Live: Special Board Meeting 20/5/20

Ellie Stephenson reports.

It’s 8:30am and we’re waiting for USU President Connor Wherrett to enter the Zoom. Two auditors from BDO are in attendance.

At 8:35am, Connor arrives after a longer-than-usual line at his cafe. Everyone is on the call except for Eve Wang. (Eve arrived late at 8:47am).

Auditors Clayton Eveleigh and Mirae Mayenburg discuss the findings of the recent audit of the USU. The Financial Report for 2019 has also been completed.

The audit showed no issues with the revenue recorded and the controls over USU finances (both mandatory fraud risk factors). It looked at the USU’s leases - a number of which are peppercorn leases, which the University has leased to the organisation without requiring payment.

Going concern, which means the ability of the organisation to continue its operations, is affected by less SSAF funding and income from USU outlets. The audit considered what kind of actions would need to be taken in order to allow the USU to continue to operate. Eveleigh says there is a “much, much more significant process” regarding going concern because of COVID-19 creating such “significant uncertainties” regarding the USU’s finances.

Mayenburg elaborates on some of the flaws in internal controls. Firstly, some payroll forms were found to be unavailable, leading to the recommendation that the USU should retain records of new salaries and other employment information. Another issue was with the long service leave calculation, which was not line with the USU’s “unique way of accruing” leave. Finally, bank confirmations at the start of the year had the previous CEO Andrew Woodward as a signatory, although that had since been rectified.

There were no issues with independence, ethics, fraud, or legal non-compliance.

Final approval for this report will occur at next Wednesday’s AGM - to which all USU Members are invited.

Honorary Treasurer Maya Eswaran says that the USU congratulates staff on the “really impressive surplus for 2019” prior to COVID-19. She adds that the Board needs to keep in mind the importance of pursuing going concern into the future.

Acting CEO Jess Reed responds that with regular meetings and a “close eye” on the USU’s Finances, the USU will be able to respond over time depending on the University’s timeline.

Senate Appointed Board Director Jane Drummond notes that there was an “overspend” on capital expenditure and says she is uncomfortable with the plan to “watch and see”.

Auditor Eveleigh argues that a “weekly cashflow forecast” will be the most important source of information for formulating a “return-to-normal plan”.

Connor Wherrett provides some “advice to the next Treasurer”, which is that the Finance Committee needs to be “beefed up” with more members and regular meetings.

Now there’s a motion to change the bank signatories for the USU’s accounts from former CEO Alexis Roitman to Acting CEO Jess Reed. Wherrett asks why the USU has so many bank accounts (there’s a lot), the answer being that there are a couple of different accounts for different purposes as well as to allow the USU to benefit if a particular bank has better rates.

Next Connor proposes a motion mourning Sam Langford, a journalist and USyd alumni who died recently. Sam was a USU Debater and edited Bull, which was the USU’s magazine, and later Honi Soit. The motion “extends… deepest sympathy to Sam’s family, friends and all members of the University community who were touched by their warmth”. It commits to writing a tribute to Sam on the USU Facebook page and conferring a posthumous USU Fellowship onto Sam.

Connor then gives a statement on Oscar Bai, who recently ceased to be a Board Director because his ACCESS Membership lapsed. He clarifies that there was no decision or meeting on the matter because the cessation was automatic when he ceased to be a Director. He says that “the Executive haven’t really acted” so much as followed the principles within the Constitution.

Benny Shen argues that the situation could have been handled “much better”, he says that “the wellbeing of Oscar should also be taken into consideration in the decision-making process” and feels that the Board could be more “compassionate and understanding”.

Vice President Lachlan Finch says “it’s not our decision about this, it’s just the rules… that we have to follow”. He adds that following these rules is important for maintaining the “integrity” of the USU.

Honorary Secretary Decheng Sun reinforces this point, agreeing that considering the wellbeing of USU members is important but noting that it is a “strictly legal issue that relates to the liability of the Board”. That is, the eligibility of the Board Directors is extremely important regarding the liability of the organisation.

Connor Wherrett adds that “the position of a Board Director is something to be… respected” by attending meetings and ensuring that they are members.

The meeting closes at 9:21am with Connor congratulating Jess Reed for “stepping up” as Acting CEO.