings) elected in the Spring elections from each school, as well as the Chair of Sports Federation, and the Chair of Societies Federation; elected at their respective AGM in the Autumn term of each year.

Fun Times

This zone looks after campuses, shops, cafés and student media.

There is a shop on almost every university site, as well as the following cafe-bars: Basement Central (Cockcroft), The Starting Gate (Eastbourne) and The Hive (Falmer). All proceeds from these facilities go back into student facing activities.

The Communications element enables Student Media groups to operate and access the wider student audience.

• BUZZ Radio http://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/buzzradio/
• The Verse http://www.theversebrighton.co.uk
• Brighton TV https://www.brightonsu.com/organisation/studentmedia/BrightonTV/

Good Advice

The Good Advice Zone promotes students’ physical, emotional, spiritual and environmental Wellbeing through campaigns, events, and voluntary opportunities. Through working closely with the local Contraception and Sexual Health team, the Good Advice zone runs a variety of events that aim to promote sexual health among students. We also have regular events and campaigns from our mental health and wellbeing team, PEACH (Peer Education and Advice for Campus Health).

We also have our Union Support team providing advice and support for students where possible. Union Support is an independent service that offers help and representation to any student on:

• Academic Misconduct
• Appeals
• Complaints
• Mitigating Circumstances

Change Things

The Students’ Union is a democratic organisation. Democracy in the Union means that the decisions made by the SU are based upon the wishes of its students. Students have the ultimate power to make decisions and choose other students to be their elected representatives. These officers are elected by cross campus secret ballot twice a year.

To ensure the smooth running of representation and providing services to over 22,000 students, we have various controls and checks in place to ensure things are done properly and legally. These systems are:

• Annual general meeting
• Trustee Board
• Union Review
• Constitution and by-laws
• Elections
• Referenda

The Academic Zone of Brighton SU exists to make sure the views of students, specifically as learners, are actively listened to and acted upon to inform developments in the University and ensure the SU is working for students. There are regular student forums throughout the year, to ensure that everyone has a voice and everyone’s needs are addressed. The Student Voice team work with the Schools to provide training, support and resources for Course Reps.