University of Southampton Guide: Facilities
No facilities introduction.
Libraries: The main Hartley library on the Highfield campus contains the majority of text books and journals for most subjects. The Hartley library has just undergone an 8million refit and extension project which has caused a lot of disruption but should all be finished in time for the start of the 2004/05 academic year.
Southampton is also home of the National Oceanographic Library at the Oceanography Centre. This library holds the most comprehensive range of ocean and earth science resources in the UK. It also (bizarrely) has signs up banning visitors from walking around the library without shoes.
The Biomedical Science Library at Boldrewood holds resources for biology, medicine and health professional students.
The small Avenue Library is almost entirely reference only but covers the resources needed for the subjects taught and researched on the Avenue campus.
IT And Computing: Computing services are provided by ISS (Information System Services - formerly known as SUCS, a far more appropriate name). About 80% of hall rooms are networked for connection to the internet. 100% of hall rooms are networked for phone points with free internal calls and 1p a minute internet connection for those rooms which don't have networked access.
Sports: The newly constructed Jubilee Sports Centre on the Highfield campus contains a 25m swimming pool, a fully kitted out state of the art gym (including bikes hooked up to playstations), badminton, basketball, volleyball, netball and squash courts and a dance studio. The remnants of the old sports centre contain cricket nets, frisbee, five-a-side football, handball, karate and rollerhockey facilities with another sports hall available for aerobics, body conditioning, boxercise, circuits, fencing, gymnastics, martial arts, self defence and step workout. Outdoor sports pitches are connected to the Uni-Link bus network and are plentiful (with one of the locations due to be refitted with a new bar, restaurant and a pavilion added). There's also the University Boat Hard housing watersports facilities and equipment on the River Itchen near to the Wessex Lane Halls (which is also home to the rifle range). Southampton is renowned for its sailing and watersports facilities with two current students currently competing in sailing events in the Athens Olympics. Recent sporting successes are listed here: http://sport.susu.org/article.php?sid=100 .
Access to all sports facilities is through the purchase of a SportRec? Card currently priced at 45 for the year and covering unlimited use of the swimming pool, gym, fitness classes and court and pitch bookings. It also offers a 50% discount on any taught courses that aren't free. The cheap 45 price is also available to spouses/partners and alumni (for a year after graduation after which the price goes up to 75 for the year).
Welfare: Provisions are standard but of good quality. Initial support is offered through the personal tutor system for most academic (and personal) problems. Halls of Residence have live-in Wardens who are the first point of contact in an emergency or crisis. The Nightline service is available from 8 P.M. to 8 A.M. for support and advice and a shoulder to cry on anonymously. There is also the more official university Counselling Service which offers a professional and official shoulder to cry on and can help in liaising with other members of staff about any problems. The Student Advice and Information Centre (funded by the university but located in the Student Union) provides impartial help and advice with legal issues. The Student Union also has a full time sabbatical officer covering welfare issues. The International Office are there to help with any problems specific to International students. There is also considerable support for students with dyslexia and students with disabilities provided by the Learning Differences Centre (http://www.dyslexia.soton.ac.uk/ ) and the Assistive Technology Service (http://www.ats.soton.ac.uk/ ).
Healthcare: There are 2 NHS practises on the Highfield campus (University Health Service and Highfield Health). Both of which are located in modern buildings and are very friendly and helpful to students (doughnuts are often distributed to queueing freshers waiting to register in freshers week). There is also a walk-in NHS dentists adjacent to the university sports centre.
Shops: The Student Union shop sells everything from toiletries to swimwear, university merchandise to fruit and veg, as well as the usual stationary, cards, sweets and drinks. It is also home to a small in-house bakery selling coissants at very reasonable prices. Above the SUSU shop is the Travel Centre (which issues ISIC cards and can provide everything from train and bus tickets to round the world air tickets) and a hairdresser/tanning salon. At the other end of the campus is the university bookshop (a Waterstone's), a Post Office and a branch of Endsleigh Insurance. Just up the road from here there is also a Co-op and a whole range of take-aways and local shops.
The shops in Southampton city centre are fairly spread out with the new West Quay shopping centre being the main focal point. East Street is the home of smaller independent shops (including a proper sweet shop and newsagent selling international newspapers). Most of the major chains have moved off the high street and into West Quay which means at this moment in time the High St seems to have developed a large number of sports shops. There is an Asda in the city centre and this alongside the Safeway in Portswood (one of the major suburbs of Southampton and the one near to the university where the majority of student houses are) are the supermarkets most used by students. Southampton does have a Tesco and a Sainsbury's (and a Waitrose and M&S in West Quay if you're feeling flush) but they're less accessible via public transport than Asda and Safeway. There is a weekly Uni Link bus service serving the two bigger supermarkets though so if you can't live without Tesco Value or Sainsbury's Taste the Difference all is not lost.
Restaurants: There are three main eating places on campus. The Piazza and the Garden Court are located in the Student Union buildings, they are however run by a branch of the university called "Business Services" and are there to make a profit. The food isn't expensive but it isn't cheap either. Hidden away downstairs in the Student Union is the SUSU Cafe; this sells burgers, chips, curly fries, hot dogs, fish, chicken nuggets, baked potatoes and cheap sandwiches - all freashly cooked on site and all very good quality. They also have a dish of the day which can be anything from chilli and rice to spag bol.
Banks: There is a Natwest cash machine outside the SUSU shop and a Lloyds TSB machine in the SUSU cafe (one that still dispenses 5 notes!). Next to the university bookshop there are branches of HSBC, Natwest, Barclays and Lloyds TSB.
Transport: As well as the much discussed Uni-Link service there are buses to most areas of the city. The two bus companies operating in the city are First (who also run uni-link) and the Blue Line. Like most competitors they don't intergrate their services particularly well with most students sticking solely to First/uni-link buses. Wilts and Dorset are also to be seen occassionally in the city centre on express bus routes to Bournemouth, Dorchester and Salisbury. Train wise The city is connected to both local south coast services, regional services to London and national services across the country with Virgin up the West Coast Main Line. Major trains stop at both Southampton Central (funnily enough in the city centre) and Southampton Airport Parkway (a short cycle or bus ride from the university - and where the buses go after stopping at the Wessex Lane halls).
Careers: No information about careers.
Part-time jobs: The University careers service runs its own Temp-Bank which provides full and part time jobs to students working both within the university and in other businesses signed up to the tempbank.
Religous facilities: The chaplaincy (http://www.soton.ac.uk/~chaplain/index.html ) is an established Christian presence on campus providing both a listening/councelling service as well space to sit and reflect in quietness. The student union also houses 8 religious societies (http://clubs.susu.org/clubs-category-4.html ) as a first point of contact with the religious community as well as a way to socialise with others of the same faith.