The year has gotten off to a flying start with the transition back in on-campus orientation and a range of activities being planned for the new Academic year. The last month has been a busy time of planning, training and many meetings.
Board Retreat
The USASA Board retreat was held on the 18th and 19th of January. At the board retreat USASA Student Representatives were given an overview of the organisation and their governance responsibilities. The sessions ranged from basic finance for a not-for-profit Board to creating a personal brand using social media and marketing. The Board Retreat was good fun and we learnt a lot. The survey of how the Board Retreat went was also conducted with Cristine taking the results into account for planning next year. At the Board Retreat the first USASA Board Meeting was held with 6 Sub-Committees of the Board being re-established. The six were Governance, Finance, Diversity, Equity & Access (DEA), Clubs, Education and Reconciliation Committees. Board Reps were subsequently appointed as Convenors of these Committees and other Board Reps showed expressed their interest in joining them. Appointments were also made to two external committees being Academic Board and the University’s Academic Enterprise Oversight Committee.
Administrative Matters
Subsequent to the Board Retreat I have been busy contacting the University about appointments to committees and ensuring that everyone is given the relevant licences and approvals to access papers which are relevant to external committees. I have also assisted Cristine as needed as it relates to committee trainings(acknowledgingthat the majority of the work in this area is done by Cristine).
A number of student enquiries have also come through during this period and I have been working to resolve them through a number of meetings, phone calls and via email correspondence.
Recruitment & Staffing
During the months of January and February I helped conduct interviews for a number of staffing roles including a Marketing Officer, Volunteer Program Coordinator and Events Officer. For more information on specific staffing matters please refer to the CEOs report.
Symposium Planning
Additional planning on the USASA symposium has happened after a rescheduling of the event which showcases the work of USASA staff and the departments across the University. A new date has been set and preparation for the event has begun.
Consultation Results
During the month of February I have started analysing the data from the RPNOW Survey and the Student Spaces Survey which made up part of the Ask Isaac pop-up which I trialled in late 2022.Iam currently following up on the results of the survey with staff within the Uni to verify information what the procedures are in specific academic units regarding Online Invigilation (RPNOW). The results will be presented via committees or directly to the board in due course.
Planning for Ask Isaac
Planning for the Ask Isaac pop-up which was trailed in 2022has begun again. This involves the President sitting at a table in a common area where students are able to come up and ask whatever they would like. Usually there is a theme and a survey to go with the chosen theme. When students submit a suggestion to the suggestion box or complete the survey they are entitled to chocolate coin (a penny for your thoughts) and sometimes a free drink.
Attendance at NUS Presidents Summit
From the 1stFeb to the 3rdFeb, I attended the NUS Presidents Summit at the University of Melbourne. This conference included a range of training on how to be President of a student organisation followed by sessions on the NUS’s goals for the year and ensuring they align with the goals of student organisations across the country. One of the biggest benefits of attending the summit is the connections which are made with Presidents and leaders from other campuses. A presentation on the event will be given by me and Riya, the postgraduate representative.
Meetings & Commitments
18 Jan–USASA Board Retreat
19 Jan –USASA Board Retreat
19 Jan–USASA Board Meeting
25Jan–Introductory Meeting with VC and Postgrad Rep
27Jan–Academic Integrity Workshop
30Jan–Volunteering Coordinator Interviews
1Feb–NUS Presidents Summit Day 0
2 Feb–NUS Presidents Summit Day 1
3 Feb–NUS Presidents Summit Day 2
6 Feb–Volunteer Coordinator Interviews
8 Feb–HDR Forum Planning Meeting
8Feb–Meeting with new Executive Dean of Nursing, Tracy Humphrey
8 Feb–Student Voice Initiative Meeting
8 Feb–Student Academic Unit Board Rep Training Meeting
10 Feb–Tour of Enterprise Hub
The Academic year is well and truly underway with O Week and the first week of campus fair now completed, there are many signs of a fantastic year ahead. In saying this the challenges and struggles facing many students are becoming more evident and as a student association we need to maintain our push for a fairer and more compassionate University to all who want an education.
HDR Stipends
A major issue which has emerged over the past few months has been whether UniSA will follow Flinders University and the University of Adelaide in raising stipends for Higher Degrees by Research(HDR)students. Myself and Postgraduate Representative, Riya Bhaizada have been talking to many HDR students and holding discussions with relevant University staff to negotiate a rise in the stipend. Current costs of living increases are seeing many HDR students unable to afford the bare minimum, basic requirements like a guarantee of food and accommodation are becoming less certain for these students and it is vital that the stipend is raised. The Federal Government has not increased the funding pool meaning the University would have to draw the funds from elsewhere. Discussions in this space are ongoing and a decision is imminent. I will continue to advocate that the rate be raised as no student should have to go without these things and certainly not because they choose to contribute to valuable research and undertake a PhD.
Growing Student Voice at UniSA
Over the past couple of years the Student Voice has increased significantly at UniSA with opportunities for students to have a say in the everyday functions of the University now becoming commonplace. Academic Integrity cases have also increased dramatically through covid-19 resulting in a higher rate of Formal Inquiry hearings. The Job Ready Graduates package introduced by the Morrison Liberal Government has also meant that the threshold for preclusion has been lowered resulting in an increase in the rate of preclusions. In order to ensure that appointment processes are fair, work has been undertaken to codify the processes of appointment into policy and outlined clear rules and expectations around involvement in formal inquiry and preclusion hearings.
University Accord
During Academic Board the Vice-Chancellor announced that his office would be receiving submissions from around the University to contribute to the University’s submission to the Albanese Labor Government’s University Accord. The final submission would seek approval from Academic Board and attempt to incorporate parts of submissions given to the Vice-Chancellor’s Office. The Accord discussion paper will be presented to the Education Committee for feedback from undergraduate and postgraduate Academic Reps from across all seven units. Further consultation with some University staff and other university students is happening on a meeting by meeting basis. The topic will also be brought to the USASA Board for discussion as any draft for submission to the Vice-Chancellor’s office will need to be approved by the board out of session to enable the submission to be made by the allotted date.
Campus Fair
Campus fair has officially kicked off this month with City West and Mawson Lakes campus fairs being held on the 8thand 9th respectively. Despite bad weather at the City West campus fair a large number of students turned out to see what our Clubs had to offer. At Mawson Lakes on Thursday, a huge number of students attended campus fair, trying out a variety of different activities, signing up for clubs and speaking with USASA Reps and staff.
Academic Issues
In the last month I have received a number of enquiries in relation to Academic issues which students have had. I have made great progress on a number of them, speaking to the units involved and finding resolutions. As expected some issues still remain ongoing. A couple of issues in relation to enrolment have also been received and I am awaiting responses from Campus Central to see how they have been resolved.
RPNow
During late February and early March I have received a high number of enquiries about the previously conducted RPNow survey. A number of students coming back have shared their concerns about the software. As a result I reopened the RPNow survey until 17 March to allow for the extra submissions to be made. The data will be collected and presented to the Education Committee at the next available opportunity after 17 March.
Ask Isaac Pop-Up
As part of a USASA Pop-up during O Week, I hosted an Ask Isaac stall. The stall consisted of the usual chocolate coins and suggestion box with the “Penny for your thoughts” campaign. The pop-up was also accompanied by a qualitative survey about O Week and the start of University to gauge student expectations for the year.
Committee Meetings
All internal USASA Committees will have met at least once at the time of the next Board Meeting. Currently all committees barring Education (which meets on Tuesday 14thMarch) have met for the first time and arrangement of permanent dates are underway.
International Student Welcome
During O Week I briefly attended the International Student Welcome speaking to students as they entered and handing out orientation bags. The International Student Welcome, held across two days is a fantastic event.
University Issues Register
During this month I met with Tania Kanellos, Acting Director of Student Academic Services to discuss the University Lecture and Exams Issues Registers. These came about as stage one of a consultation on Online Lecture and Exam delivery, identifying issues that students have had with these two changes to teaching and learning. While concerns were raised that the consultation would not allow comprehensive feedback on students feelings towards online lectures and exams, I took some comfort from the reassurance that this was separate and first establishing what issues were solvable prior to conducting further consultation(stage 2)around online teaching and learning arrangements which sparked much controversy in mid-2022. The subsequent meeting with Tania was to discuss the final outcomes of the consultation. An email request for the promised reports and an update on when stage two of the consultation would be designed/rolled out has been sent. An update will be presented in my next report.
University Council
The University Council met for the first time this year and had a tour of the UniSA Enterprise Hub. Upon taking the second tour, I was able to learn even more of the building’s fascinating history. During the months of February and March, I presented at both the South Australian Institute of Business and Technology(SAIBT) Orientation and the Research Degrees Committee (RDC) Meeting. Both were extremely beneficial with one being an induction for those entering UniSA through the SAIBT Business program and finding out how we can better engage HDR students with USASA.
14Feb–Finance Committee Meeting
15Feb–Campus Tours at Magill
15Feb–Adelaide Connected Networking Event (Committee for Adelaide)
16Feb–SAIBT Presentation
20Feb–Retail Meeting with Retail Manager
20Feb–Attendance at City West on-street O Week events with Postgraduate and International Reps
20 Feb–Attendance at International Student Welcome with Postgraduate and International Student Reps
20Feb –Reconciliation Committee Meeting
20Feb–Governance Committee Meeting
20Feb–USASA Board Meeting
21Feb–Student Appeals Committee Hearings
22 Feb–Campus Tours at Magill with International Student Rep
23Feb–Meeting with Reps from Flinders University Student Association
23Feb–Campus Tours at Mawson Lakes with International Student Rep
23Feb –Meeting with Acting CASO, Richard Irons
24 Feb –Academic Board Pre-Meeting
24 Feb –Academic Board Meeting
24 Feb –Attendance at UniVibe event with Mawson Lakes Rep, City West Rep, City East Undergraduate Rep and International Rep
27 Feb –City East Campus Tours with City East Rep
27 Feb –Student Voice Media Brainstorming Session with CMK Staff, USASA Coordinator Governance and Student Leadership and Student Representative Support Officer
28Feb –Meeting with DVC: Research and Enterprise and Dean of Graduate Studies with Postgraduate Representative
28 Feb–President and CEO Meeting
Mar 1 –Meeting with Manager: Student Support and Retention
Mar 1 –Policy Drafting Session with Governance Convenor and Mawson Lakes Rep
Mar 2 –Attendance at Authentic Assessment Project Steering Group Meeting
Mar 2 –Ask Isaac Pop-up
Mar 3 –Meeting with acting Director: SAS re Online Lectures and Exams Issues Registers
Mar 3 –Brief visit to Board Rep Training
Mar 6 –DEA Committee Meeting
Mar 7 –Enterprise Hub Tour and Council Photos
Mar 7 -UniSA Council Meeting
Mar8 –Campus Fair (City West)with Postgraduate Rep
Mar 9 –Presentation at RDC Committee Meeting
Mar 9 –Campus Fair (Mawson Lakes)with Mawson Lakes Reps
Mar 10 –Clubs Committee Meeting
Mar 10 –Attendance and University of South Australia Law Student Association(USALSA)Event
President's Report
Conversations with Staff Representatives
Conversations with staff representatives made up a very important part of my work during this month. A number of very productive meetings occurred talking on the subjects of student voice, teaching and learning arrangements, course specific clubs and the creation of a new university.
CEO Handover
CEO, Daniel Randell began his long service leave this month and Manager of Student Support and Retention, Luis Gardeazabel began acting in the role of CEO.
This month we interviewed candidates for the Retail Manager Role and a successful candidate is due to start in April.
USASA Symposium
The USASA Staff component of the Symposium took place this month and was a great success.
