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UWA Student Guild2015 Annual Report
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CONTENTSExecutive Reports
President’s Report .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 5
Managing Director ’s Report .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 8
Finances & Budget Report .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 10
PSA President’s Report .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 12
Guild Executive Reports .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 14
Committee Reports
Catering & Tavern Committee ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 17
Corporate Services Committee ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 18
Governance Committee ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 20
Student Services Committee ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 22
Volunteering & Community Engagement Committee ..... . . . .Page 24
Welfare & Advocacy Committee ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 26
Strategic Resources Committee ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 27
Equity & Diversity Committee ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 28
Office Bearer Reports
Education Council ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 31
Public Affairs Council ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 32
Societies Council ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 33
Albany Students’ Department ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 34
International Students’ Service ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 35
Environment Department ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 37
Education Action Network ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 38
Queer Department ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 38
Mature Age Students’ Department .....................................Page 41
Residential Students’ Department ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 41
WASAC ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 42
Welfare Department ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 43
Women’s Department ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 45
National Union of Students .................................................Page 46
Senate Representative ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 46
Sports Department .............................................................Page 47
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EXECUTIVEREPORTS
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PRESIDENT’S REPORTby Elizabeth O’Shea
This year has seen a large level of transformation and
reorganisation in the Guild. As an organisation with more than 102
years of history, the Guild faces the constant need to evolve to
meet stakeholder expectations, while remaining true to our core
purposes – representing students through advocacy, providing
valuable student services and quality catering, and helping to
enrich the student experience at UWA.
The Guild has been focusing on six key transformational platforms
to meet our objectives and transform our operations to continue
to excel in both advocacy and service provision, and continue to
exceed expectations as one of the best student organisations in
this country.
STUDENT REPRESENTATION AND DEPARTMENTS
2015 has seen a high level of activity from the 102nd Guild
Council. As President, I wanted to focus on building the image
and reputation of the Guild and increasing our presence within
the community, while ensuring that everything that the Guild
does is of value to students. I have prioritised collaboration across
student portfolios, representation and the diversity of the student
body, and a consistent focus on value-add and differentiation. The
following outlines some of the Guild’s key priorities for this year,
with some example initiatives that have been implemented.
Brand, Reputation and Community Engagement
This year we have had a strong focus on the UWA Student Guild
brand, ensuring that we have a clearer messaging strategy in
place in order to better communicate our services, value and
aims to both the student body and the community more broadly.
After rebranding in 2014, we have seen a very positive community
engagement with the Guild this year and an increasing awareness
of the Guild’s role and place on campus in the student body.
This involves finding better ways to communicate our initiatives
to students and better branding the Guild’s activities and
achievements, so that students are more aware of what they
receive in services and advocacy in exchange for their membership
and a portion of their Student Services & Amenities Fee (SSAF).
The Guild has increased its presence in local media, being featured
in local newspapers a number of times throughout the year,
including for our catering initiatives, Guild Volunteering, carbon
offsetting of O-Day, and various campus based campaigns. I
have been proactive in seeking positive media engagements
surrounding student activities and the student experience on
campus, including club and Department activities, and these are
aspects of the UWA experience that attract students to UWA.
Through proactive media engagement, strong brand management
and genuine engagement with the student body and community,
I believe that the Guild has become more than just a voice for
students, but a genuine voice for youth on key issues in the public
forum.
Increasing engagement with UWA staff, the broader community
and UWA Student Guild alumni have been key achievements for
this year:
• Associate Membership
2015 has seen the Guild’s Associate Membership double after
increased communication and engagement with UWA staff,
including the UWA Staff Association and the National Tertiary
Education Union (NTEU). Associate Membership allows staff to
receive member benefits while supporting the Guild financially.
Associate Membership initiatives also increase communication to
staff surrounding Guild services, which can then be recommended
to students. We have also increased our engagement with CELT
(Centre for English Language Teaching) and Study Smarter
students, who are eligible for Guild Associate Membership
throughout their courses.
• The UWA Student Guild presents His Holiness the 14th Dalai
Lama of Tibet
Earlier this year, the UWA Student Guild hosted His Holiness the
14th Dalai Lama of Tibet for a discussion titled ‘The Importance
of Education’. It was truly a momentous day for our organisation,
and I was pleased to be able to organise this experience for UWA
students, staff, high-school students from around Perth and WA,
and the community. The event was a once in a lifetime experience
for all involved, and was streamed online so that as many people
as possible could be involved with the event. The video recording
that is hosted online on YouTube has over 10,650 views and rising.
Organising an event of this scale was a huge undertaking, but
brought incredible value to the community, and many people
who experienced the event would have never been able to do
so otherwise. His Holiness’ words of wisdom, sense of humour,
answers to the questions of students and jokes between questions
left all attendees with something to take away into their own life.
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• A Guild Council Morning Tea with The Honourable
Kim Beazley AC
The Guild Alumni project was successfully launched on August
13 with ‘A Guild Council Morning Tea with The Honourable Kim
Beazley AC’. This occasion commemorated the completion of the
UWA Centenary restoration projects, repairing the Guild Council
Meeting Room table and chairs. The event was a great success,
where Kim Beazley spoke very fondly of his time on campus and
discussed the history of the UWA Student Guild, its comparative
success through various attempts to reduce its power and
autonomy throughout political history.
