As early as 1957, students at Victoria College began levying a building fee in anticipation of their new home at UVic.

[7] The building itself only consisted of the SUB Upper Lounge, the wing where the General Office is now located, and a downstairs section which housed the original Felicita's Pub.

By the seventies, the cafeteria (previously more of a kiosk) began operating regularly, the Society got a liquor license, and the pub increased its hours.

[9] What is now Cinecenta got its start with students, working out of an office in the SUB, showing movies using a 16mm projector in the MacLaurin and Elliot buildings.

The Society's operating budget could only finance a smaller addition of 13 000 square feet, which meant that many of the architectural features originally designed for the expansion were lost.

[11] The 1976 addition saw the wing where Cinecenta and the Munchie Bar, Medicine Centre Pharmacy, Chiropractor, and On the Fringe are now located.

[19] The Board responded swiftly and decisively by pressing charges against the since resigned Sharma, terminating the General Manager, and conducting a forensic audit.

In 2008 the United Steel Workers union representing staff at the UVSS went on strike for a three months,[23] this in combination with a weak economy, and rising costs pushed the Society back into a $350,000 debt by 2009.

While each PDU raises its own funds, they are considered under the umbrella of the UVSS for purposes related to the University Act (British Columbia).

There are over a dozen employees on the payroll, but significant work is done by student volunteers (writing, taking photos, copy editing).

The newspaper is distributed freely around the UVic campus and various locations around greater Victoria every second Thursday during the school year, and on a monthly basis in the summer.

[30] The station offers programs that include a diverse range of musical styles and talk shows on political and cultural issues.

VIPIRG also hosts an alternative research centre with magazines, videos, books and clippings dealing with a wide range of social justice and environmental issues.

UVSP is a student-run organization that strives to work with the campus community to achieve a balance between what is ecologically necessary, socially desirable and economically feasible at UVic.

The Universal Bus Pass (U-PASS), started in 1999, allows students unlimited travel on the Victoria Regional Transit System.

Rising tuition costs and debt loads signalled an increase in the needs of the membership and in September 2000, the Board of Directors began funding and operating an emergency food bank in the SUB.

All undergraduate students who are registered in at least 3 units of on-campus classes are automatically enrolled in the health plan.

The Office of the Ombudsperson is an independent, impartial, and confidential resource for undergraduate and graduate students (current, former, or prospective) and other members of the University community.

Though the Student Union Building, the UVSS also offers free phones, a banner room, a darkroom, and study space.