The last few Campus fair events happened during this month with a huge turnout at City East and a very different type of campus fair at Magill with the stalls moving indoors compared to last year’s outdoor campus fair.
General Meetings
Despite being sick this month it has been one of the busiest thus far with me attending 40 meetings and events.
HDR Issues and Education Committee
A lot of work went into advocacy issues this month with working being done by myself and the Postgraduate student representative to advocate for an increase stipend for HDR students. The education committee also saw a big contribution to USASA’s drafting of issues important for the University to raise in the University Accord discussions.
14March–SSAF Grant Funding Meeting with CEO
15 March–Campus Fair City East
15 March–HDR Rep Meeting
16 March –Magill Campus Fair
16 March–Academic Integrity Awareness Campaign Launch
17 March –Education Committee
20 March–Meeting with Vice Chancellor
20 March–Reconciliation Committee
20 March –Governance Committee
20 March –USASA Board Meeting
22 March –Student Appeals Committee Training
23 March –Student Complaints Meeting
23 March –Enterprise Hub Opening
24 March –Retail Manager Interviews
24 March –Academic Board Pre-Meeting
24 March –Academic Board
24 March –Ramadan Treats Event (City East)
27 March –Meeting with STEM Staff Reps
27 March –Meeting with ALG Staff Reps
27 March –Debrief on Academic Integrity Workshop Outcomes (TIU)
28 March –Meeting with Acting CEO Re Student Issues
28 March –Meeting with Acting CEO
28 March –Meeting with JUS Staff Reps
29 March –Vice Chancellor meeting with Student Reps re Creation of New University
29 March –Meeting with Provost & Chief Academic Officer (PCAO)
30 March –Staff Symposium
3 April –Hosted Creation of New University Student Forum with Vice-Chancellor
4 April –Meeting with Business Staff Reps
4 April –Academic Enterprise Oversight Committee
4 April –Meeting with Acting CEO
4 April –Meeting with Postgraduate Representative
4 April –Meeting to discuss student SASH Response Toolkit with UniSA Counselling, DEA Convenor and Acting CEO
4 April –Meeting with Mawson Lakes Undergraduate Rep
6 April –Meeting with Acting CEO
6 April –USASA Outer Space Pub Crawl
12 April –Governance and Nominations Committee
14 April –Productivity Ninja Training
14 April –Education Committee
14 April –UniSA Graduation Ceremony
Ongoing Student Issues
During this month there has been a number of ongoing student enquiries which have been resolved. These are largely around issues with assessment and teaching quality.
Teaching and Learning Arrangements
The conversation around teaching and learning arrangements has continued since the last board meeting. It is still no clearer what the University’s position on teaching and learning arrangements is though from further conversations it has been gleaned that consultation on the digital strategy took place in 2014 which is referenced broadly in the Enterprise Action Plan. I passed on student concerns that this was not sufficient. The student news organisation, On the Record has started conducting surveys and interviews including with myself, the NTEU’s Sam Whiting and Provost –Jo Cys.
Creation of a New University
The consultation on the creation of a new university concluded this month with a large number of students and staff having contributed. The work has not begun to sift through that information and conversations around whether the creation of a new university will go ahead and what next stages of the process look like are in full swing.
Playing Catchup
Due to being sick for a week there has been a huge backlog of emails, administrative work and policywork that needed to occur. This month has largely being trying to play catch-up as the pace picks up and things get busier.
Expanding the Student Voice
There have been a number of new opportunities presented to students at many levels of the university this month. Liaison with may different parties and discussion of opportunities with the Student Voice team has been a significant portion of work this month.
Events
USASA events are beginning to be held this month with a BBQ occurring at City East and one occurring at City West. There has been a great turnout from reps during this period.
It was announced this month that the HDR stipends would be raised from $29,000 to $32,000 a significant increase and a great win for HDR Students.
17 April –Attendance at Graduation Ceremony
17 April –Governance Committee Meeting
17 April –USASA AGM and Board Meeting
18 April –Reconciliation Committee Meeting
19 April –Meeting with Acting CEO
19 April –Meeting with Esther May at UniSA Clinic
19-21 April -Attendance at Graduation Ceremony
21 April –UniSA Council Meeting
21 April –Meeting with Education Futures Staff Reps
24 April –Meeting about Student Club
28 April –Meeting with Student Ombud
28 April –Meeting with Acting CEO
1 May –One on One with Director: SAS (Acting CASO)
1 May –Attendance at UniSA NTEU EBACelebration & Solidarity Event
2 May-Meeting with TIU & SAS re Issues Register
2 May –Meeting with High School Student re Climate Education Campaign
2 May –Committee for Adelaide: Room to Grow event with City West Undergraduate Rep
2 May –NUS National Executive Meeting
3 May –City East BBQ
5 May –Meeting with the Vice-Chancellor
Assessment based issues continue to arise with good outcomes form some Academic Units. Particular issues around the use of Artificial Intelligence and Academic Integrity have been clarified with the help of Director: TIU, Assoc. Professor, Sheridan Gentili.
This month an article was published by On The Record’s Jack Trehearne detailing the events on Teaching and Learning Arrangements which led up to the current circumstances. A good discussion around the existing issues around the change in teaching and learning arrangements was had in USASA’s education committee. This requires some follow-up work and Dean of Teaching and Learning, Esther May has committed to more regularly attending Education Committee Meetings if she is able to.
Conversations about the potential of the creation of a new university are ongoing. I am staying well informed on the matter and ensuring that a high-quality student experience is at the forefront of discussions with everyone from the Vice-Chancellor to the Chief Academic Services Officer.
A huge number of enquiries have come for students to be part of exciting new projects have been received by myself and the Student Voice team this month. This ranges from Academic Integrity Student Reference Group to attending conferences about AI. SASH Prevention and Response have been major areas where the improving the student voice is now becoming standard practice. Great conversations have been had with new Acting Deputy Director: SEU, Natasha Boots, Acting Manager: Counselling, Rowena Kidd and new Coordinator: SASH Response, Anna Fulwood about how students can play a more active role in this space and how policies and projects can be effectively co-created.
Ending Deadnaming/The Preferred Name Project
Considerable strides have been made in the preferred name project with myself and the President of the Rainbow Club sitting down with Matt Barton from ISTS to finalise the scoping for the project. A number of hurdles have been worked through with extremelypositive results. One example is the use of preferred names on student IDs which it was feared would affect metrocards. This was resolved and in the process has lead to some internal reviews of Adelaide Metro’s internal policies around metrocards to make the registration process more inclusive.
Positives Steps on SASH Resources
The drafting of the SASH Disclosure Toolkit for student leaders which was initiated by USASA’s SASH Prevention and Response Working Group in 2022 is now underway. This work like many of USASA’s projects was initiated by former rep Gagan “Gigi” Sandhu and is now finally coming together under the leadership of DEA Committee Convenor, Lucy Fawcett.
Upcoming Budget
As budget deliberations come to a close there notification has been sent to all board reps about what additional items they might want to see in next year’s budget. This will culminate in a draft budget in the coming two months.
CEO Moving on
On 7 June, I officially acknowledged the resignation of CEO, Daniel Randell. After almost 10 years at the organisation, Daniel has helped build the USASA we know and love today. Daniel moves on to a well-earned role at Flinders University in an area of student wellbeing which he is extremely passionate about. Though we are very happy for Daniel, we will miss him dearly.
The resignation of a CEO now means that planning for a recruitment process has initiated and direction from the USASA Board will be forthcoming. There is much to be considered in the recruitment process and it requires a high level of diligence.
May 2023
8 May - Student Experience Review Project Reference Group
8 May - Recruitment Panel Shortlisting for Coordinator: Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Prevention & Coordinator: Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Response (HEO7)
9 May - Clubs Officer Interview
10 May - Governance Committee Meeting
11 May - Clubs Committee Meeting
15 May - Interviews for Coordinator: Sexual Assault and Harassment Response (HEO7)
15 May - Finance Committee Meeting15 May - USASA Board Meeting
17 May - UniSA Safety and Wellbeing Committee Meeting
17 May - Preferred Name Project Scoping Discussion with Rainbow Club President and ISTS
18 May - Meeting with CEO
19 May - Meeting with Facilities Management
19 May - Education Committee Meeting
22 May - Interviews for Coordinator: Sexual Assault and Harassment Prevention (HEO7)
22 May - Meeting with Acting CEO
22 May - Committee for Adelaide Emerging Leaders Lunch with Dr Grace
>24 May - Reconciliation Committee Meeting
24 May - Catch-up with USASA Volunteer Coordinator, Jess Zammit
25 May - Bi-monthly catch-up with CASO, Tom Steer
26 May - Tour of City West Facilities with Sam Payne
26 May - Tour of Enterprise Hub with Lindsay Pollock
29 May - Discussion with Acting CEO
29 May - Attendance at Lowitja O’Donoghue Oration bydelivered by Prime Minister Anthony Albaneseat UoA
30 May - SASH Steering Group Meeting
31 May - Meeting with MLK Undergrad Rep, Jeel Bhatt and Acting CEO on Mental Health Survey
31 May - Discussion on Social Media/Events/USASA’s Voice position with Manager: Marketing and Events, Jackson Polley
31 May - Follow-up meeting on Education Committee with Tania Kanellos and Esther May
1 June - Appearance on ABC Radio with Sonia Feldhoff on HECS Debt Indexation
1 June - President & Acting CEO Meeting
7 June - Telephone meeting with CEO, Daniel Randell
7 June - Diversity, Equity and Access Committee Meeting
7 June - Reconciliation Committee Meeting
7 June - Meeting with Leanne Cotter
9 June - UniSA Pride Fair
The decision by the Councils of both Universities was reached this month,to progress with the creation of a new institution, Adelaide University. This decision has been a lengthy and thorough process which I have been lucky enough to be involved with. This has meant a lot of reading, meetings and media in the past few weeks.
A significant amount of my time this month went into looking over the feasibility student and due diligence required to make a decision on whether the Councils should progress.
I released a media statement following the announcement that the two universities would be proceeding and this has been distributed via social media. I have had limited interaction with radio and print media. The major focus has been on awareness. I have been reaching out to students through a variety of modes to ensure they know where to get information and that their questions are adequately answered.
State Parliament has established a joint committee to oversee the review of legislation for the new university and active participation on behalf of USASA and students is integral.
General Manager Recruitment Process
Following last month’s announcement that Daniel Randell would be moving on from USASA after almost ten years in the role of General Manager, a recruitment process has started for a new General Manager.
Much of my work this month has been around investigating options for recruitment agencies, making contact and garnering proposals and quotes. This will help inform the deliberations of the Human Resources and Recruitment Committee in coming days/weeks.
Student representatives on Academic Board put their case as to why the Academic Board paper that provided for the continuation of current teaching and learning arrangements should not be approved. This effort was unsuccessful with a majority voting for the recommendations, two elected staff representatives bravely joining the five student reps in opposition and many others abstaining.
The Vice Chancellor committed to a separate discussion about online exams after one staff member reported that over 75% of one of her classes had been flagged for academic misconduct/academic integrity breaches using proctoring software. Another staff representative voiced they had similar numbers in their class. The two courses mentioned were consistent with the RPNow Survey data collected by USASA in 2022. Both were business courses with one being quantitative methods which showed the highest number of resultant issues in USASA’s RPNow Survey.
Student point of views were put forward. Speakers were limited with the Provost getting a right of reply to all points raised. Debate was cut short due to the small amount of time that had been allocated.
Conversations with the provost will continue.
Exam & Assessment Period
During this month it was the final assessment and exam period for the majority of students across UniSA. I too had exams and assessments during this time.