It was a huge honour to host Kim Beazley and to have him say
that he was proud to see the Guild as it is now, and that he loved
coming back to the place that made him who is he today. The
event was attended by a number of past Guild Presidents and
Office Bearers. The many who were unable to attend gave their
apologies with notes that they would love to be involved in the
coming years. This bodes well for the future of the project and I
hope we can establish a structure where this can be formalised
moving forward.
Student Representation
The Guild is the representative body for all UWA students, and
in representing the diverse student body, needs to make active
efforts to be inclusive and representative of the diversity of
students at UWA. The Guild currently has a number of Office
Bearers that represent various groups on campus, including the
Women’s Officer and Queer Officers, but there is very limited
representation for some other groups. As such, 2015 has seen the
expansion of the Women’s Collective to include Women of Colour
and Queer Women Collectives, while work has been done to start
to establish initiatives surrounding the representation of students
with disabilities and medical conditions, and students from
culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The Guild exists
to give a voice to students and we are constantly trying to find
ways to ensure that this representation is genuine and thorough.
Value-add and Differentiation
In seeking to establish the Guild’s ‘value-add’ in all operations,
and differentiate our services, we have been seeking to establish
detailed data on the needs, wants and key motivators of different
types of students while they are on campus. Over the past year
we have developed a ‘Student Lifecycle Report’ which highlights
the changing profiles of students (such as Domestic/International,
Undergraduate/Postgraduate) in order to establish whether the
Guild is providing adequate services across all operations, how
we can appropriately market our services to students at different
stages of their time as a student, and whether there are additional
services that could be required to fill any gaps in need or interest.
This piece of research will be used to inform all operations and we
intend to expand upon this in future.
FUTURE DIRECTION
The UWA Student Guild has had an active and busy year, with a
number of significant capital projects eventuating and a number
of new initiatives and activities being trialled. We are moving
more into the online space, focusing on genuine representation
and engagement with students and on building our position in
the community.
The Student Lifecycle data is already making changes in the
Volunteering and Catering spheres, and when tied in with our
Transformational Strategy, I am confident that the Guild will
continue to grow and excel, increasing value to students and
stakeholders into the future.
With my term as President ending in November, I am pleased
that this year has been a year of growth that will leave successive
Guilds well placed to continue to exceed expectations in delivering
a second century of services, representation and advocacy.
Lizzy O’Shea
102nd UWA Student Guild President
THE GUILD HAS BEEN FOCUSING ON SIX KEY TRANSFORMATIONAL PLATFORMS TO MEET OUR OBJECTIVES AND TRANSFORM OUR OPERATIONS TO CONTINUE TO EXCEL IN BOTH ADVOCACY AND SERVICE PROVISION, AND CONTINUE TO EXCEED EXPECTATIONS AS ONE OF THE BEST STUDENT ORGANISATIONS IN THIS COUNTRY.
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MANAGING DIRECTOR’S REPORTby Tony Goodman
Introduction
The last twelve months at the UWA Student Guild has seen a
great level of transformation and reorganisation.
Operating for 102 years, the Guild, like any other organisation,
faces operating and external challenges. Like other organisations
the end result is a constant need to evolve to meet stakeholders’
expectations while remaining true to the organisation’s core
purposes – representing students through advocacy, providing
good value student services and catering, and helping to enrich
student social engagement and overall experience at UWA.
To meet the consistently changing environment that the Guild
operates within, the organisation launched its Transformation
Strategy. This new strategy focuses around transforming
practices and perceptions and is namely not changing what the
Guild does, but adapting the way we do it, communicate it and
deliver it.
The UWA Student Guild is focusing on six (6) key platforms for
meeting the organisation’s objectives and values.
As part of this transformation the Guild has placed stakeholder
management at the heart of its decision making. The
organisation is striving to align the aspiration of all of its key
stakeholders – students, staff, University and the wider Western
Australian (WA) community.
New Management Structure
At the beginning of 2015 the Guild introduced its new
management structure which allows for greater control of
the organisation across its key divisions: Student Services,
Corporate Services, Human Resources and Catering.
Associate Director positions have been included, in between the
manager and director level positions, within the organisation.
This allows for better succession planning and creating greater
accountability and management oversight.
The new structure is working well across the organisations’
department and with the student representative team.
Operating Practice
• New processes, operating systems and websites.
As part of its Transformation Strategy the Guild has installed
a variety of new systems, processes and operating practices.
These are seen in all Guild departments including items such
as; student loan applications, trailing online club banking, new
accounting software and processes (introduction of NetSuite),
and a new event management and approvals system.
The launch of several new websites and the new Guild Weekly
e-newsletter has also transformed the organisation’s external
communication channels and is building student experience and
interface with the organisation. Good examples of this include
the new TexChange website, new Guild homepage, Clubs and
Societies section and more.
AS PART OF THIS TRANSFORMATION THE GUILD HAS PLACED STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT AT THE HEART OF ITS DECISION MAKING. THE ORGANISATION IS STRIVING TO ALIGN THE ASPIRATIONS OF ALL OF ITS KEY STAKEHOLDERS – STUDENTS, STAFF, UNIVERSITY AND THE WIDER WA COMMUNITY.
