During October the AGM and SGM was quorate and motions were passed. Minutes are available online for viewing. Consumer Affairs Victoria has approved the Constitutional Amendments and they are effective as of 21 October.
After no nominations were received for Acting Queer Officer, nominations were opened for a further two weeks and the results were submitted to the Queer Committee for consideration.
Student Representative Network applications also closed at the end of October. As a Committee representative, I have been given the task of reporting on student uses of Quality of Teaching survey results. My investigation so far finds that students do not know the results of QoT surveys for subjects before selection and so they have no impact on study decisions.
October has also been an important month for transition. The first Students’ Council-elect meeting was held, lasting approximately three hours. It dealt many different issues, including a working group to review the Constitution and Regulations and Staffing and Finance Sub-Committee elections. The Sub-Committee election was the first contested Sub-Committee election in UMSU history. I am also transitioning into new roles, having attended my first MUSUL Board meeting and I was elected to the Clubs & Societies Committee for 2010.
There is likely to be little to report from me in November, as my activity will mostly include studying for exams.
Students’ Council and Clubs & Societies
Students’ Council had one quorate meeting in October. The meeting was covered live and dealt with very few items of business. Attendance was minimal. The major item of contention was the Clubs & Societies Response to Item 5.1 of meeting 19/09, where Onagh Bishop had requested an explanation from the C&S Officers as to why they had not applied for more funding from Students’ Council. The report is attached to the minutes:
Students' Council Meeting 21/09 Minutes 1,021KB
This was the major item of contention. The recommendation from the report that Onagh Bishop should apologise was deferred, on account of her absence from the meeting. After lengthy argument, all but $1000 was transferred from the Whole of Union line to the C&S Department. The exact amount transferred is difficult to ascertain due to differences between the expenditure approved, actual expenditure and the lodging of financial papers. All outstanding C&S recommendations were also approved.
The meeting also:
- Approved funds for a Media Department function, the inaugural Fitzpatrick awards.
- Approved a transfer from the Media Department to the C&S Department.
- Condemned the vandalism to the Indigenous Office, which occurred in semester 1.
- Thanked a staff member who is leaving for her service and approved funds for a small farewell function.
- Approved funds for paperwork to be lodged with Consumer Affairs Victoria following the AGM and SGM.
The Fitzpatrick Awards
The Media Department recently held its inaugural Fitzpatrick awards. It was attended by approximately 35-40 students, most of which have been involved in either the Media Department or wider Student Union. There was a large number of awards to recognise the various contributions that students had made to the Media Department. There were also some lighter awards, such as ‘Best Advertisement’ which went to Macrogen’s DNA testing service. Following the awards, the Media Officers themselves were thanked and presented with a gift from the Media Collective and many proceeded elsewhere for karaoke.
Bookmark & Share.
Posted Monday 2 November, 2009. Updated Monday 2 November, 2009.