Budget Finalisation & Follow-Up
Since Daniel’s return from leave discussions on the finalisation of the budget have occurred. When Daniel first got back from leave, I produced a debrief document of things that had happened while he was away,and follow-up work begun. Final discussions on the budget also occurred and a draft budget is due to go to the finance committee soon. Daniel has also begun work on preparation for handover to the General Manager: Acting.
June 2023
13 June - UniSA Council Meeting
15 June - About USASA Presentation to South Australian Instituteof Business and Technology (SAIBT)Orientation
15 June - Meeting re Student Mental Health Data Collection
15 June - Finance Committee Meeting
19 June - Meeting with Director of SAS
19 June - Governance CommitteeMeeting
19 June - USASA Board Meeting
20 June - Meeting with Chancellor
21 June - President & CEO Catch-Up (Extended)
21 June - Academic Board Pre-Meeting
23 June - Additional Academic Board Pre-Meeting
23 June - Academic Board
27 June - Student and Academic Policy Advisory Group(SAPAG)
28 June - EXAM DAY
30 June - Meeting with UniSA International
30 June - Education Conference Debrief
The creation of the new Adelaide University has been the focus of this month with the Joint Committee for the Establishment of the Adelaide University hearings taking place in Parliament throughout from the week beginning Monday 7 August.
As President, I was summoned for a hearing which took place on Thursday 10 June along with Adelaide SRC President, Georgia Thomas.
For this hearing I created a short overview which was handed out to the committee detailing some proposed changes to the Act which would advance student interests in the new institution. This document includes overviews of:
- What USASA does
- The importance of Student Voice
- A 100% SSAF Funding Guarantee for the new student organisation
- A legislated Student Ombud
- A more representative Governing Body (Uni Council) composition
Further meetings on the subject of the legislation will take place in coming weeks with the Department and other parties within the two universities.
The application period for the USASA General Manager role concluded on Friday 11 August and the shortlisting and interview processes will begin shortly.
The potential of setting KPIs for an incoming General Manager and the method by which the board may manage this have been discussed.
All further details would not be in the interest of our members to disclose at this time.
Budget
The USASA Budget has been finalised and will be submitted to the USASA Board for approval.
Orientations and Campus Fair
Orientations for SP5 took place in this semester with many board reps taking part in campus tours. As President, I attended a number of USASA spaces to assist with campus tours and also spoke with students at the joint orientation events.
Campus fair at City West took place on Wednesday 9 August and I attended, reconnecting with a number of club executives and meeting new students.
July
11 July - Student Ombud & President Catch-up
11 July - Recruitment & HR Committee Meeting
13 July - Meeting with CASO
13 July - Meeting with Journalist
13 July - USASA Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee Meeting
17 July - GM & President Meeting
17 July - City West Campus Tours
17 July - USASA Governance Committee Meeting
17 July - USASA Board Meeting
18 July - Mawson Lakes Campus Tours
20 July - Australian Universities Learning and Teaching Leaders' Roundtable on Generative AI
20 July - Recruitment & HR Committee Meeting
21 July - Meeting with Vice Chancellor
25 July - Student Appeals Committee
26 July - Student Appeals Committee
27 July - Student Appeals Committee
28 July - USASA Election Promotion Podcast Recording
28 July - NUS Protest Planning Day
28 July - Academic Board
31 July - President & GM Meeting
31 July - USASA Education Committee Meeting
August
2 August - Visit to Flinders University
3 August - Meeting with Student
3 August - Academic Enterprise Oversight Committee Meeting
3 August - Meeting with Richard Irons
3 August - 7 August - On Leave
4 August - Budget Meeting
8 August - UniSA Council Meeting/Presentation to Council on USASA Annual Report
9 August - Meeting with Provost and Chief Academic Officer (PCAO)
10 August - Joint Committee for the Establishment of Adelaide University Hearing
Hi Everyone,
Hope everyone enjoyed their break and are ready to start the new academic year. Listed below are some of the activities I participated in past month and planning to do next month.
18/01/23 – USASA BOARD RETREAT
The event happened last month where all the board reps, various USASA staff members and representatives from UniSA gathered in Hahndorf to prepare us for the coming year. This board retreat was personally very helpful to understand about my role and responsibilities and connect with my fellow representatives.
19/01/23 – FIRST BOARD MEETING
In the first USASA Board Meeting of 2023, I was elected as the convenor for the Education Committee.
25/01/23– MEETING WITH VICE CHANCELLOR
Isaac and I met David Lloyd, Vice Chancellor of UniSA to discuss the upcoming events this year where student voice and representation could be incorporated. It was a great opportunity get his useful insights into my role.
31/01/23– 04/02/23 --NUS PRESIDENT SUMMMIT
Isaac and I had a wonderful opportunity to attend the President’s Summit by NUS in Melbourne.
08/02/2023 –HDR REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE (Continuous activity)
Isaac, Cristine, and I had a discussion regarding the mail I received from HDR Representative of Research Degrees Committee. This is to potentially form a group/committee of all the HDR Reps from different academic units to talk about common HDR issues.
Next month’s planned activities
Meeting with all the HDR Representatives from different Academic units on 2nd March 2023
Discussion about CAPA affiliation and some background Research about the organisation
First Formal Inquiry on 1st March 2023
International Student Welcome Reception, O week, Campus Tours and Campus Fair
Below is the list of activities I participated in February and March and some events planned for the coming months-
20/02/23 and 21/02/23- INTERNATIONAL STUDENT WELCOME RECEPTION
Alex and I had an amazing opportunity to promote USASA and its services to new international students. We welcomed the new students by giving out free USASA goodies. We got a good response and a lot of students showed interest in knowing more about the association.
24/02/23 –FIRST ACADEMIC BOARD MEETING
Sam, Hayate, Isaac, and I attended the first academic board meeting of the year.
28/02/23 – MEETING WITH DEPUTY VICE CHANCELLOR-Research and Enterprise
Isaac and I met with Marnie Hughes Warrington, the deputy vice chancellor to get some insights about the HDR students and their scholarships. This meeting was essential for gaining knowledge to host the meeting with HDR students to discuss their issues.
01/03/23 – FORMAL INQUIRY
It was my first formal inquiry and let’s just say it was stressful.
06/03/23– CAMPUS TOUR (PART OF INDUCTION TAINING)
As a part of my induction training with the university, I was given a tour of all four campuses and a brief history about each.
07/03/23- COUNCIL MEEETING
Isaac and I attended the first council meeting of the year.
08/03/2023 –CORPORATE INUCTION TRAINING
I was required to attend the corporate induction training as a part of my council member training. It was a brief introduction about the university, how it operates, and the people running different units within the university.
08/03/2023 – CAMPUS FAIR
I attended the city west campus Fair, gave out freebies at the USASA stall and interacted with a lot of new students.
10/03/2023 – CLUBS COMMITTEE
Alex did a wonderful job in chairing the first clubs committee.
15/03/2023 – HDR MEETING AND 17/03/2023 – EDUCATION COMMITTEE MEETING
I will update the board about these two events in the next board report, but these meetings are organised, and all planned out.
Going to Brisbane for taking the course, “Governance in University Sector” from 11th April to 14th April.
Discussion about CAPA affiliation and some background Research about the organisation. (Which was on hold last month.)
Formal Inquiry on 22nd March
As I had two major submissions in the month of march, I apologise for not being very active. I would like to give you some updates about the HDR meeting and Education Committee held last month.
HDR MEETING
I had a wonderful opportunity to chair this meeting with HDR representatives from different academic units. Hayley Caldwell, the HDR rep for Justice and Society gave a presentation on Increasing the RTP Scholarship. The meeting was quite productive as it was a chance for all the reps to discuss about long going issues among the HDRs. After the meeting, Hayley Caldwell recently updated everyone that UniSA will be successfully raising their stipend to match the University of Adelaide to $32,500.
EDUCATION COMMITTEE
I chaired my first Education Committee which was again a great success. We discussed the Accords paper. The second topic of discussion was about the online lectures and whether the university should go ahead with it.
I am working with Alex to promote Clubs Committee among the clubs by meeting all the club executives. This will be done to raise awareness among clubs about the committee and that they can raise the issues they might be facing with the committee.
Along with Jayce, Hayate and Alex, BBQ event is being planned at City West.
I am also planning an activation event exclusively for HDR students.
Last month I got an opportunity to go to Brisbane to attend the Governance in university sector course. I have three binders worth of notes on governance and finance, if anybody is interested to borrow them and have a look, please ask Cristine. Personally, it was a very useful course where I got to learn the basics of governance and how to read financial papers.
MAPPING OUT STUDENT REPRESENTATION
I am working with Cristine on mapping out student representation across the university. We also intend to formalise the roles and responsibilities of ASR from different academic units. As a part of this project, I emailed STEM ASRs and had a meeting with two of them at Mawson Lakes. This is an ongoing project, and I would be emailing other ASRs from other academic units in the coming weeks.
HIRING PANEL
I got an opportunity to be a part of shortlisting and interview panel for hiring Coordinator: Student Engagement Unit. It was a very new and learning experience.
GRADUATION AND COUNCIL MEETING
As a council member, I attended graduations and the council meeting.
USASA POP-UP AT CITY WEST
Alex, Jayce, Hayate, Kush, and I successfully held a USASA Pop-Up barbecue at City West where we gave out free food and USASA goodies. It was an amazing opportunity to promote USASA and meet fellow students.
I hope you all had a smooth and successful exam season. For those who still have exams remaining, I want to extend my best wishes to you.
The past month has proved to be quite challenging for me. Between the demands of exams and an unfortunate incident back home, I found it difficult to give my absolute best. Nevertheless, I managed to attend the academic board meeting and had the privilege of chairing the Education Committee.
During the Education Committee, we had the honour of hosting two distinguished guests from the University: Professor Esther May, Pro Vice Chancellor of Teaching & Learning and Tania Kanellos, the Academic Registrar of Student & Academic Services. Their presence provided us with a valuable opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions and exchange feedback regarding online lectures, examinations, and the emergent issues register.
I had an informal meeting with Alex, during which we invited club executives to engage in a discussion about clubs, with the aim of promoting the clubs committee and highlighting the importance of club spaces.
Additionally, I had the privilege of being selected as a member of the esteemed judging panel for UniSA's prestigious Image competition, which focused on showcasing excellence in research and teaching. As part of this esteemed panel, we meticulously evaluated numerous submissions, carefully scrutinizing each entry to identify the top three deserving winners. Furthermore, we handpicked a selection of entries for the highly anticipated People's Choice awards, providing an opportunity for the wider university community to participate and recognize exceptional talent.
Thank you for allowing me to share these updates with you. As the holiday season approaches, I extend my warmest wishes to you all. May you find joy and relaxation during this well-deserved break.
Thank you.
Hello Everyone,
I trust this message finds you well. In this report, I will provide an update on the matters for the previous board report as well.
Firstly, I am delighted to report the resounding success of the campus fair, which saw enthusiastic participation from every club. It was a commendable collective effort.
I am pleased to inform you that my proposal for an all-inclusive HDR networking event has received approval. I anticipate hosting this event in the near future.
During the recent Education Committee meeting, a survey was distributed to all student representatives, yielding valuable and impactful feedback. This well-researched data was subsequently presented to Prof. Esther May, Pro Vice Chancellor: Teaching and Learning. She recognised the necessity for improved training for Academic Unit Boards and has graciously entrusted the Student Voice team with this responsibility.
Furthermore, I, along with USASA President Isaac Solomon, had a productive meeting with Prof. Marnie Hughes-Warrington, Deputy Vice Chancellor: Research and Training. I shared details about the upcoming exclusive HDR event and sought her insights. This meeting served as a valuable platform for both parties to exchange pertinent updates.