DIGITALISING PROCESS, PRACTICES & SERVICES
CREATE QUALITY & VALUE
CUSTOMER CENTRIC FOCUS
BRAND MANAGEMENT
UTILISING DATA & MAXIMISE RESOURCES
EFFECTIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH STUDENTS
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THE GUILD’S MASTERPLAN (THE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS PLAN FOR GUILD VILLAGE PRECINCT) IS CONSISTENTLY BEING REVIEWED TO MEET THE NEEDS OF STUDENTS.
Tying the entire Transformation Strategy together is MyGuild,
which in its initial launch phases, provides students with all of
their clubs and societies memberships information, committee
activity, events activity and other information. Students can
now obtain a ‘Student Experience Transcript’ of all of the Guild
related activity and training undertaken during their time at
UWA, which can then be added to their CV.
The next phases of development for MyGuild will include adding
Guild Volunteering and Eat & Drink to Guild services. The Guild’s
strategy is to move as much of its backend operation as possible
into a digital environment.
Construction Projects & Refurbishments
In 2015 the Guild has continued to invest in ‘bricks and mortar’
infrastructure projects to enhance student experience on
campus. These projects include:
• Student Collaborative Zone – a new area on the first floor
of the Guild Central wing (old administration area) for
student clubs and societies, meeting rooms and storage.
Target opening is the beginning of 2016.
• Subway and Boost Juice outlets – construction has started
with the target opening of both outlets scheduled for
second semester 2015.
• Solar Panels – as part of the Guild’s sustainability plan the
Solar Panel project received its green light and will be put
in place on the roof of the UWA Business School in 2015.
• Hackett Café – a refurbishment of the café’s kitchen areas
took place and new furniture has been installed.
• Nedlands Café – new kitchen and service area has been
upgraded as well as new garden and furniture added.
• Tavern – the new fence perimeter as designed by ALVA
students is in the approval stage and looking to be
implemented by 2016. The new beer garden furniture has
been added.
The total level of investment dedicated to the projects will be
circa $2.3 million. This is mix of Student Services Amenity Fee
CAPEX budget as well as the Guild’s funds.
The Guild’s Masterplan (the construction projects plan for
Guild Village precinct) is consistently being reviewed to meet
the needs of students. Future areas for project consideration
include; development of the top level of the Guild Central wing,
Cameron Hall, Reid Café furniture, the internal section of the
Tavern including heating, cooling and new décor.
Audit and Risk
In April 2015 the Guild submitted its annual Financial Audit and
Student Service and Amenity Fees (SSAF) Report to UWA Risk
and Audit Committee. This forms part of the Guild’s compliance
obligations under SSAF legislation. The Guild is pleased to
report that the committee fully commended the report and that
the Guild met is obligations.
Human Resources
The Guild launched its first Human Resources strategy in May
2015. This links in with the Guild’s Transformation Strategy and
places its staff management, talent and recruitment as a central
part of the organisation. Succession planning, increased training
opportunities, health and wellbeing are key parts of the new
strategy which is aiming to bring all divisions and staff closer
together, to deliver better support and services to students.
In May 2015, the Guild Council agreed its Enterprise Bargaining
Agreement (EBA) with Guild staff. This will be operational for
four years.
The Guild has launched a series of UWA compliance training for
health & safety for staff and successfully engaged in reporting
and measurement of health and safety compliance.
In the next twelve months the Guild will be focusing on greater
staff training and redesigning an effective transition plan for
incoming councillors and office bearers, with the assistance of
Guild student representatives.
Summary
The Guild has been successfully operating and levels of output
of service, products and support for students at UWA has
been maintained to a professional standard. 2015 has seen
considerable acceleration in projects and initiative taking which
is shaping the Guild to be well placed for its future ambitions.
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FINANCES & BUDGET REPORTby Mutya Maraginot-Joseph
The Guild budget is prepared in consultation with all Managers,
Directors, Student Representatives and the Guild Council. The
Guild Council approves the budget based on the recommendations
from the Strategic Resources Committee.
The Guild budget balances the resources required to provide
student services, run the organisation, provide sufficient capital
funds for future improvements and maintain a prudent level of
cash reserves.
The Guild does not carry any debt within its balance sheet; instead
operating using a combination of Student Services & Amenities
Fees (SSAF) income, commercial income and income from its
investments. These cash reserves, held within the University’s
investment pool, are valued at $1.1m.
In 2015, the Guild estimates cash operating deficit of $128,833*.
Adding non-operating income from investments and insurance
recovery of $1,164,092, the net cash surplus before capital
expenditure is estimated to be at $1,035,259*.
In continuation with the projects started in 2014, the Guild has
budgeted capital expenses of $2.4m in 2015. This is funded from
both the SSAF Capital Fund of $1.1m and the remaining amount of
$1.3m from the Guild’s investments and operations. Major projects
include Catering outlet refurbishments, Subway and Boost Juice
Outlets, Guild Student Central Hub projects, Solar Panels and
MyGuild. This is in line with the overall drive of improving the
services provided to the students.
The following charts outline the percentage breakdown of the
operating income and expenditure and the distribution of the
Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF).
* Based on Mid-year Budget Review
NOT ALL OF OUR OPERATING INCOME COMES FROM
THE SSAF
The Guild receives roughly 28% of its income from the Catering
Division, the Tavern, its various Commercial tenants and the
Second-hand Bookshop.
2015 SOURCES OF NET OPERATING INCOME
2015 SSAF DISTRIBUTION
2014 BUDGETED GUILD EXPENDITURE
Student
Services &
Amenities
Funding
(SSAF) and
Associate
Membership
72%
SSAF is a University applied fee; not all of it goes to the Guild.
