Hull University Union

Like any student union, there are regulations governing the way it runs. The biggest recent issue regarding these was the change of the union's constitution so it complies with the Charities Act - a bill which expected to have royal assent either this year or the next. The new constitution came into force on 1 August 2007.[2] Alongside the constitution, there are also Bye-Laws, Standing Orders and Policies & Procedures. The Bye-Laws and Standing Orders are also going through a period of change.

For the likes of Standing Orders and other regulations, they must first pass through the Union Executive Committee (a regular meeting of all sabbatical officers) and then be discussed and/or ratified by Union Council. In the case of the constitution, it has to also go through University Senate and finally University Council.

HUU is one of the few student unions in the country to have its own nightclub, Asylum, and is the Union's £3.6 million purpose-built centre of entertainment. It holds events and tours that are also open to the public, and opens three nights a week during semester for NUS card holders and over 18s. When space in Asylum is exceeded, the adjoining John McCarthy Bar is used if available. Asylum was voted the best student venue by HullVibe.[3] It also won the 2008 Best Bar None awards, winning three gold awards as well as Safest Venue.

The union has three bars: the 'John McCarthy Bar', named after the journalist and Beirut Hostage; 'Sanctuary', which includes an outdoor decked area, the Keith Martin Terrace, and BBQ facilities; and 'Armstrong's', within Asylum, in memory of student Anne Armstrong. The Sanctuary Bar holds a Thursday night Karaoke.[4]

There is a Waterstones Bookshop on the first floor of the University Union building. It stocks all the essential and required reading for courses running at the University as well as an extensive selection of more general books. As well as offering exclusive reading packs for some courses it also offers a year-round student discount. Any books not in stock can usually be obtained within a couple of days. They also buy and sell secondhand textbooks. There is also a click & collect service available at Waterstones.com.

In 2005, student rugby player Tom Ward lost his life, after participating in an initiation ceremony for new recruits to the rugby team.[5] Tom was reported to have consumed over 30 units of alcohol in 3 hours. The initiation ceremony that Tom participated in was not atypical of the kind of "Welcome Party" that many new students at the University of Hull were expected to participate in. In 2015, a ban on the practice of "circling" was introduced by HUU.[6] This followed a number of incidents in which students were left traumatised by the behaviour of sports team committee members that were facilitating these practices.

in 2018, it was discovered that Hull University Swimming Club had cheated at the A.U.'s annual varsity competition with Lincoln by entering ineligible swimmers. The team was made to forfeit the competition, after complaints were made to H.U.U. about participants that were not students at the University.[7]

The current set of responsibilities that the VP Education has are mainly the recruiting and guidance of:

• Student Reps (of which there are over 450)
• The Postgraduate Society
• The Mature Students Committee.
• Part-time Student Committee

This sabbatical officer also attends a large number of university committees so that the student voice can be heard. One of those committees is University Senate (one of the top committees in the University), of which, as well the VPE, the Union President, the VP Scarborough and VP Welfare and 6 elected Faculty Student Representatives and the Chair of the ISA attend to represent the Students to the top staff members of the University.

Recent developments in this area include activities related to PDP, IT, the National Student Survey, improving representation on the Scarborough campus, mature students and eLearning.

In the past, this position was known as "VP Education and Representation" and "VP Education & Welfare". The Welfare responsibilities eventually separated from this role to become VP Welfare Support Services and later on, VP Welfare & Equality.

The sabbatical officer in charge of this area is responsible for:

• JAM Radio - The union-run student radio station broadcasts over the internet on from Hull University Union's website. It is a standing committee in the union and mixes mainstream shows with a large selection of specialist shows.
• The Hullfire - In the past, The Hullfire has been in both magazine and newspaper form and is currently in the latter. Until 2007–2008 the VP Media & Communications was the Editor-In-Chief, however, due to increased responsibilities of the VP M&V, the editorial role has been taken over by an elected student volunteer along with a team of student sub-editors. The newspaper can now boast a circulation of 2000 per month and is generally considered to have improved year-on-year, most notably in 2012/13 after a major overhaul which was focused towards a higher quality of article and a more rounded presentation.

In the past VP Media & Volunteering has been known as VP Media & Communications, VP Marketing & Communications and VP Services.

The sabbatical officer in charge of this area is responsible for the Advice Centre, Job shop, LINKS (An operational unit of St John Ambulance), LGBT+ Committee, the Women's Officer, BAME Officer and Students with Disabilities officer.

VP Welfare also attends meetings of 'The Scheme' exec. The Scheme is a student accommodation setup in Hull to regulate landlords. However, the Union has recently noted that it will withdraw from 'The Scheme.'[8]

This set of responsibilities used to be part of the role 'VP Education & Welfare' - a position seen in many student unions. However, due to the size of the remit, it split into two sabbatical positions several years ago (the other being VP Education).

Hull University Social Services Organisation/Student Community Action, often shortened to HUSSO, was formerly a registered charity in its own right. However, HUSSO is now a part of the HUU charity in the Community zone. It allows students to participate in a variety of activities which benefit the wider community (kids, older people, people with disabilities). Currently, there are over 200 volunteers involved in HUSSO. The Chair of HUSSO was formerly a part-time member of the Union Executive Committee but now is part of the Community Zone.

CV is a referral service for students wishing to volunteer for external community projects (unlike HUSSO where the projects are student-led). There is a wide range of projects available and CV will offer support and advice to all volunteers using its services throughout their volunteering. CV is based in the Union on both Hull and Scarborough campuses.

In March 2011 the union was re-audited by the Student Union Evaluation Initiative after receiving a silver in 2008. In June 2011 it was announced that HUU had become the third student union to be awarded a Gold award in the UK, joining Sheffield and Leeds. Shortly after this Bath were also awarded Gold.

In May 2012 the Union was shortlisted for NUS HE innovative student engagement award at the NUS HE awards held in Nottingham and received the award for its work in using innovative techniques to engage traditionally hard to reach groups, techniques based upon monitoring of online memberships and online ticket purchases.

In July 2012 the Union was shortlisted for two NUS awards, the Community Relations Award and the Higher Education Student Union of the Year Award for the community work, academic wins such as the refurbishment of the library and the successful campaigns for changes to the Access Agreement and the continuation of lifelong learning. The Union received both awards at the awards night on 4 July at Exeter university.