In addition, I had the opportunity to collaborate on a Student Voice video project with Prof. Joanne Cys, an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
Looking ahead, the upcoming month promises to be a busy one as we focus on organizing and planning for the Ethnocon and the HDR event.
Thank you for your attention and support.
Hi eveyone!
It is a pleasure to once again be a member of the USASA student board for 2023. I hope everyone had a chance to reset over the holiday period and are ready to jump back into their studies!
January was relatively quiet regarding my USASA responsibilities as the year has only just begun, but I am expecting it to ramp up over the next few months.
USASA Board Retreat
This year marks the fourth board retreat I have attended since joining USASA. It's always exciting to see the energy that the new board comes in with and their different ideas and perspectives. This board seems very eager to get started and I am excited to see what they get up to this year.
January Activities
18/01/23 - USASA Board Retreat (day 1)
18/01/23 - Stem Formal Inquiry (1)
18/01/23 - Stem Formal Inquiry (2)
19/01/23 - USASA Board Retreat (Day 2)
19/01/23 - USASA Board Meeting
27/01/23 - Academic Integrity Workshop
February Planned Activities
07/02/23 - ISSP Governance Group
13/02/23 - Enterprise Hub Tour
20/02/23 - USASA Reconciliation Committee Meeting
20/02/23 - USASA Governance Committee Meeting
20/02/23 - USASA Board Meeting
As always, if you want to have a chat or have any ideas or issues that you’d like me to follow up on, please don’t hesitate to get into contact with me
Hi everyone!
I hope you are all having a great start to the year and are jumping into your studies for a successful semester! I don’t really have much of an update for this month as I was wrapping up my summer internship. Now that my internship is over, I’m excited to jump back into my studies and to be back on campus.
If you’re ever around on City-West campus, you can probably find me near the USASA student space in the Student Lounge – come along and say hello!
February Activities
07/02/23 - ISSP Governance Group Meeting
March Planned Activities
16/03/23 - Academic Integrity Awareness Campaign Launch
20/03/23 - Reconciliation Committee
20/03/23 - Governance Committee Meeting
20/03/23 - USASA Board Meeting
30/03/23 - USASA Staff Symposium
As always, if you want to have a chat or have any ideas or issues that you’d like me to follow up on, please don’t hesitate to get into contact with me.
Hi! I haven’t been up to much this January as I was spending time with my family in Malaysia for the holidays. It’s been getting busy again this February as we’re preparing for O-Week! I’m excited to meet students from all over the world and welcoming them to the uni life. As for events, I’ve been thinking of planning a student BBQ. It sounds like so much fun (and free food… I mean). I’m also preparing for my first placement, it’s going to be hectic. That’s all for now, good luck for the semester ahead!
Hello hello,
February was a super busy month! I flew in to Adelaide on the 8th and had to move on the same day…
Moving on to other things, I volunteered for O Week and before that as well! If you saw me around, I was probably in a UniMentor, StudyAdelaide, or USASA shirt. It was so much fun talking to all the international students and informing them of what UniSA and Adelaide has to offer! The International Students Welcome Reception was entertaining as usual, and I’m glad things went smoothly.
Hayate, Jayce, Riya and I are making plans for a City West BBQ! Hopefully all goes well! Kush and I are also looking into planning an event for SP5 O Week, let’s see where that goes. :D
That’s all for Feb!
Hey!
I hope y’all have been well and taking care. Ramadan Mubarak to those who are celebrating! The weather’s getting colder, so please try and stay warm.
Furthermore, I had met up with Benjamin, an international student, on the morning of the 24th of March to catch up and discuss issues that are happening in the international student space. We agreed that the shift in working hours would affect a lot of students. Immediately after, I met up with some USASA staff to discuss the Risk Management Framework. This is because I am planning on creating a survey/focus group to ask clubs about their opinion regarding the new club space opening. Later that evening, I visited the City East campus to attend Zahra’s Ramadan Treats pop-up. I had a fun time trying new snacks and meeting students. Lastly, I visited the City West campus on the 31st of March to attend the second Ramadan Treats pop-up. I had fun as well!
Oh, and the City West BBQ is hopefully going ahead. The event proposal form is completed and submitted, super excited for it!
Anyway, that’s all for this month. Have a picture of when I attended the Ramadan Treats event at City East!
Hey there,
Winter is really coming now; I can feel it…
For the month of April, I attended a few activities! I had fun at the USASA and UniSA Staff Symposium Networking event. I met with a lot of staff and club executives, and it was lovely to get to know them.
Then, the 14th of April was my busiest day. I joined the “Ways of Productivity Ninja” workshop facilitated by Think Productive. It was helpful in changing my working habits and how to be more efficient. After lunch, I attended the Education Committee monthly meeting. I discussed mentoring programs and how that can be implemented better for future new students. Finally, I chaired my second Clubs Committee meeting. We had four things that were discussed. We came to a good conclusion for all items.
The monthly Board Meeting on the 17th was also great, with the student board catching up on what they have done in April. Furthermore, I met with Cristine to discuss my role as a convener. It was helpful to clarify what I am required to do.
I had a few activities outside of being a USASA representative as well! I met with Paula Geldens, the Executive Dean of Justice and Society, and other Academic Student Representatives to discuss developing the student voice and experience. I also attended a two-day Mental Health First Aid Training workshop held by UniSA. Lastly, my club, ChatBox, had its Annual General Meeting on the 28th. We had so much pizza…
Anyway, that is all from me this April! Take care and please feel free to email me at joeay001@mymail.unisa.edu.au for anything :D
Hello!
Happy Pride Month! (I’m writing this report in June haha).
The month of May was busy for me! I attended the 2nd DEA Committee meeting on the 2nd of May. We had a discussion regarding accessible club spaces at Mawson Lakes. We also had the City West BBQ on the 5th of May. Other Board members and I had to ask students to come and take extra sausages before the event ended (it was chaos!).
I also chaired my 3rd Clubs Committee meeting on the 12th of May. We discussed the promotional clubs meeting that was held by Riya and me on the 26th of May. Two clubs came and conversed with us! We would love to do it again at a better time frame next semester.
I attended and represented USASA under the UniSA booth for the Indonesian Festival on the 21st of May. It was so much fun meeting other Indonesians and introducing USASA/UniSA to potential students.
Lastly, I met up with Zorka Simic and Ella Renfrey from the Student Engagement Unit to discuss a potential O-Week activity. Hopefully, it will happen!
That is all from me this month! Good luck with your exams, assignments, and studies! Do take care, drink lots of water, eat, and get a good sleep. You got this!
You can always contact me via email: joeay001@mymail.unisa.edu.au if you want to talk, bring an issue up, or need any help with navigating university life :D
Alex
How are ya! I hope your break treated you well.
July was a quiet one for me. I visited Tasmania with a few friends during the break. It was beautiful!
I also volunteered for O-Week as part of the Campus Tours. As a board rep, I introduced new students to what USASA, and the Board has to offer. Orientation is one of my favourite times of the year.
The fifth Clubs Committee meeting was also held on the 26th of July
Other than that, you can contact me via email: joeay001@mymail.unisa.edu.au ! Good luck to the new students!
Hi everyone, and hope you all did enjoy your holiday as much as I did and I am very excited to see you all again during O week
I am the City Easy Student Representative and on my third year Bachelor of Physiotherapy.
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the Board Retreat in January as I was in Iran for holiday. It looks like we will have a busy month with O Week and Campus Tours throughout campuses. Now that I am done with my deferred exams, I will be doing O week with Kush the undergraduate representative for city east and we are planning to meet and discuss on important issues and tasks/goals we can set for improving the student Life here at UniSA.
Me and a couple of other members who missed on Board Retreat will be having our training on 3rd March which I am really looking forward into and hoping to learn more about the USASA and what we can do as a team.
I am looking forward to the upcoming year and all the wonderful things we can do together.
Best regards,
Zahra Bayani
I hope you’re all enjoying the start of your semester and have had an amazing break.
I attended the first committee meeting which was the DEA committee meeting on 6th of March. We talked about the Student Poverty and Youth Allowance and how it would affect students' life if there would some changes to the currents law around the students' allowances.
Over the couple of weeks I have been planning an event for the Ramadan month to help students break their fast while they are at uni.
The event has so far been confirmed and I need your generous help to promote and spread the world around the campuses so many students are aware of it.
The Friday Ramadan Treats during the holy month of Ramadan will be on 24th of March at City East, 30th of March at City West and 14th of April at Mawson Lakes.
Here is the current version of the posters you might see around campuses soon! Thanks for the Reps who have been helping on promoting the event.
I also attended the Board Training on 3rd of March which was a whole day training. Board training was really eye opening, informative, and beneficial and now that when I finished the training, I knew more about my role and what was expected of me as a Student Rep here at City East.
I attended O Week along with my fellow City East Undergraduate Rep Kush on 20th, 23rd and 27th of February.
I also attended one of the Campus Fairs at Mawson Lakes and helped the Labor Club with their stall at the day and I am looking forward to the City East Campus Fair which is happening on 15th of March.
Over the past month I caught up with my fellow City East Rep to decide on future events and brainstormed what is needed for city East students and how we can enhance the students Uni life experiences and we are excited to share some of our ideas soon.
I am looking forward to my first Formal Inquiry which is happening on 21st of March and so excited for the Ramadan Treats.
And I cannot wait to see all the Student Reps in person next week at Board Meeting.
I hope you’re all enjoying your time as a student representative and keep doing the amazing work!
For my first Formal Inquiry that I attended I can say I felt a bit overwhelmed, but I realised what an important role and impact we have in student’s uni life.
During this period, I also ran the Ramadan Event which has 3 phases with 2 of them delivered already. On 24th, 31st of March, 14th of April, the event was happening at City East and City West and Mawson Lake Campuses. 50 students came by and stopped for a friendly conservation as well as having some traditional Persian sweets and dates as a small Iftari for those who were fasting. I had other students representatives’ company during those events which was really nice to see students getting to know us as well.
In April, I will have placement which means I will not be available from 8am to 5:30pm and later for some other days. So I am unable to attend as many events and Formal Inquires as I wished, but I look forward in future events held by USASA .
I hope you're all having a good time as student representatives and that you keep up the great work!
I have been busy with my university placement and haven’t been able to attend events and meetings as much during this period. But still was able to attend the USASA Pop Up stall which happened at City East Campus Basil Hetzel Plaza along with USASA President Isaac Solomon, my other fellow City East Rep Kush, and few other Reps.
Student were able to get free BBQ served by USASA Reps along with USASA goodies. The event was overall a positive experience, it allowed us the student reps to make friends and connect with other fellow students from various background. It was a good way to hear students’ perspectives and concerns related to their uni life. We did engage with lots of students, and we promote the wellness day at UniSA as well. There was another USASA pop up stall which I was not able to attend as I had other commitment, but I am sure they are did great.
On April-May, I had placement on which means I was not available from 8am to 5:30pm. So I was unable to attend as many events and Formal Inquiries as I wished, but I look forward in future events held by USASA and any future FIs.
I hope you all are doing great, and that you had a satisfying exam period. As your student representative, I have been busy with university exams but have also participated in some exciting discussions and events.
The DEA committee held a meeting on the 7th of June to discuss the Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Workshop. The committee members discussed the importance of creating awareness about sexual assault and harassment and how to prevent it. The workshop was aimed at educating students about the issue and providing them with the necessary tools to deal with it. The committee members also discussed the importance of creating a safe and supportive environment for students who have experienced sexual assault or harassment.