The Guild provides a variety of services and support to students.
Guild 29%UWA Sports
Association 29%
UWA Administration
Fee 5%
Capital Fund (UWA Senate
to allocate to student
projects) 9%
Student Representation 17%
IT Services 4%
Sub Council and Guild
Departments 10%
Student Assist 10%
Volunteer Centre 5%
Student Services 26%
Administration
Services 14%
Financial Services 14%
UWA Student
Services 28%
Tavern -1%
Second Hand
Bookshop 0%
Property 11%
Catering Division 16%
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PSA PRESIDENT’S REPORT by Vikraman Selvaraja
The Postgraduates Students Association (PSA) is the primary
representative body of postgraduate students at UWA. We
represent HDR students and students engaging in Professional
Doctorates, Masters by Coursework and Graduate Diplomas.
Overall, we represent close to 7000 students at UWA. Our core
functions are to advocate on behalf of our members, and to
facilitate professional development and a sense of community
among our members.
We achieved this through three main methods:
1) Representation of postgraduates on major university, faculty
and school level boards and committees. In 2015 the PSA
Committee Members sat on the Academic Board, Academic
Council, Education Committee, Curriculum Committee, Education
Futures Strategy Group and a cascading series of faculty and
school level committees. Most importantly, as President of the
PSA, I am a member of the University Senate and through that
forum I advocate strongly on behalf of postgraduates at UWA.
2) PSA Committee members are active participants of the
management, direction and activities of the UWA Student Guild.
We assisted in the development of new food and drink options
offered by the Guild, with a particular focus on the Tavern and
future Halal food offerings, catering more effectively to the far
more diverse and global cohort of students that the postgraduates
at UWA are.
3) We organised a variety of new events and continued the
successful events from previous years which most postgraduates
found extremely useful in making new friends and contacts
throughout the university.
Beyond that, 2015 has been a year where concerns of postgraduate
students regarding fee deregulation and the strategic direction
of the university have been extremely live. Combined with the
impact of budget cuts on major scholarship programs that
the university has instituted, there have been significant and
continuing negative impacts on the experience of postgraduate
students at UWA. We have, in conjunction with the Guild and the
UWACutsHurt campaign, done our best to make these concerns
heard by the university but this is a battle which will outlive the
life of this committee. I am certain the fight will be taken up ably
by the incoming 2016 committee.
I am very pleased with the many good things we have managed
to achieve this year but there is always room for improvement
and I look forward to next year’s PSA taking up where we’ve
left off.
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GUILD EXECUTIVE REPORTSby Lucy Moyle, Ashleigh Kotula and Jesse Martino
VICE-PRESIDENT REPORTby Lucy Moyle
The role of Vice-President is extremely versatile and involves
undertaking a variety of projects throughout the year,
however they all link to the over-arching theme of ‘catching’
students who are falling through the cracks in terms of their
representation on campus.
This has come to fruition on my role as a member of the
fortnightly UWA Parking Appeals Board, as well as through
the creation of representation@guild, an initiative developed
in the Corporate Services Committee to ensure that there
is an easy path for students to share their ideas and their
feedback with Guild Councillors, who can help them to action
their suggestions.
The reformation of the International Students’ Council has
further improved representation in the Guild, and will be an
opportunity for the ISS Director and Committee to ensure
that the needs of International Students are met and that
their voice is represented in all aspects of University life.
I have also been the Head of the Mature Age Students’
Association (MASA) and have contributed and helped guide
the committee in becoming more independent in ensuring
that mature age students are represented on Guild Council
and to the University.
I have also been managing the Guild Campus Representatives,
from each of the UWA satellite campuses: Nedlands,
QEII, Claremont and Albany. I have worked with these
representatives on how to ensure students on their campus
are being engaged in campus culture as much as possible.
I have worked especially with the UWA Albany Centre and
the Albany Students’ Association, to help train up their
committee as mentors for new students and to develop an
Albany prospectus to help in approaching Albany businesses
for student discounts at the Centre.
The need for representation for students with a disability or
a medical condition has been especially noted this year, and
Lizzy and I have collaborated with UniAccess to secure a forum
for students to gauge whether the services we are providing
are sufficient. This forum will culminate in the establishment
of a Collective, where the data will be forwarded on to.
SECRETARIAL REPORTby Jesse Martino
The Guild Secretary is primarily an administrative role – compiling
agendas, reports, minutes and resolutions for Guild Council
Meetings and following up business from previous minutes. I have
also worked to coordinate and manage student representatives to
ensure they achieve and implement their policy objectives.
This year I made sure that a number of administrative tasks have
been streamlined and ensured that we meet our compliance
as an organisation to our Guild Regulations. For example,
clarifying the role and expectations of the Executive Officer of
Guild Committees, provided template guides for Office Bearers
completing reports, agendas and minutes, and I have ensured
that the minutes from Guild Committees are visible, accessible
and available on the Guild website.
In addition, I have organised and facilitated the election of
Ordinary Committee Members onto Guild Committees through
Guild Council, and ensured that those students have regular
contact with the Chair of their Guild Committee and are engaged
THE REFORMATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ COUNCIL HAS FURTHER IMPROVED REPRESENTATION IN THE GUILD, AND WILL BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE ISS DIRECTOR AND COMMITTEE TO ENSURE THAT THE NEEDS OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ARE MET AND THAT THEIR VOICE IS REPRESENTED IN ALL ASPECTS OF UNIVERSITY LIFE.
