USU Board meeting: activities, destiny and elections

Emily Graetz reports. 

A slightly unfamiliar buzz of excitement filled the Cullen room this afternoon, as newly elected Board Directors joined the meeting as observers. Perhaps it was good timing for the bunch who were treated to the longest public component of the meeting so far this year. 

Questions

Honi queried whether the literary journal, Hermes, would be published this year. President Irene Ma said that last year’s exec team had made the decision not to publish a 2020 edition considering financial restraints, but that it would be up to the 2021 executive to determine whether the journal will return. Honi also asked about any further action that the USU had taken in response to CathSoc’s ableist poster, to which the board confirmed that a meeting had taken place with the society and that a “conclusion” would be discussed soon. 

Pulp asked what tangible actions were being done to support and advocate for International students who would be stuck abroad for the foreseeable future. Both Ma and the CEO, Andrew Mills spoke to the USU’s plans to “embed” remote engagement into everyday university life, including video streaming capability extended to more meetings and rooms. Ma also responded that the USU would continue to engage with the University to advocate for student’s return to campus and emphasised that the Language Exchange Program had been made available in an online format. 

On the matter of Radical Sex and Consent Week (which Women’s Officer, Belinda Thomas confirmed would be the name of the event), Ma said that there had been ongoing discussion with the SRC and WoCo and that the USU fully supported the funding application. Ma said that plans would be finalised soon. 

CEO’s Report

Mills reported a “high level of activity” in April/May with Enviro Week, Party at Manning and the USU Cocktail evening all taking place amidst preparation for the election. Mills spoke optimistically about platforming more Clubs & Societies in the USU newsletters and the upcoming Open Day in August. Finances appear to be stable with income from graduations mitigating ongoing losses from sponsorship, low Rewards Membership numbers and decreased venue hire. This was later reiterated by Honorary Treasurer, Cady Brown, who expressed disappointment about the lack of new members joining Rewards. Vice President, Nick Forbutt questioned the CEO about strategies to resolve these losses, to which Mills responded that it was an “ongoing process” but that more would be said on the matter in July. 

Finance and IT

Finance Director, Rebecca Sahni, confirmed that renovations would be taking place in the Holme Common Room, with quotes and potential SSAF funding still being confirmed. Mills later reported that thanks to a meeting with the newly minted Performing Arts Working Group, the room had been envisioned as a potential “multipurpose performing arts space”. 

Senate Appointed Director, Marie Leech, expressed concern that the staff costs were “blowing out quite a bit beyond budget” which Sahni stated was due to additional casual staff being hired for outlets and graduations. Some back and forth questioning about the USU’s Investment Policy (holding off from making changes right now) and the financial forecast of $54,000 (Director Ben Hines asked that any assumptions dictating the forecasts be noted going forward) concluded the report. 

Activities, activities, activities!

According to Mills, the recent Games Lounge at Hermann’s “was a big success” and would be continuing in some form. “Really, for the gamers it will be great”, Mills said. 

Mills reported a positive trend in social media following, much to the disgrace of Immediate Past President, Connor Wherrett. Wherrett said that based on the turnover of students over the years, social media followers and likes should have increased much more, lamenting that the USU were not “fulfilling [their] destiny”. Director Ruby Lotz agreed as did Hines, who expressed concern about the overly professional appearance of the USU’s socials. He suggested a more unique appearance for each platform and a move away from sponsorship spamming and resharing pictures of the Quadrangle. 

There was some discussion about improving the process for those keen to set up a Club or Society and the Software offerings for Clubs and Societies (both however, seem to be underway). The board reported that currently there are 176 Clubs and Societies and there are 64 clubs waiting to hold their AGM and reregister with the USU.

Director Nick Rigby queried about casual staff contracts to which Wherrett responded that there would be an effort to ensure casual staff who receive regular and consistent shifts are moved to Part-Time positions. Finally, Director Prudence Wilkins-Wheat suggested that prior to semester 2, a forum be held with Club and Society execs to get feedback on funding grants which Ma concurred was a good idea.  

As the Activities Report proverb goes: “In summary, there’s a lot of activity there” - Andrew Mills. 

Executive Reports

Ever the inspiring Director, Honorary Secretary Benny Shen provided some insights from a Google Seminar that he attended and stressed the importance of connectivity for the board. He congratulated incoming Directors and spoke of their “great responsibility” to lead the organisation post covid and that “compassionate leadership is more needed than ever”. Shen informed the board of the Performing Arts Working Group which Mills anticipated would be an important move towards “codesign” and vision for the board. 

Ma noted the increase in votership in this year’s elections, thanking the hybrid model of online voting-in person campaigning for the improvement. Rigby later questioned whether the new model was here to stay, to which Ma responded that the decision would be up to the University Senate and Incoming Board. Ma noted that leadership training was ongoing - Lotz stressed that Clubs and Society execs would be welcome to join. Wilkins-Wheat advocated for the university’s assistance in providing consent training for Board Directors. 

Ma also noted that the National Union of Students are currently holding a petition to lower the age of financial independence from 22 to 18. This would mean more financial support for those who are realistically quite independent but not deemed so by welfare standards. Ma expressed support for the petition and suggested the USU use their social media to promote the move. 

See you next week as we report on the USU AGM! 

Board Members

President: Irene Ma

Vice President: Nick Forbutt 

Honorary Treasurer: Cady Brown 

Honorary Secretary: Benny Shen 

Board Directors: Benjamin Hines, Ruby Lotz, Kailin Qin, Nicholas Rigby, Belinda Thomas, Eve Wang, Prudence Wilkins-Wheat

Senate Appointed Directors: David Wright, Marie Leech

Immediate Past President: Connor Wherrett