On the 19th of May, the committee discussed and gave feedback on an online lecture and the students' views on the pros and cons of having online lectures. The committee members discussed the benefits of online lectures, such as flexibility and convenience, but also highlighted the challenges, such as technical issues and lack of interaction with the lecturer. The committee members also discussed the importance of providing students with the necessary resources and support to ensure that they can effectively participate in online lectures.
On the 9th of June, the committee members were joined by fellow student representatives for the focus group conducted by the Volunteer Program Coordinator of USASA. The focus group discussed and brainstormed how a volunteer program should look like. The committee members discussed the importance of creating a volunteer program that is inclusive and accessible to all students. The focus group also discussed the benefits of volunteering, such as gaining valuable skills and experience, and the importance of recognising and rewarding volunteers for their contributions.
Best regards
City East Student Representative
Hello everyone!
It’s the time of the year where classes start up once again (for most of us)! Having been overseas over January of 2023, I was unable to attend the USASA Board Retreat. However, I have kept up with the meetings and have planned my involvements in several events and committees.
Over February 2023, I will attend the Finance Committee meeting on 14/02/2023 and take part in O-week as a campus representative. Furthermore, I hope to meet with Zahra, the City East Campus Representative, to discuss potential events we can organise at City East to make it a more exciting and vibrant campus to be at.
I am excited to work with everyone on the Board now that I am back in Adelaide, and I look forward to meeting as many people as I can over O-week and the rest of the year!
Don’t hesitate to contact me, I’m always happy to talk!
Kush
I hope all of you have been enjoying the first few weeks of the newly started semester!
A little update on what I’ve been up to over the month of February. My February was packed with events. Starting with being a UniMentor, I was involved in engaging many of the new students and leading campus tours. I was also involved in reaching out to new students and informing them about what USASA is and the services it offers.
I also attended my first Finance Committee Meeting chaired by Jayce on 14/02/23, where I got to learn much about USASA as an organisation and how it plans to continue supporting students as best as they can. I have spoken to fellow City East Rep Zahra about potential events we can plan and execute in the City East campus, which I am excited to be sharing with everyone shortly.
In the coming months, I will attend my USASA Board Rep training session on 3/03/2023. I will also attend my first Clubs Committee Meeting on 10/03/23 and Education Committee Meeting on 17/03/23. I am looking forward to putting my ideas forward to these committees. I also plan to sit on my first Formal Inquiry panel on 20/03/2023.
Cheers,
Kush Modha
Hey everyone, I hope all of you have had a great Easter and are enjoying this 2-week break. I would like to outline what I have been doing over the month of March.
In the early March, I found myself busy attending various committee meetings, namely Education, Finance and Clubs. Here, we discussed several matters which I am passionate to follow up about such as improving opportunities for internships and placements for students as well as increasing awareness of available existing opportunities.
Furthermore, the month of March also saw me attend my first formal inquiry. It was a new and intimidating experience going into it not knowing exactly what to expect, but I found it fulfilling, being able to represent the voice of students and help decide on a fair outcome.
I also attended my fellow City East Rep Zahra’s Ramadan Treat events at City West along with Jayce, Hayate, and Alex. Here are some photos from the event!
Until next month everyone! Meanwhile, feel free to contact me via email if there is anything I can help you with!
Hey everyone, I hope all of you have had a good Easter Break. I thought I’d share what I’ve been up to over the month of April.
April for me was busy in the early half, with many tests to study for, but I did manage to set aside time to attend a couple of important committee meetings, where we discussed some very important topics, particularly with regards to education.
I also sat on my second ever Formal Inquiry, and I was pleased to report it went well with the outcome being very fair.
Apart from that, with much less time spent on campus due to the Easter break, I did spend a lot of time catching up with my own studies. That’s all from me for now, and I’ll see you all again soon next month!
Hey all,
I hope everyone has had a wonderful month of May, and preparing well for exams & submissions as we approach the end of SP2.
Over the month of May, I found myself busy attending several meetings, namely the Finance meeting and the USASA Board meeting that took place on the 15th of May 2023, where we went through the current and future state of USASA’s budget along with Perpetual.
I also attended the Education & Clubs committee meeting where we got into the discussion of issues that we could look into in the future and the disparity in communication between course management & students themselves.
Apart from that, I found myself busy in my own exam preparations. With the Month of June upcoming and a breather from the hectic academic curriculum Uni throws at us, I hope to contribute significantly more at USASA.
Hi all,
I hope everyone enjoyed their break and is ready to tackle the new semester! Over the month of July, a relatively quiet one, I visited Melbourne & Sydney to see my relatives.
Over the upcoming few weeks, I will be attending a formal inquiry, as well as the monthly committee meetings for the finance, education, and clubs’ committees along with the monthly board meeting.
I hope everyone has a fruitful semester!
Hope everyone has had a great start to SP5. The second half of the year is always more challenging than the first, and it is now where we must put in our best effort for all the assessment pieces Uni throws at us.
Over the month of August, I have gotten up to several things, the first being attending another finance meeting. Furthermore, I sat on yet another formal inquiry and have gotten to talk to my fellow peers at city east regarding their potential running for next year’s student board.
I also attended this month’s board meeting on 17/08/23 where we went through the key takeaways of the various committees of the board. Apart from that, my August has been just like yours, keeping up with Uni work, waking up extra early for Brekky Bar, and resting up over the weekends!
I hope everyone continues to have a productive SP5 with the final week of assessments and classes and hope everyone has a enjoyable, well-deserved break!
I do hope everyone is excited to start the academic year and be involved in the events that are run on campus. Since my last board meeting, I have become interested in ways to keep myself and others motivated to achieve their goals. I look to the newly appointed Australian Rugby Union coach, Eddie Jones, for inspiration to become the best. Since my last board meeting, I have become interested in ways to keep myself and others motivated to achieve their goals. I do hope everyone is excited to start the academic year and be involved in the events that are run on campus.
On to USASA activities for this month, I attended the USASA board retreat and the first Board meeting on the 18th of January and 19th of January to work with other USASA stakeholders to discuss our responsibilities and how to perform our role effectively. On the 27th of January, I attended the academic integrity workshop with other student representatives and USASA staff to discuss the views of how academic integrity should be tackled from the perspective of USASA. On the 3rd of February, I met with the Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Randell to discuss the direction of the Reconciliation Committee for 2023.
As always if you would like to discuss anything with me, please send me an email.
Thanks,
Hayate Yamada
Hi everyone.
I wish everyone to enjoy the first few weeks of semester 2. During this period, we have seen several events go ahead, which include Orientation week, UniVibe and Campus Fair, to name a few. I am excited to attend many more events with you throughout the year. Also, please remember to join the clubs that are at USASA and get involved in leadership opportunities.
Now on to what I did during this period.
21/03/23 – Orientation week student space
Met new UniSA students and introduced USASA about what the USASA Board does to improve students’ life at the university.
24/03/23 – Academic Board and UniVibe event
Attended the first Academic Board of the year and listened to many exciting opportunities at the University. Cristine Dagnoni gave a presentation on the Student Voice project and how the Student Voice can positively impact students.
I attended the UniVibe event at 6:00 pm with several members of the USASA board. I enjoyed talking and listening to many students at the University about what they want from USASA.
28/03/23 – Orientation week student space
Another amazing opportunity to introduce USASA and its services.
06/03/23 – Reconciliation Plan meeting with Daniel Randell
I discussed with USASA CEO, Daniel Randell the short and long-term strategies that the USASA could undertake for the Reconciliation Action Plan.
07/03/23 – Whyalla UniSA campus UniVibe Event
I travelled to the Whyalla campus to help run the UniVibe event. I enjoyed talking to the Whyalla students about becoming a Student Representative and getting involved in the Student Voice project. I wanted to thank everyone who contributed to the event, and I hope to go back there sometime this year!
10/03/23 Meeting with Alex and Jayce
I had a meeting with Alex and Jayce to discuss what events can be run at City West campus. We came up with several great ideas and are excited to run some of the events at the City West campus.
That is all for what I did during this period. This month, I will be attending the Academic Integrity Awareness Campaign Launch – a discussion with Richard Iron and Sheridan Gentili about the Academic Integrity Workshop, Reconciliation Committee and Governance Committee meeting.
As always, if you have any issues or want to talk about anything, please contact me anytime.
Thank you
Hi everyone,
I hope everyone has enjoyed the period of March and April. During this period, I participated in several activities that I found enjoyable. I am excited to attend and create many more events throughout the year.
Now on to what I did during this month.
16/03/2023 – Academic Integrity Awareness Campaign
The event was the official launch of the collaborative video project by many stakeholders on academic integrity. The event highlighted the impressive work of five current UniSA Creative students.
20/03/2023 – Reconciliation Committee, Governance Committee, Board Meeting
Reconciliation Committee: As the convenor of the committee, I have had the role for a few months, I have created specific actions that the USASA organisation can complete reconciliation activities. I hope to update you all on the outcomes of the efforts throughout the year.
Governance Committee: In the governance committee, several policies needed to be reviewed. All committee members engaged in good discussions to improve the policies in USASA.
Board Meeting: All board members engaged in discussions on the board agenda.
30/03/2023 – USASA staff symposium
I met with all the USASA staff members and gave a self-introduction to them, outlining my goals in the role that I have this year.
4/04/2023 – Business and USASA catch up
I met with Business course coordinators and the president, Isaac Solomon, to discuss issues regarding students and potential solutions that could be implemented.
As always, if you would like to discuss anything, please get in touch with me.
I hope everyone had an enjoyable period as we slowly move closer to the end of SP2. During this period, I was busy with many assessments and other extracurricular activities. However, I was still able to attend the USASA Pop-Up at City West which was a great event. I hope to attend many other events throughout the month of May and June.
As always, if you would like to discuss anything, please contact me.
Hi everyone
I wish all students undertaking exams and attempting to finish all assignments good luck.
This month, I was able to complete the following:
24/05/23 – Reconciliation Committee
Continued the great discussion and creation of culturally safe practices and policies.
31/05/23 – Meeting with Luis
We discussed what USASA and the Board are doing well and what we can improve this year and beyond.
1/06/23 – Meeting with People, Talent and Culture
We discussed HR practices and policies that the University implements to ensure that all employees and students feel safe at the University.
30/05/23 - Botanic Gardens Native Plant Trail during Reconciliation Week
A Botanic Gardens Native Plant Trail that allowed students that attended to delve into the cultural heritage of Aboriginal People while discussing native plants. I want to personally thank Amy Almeida from SEU for her ongoing support and organising until and at the event. In addition, I would like to thank the people at Kumarninthi for a great tour around the Botanical Gardens.
Here is a link to their website: https://kumarninthi.com.au/
7/06/23 – Reconciliation Committee
Discussed ways in which the Reconciliation Committee can present to all members of USASA our commitment to Reconciliation.
As always, please feel free to contact me,
I wish all students enjoying the start of SP5 are ready to take on any challenge that is in front of them.
19/07/23 – Campus Tours Magill: Had a great discussion with new students starting at Uni SA on USASA.
19/07/23 – Campus Tours City West: Discussed what USASA does to students
26/07/23 – Reconciliation Committee: Continued the great discussion and creation of culturally safe practices and policies.
Thank you,
I wish all students enjoying reaching the halfway mark of SP5 and to finish well. I acknowledge that this period is hectic as many students have a lot of responsibilities.
7 August - Formal Inquiry meeting: Meet with several students on different issues.
Hi Everyone
I hope you all are looking forward to the coming academic year. Thus far, as the City West Undergraduate Representative, I have begun to settle into my new role. On 11/12/22, the 11/01/23 and the 10/02/23, I met with my fellow campus representative Hayate Yamada to plan for the year ahead and discuss an upcoming event.
