University of Leicester Students' Union

University of Leicester Students' Union
Established	1923
Sabbatical Officers	Alex Nutt, Lily Davis, Suzi Burtenshaw, Fénian Ó Duġaén and Thom French
Union Speaker	Jay Grundy
Location	Leicester, United Kingdom
Members	21,000 approx
Member of	National Union of Students, British Universities & Colleges Sport
Homepage	http://www.leicesterunion.com

The Percy Gee building

The University of Leicester Students' Union is the students' union of the University of Leicester. It is situated in the Percy Gee Building on the university campus. The union offers a wide range of facilities for students.

History

The Percy Gee Building which houses the union was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1958. It was named after Percy Gee, a director of a local shoe manufacturer and benefactor to the University.

In 1973, the Nightline service was established, a confidential listening service provided by students in a manner similar to the Samaritans. In 1997, LUSH Radio was established. This broadcasts from the Percy Gee Building. In the same year, the Greenhouse 2 gym was opened.

In October 2010, the Percy Gee Building fully reopened having undergone a refurbishment worth £15 million , which greatly expanded the number of facilities which the union can now provide.

Governance

The Union has three main methods of policy-making:

1. Referenda
2. General Meetings - open to all full members and have a quorum of 2%.
3. Union Parliament

These decision-making bodies form a hierarchy, with referendums at the top and Union Parliament at the bottom.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is open to all full members of the Union both to speak and vote. It approves the Union's accounts, strategic plan, policy lapse and discusses any proposals submitted.

Union Parliament

The walkway in late 2011

The Union used to be run by Union Council, a group of about 80 Officers and representatives elected by a cross campus ballot. Reforms were passed, headed by the Union Executive, at a General Meeting in 2010 that dissolved Union and created a new, proportionally elected Parliament

Parliament consists of around 100 Officers some are elected for each academic college of the university and some are elected as course representative of their school (Academic Officers).

Union Speaker

Union Parliament elects a chair, the 'Union Speaker', who shall also be chair of any members meetings, the steering group committee, and any committees as required by the Unions Bye-laws.

The current speaker is:

Year	Union Speaker	Speaker Department	Other position(s) held by the Speaker
2007-08	Will Neal	Faculty of Law	Chair Elections and Rules Committee
2008-09	Daniel Vokes	Faculty of Law	Chair Elections and Rules Committee
2009-10	Sam Twining	School of Management	Chair Elections and Rules Committee
2010-11	Holly Colvin	School of Biological Sciences	none
2011-12	Tom J. Grundy	School of Medicine

Executive Committee

The students' union run on a day to day basis by the Executive Committee. The executive committee consists of the five full time Executive Officers who are elected in a cross campus ballot.

They are sometimes referred as Sabbatical officers or Officer Trustees

The current sabbatical positions were/are:

Year	Academic Affairs	Campaigns and Involvement	Union Development *	Student Activities	Welfare and International
2007-08	Aaron Porter	Alex Smith	James Laden	Graham Ross	Laura Eagan
2008-09	Kirsten Dyer	Dee Patel	Graham Ross	Rob Hicks	Johanna Rigden
2009-10	Alex Smith	Owen Jones	Max Cawthorn	Phil Dixon	Kate Newton
2010-11	Alex Nutt	Owen Jones	Stephanie Chua	Tom Wilmot	Kate Newton
2011-12	Alex Nutt	Thom French	Lily Davis	Fénian Ó Dughaén	Suzi Burtenshaw

(*ex Services/Strategy and Communications)

Facilities in the Percy Gee Building

The union with the point in late 2011

The Students' Union runs a variety of commercial services which raise revenue and provide a service to students. The newly refurbished Percy Gee Building is home to the O2 Academy , a music venue with a capacity of 2000. This is complemented by O2 Academy 2 and 3, smaller venues located in the former Queen's Hall. Adjacent to the O2 Academy, The Scholar is the union bar.

The union is also home to a Starbucks, Ryman's and Nourish, a small supermarket selling essential goods. The new Percy Gee Building also houses Nineteen Twenty Three, a restaurant which uses mostly local produce. Willingale's is a small bookshop, also selling university branded merchandise. A cashpoint is provided by Santander.

Greenhouse 2 is a small gym and fitness centre, free to use by those who have purchased an annual Sportscard. All offices for sabbatical officers and welfare services on the upper floor of the Percy Gee Building.

The union also operates a lettings agency in a joint venture with De Montfort Students' Union. The accommodation service which operates from both campuses is known as SULETS.

Additional Services

The union runs the Safety Bus service, which provides safe transportation at night for students living in Oadby Student Village .

Societies

One of the things that the University is most proud of is its societies within the Students' Union. The Union has around 100 different societies, which are organised into eight groups:

• Academic - degree-related groups, such as Law, Politics or English societies
  
• Associations - including Contact Volunteers, Nightline and RAG
  
• Campaigning - including Amnesty International, United Nations as well as other political groups
  
• Media - The Ripple, the student newspaper, LUSH Radio and LUST Television
  
• National - representative societies for national groups
  
• Performance - including LUTheatre, Cheerleading and Big Band societies
  
• Recreational - including Real Ale, Curry and Muggle Quidditch societies
  
• Religious - many societies catering for Leicester's diverse religious groups
  

Sports

At Leicester University Students' Union there is a great sporting tradition with around thirty two sports clubs, from American Football to Ultimate Frisbee. Sports clubs compete in Varsity Day, a competition with De Montfort University, and also throughout the year in BUCS competitions.

Media

There are four media groups:

• The Ripple, the student newspaper.
• LUST, the student television station - LUST YouTube channel
• LUSH Radio, the student run radio station.
• A Web Group, who together with Union staff manage the Union website.

The Ripple was established in 1957 and publishes monthly. LUSH Radio currently broadcasts online and traditionally via FM.

Notably, LUST won the National Student Television Award for the Best Light Entertainment category in 2006.

Awards

In 2009, the union won the Silver Sound Impact Award and was an accredited venue in the Best Bar None Award scheme.

In the Club Mirror Awards, it was voted Students' Union of the year for 2005 and short listed for the same award in 2006 and 2007.

Societies Awards

Societies of the Year

Year	Academic Society	Best New Society	Campaigning Society	Association of the Year	Most Improved Society	Media Group	Event of the Year	National and Cultural Society	Performance Society	Recreational Society	Religious Society
2007 - 2008
2008 - 2009				RAG
2009 - 2010				Contact
2010 - 2011	English	Feminists	Hope Not Hate	LUSUMA	Kayak	LUST	Sabrecon	ACS	LUTheatre	Games	Hindu Society
2011 - 2012

Officers Awards

Year	Officer of the Year	Education Officer of the Year	Best New Officer	Campaigner of the Year	Outstanding Achievement	Lifetime Achievement	Lifetime Membership
2007 - 2008
2008 - 2009
2009 - 2010		Nicole Rigden
2010 - 2011	Andre Lopes	Charles du Couedic	Chris Everett	Alex Moore	Ryan O’Hare	Owen Jones	Martin Cullen
2011 - 2012

Course Reps Awards

Year	Course Rep of the Year
2007 - 2008
2008 - 2009	Alim Abubakre
2009 - 2010	Jennifer Clark
2010 - 2011
2011 - 2012

See also

• University of Leicester

External Links

• The University of Leicester Students' Union
• University of Leicester
• LUSH Radio