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with the administration of their committee. I have also organised
fortnightly Office Bearer meetings to encourage regular contact
and communication between the Guild Executive and the Office
Bearers, as well as between the Office Bearers themselves.
This helps facilitate project collaborations and offers general
support.
I helped to organise a Mid-Year Planning Day to allow Councillors
and Office Bearers the opportunity to present what they have
achieved thus far this year, as well as their plans for the rest of
semester and how they will set out to achieve them. The forum
allowed student representatives an opportunity to read and
review the Mid-Year Budget and provide feedback.
I have taken on a number of special projects through my role on
the Guild Executive. In particular, I have facilitated the production
of The Student Lifecycle Report with Chloe Jackson (Associate
Director of Student Services), which details the lifecycle of
a domestic, international, postgraduate (by coursework)
and post-graduate (by research) student and has identified
the gaps and omissions whereby students aren’t engaged in
student life and are not provided with the support they require.
This document will also serve as a strategic directive for Guild
Council in its decision-making, its implementation of additional
support services to students, and ensuring existing support and
assistance services are more visible and better promoted.
I have coordinated Guild Councillor volunteer contribution
to Guild events, including Orientation, Guild Ball, EOSS1
(End of Semester Show), St Patrick’s Day and Octoberfest. I
have chaired the Cruikshank-Routley Memorial Ball, EOSS1 &
EOSS2 Planning and Preparation Committees and subsequent
organisation and logistical management. I have also ensured
councillors and members of Guild sub-councils are provided
with opportunities to be involved in this process.
I worked with Rida Malik on the Welfare & Advocacy Committee
to facilitate the roll-out of Welfare Week in Semester 1 and 2
and helped with the production of the Mental Health Mind Map
which aims to increase the visibility and accessibility of mental
health services on campus. I have also worked with Lucy Moyle
to build relationships with members of the Albany campus
Student Committee and to hear and respond to their issues and
concerns through the Guild Albany Volunteering weekend.
TREASURER REPORTby Ashleigh Kotula
The Guild Treasurer plays an important role in the management of
the Guild, in a financial sense. This year has been jam-packed with
clubs requesting financial help and assistance to operate as best
as possible. My role is very dynamic, and constantly keeps me on
my toes. The problem solving aspect of being Guild Treasurer is
one of the parts that I enjoy most about this role.
This year, there have been six overdrafts granted to clubs, so far.
There have been two for lapsed clubs who have just restarted,
and had a negative balance at the time of lapsing. Furthermore,
four other overdrafts have been approved for either International
Tournament Registrations, Ball Deposits or historically successful
events with significant initial expenses. The overdraft application
passes through the Executive before approval of the loan is
granted.
The Overdraft Application process required a complete overhaul
this year, as the previous process was out-dated and insufficient.
Recently completed, this was my biggest and most significant
financial project to date, and it’s one that I am most proud of. The
new process is incredibly streamlined and simplified, and allows
for greater transparency and record keeping.
The increase of the Guild’s presence at UWA events has also been
enhanced this year, with the largest amount of clubs and societies
ever, being present at the University’s Open Day. The involvement
of students and Guild representatives in the activities on the day
was spearheaded by myself and the Guild Events Department,
as we worked to increase the visibility of the Guild to the wider
community.
Simplifying the financial recording process of the Student
Departments has also been an on-going project of mine this year.
Establishing streamlined and easy to use budgeting templates has
allowed for the Office Bearers to feel more comfortable in their
expenditure tracking. This simplifies the process of creating the
budget for the following year, which was a challenging process for
me coming into the role, hence, I hope I have made at least one
person’s life easier!
Looking forward to the rest of the year, focus is on continuing
to introduce streamlined recording processes by department.
However, the main focus lies with a collaboration project between
the Tavern, Events, Societies Council and Treasury, which has
seen the beginning stages of a Tavern Function Package. The
absence of such a package has seen UWA be considered lacking
in comparison to its other university Tavern counterparts, and the
development of this has been long overdue! Keep an eye out for
its debut soon.
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COMMITTEE REPORTS
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Unaudited trading results for 2014 - Catering
Description 2014 2013
Net Surplus $443,358 $119,388
Member Discounts $649,611 $580,385
Net Contribution/
Value
$1,092,969 $699,773
The mid-year point for 2015 has recorded a net surplus of $172,591 -
well ahead of budget $68,320 and the cash generated from catering
operations is about $237K v budget of $168K. Operations have
tracked well, although sales have been soft in the first 6 months of
2015, due to the reduced university student intake.
Unaudited trading results for 2014 - Tavern
Description 2014 2013
Net Surplus $13,637 $32,137
Since October 2014, the tavern had its Manager (of almost 15 years)
go on sick leave until July 2015 (approximately 10 months). The
implications of a staff member taking sick leave for such an extended
period means salary and on-costs have to be borne by the cost centre
unlike annual leave which has been previously provided for in the
accounts. The additional impost was approximately $40K.
During the first 6 months of operations the Tavern operated as normal
and all events were held as usual, however, there has been a societal
change in regards to student culture, and student drinking habits –
with many students becoming much more responsible with their
consumption.