On the 18/01/23I attended the USASA board retreat where I learned more about my responsibilities. It was a great experience and I particularly enjoyed connecting with the other reps. On the 19/01/23 we had our first board meeting. There, I became a member of the Governance Committee, and was elected the convenor of the Finance Committee.
Since then, I have prepared to chair my first finance meeting, which will be held on the 14/02/23. I had a meeting with General Manager (CEO) Daniel Randell and the board’s financial advisor Kaveeta Magandram, and had a meeting on 10/02/23 with the convenors of other committees, to ensure that I am prepared for the role.
I look forward to the year ahead, and to meeting as many students as I can during O-week.
Jayce
I hope you all have enjoyed the beginning of the semester and are settling into the new academic year well.
On the 14/02/23, I chaired my first finance committee meeting. This went very well, and I am excited for the year ahead. I am currently preparing to chair my next meeting which will be held 14/03/23.
On the 20/02/23, I attended my first Governance committee meeting, and my second board meeting. Again, these went well and we had some strong discussions about policies and the year to come.
This month I sat on two formal inquiry panels, and I have three scheduled for the following month.
On the 24/02/23, I had a meeting with fellow campus representative Hayate Yamada, followed by another meeting on the 02/03/23 about an upcoming event that we are planning. I had another meeting with Hayate, as well as the International Representative Alex Felicia-Joe to begin planning another event.
On 02/03/23, I spoke to students with USASA President Isaac Solomon, and Hayate, at the “Ask Isaac” pop up. Here, I was able to meet many students, and discuss issues affecting students. It was great to meet so many people, and I am looking forward to meeting more people over the following year.
Happy mid-semester break, I hope you all have had a great Easter holiday and are not studying too hard during the couple weeks you have off.
On the 14/03/23, I chaired my second Finance Committee meeting. We discussed the boards financials and noted that they are well. There is some variance between planned and actuals, which is based on the time of year, but everything else is very good. We approved the audit reports, and discussed ethical investments and considerations. I am currently preparing to chair my next meeting which will be held 13/04/23.
On the 20/03/23, I attended my second Governance committee meeting, and my third Board meeting. It sounds as if all of my fellow student representatives have been super busy, and it has been great to work with a team that are genuinely trying to make students’ lives better.
I sat on three formal inquiry panels this month, and have one more scheduled for the following month.
I met with fellow campus representative Hayate Yamada on various occasions this month, primarily to plan for the year ahead. These dates included the 10/03/23, 17/02/23, and 05/04/23. We’re really excited moving forward with the year, and have a lot we want to achieve.
On the 30/03/23 we had the USASA staff symposium. It was great to meet all of the people that work so hard to keep USASA operating, and I though the day went very well.
I had a meeting on the 17/03/22 to discuss and Academic Integrity event that Hayate and I are running. This was to be held on the 05/04/23, but due to unforeseen circumstances, had to be postponed. Hayate and I are working on various ways that this information can be delivered to students, and we are extremely excited to be revisiting this idea when we back from the mid-semester break.
On the 31/03/23, I got to meet a lot of students at the City West Ramadan Treat snack night, run by the City East Representative Zahra Bayani. Zahra has done an amazing job with this initiative, and I felt very privileged to have been there on the night to talk with students, hand out snacks for students to break their fast with, and to celebrate Ramadan with Muslim students. It was also great to have been able to catch up with the other City East representative Kush, our City West representative Hayate, and our International Student Representative Alex.
I’m looking forward to another busy month ahead.
I hope everyone is not too busy as we move into the tail-end of the first semester of 2023.
On the 13/04/23, I chaired my third Finance Committee meeting. We discussed the Board’s financials and observed similar variances to the previous month. I, along with the rest of the Committee, were pleased to have advisors discuss with us how we can invest ethically, and many different ethical considerations that are taken into consideration within an investment portfolio. I am currently preparing to chair my next meeting which will be held 15/05/23.
On the 17/04/23, I attended my third Governance Committee meeting, my fourth Board meeting, and the USASA AGM. The Governance Committee yet again engaged in strong discussion about policy and other board relevant matters. The USASA AGM was great, and I loved hearing from Isaac about how USASA have served our members throughout the year. As impressive as it was, I am super excited to see how those numbers and statistics improve next year, and the year after.
I had a Formal Inquiry scheduled for this month, which was cancelled, but I have one more scheduled for the following month.
Hayate and I are still in discussions about what is going to occur with the Academic Integrity event that got postponed. I hope to figure it out very soon.
I had the pleasure of attending a Committee for Adelaide event with Isaac on May the 2nd. This was a great opportunity to represent students, network, and listen to an amazing and informative panel. On Friday the 5th of May, I helped run the USASA City West Pop-Up barbeque for students. Despite the volatile weather, I had a great time meeting students and discussing USASA. (I also enjoyed handing out the free food.)
I had a great month, and I’m super excited for the month ahead.
Hey Everyone
I hope everyone is studying hard as we approach the end of Semester 1 2023.
On the 15/05/23, I chaired my fourth Finance Committee meeting. We discussed the Boards financials and began to discuss the budget planning process. We also had our financial advisors discuss our portfolio, and the current economic climate. I am currently preparing to chair my next meeting which will be held 15/06/23.
On the 15/05/23, I also attended my fifth Board meeting. I will be attending the next Governance Committee and Board meeting on the 19/06/2023.
On the 10/05/23, I attended my sixth Formal Inquiry.
17/05/2023, I caught up with the USASA Coordinator of Governance and Student Leadership, to check in, reflect on what work has been done, and discuss how we can improve moving forward. On the 22/05/2023, I caught up with the President of the UniSA Marketing club to check in and see how everything was going.
While this month was extremely busy, I look forward to contributing more to our highly determined team at USASA this coming month.
Hi all, I hope everyone has enjoyed the winter break, and are rested and ready for the next semester.
On the 13/07/23, I chaired my sixth finance committee meeting. We discussed the boards financials and continued to discuss the budget process. We had an extraordinary finance committee meeting 04/08/2023 to further discuss the budget. I am currently preparing to chair my next meeting which will be held 17/08/23.
On the 17/08/23, I attended my seventh board meeting, and the June Governance Committee meeting. The next meetings will be the 21/08/23.
I’m looking forward to a productive semester.
I hope everyone has had a good month.
On the 17/08/23, I chaired my Seventh finance committee meeting. We discussed the boards financials and discussed Policy. I am currently preparing to chair my next meeting which will be held 14/09/23.
I will be attending a formal inquiry 26/09/2023.
I will also be attending the September Board meeting 18/09/2023.
I hope everyone is well.
Hey everyone!
It’s always exciting to start a new year but I’m especially keen to step into the new role of Magill rep for 2023.
I was lucky enough to attend USASA Board retreat which was a great opportunity to both get some training on the role but also to formulate goals for the year. I’m really looking forward to seeing what I can do to both support and advocate for students this year. I’m also excited to work with Lucy to do some great things at Magill.
Please reach out if you need any anything this year.
Oliver
Hey Everyone!
Hope people are settling back into Uni and haven’t had too much trouble finding tutorials and getting back in the swing of it. I know personally I always find it too be a bit a shock after such a long break.
I was really excited to start working on lots of the projects which will start to pan out over the next couple of months. It was great to have a chat with Lucy and brainstorm some great ideas for events at Magill and also create some plans to push for lots of positive change around campus. It was also great to chair the first Governance Committee Meeting of the year and from that work to create better policy around lots of the great work USASA Student Representatives do on University Committees.
It was also awesome to see some many people out around campus and through tours. If you ever do need anything or even see me around Magill please don’t be afraid to say hello.
Once again if anyone has any questions or ideas you can contact me.
Have a great month everyone!
Hello, hope that everyone has had a very productive month and has enjoyed a little rest over the Easter long weekend.
I’m really excited to say we will be hosting a Shrek Movie Night in the Magill Student Lounge on Friday the 14th of April. It’s been something I’ve worked on over the last month and I’m really keen to see how the event goes. It’s been really great to see high engagement with students through USASA’s social media. And many students actively registering to the event and voting for the Movie on Insta. It’s something I would really like to continue throughout the year as well with events like these a great opportunity for Magill students to connect and enjoy uni life outside of academic studies.
I’m also excited to get work underway with a constitutional review so that the Governance committee can consider changes to the USASA constitution so we can continue to function efficiently as an organisation and strive to keep improving our representation of Students.
It was also great to have a student meeting with the Vice Chancellor last month and hear about the Uni’s thoughts and business case for a university merger, I and all the other USASA reps also feel strongly that students need to have a strong voice in this process and will continue to push for greater student consultation and protect the interests of students during this process.
Have a great Uni break everyone!
Hey,
Hope everyone had a productive month, here’s a quick recap of everything I got up too.
Had another productive board meeting where we got started on the process of putting together USASA’s budget this year. Also had very productive Governance and Finance Committee meetings where we discussed how USASA’s savings are invested and how we can get the best return while also investing student money in the most environmental and ethical way. While continuing to debate the critical issue of how USASA representatives are placed onto University Committees so that they can best represent students.
It was also great to take part in the City East USASA Pop-Up Barbeque, it was awesome to see what a great turn out there was to grab a sausage in bread and have a chat about student representation. I’m excited to say that soon we’ll have an event like this at Magill and looking forward to meeting more of you.
Until next time, please reach out if anyone has any questions or needs anything.
I hope everyone managed to get a bit of rest in over the mid semester break and is also enjoying getting started on another semester. For me this was in comparison to the rest of the year a relatively quiet month. It was great to have the opportunity to Australian Universities Round Table on generative AI. We also had a productive Academic Board and Governance meeting.
It has also been great meeting so many people during campus tours and club events.
Hope everyone has a great month,
Thanks
I hope everyone is enjoying getting stuck into their courses. It’s been a busy month, the largest focus of mine has been undertaking the hiring of a new general manager for USASA. This has been an important process to ensure that the student association remains on track and continuing to empower students. After interviewing candidates I’m quite optimistic for the future.
It was also great news that Uni SA will be hosting NUS Ethno con later in September. I’ve been helping to plan this event and I’m extremely excited to welcome student leaders from around Australia to consider and talk about the issues that affect our extremely diverse student population.
Once again please reach out if anyone has any questions,
Hey Hey!
I am very excited for this year and the month ahead, being able to work with you all.
So far this year I have been able to attend the USASA board retreat which was an amazing experience to meet and connect with everyone there. I found it was also a valuable opportunity to narrow down my goals for the year and what I would like to achieve while learning about myself and my leadership style.
I am excited to work with each of you and seeing what we can complete as a team and individually.
In February, I hope to meet with Oliver more and start to create some plans and ideas for what we can do together throughout the year to make an impact and exciting environment at Magill.
Always here for a chat and would love to talk to all you throughout the year.
Lucy
Hope everyone is have a good time back at Uni and being on campus!
This month Oliver and I had a chat about the different projects we wanted to work on throughout the year. With some key events surrounding the campus and a positive campus atmosphere.
I also chaired the first Diverse, Equity and Access (DEA) Committee meeting where we discussed some key ideas around how we can support the NUS report on Student Poverty and Youth Allowance.
I am very excited for the Campus Fair on Thursday the 16th of March and to get out and talk to more students on campus and see how Oliver and I can help support them and bring a positive vibe to the campus throughout the year.
It has been so good to be back on campus and being back amongst everything over the past month.
Can’t wait to keep working with you all this year!
Hey all, hope everyone had a relaxing Easter weekend and a good start to their Uni break.
This month has been a very exciting month with a few things getting organised to start over the next few months.
