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The UCC Students' Union is a students' union in University College Cork (UCC), in Cork, Ireland. It was established in 1973 following the charter, statutes and regulations of the governing body of the college as a representative body for UCC students. Each UCC student is automatically a member by virtue of a student levy. The UCC Students' Union (UCCSU) oversees the running of several committees (a media executive, societies guild executive and clubs executive) that cover a number of extra curricular activities for students in UCC. The Student Council of the UCCSU also acts as the student parliament for UCC, and represents students on a number of committees including UCC's Governing Authority, Academic Council, and externally at national bodies such as the Union of Students in Ireland.
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History
The UCC Students' Union was established in 1973 to "represent and support their members at every level within the university". Though founded in the 1970s, the union replaced a previous body known as the 'Students' Representative Council'. This body (known in Irish as Comhairle Teachta na Mac Léinn CTM) was established around 1908. In its early years, all officers of the body served in a voluntary capacity. The first full-time officer came with the introduction of a paid presidency role in 1940, and increased to four full-time officers in 2004.
On 5 December 5 2014, UCC Students' Union became the first third-level institution on the island of Ireland to install a permanent Pride flag on campus.
Publications
Publications by the UCCSU include union handbooks, the twice weekly union newspaper, and monthly magazine. Since 2004 the campus newspaper has been known as the 'UCC Express'. The newspaper had been known over previous years variously as: 'Aire', 'The Gazette', 'The University Examiner', 'The Campus Chronicle', and 'The University Xpress'. The union also publishes the monthly 'Motley Magazine', which was named 'KBC Irish Student Magazine of the Year' in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Organisation and services
As of 2015, there are six full-time sabbatical officers (President, Campaigns Officer/Deputy President, VP Education, VP Welfare, VP Commercial and Communications & Entertainment Officer) and a number of voluntary or non-sabbatical positions, which are elected each year by students. The union also has six 'rights officers' (LGBT*Q, Gender Equality, International, Mature Students, Suicide Awareness and Mental Health (SÁMH) & Disability) whose roles are to advise on the issues pertaining to students under their remit.
UCCSU also provides other services to students - a jobs portal, education advice and grinds, welfare advice, free condoms, and a second-hand bookshop. It is also involved in charity and fundraising, advocacy and community relations, and campaigning on other issues.
Honorary life membership
The UCCSU Executive has awarded Honorary Life Memberships (HLMs) since 2010, to "reward individuals that have demonstrated commitment to working in the best interests of students both within the University and externally". Honorary Life Members are entitled to speaking rights at student councils.
Associations
UCCSU is a member of the Union of Students in Ireland - a body whom the students of UCC pay upward of €130,000 in membership and more in running costs to associate themselves with. UCCSU was also a members of the Forum of University Students' Unions (FUSU), however it was disbanded in 2009. It has since been replaced by an ad hoc group composed of the University Students' Union Presidents (USUP).