The Catering and Tavern Committee is comprised of Guild Councillors,
Staff Members and Ordinary Committee Members who come together
to discuss the operational and front of house workings of the Catering
Division at the Guild. The committee deals with a variety of topics that
have different impacts on the overall success of the outlets.
This year, the committee has been both very active and very innovative
in the ideas that have arisen in meetings to improve or change current
process and products. The workload for the committee is quite high,
as there are constantly issues and ideas arising.
There has been an increased focus on student feedback this year, with
the Student Centre running a Catering Survey during February 2015.
This survey was conducted to ensure that reliable student feedback
from a number of sources was collected, to be used to improve any
common problems arise within the Catering Outlets.
It has been a pleasure working alongside such a committed team, and
I hope all members of the committee are pleased with everything that
has been achieved this year.
University Functions Caterers (UFC) has been performing better than
in 2014, with increases in university catering orders. Major events have
included the Summer and Winter Graduation Ceremonies, along with
the Senate and Convocation Dinners.
BIGGEST PROJECTS FOR 2015: Refurbishment and renovation was a big theme this year, with three
different outlets receiving partial, if not full, makeovers. Both Nedlands
Café and Hackett Café had work done, including painting, repairs and
furniture replacements. Hackett Café also has its own short-order
menu, which is a brand new initiative for a Guild-operated outlet.
The Tavern has also had a facelift, with the furniture in the beer
garden being replaced. The more comfortable seating increases the
ambience and shapes the atmosphere of the Tavern into a positive
one. The Tavern menu and drinks list has also had a complete change,
with new items available for students and extended trading hours. The
future holds further renovations for the interior of the Tavern, however,
that project is for a future committee!
Reid Library Café also extended its trading hours to coincide with the
long hours that students put in during the breaks. This was met with
many positive comments from students who were happy to have the
option of a hot meal anytime before midnight.
Subway and Boost Juice are also currently under construction, with
an expected completion and opening date by the end of Semester
2. This has been a very long process that is finally coming to fruition.
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2015: • Changes in food products including different salad varieties in
the Refectory, and also the introduction of chips into kebabs.
• Ice coffees, chocolates and mochas are now available in all Guild
Outlets, extending the drink range.
• The Refectory Coffee Stop is stocking a number of new
internationally popular products, including Reese’s Peanut Butter
Cups and Dr Pepper cans.
• New coffee cups and paper bags are now in all outlets, with the
final designs decided by the committee.
• Products that were identified as unpopular were replaced with
counterparts for a trial period. The soy milk was changed with
little to no backlash.
• Both gluten free bread and hot water were made available for
students for free this year, with the exception of needing to
purchase a cup for the water!
• The $5 Welfare Meal which was proposed in Council but has
been monitored on its success by the committee. It seems to be
travelling well.
• The selection process for on-campus vendors has been under
review, with changes made to increase the accessibility for
expressions of interest, and a greater student consultation
involvement in the process.
• Uniforms for staff were introduced in the Tavern and the uniforms
in other Guild Outlets were revamped
• Progress towards running a Food Truck Collective event on
campus is also going well, with a potential date towards the end
of semester – so keep your eyes out!
CATERING & TAVERN COMMITTEEby Ashleigh Kotula
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The Corporate Services Committee manages the
internal or inward-facing aspects of the Guild, namely IT,
Finance, Administration, Processes and Procedures and
Record-Keeping.
This year, the committee has placed great emphasis on refining
and tightening procedures in the finance division, as well as
attempting to shift the internal focus to slightly external, as
to advertise the importance of aspects like Finance and IT
to students and make assistance in these areas more easily
accessible to students and clubs.
Guild Councillors and Ordinary Committee Members have been
fantastic in their roles on the committee, bringing together
an array of strengths and passions which have enabled the
committee to branch out from just being a reporting body.
Members have brought to the table club knowledge, IT skills,
design skills, finance understanding and project management
expertise to ensure that collectively, the committee achieves its
aim of making internal structures more accessible to students.
Semester Two focuses on the formalised written documentation
of procedures and policies in the corporate services area.
Achievements:
• Launched MyGuild to clubs, promoting it as a way to
streamline club membership and events, make their clubs
more visible to students and ensure Guild services are more
easily accessible.
• Reviewed demonstrations of accounting systems, and
recommended the acceptance of NetSuite as the Guild’s
new accounting system to SRC and Guild Council, based
on characteristics including the Blanket Purchase Order
function and the way that data will be stored.
• Developed representation@guild, a way to deliver ideas
and feedback to Guild representatives from students to
both encourage Councillors to take on projects and engage
students in the Guild.
• Launched Eat & Drink (Catering), PSA and Events
Application/CRM websites .
• Began to investigate upgrading the Guild’s Exchange server
• Accepted the UWA Student Guild IT and Digital Projects
Strategic Plan, which leads the strategic direction of the
Guild to ensure that it is up to date with technology.
• Negotiated with UniPrint to ensure clubs would not overdraw
their accounts when printing.
• Initiated the testing of Club Online Banking through five trial
clubs.
• Viewed demonstrations of Electronic Document and Records
Management System (EDRMS).
• Updated the process for Emergency Loans, moving to an
online form.
• Began drafting the Commercial Tenant Selection Procedure,
to ensure that formal direction for selection business tenants
in the Guild Village.