The first thing I am very excited about is that Oliver and I are having a movie night at Magill on Friday the 14th of April. We will be watching Shrek and hoping to meet and get to know as many students as possible. It has been really exciting to see the engagement we have had with it on our social media as well as the amount of people that have already registered to come. Oliver and I are really excited to bring life back to campus over the past few years and this is one of the many things we will hopefully do this year.
I’m also excited to start working with the UniSA SASH team on a few different programs this year. I had a meeting with Isaac, Luis and the SASH coordinators (Anna, Natasha and Rowena) this month to start talking about the different ways to get students involved in the work SASH is doing and how we can incorporate students, USASA and the DEA committee into it all.
It was also so much fun meeting so many students at the USASA Pub Crawl which was on the 6th of April. I was able to talk to so many different students from every campus and have different conversations with them all about what they are studying and what they want out of their Student Board.
I hope you all have a relaxing break and a productive start back to the year!!
Reach out if you need anything 😊
Hey all!
Hope everyone had a good break and a good first few weeks back at Uni.
This month I chaired another successful DEA meeting and have started to work closely with the Rainbow Club President to help them widen the door to their club room to be a more inclusive space. As well as organising a time for Anna (SASH programs coordinator) and her team to come to our next meeting to start engaging student leaders with the work they are currently doing.
I also had a meeting with the Mason Lakes Representatives and Oliver to organise a joint event between the two campuses and start planning for a USASA Pop-Up Barbeque at Magill in the next few weeks.
It's been great being back on campus the past few weeks and meeting different students and chatting about how USASA can help you with different issues facing students.
Hope everyone has a good month!
Hope everyone is doing well at the end of the semester!
This month I attended the South Australia Pharmacy Student Association (SAPSA) cocktail night and was able to talk to a variety of students and University sponsors about their degrees and the work they are doing in their fields of study. It was very interesting to listen to their stories and receive their feedback on the support they would like to receive.
I also chaired a meeting with the DEA committee and different student leaders from, USASA, PASS and Uni Mentors to talk with Anna about how we can help leaders feel prepared if someone discloses instances of sexual assault and sexual harassment to them. We were able to have in depth conversations with how the different groups of leader feel around this space and how we can better support our leaders to feel confident to handle different disclosure situations. This is an ongoing collaboration to hopefully make student leaders feel more supported and more confident around different disclosures.
Good luck to everyone completing their final assessments over the next few weeks!
Lucy Fawcett
Fawlc001@mymail.unisa.edu.au
Hope everyone had a good month and went well in their end of semester assignments.
This month I was fortunate enough to travel to Brisbane with Sam and Oliver for the 2023 NUS Education Conference. Over the 4 days I was able to learn about different events, programs and support systems other student leaders are doing within their universities to enhance student experience. I was also able to have insightful conversations with different leaders on how they have implemented change within their universities and how we can do the same at UniSA.
This month I also attended an online zoom workshop with End Rape on Campus (EROC) to chat with them, other organisations such as the STOP campaign and other student leaders on what there are doing to help prevent and educate students around Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment.
Finally, I have been able to continue to work with Anna to finalise the Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment student leader handbook to help empower student leaders in cases of disclosure.
I hope everyone has a relaxing break before the next study period! Please reach out if you ever want a chat 😊
I hope everyone had a good semester break and I hope you are all having a successful start back to the new semester. This month has been pretty chill, with a lot of planning around upcoming events and meetings including the Magill Campus BBQ and the Clubs Social Event on the 16th of August.
With the new board elections coming up I have been involved in some of the promotional material this month, including recording a ‘podcast’ around the board this year and wat we have done. I am looking forward to the rest of the promotion coming up and meeting with everyone who is running for 2024.
I hope everyone has a good rest of the month/beginning of next month!
Reach out if you need any help with anything 😊
Hope everyone had a good month and survived the end of winter.
This month I was able to meet different students at the Magill USASA pop up BBQ. It was so great to see so many students back on campus and enjoying the sunshine we had. I also attended the Club Social and was able to chat and get to know some of the Club Executives.
We had a DEA meeting where we started to talk about some exciting projects we are going to start working on throughout the rest of the year.
I hope everyone has a relaxing mid-semester break. Feel free to reach out to chat any time. 😊
Welcome back! It’s once again board report time from your friendly neighbourhood Mawson Lakes Student Representative!
18/01/23 - USASA Board Retreat
I once again visited the Adelaide Hills Convention centre for a 2 day long intensive retreat to train up the new board on all in the ins and outs of being a student representative, Myself, Hayate, Isaac and Rhys as returning member did our best to impart our knowledge to new representatives.
19/01/23 - First Board Meeting
The last event for our training retreat was the First Board Meeting of the year! We went through all the usual processes and appointments to various committees. This year I will be supporting students through our academic advisory group and academic board!
I am very excited to meet you all during O Week!
As always, please feel free to reach out.
Sam Bhattacharjee
Mawson Lakes Student Representative
Over the last four weeks I have been out and all around campus! To start off myself and the Mawson Lakes Undergraduate Representative helped out at our student spaces for campus tours during O Week, this was an amazing opportunity to meet all of you guys who are just starting out for the year, I hope your first couple weeks at university so far have been amazing!
After O week I had the great pleasure of attending UniVibe hosted by the University at both Lion Arts Studio at City West and also in Mount Gambier! It was an excellent time, and I was so happy to meet and connect with so many new students, it was a great time!
As mentioned earlier, I was lucky enough to accompany the USASA Coordinator: Governance and Leadership as well as the Student Representative Support Officer to Mount Gambier to wrestle up some drive to fill our currently vacant Mount Gambier Representative position. It was a beautiful campus with amazing facilities! If you are passionate about representing your fellow students at Mount Gambier, please nominate soon!!
Otherwise, everything else went along as usual, I attended the monthly Board Meeting along with the Governance Committee and Reconciliation Committee and I attended the Academic board and SAPAG.
Thank you for your time and I hope to see you around,
March has come and gone and it is once again time for a recap of all that’s happened! If you remember at the start of the month, I visited Mount Gambier to promote the Mount Gambier representative position, and I attended the Mawson lakes Campus fair as well as the Magill Campus fair! These events where amazing and I was so happy to meet so many new students and talk to them about what stages of uni they are in, what they like/dislike and what experiences they want out of university.
After all this I attended part one of the USASA Board Symposium, this event is to help bridge the gaps between USASA staff, University staff and Board reps, I gave a short presentation about myself and my role to the USASA Staff and will do the same for the University Staff in April, I was able to listen to many insightful presentations from staff members about their roles and how they can support us ending with an activity where we planned a mock event.
Speaking of event planning, Myself and the Undergraduate Rep: Jeel, are currently planning a few events to help bring some more life to the campus, so please keep your eyes peeled for any news about future events.
To finish this off I attended the USASA Outer Space Pub Crawl!!! It was an amazing time and I was able to talk to so many of you! Plus I got some alien sunglass, overall this event was awesome!!!
As always, if you want to reach out please do so at Bhasy035@mymail.unisa.edu.au.
I’d like to start off by saying hope you are all well had some much-needed time off during the mid semester break! I definitely got some rest and was ready to go once again!
April started off with a bang at the Outer-Space Crawl! It was so amazing to see so many people came along, it was definitely one small step for man one giant crawl for mankind! After this I enjoyed the long weekend and got my work finished up before the start of the mid semester break!
After this I attended the USASA AGM, this was a very interesting event and it was nice to see the few members who attended, after the AGM I attended the monthly Board meeting and everything went as is.
I also hosted the Beer Enthusiast Team AGM, of which I am the President. Looking forward to some club activities!
The start of May saw me Attend the USASA City East Pop-Up BBQ! It was a great success and I look forward to hosting the Mawson Lakes one sometime in the near future.
This month was less jam- packed as it fell between the down time for Uni but I am ready to jump back into the fray.
As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, please reach!
Hope your SP2 is winding down the way you want it to be!
This month was pretty cruisy for yours truly, aside from attending the Board meetings and committee meetings, I had the pleasure to attend the SAPSA cocktail night, this was a great event, and it was awesome to see a USASA club host such and awesome event! As I said last time, at the start of May I went to the City East barbeque, I will also be at the Mawson Lakes and Magill barbeques so please come by and say hi!
Speaking of! USASA clubs are active as ever and now is definitely the time to check out what events your fellow students are getting up too and how you can get involved.
June is looking to be a jam-packed month, aside from final assessments, I’m going to be doing a lot of fun stuff, I’ll keep you posted so look out for us on your socials!
Please stay safe and have fun, rest up and good luck with your exams!
As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, you can reach me at Bhasy035@mymail.unisa.edu.au
I hope your assessments went well and you have enjoyed a well-earned break!
Aside from finishing up the semester, June was an interesting month! I attended the Diversity, Equity and Access Committee meeting which was a special presentation on the SASH toolkit that the university has developed, this was chaired by the Magill Undergraduate Representative Lucy and was a very interesting meeting with lots of information that will help students!
I also attended the monthly Board meeting, this was an extra special meeting as we said farewell to our CEO Daniel Randell, after being here at USASA for a decade it was time for him to move on to new things, I wish him all the best!
Then I attended Academic Board, and as many of you would have been notified via emails, I was told about the University of South Australia’s position regarding the creation of a new university, if you have any questions comments or concerns, please forward them onto our president Isaac Solomon.
I closed out the month of June with the annual National Union of Students Education Conference held at the University of Queensland, this was a 4-day conference were student leaders from around the nation held workshops to help understand how to tackle student issues that different universities face. This week was very inciteful and I had the pleasure of running one with the Magill Student Representative Oliver as well as appearing as a guest on a panel for a different workshop. The workshop I ran with Oliver was about how to ensure we get the best outcomes for students; this workshop was filled with great conversation and students from all over the nation gave their thoughts and ideas. The second one I appeared on was all about engaging smaller states, this was a great way to show everyone how great SA really is.
June was a busy month, so I hope everyone is using their holidays to get some much-needed rest! As always please contact me with any questions at bhasy035@mymail.unisa.edu.au
Hello everyone!!
I hope the start of SP5 has been a good one!
This month was fairly chill as I am easing into the semester and I hope you are all doing the same.
To kick things off I would've seen a lot of your faces at this year's orientation events! You would've seen me during your tours of Mawson lakes, it was an awesome time to see all those new faces and I hope you all got something out of the tours!
I was also involved in some USASA marketing materials for our upcoming elections! For more information visit our website!
And lastly Jeel (the undergraduate representative) and I held a barbeque at Mawson Lakes, it was an amazing time and we literally flew through our sausages and veggie patties.
So far so good for SP5, as usual if you have anything you want to talk about or ask please contact me at bhasy035@mymail.unisa.edu.au
August was a fairly cruisy month, I attended four formal inquiries and our monthly board meeting.
If you have been notified of any Academic integrity issues and are stressed or anxious, our team at USASA do an amazing work to advocate for you and help where they can. You can find out more by following this link: https://usasa.sa.edu.au/support/academic-advocacy/
Also keep an eye out on the USASA Instagram page and you might see some familiar faces!!
As always, I am here to answer any questions comments or concerns!
Hello everyone,
This month had been quite busy for me as I engaged in various activities that were focused on improving my skills and knowledge in different areas. I started with attending the Campus Fair at UniSA where I had the opportunity to interact with new students and inform them about USASA and the range of events and services we offer. This experience enabled me to share my expertise with others and make a positive impact on their college experience.
In addition to this, I also took part in Board Rep Training, which equipped me with the necessary skills to perform my new role. The training was comprehensive, and I feel well-prepared to take on the challenges that come with the position. I also brainstormed ideas with Sam about hosting a "Meet Mawson Lakes Reps" event, which could bring students together and create a sense of community and help introduce ourselves to the students on our campus. I plan on discussing this further with Lucy and Sam on hosting an event with Magill Campus since both campuses share common students.
