On 1st July, the Students’ Union Sabbatical Team officially took office. The 2019-2020 team is the first all-women sabbatical team in SUSU’s history.
Happy first day at work to our new sabbatical team 😍
Read more here 👉 https://t.co/gBMzRDRf4K pic.twitter.com/pmGKyIMP9Z
— SUSU (@Union_Soton) 1 July 2019
At the 2018 You Make Change Summit and AGM, the structure of the sabbatical team was voted to be changed from 7 officers to 5, replacing the role VP Engagement with VP Activities (which also encompasses elements of Creative Industries from the now-defunct Democracy and Creative Industries (DCI) sabbatical officer) and combining the roles of VP Welfare and VP Student Communities into one. The VP Education sabbatical officer was also combined with the Democracy elements of the DCI role, whilst the roles of Union President and VP Sports remained largely unchanged.
The 2019-2020 Sabbatical Team are:
- Emily Harrison – Union President
- Joanne Lisney – VP Education and Democracy
- Fiona Sunderland – VP Activities
- Olivia Reed – VP Sports
- Laura Barr – VP Welfare and Community
Following her successful campaign for Union President in the Spring Elections, SUSU has welcomed former VP Student Communities Emily Harrison back.
The new sabbatical team comes after a tumultuous year for SUSU, which saw former Union President Emily Dawes involved in a Twitter row that subsequently led to her resignation.
VP Sports Steve Gore was subsequently elected interim Union President by his fellow Sabbatical Officers, while the official position was left vacant for the rest of the academic year 2018-2019.
In addition to this, VP Engagement Fleur Elizabeth Walsh resigned from her post as VP Engagement in February this year.