CORPORATE SERVICES COMMITTEEby Lucy Moyle
MEMBERS HAVE BROUGHT TO THE TABLE CLUB KNOWLEDGE, IT SKILLS, DESIGN SKILLS, FINANCE UNDERSTANDING AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXPERTISE TO ENSURE THAT COLLECTIVELY, THE COMMITTEE ACHIEVES ITS AIM OF MAKING INTERNAL STRUCTURES MORE ACCESSIBLE TO STUDENTS.
Hi, and welcome to MyGuild!
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GOVERNANCE COMMITTEEby Emma Boogaerdt
The role of the Governance Committee is to maintain and review
the Guild Policy Book and ensure that the UWA Student Guild
complies with the relevant policies and regulations. The Chair
of the Governance Committee also chairs the Guild Council
meetings, which requires making on-the-spot interpretations
of the Standing Orders and Guild Regulations.
The Guild Statute Book contains a copy of every regulation,
rule, and policy of the Guild and is the definitive version of the
Guild’s rules. Due to the prevalence of online record keeping
this physical document has often been ignored. Keeping this
book updated throughout the year has been a challenge, but
has ensured that there is a concrete and reliable source of
Guild Policy.
The Governance Committee’s biggest task in 2015 has been
the redrafting and passing of the UWA Student Annual
General Election Regulations, which covers the Guild Elections,
Student Elections onto the University Senate, and the election
of Delegates for the National Union of Students. As these
Regulations are made under Statute 20, part of the state
legislation which governs the University, changing them is a
serious and arduous task.
After the Annual General Election in 2014, the Western
Australian Electoral Commission (WAEC) expressed concern
over the current set of Guild Election Regulations and stated
that they would not be able to enforce those regulations in
any subsequent elections that they may be asked to run. As a
result, the Governance Committee has undertaken the lengthy
process of ensuring that the Regulations are updated to satisfy
the recommendations of the WAEC and the University.
Throughout the six month long process of editing these
regulations we had a strong focus on consultation. We met with
the WAEC to discuss their concerns and recommendations,
and in the last meeting we received positive feedback about
the new Regulations that have been drafted. We also consulted
with the University Secretary and Head of Academic Policy
Services, about passing the Regulations through the University
Senate, and discussed the process involved with the Senate
Legislative Committee. UWA Legal provided their advice on
some of the legal aspects of the regulations and we engaged a
team of lawyers from a corporate firm to go over the drafting
of the document. This was to ensure that not only is the
finalised document legally enforceable, but that it is as concise
and accessible a document as possible.
The proposed changes to the Election Regulations come
from consolation with all of these groups and, as a result,
we are confident in the document that we have created. The
Regulations successfully passed through the May Guild Council
Meeting, then through the June Senate Meeting, and hence will
come into effect for the 2015 election this year.
Other than the Election Regulations, the Governance
Committee has also passed a number of other policies,
including a Guild Social Media Policy, which will lead to better
management of the Guild’s online social media platforms, and
also the Queer Department Rules, which will make it easier
for that Department to function autonomously. The Societies
Council has also passed several policies to ensure that the
management of clubs and tenants are clearer.
The Governance Committee has a number of actives planned
for the remainder of the year. The first of which is reviewing the
Key Performance Indicators for the National Union of Students,
written and passed in 2014, which will help determine the Guild’s
affiliation. We will also be reviewing the proposed regulations
for the Residential Students Department, and drafting an In-
Camera Minutes Policy, to improve the Guild’s accountability.
The final project which the Governance Committee will be
reviewing will be the Guild Regulations. The current version
was drafted in 2013 when the Guild underwent a number of
changes. In order to reflect the way the Guild has changed and
developed over the past few years, these regulations are now
desperately in need of review. No doubt this project will be a
big one which will most likely transfer over to the term of the
next Chair too!
LENGTH OF THE NEW ELECTION REGULATIONS: 21,297 WORDS
NUMBER OF MONTHS IT TOOK TO COMPLETE THE EDIT OF THE ELECTION REGULATIONS: 6
NUMBER OF A4 PAGES OF THE ELECTION REGULATIONS: 82
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STUDENT SERVICES COMMITTEEby Jesse Martino
The Student Services Committee is responsible for the front-
line services that the Guild provides. That is, the Committee
oversees the Guild’s delivery of student services, including
Student Assist, memberships, publications, Guild Volunteering
and Guild events. This year, the Committee has been primarily
concerned with identifying and addressing gaps and omissions
in the services, support and assistance that we provide to
students, as well as increasing the visibility of the services we
currently provide.
MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Communication: This year has seen the enhancement of a
number of key Guild managed communication channels,
streamlining our approach to showcase the value of our services
through multi-channelled marketing campaigns. This has
included the re-design of a number of communication channels
including a new look Guild Weekly, the Student Guild Website,
the development of a Pelican website. Social Media continues
to remain the strongest of our communication channels and
this will be supported by the creation of a social media strategy
which will be launched at the end of the year.
Marketing: The marketing of our services has been formulated
around the Student Lifecycle to highlight services at times
that are most relevant and valuable to the student population.
This has seen a significant increase in engagement with
catering (specifically the Tavern) and Student Assist,
particularly surrounding special consideration and appeals and
Volunteering.
The Guild Student Centre provides advice and guidance to
over 100 visitors daily, which include UWA students, clubs and
societies, tenants and the general public.
