You automatically become a member of SMSU when you enrol at St Mary’s.
The Students’ Union (SMSU) is here to represent you, to advocate for you and to support you through your university experience in whichever ways you need.
How we help you
One of our key functions is representation. SMSU is led by the Students’ Union Officer team who the student body elects every year in the SMSU Elections. The Officer Team are members of several University committees which represent all aspects of university life, and they act as your representatives at these. It’s their job to ensure that your voice is heard and they’re here exclusively for you.
If there’s something at St Mary’s which you think needs to change so that you can have the best student experience possible, then the Officer Team are the people you need to talk to in order to make change happen.
The Officer Team
Sport President
The Sport President is here to create equal opportunities so that all students can be involved in sport and physical activity, and they’re also there to help develop the student sport clubs. There are a number of ways in which you can take part in sport at St Mary’s – competitively through our sports clubs in the BUCS National League, recreationally through LUSL or through the Sport St Mary’s social sport programme (SIMMSActive). Available sports range from Athetics to Lacrosse and Football with loads more in between. You can meet your current Sport President and find out how to contact them here.
Student Life President
The Student Life President is responsible for coordinating all of our academic, social and cultural societies. These student groups provide a great opportunity for you to meet new students with similar interests, to try new things or to give you a safe space. Whether it’s the Afro-Caribbean, Fishing or LGBTQ+ Society you want to join, we’ve got you covered. You can find our Student Life President here.
Education President
The Education President is there to help all students to excel at St Mary’s academically. It’s their job to ensure that the student voice is heard and listened to on all subjects and they’re there to ensure that all students have a fair chance at getting the brilliant education that St Mary’s has to offer – they do this by lobbying the University to make positive changes, attending all relevant meetings and through representing you if you have complaints to make. Our Education President can be found here along with their contact details.
Advice and Guidance
One of our key functions is to provide advice and guidance for you if you’re facing academic or welfare-related issues. We also work with teams like Advent Advocacy and the Student Services team to do this - whether we’re able to help you ourselves or if we need to signpost you to these services or others, SMSU will always be here for you.
Creating communities
We also add value to your student experience by providing social events. These cater to all students, regardless of whether you’re a ‘typical’ student or not – there’s no such thing as a typical student, anyway! We provide a hub for a full and lively social life which can be enjoyed by everyone – our aim is to create communities and to facilitate you creating communities in which you can support each other through university and beyond.
We have our own website which you can find here. Within it there's an online shop which sells St Mary’s branded clothing.
We need you
As your union, we always need your input to ensure that we’re doing the best job we can. Even though the Officer Team and our full-time staff are responsible for the day-to-day running of the Students’ Union, your ideas are the ones that really make the difference.
We’re a friendly bunch, so come and say hello! You can find the Officer Team's contact details here, and the contact details for our Staff Team are here.