Overall, it has been a productive month for me, and I am excited to see what the future holds.
Jeel
This month was an eventful one for me. One of the highlights was attending the symposium, which turned out to be a super fun experience. It was great to meet and get to know the USASA staff who work tirelessly to make our university experience better. I also had the chance to share some details about myself, and it felt good to be part of such a vibrant community.
In addition to the symposium, I had a fruitful meeting with Sam to discuss organizing a "meet the reps" event at Mawson Lakes. We brainstormed and shortlisted some super fun activities for the event, which I am excited to see come to life. I can't wait to share the details with everyone and see how it turns out.
Also attended a meeting with Isaac, where we discussed ways to make our services more accessible, especially in regards to mental health, and what steps we could take towards it. It is crucial to ensure that our students have access to the right resources when they need them. We came up with some ideas on how to improve the services, and I believe it will help us better serve the student community.
Furthermore, I sent an email to the Magill reps to explore the possibility of doing an event together. Collaboration between campuses is always a great way to build strong relationships and enhance the student experience.
As the semester progresses, I am looking forward to more exciting opportunities and experiences. I can't wait to see what the coming months hold and what more we can achieve together as a team.
Regards,
I wanted to share some of the things I've been busy with this month as a board member.
Firstly, I sat on a Formal Inquiry panel. It was a challenging but necessary task, and I'm glad I could contribute.
I've also been working on the mental health survey, supported by the Acting CEO of USASA, to discuss the survey and what we need to do next to move the survey forward. I am excited to continue working on this project and contributing to the improvement of mental health services for students.
Finally, I attended a meeting with Lucy, Sam, and Oliver to discuss a potential event that would bring together students from Magill and Mawson Lakes campuses. We discussed ideas on how to create a sense of community between the two campuses, given the common students that they share. I am eager to continue collaborating on this initiative and contribute to creating a more unified student experience.
That's all from me for now! Looking forward to continuing to work with all of you to make a positive impact for students.
During the past month, I was part of various activities which focus on campus safety, mental health, and exam support. As the end of the semester approaches, it has been a busy period with studies.
I held a meeting with Luis, the acting CEO, and Isaac to discuss the progress of the ongoing Mental Health Survey project. This survey plays a crucial role in gathering valuable insights into the mental well-being of student.
DEA Meeting and Committee Meeting: I attended the DEA meeting, joining student leaders from various organizations, including USASA, PASS, and Uni Mentors. The primary focus was to develop strategies to help leaders feel better prepared when confronted with instances of sexual assault and harassment disclosures. This collaborative effort aimed to create a safer and more supportive campus environment.
Clubs Meeting: I participated in the Clubs meeting, fostering connections with club representatives and getting to know about Alex and Riya’s event. This engagement aimed to enhance the vibrancy and inclusivity of campus life, contributing to the overall well-being of the student body.
As the end of the semester approaches, I would like to extend my best wishes to all students for their upcoming exams and assessments.
Also, if you need to reach out to me, you can via email at Bhajk002@mymail.unisa.edu.au. I am here to provide support and help address any concerns that students may have.
Jeel 😊
Here is a summary of my activities and engagements during the past month that I’ve been up to:
5 July - Formal Inquiry
10 July - Formal Inquiry
Clubs Meeting: I actively participated in the clubs meeting, where we discussed various matters related to the clubs' functioning and activities.
Australian University Learning and Teaching Leaders Round Table on Generative AI: I had the privilege to attend the round table event, where we engaged in discussions regarding generative artificial intelligence and its implications for learning and teaching in the university context.
Lastly, I would like to wish everyone the best of luck with their upcoming assignments. I am confident that your dedication and hard work will yield positive outcomes.
The month of August, dense with its calendar of activities, provided me with multiple avenues to connect with the student community. Here is a comprehensive breakdown of my engagements:
Formal Inquiries: Throughout August, I was a part of 7 FI, my involvement in the formal inquiries was on: 1st, 10th, 15th, 17th, and 22nd August and 2 on 24th August
Mawson Lakes BBQ (4th August): If you were there, you know it was more than simply tasty food. We chatted, shared stories, The ambiance, enriched with the scent of BBQ, facilitated an organic flow of conversations.
Campus Fair (9th August): What an energizing day! The Campus Fair was bustling with activity. It was wonderful to see so many students, both new and returning, exploring the stalls, clubs, and activities on offer. A highlight of the month.
Monthly USASA Board Meeting (21st August): Our monthly catch-up was insightful. We touched base on various projects and plans, and as always, it was great to hear from everyone.
DEA Meeting (23rd August): Joined DEA committee and collectively addressed important campus issues. The focus remains on building a safe, nurturing, and inclusive environment for all.
Mawson Lakes Open Day (27th August): Met some bright-eyed potential students, and it was truly rewarding to share our experiences and answer their many questions about what lies ahead.
As the end of the term approaches, I would like to extend my best wishes to all students for their upcoming assessments.
Hey all, I hope you've all had a great start of the year.
Being an online student, classes for me had started even before the January Board Retreat–which was a fantastic way to get everyone up to speed on the role of Board Member as well as catch up personally–so my studies are well underway already and I wish you all luck with the start of your own.
The start of the year has been incredibly busy for me professionally, leaving little room for me to get on top of some of the tasks I wanted to begin with, such as meeting and collaborating with the Online Student Advisory Group and introducing myself and USASA to online students. These I will action before my next report. Whilst I can do that, my full-time work schedule loosens up around May and I will be able to engage in Formal Inquiry meetings. If I can get time off earlier for ad-hoc events such as these, I will. Fully aware of my tight timeframe at the start of the year, I did not elect to join any board committees.
With that, I wish the rest of the board success in the restart of their studies this year.
Brendan Ritter
To the online students, good luck with your SP1 exams that will commence shortly. To the campus students, I hope you’re happy and excited to begin your SP2 courses.
This month I have contacted the Online Student Advisory Group and am planning to meet up with their leadership team shortly when our schedules align. I spoke briefly to some of them in November at an Online student event and opening a channel of discussion was suggested, which I strongly agree with and will facilitate shortly, which I expect to bring value to both groups.
Over the past two months most of the students I spoke with – both online and on-campus –have admitted to not knowing about the student services provided to them by both the University and USASA. With the start of SP3 approaching for Online students, I am drafting a communication email to online students advising of these services, which I hope will assist some students in their study that were previously unaware of these services at their disposal.
This is all from this month
This month I attended the first day of the USASA Symposium, which proved to be just as helpful as I was hoping it would be. Of particular interest to me was the activation/event planning scenario and understanding just many requirements are completely different for events designed for online students. I was also advised that previous feedback from Online students was that they were interested in more workshop- and skills-based events and activities than fun- or social-based events (not that workshops can’t be fun!), which is something I will take into considering when looking into what events can be held for online students. I also want to take in feedback from the Online Student Advisory Group and discuss with them whether they have any further insights or ideas that could be put forth, potentially as joint ventures. Unfortunately, due to competing time constraints, the Online Student Advisory Group and I have not yet been able to meet up to discuss mutual interests.
Tomorrow (Tuesday, 11 April) is the second day of the USASA Symposium, and I am excited not only for the content, but also for the networking event and to talk to some of the clubs about their online student involvement and capability.
For online students, SP3 is upon us – so it’s back to the books again.
Bredan Ritter
Shortly after last month’s report was written I had the opportunity to attend the USASA UniSA Staff Symposium. This involved hearing from many of the UniSA department leaders including the provost, who was keen to see the online opportunities at the University continue to develop.
The previous Board Meeting was coupled with the USASA AGM, where the acting CEO and current USASA President gave a presentation summarising the organisation’s achievements over the course of 2022, the strategic direction of the organisation, and other notable functions and formalities. This was even attended by a couple of interested students as well.
In discussions with the events team over the past month, and with the beginning of the Working on Wellness campaign during May, an accessibility issue was resolved regarding the booklets of this campaign, so now online students can access and download the booklet if they wish.
I have also been engaging in discussions with the UO Student Advisory group and other student reps, with meetings planned for later in the month.
This month has been somewhat quiet for me given some personal time constraints. I’ve had some back-to-back assignments and moved house, just to name a few.
During the month I met with the University Online Unit’s Student Advisory Group leadership, and discussed how we could work together better now and in future, to ensure the messaging received from students is consistent and we can both work towards a better University Online experience. I have also been given the opportunity to join in on their monthly meetings.
This month I want to create a short survey for the online students to identify online learning struggles so that the USASA team can plan events or other activities to target these struggles, possibly assisted by the UO SAG.
That’s all from me this month. For my UO classmates, good luck with your SP3 results!
As mentioned last month, I have drafted a survey for online students designed to generate usable, quantitative answers. It focuses on online student hardships and use of Uni and USASA services. I have discussed this with the UO Student Advisory Group and have given them a copy, should they wish to add to it. The aim is that the results of the survey will lead to an area of focus for practical event planning for online students.
In the online school we have just started SP4. I wish a happy start to my fellow University Online students, and a warm welcome to the new students joining us for the first time in this study period.
Online Student Representative
In late July I was part of my first Formal Inquiry committee meeting. Interestingly, it involved Artificial Intelligence which was a new topic for almost everyone involved in the meeting, so I made the point of suggesting to the University staff more communication to students on this topic and clearer definitions where required in course outlines or assessment pages.
I also spent a few hours at the Mawson Lakes campus during Campus Fair, giving a quick rundown of USASA’s operations and student focus as they visited the USASA store. Despite an early issue where tours weren’t making the stop at the USASA store, it was excellent to introduce myself and USASA to the groups making the rounds, hand out free copies of Verse, get myself some UniSA merch, and enjoy the fantastic weather on the day. Being on campus again was fun and made me realise how much I missed being on campus in the middle of the student experience again.
The online survey mentioned previously is finalised and should be sent out in the coming weeks.
SP4 has wrapped up over the past month, and I hope all my online peers have had success with their final assessments.
Unfortunately, the workshop for improving communication channels with the SAS team was pushed back, however I am keen to get involved in that discussion, especially as an online student.
At the end of last month, I was included in some filming for Student Voice with the Associate Dean of UniSA Online Jodie George, which was a good chance to catch up with the online team, discuss some things about USASA, and talk about study life balances as an online student which is always a useful conversation to have. The filming itself was a bit of fun too.
Check out what your student reps have been up to!
President:Isaac Solomon: solid001@mymail.unisa.edu.au
Postgraduate Student Representative:Riya Kaur Bhaizada: bhaty008@mymail.unisa.edu.au
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Student Representative: Rhys Pedenpedry002@mymail.unisa.edu.au
International Student Representative:Alexandra Feilicia Joe: joeay001@mymail.unisa.edu.au
UniSA Online Student Representative:Brendan Ritter: ritba001@mymail.unisa.edu.au
City West Representatives:Hayate Yamada: yamhy003@mymail.unisa.edu.auJayce Dimitriadis: dimkj002@mymail.unisa.edu.au
City East Representatives:Zahra Bayani: bayzy002@mymail.unisa.edu.auKush Modha: modkk001@mymail.unisa.edu.au
Magill Representatives:Oliver Shephard-Bayly: sheof001@mymail.unisa.edu.auLucy Fawcett: fawlc001@mymail.unisa.edu.au
Mawson Lakes Representatives: Samrat Bhattacharjee: bhasy035@mymail.unisa.edu.auJeel Bhatt: bhajk002@mymail.unisa.edu.au
Whyalla Representative:Vacant
Mt Gambier Representative:Vacant
Have a general enquiry regarding the USASA Student Board?