EVENTS
The Guild Events Department has facilitated 489 events year to
date, including the very successful twice-yearly Club Carnival;
a vibrant and engaging opportunity for students to meet clubs
and societies. Club Carnival attracted over 2000 students.
A specific focus this year has been to increase the number of
on campus event opportunities for students to meet other new
and returning students. We have seen a significant increase in
the number and diversity of events held this year, of which 73%
have been on campus and are broken down as follows:
Minor (including stalls & bake sales) 35%
Medium 57%
Major (including pub crawls) 8%
CREATIVE & DESIGN
The creative department have successfully created the newly
launched Pelican website and are in the process of developing a
new look Volunteering website focusing on increasing usability.
Creative have also supported Catering with the interior design
of the new look Hackett Café and Tavern Courtyard, positively
impacting student experience and providing a comfortable space
for students to enjoy before, between and after classes.
STUDENT ASSIST
Student Assist have seen a significant increase in cases in 2015
compared to 2014 and continue to see a steady increase in the
number of cases, providing academic, financial and welfare
support to the entire student body. This service will be expanded
to offer face to face support via Skype, increasing accessibility for
students off campus.
More than 450 cases this year to date, including:
Academic 179
Financial 251
Welfare 34
Grand Total 464
Cases have included:
Financial - loans 148
Academic - special consideration 55
Academic - appeals 51
Financial - grants 46
Student Assist have also supported other Guild Departments in
the launch of UWA by Night, a safe campus initiative from the
Women’s Department and the International Students Drop-in
Centre, a low barrier Ask Me Anything service.
RESEARCH
Research projects were conducted which informed various
strategies and initiatives including:
• Wifi Research project
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• Mental Health Mind Map completion
• Orientation survey
• Catering survey
GUILD VOLUNTEERING
Increasing engagement following the implementation of a new
manager and a new volunteering strategy, focusing on adding
value to the volunteer and community organising, looking at skilled
based volunteering, working closely with clubs and societies,
increasing volunteer management training opportunities and
introducing initiatives
We have a 138% increase in the number of key partners who
have had their roles’ transcript recognised and we have had 649
student register 9468 hours of volunteering this year to date,
which is a 1000 hour increase on 2014.
Guild Volunteering Internship Program has resulted in Guild
Volunteering interns establishing key partnerships with Coder
Dojo WA, The Bread Run, Baptistcare, Lynwood SHS Intensive
English Centre, Beaconsfield Intensive English Centre, On My
Feet, Coolbinia Bombers JFC, Save the Children – It Takes a Village
Program, Melville SHS, and Mindful UWA (with Guild Welfare).
Skilled Based Volunteering Programs are continuing to expand
and include Tax Help.
New Initiatives such as Micro Volunteering have been launched
providing students with opportunities to volunteer with
community partners in between lectures.
Events: There have been 2 regional trips in 2015. The first was to
Albany for the Albany Urban Downhill and the second trip was to
the Stirling Ranges for National Tree Day and Malleebound.
Working with the department of Sport and Recreation and
Volunteering WA we have increased the number of volunteers in
Sport hours and continue to do so.
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VOLUNTEERING & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE
by Jodie Koh
WHO WE ARE
At Guild Volunteering, we aim to build a culture of student
volunteering at the University of Western Australia, to facilitate
student engagement, and to establish sustainable relationships
with community organisations. Guild Volunteering is a joint
venture between Volunteering WA and the UWA Student Guild,
and is leading the way in best practice through encouraging the
development of student-led initiatives, leadership and education
in the area of student volunteering. The contribution of student
volunteers to the community is acknowledged through means
such as transcript recognition.
The Volunteering and Community Engagement (VACE)
Committee of the UWA Student Guild sets the direction of Guild
Volunteering. Presently, staffing of Guild Volunteering include
Claire Duffy (Guild Volunteering Manager and Executive Officer
of the VACE Committee) and Danielle Van Staden (Volunteering
Officer).
AN OVERVIEW OF 2015
To meet the needs of UWA’s diversified student population, Guild
Volunteering has expanded its range of volunteer opportunities
and initiatives to better cater for the interest and time
commitment of students. These opportunities aim to compliment
students’ degrees, contribute to their personal and professional
development, and connect them to their peers and community.
The areas listed below include ongoing opportunities and one-off
events available to students.
Internship Program
The Internship Program equips students with the necessary
training and support to develop the skills required to lead their
own volunteer programs. This year, Guild Volunteering increased
the number of positions available from 7 (in 2014) to 12. In addition
to having 6 community organisations available for students to
partner with, the option for interns to create their own program
was also introduced. This saw initiatives such as a homeless bread
run and a tutoring program to be established. Furthermore, the
program was also made available to the clubs and societies at
UWA for the first time. Save the Children UWA chapter were the
first to join.
The program launched with a two-day intensive training workshop.
The first of which explored the passion, motivators and impact
of student driven programs on community. The latter focused
on relationship management, campaign strategies, volunteer
retention, and transcript recognition. Ongoing support from
Guild Volunteering and access to Guild Volunteering’s resources
was also made available to interns for the duration of yearlong
program.
Sports
Within Australia, sport volunteering is the largest area in which
volunteers engage in. Through a grant for the Volunteers in
Sport Program of the Department of Sport and Recreation, Guild
Volunteering has been able to increase their capacity to engage
with and support sporting clubs on campus and in the community.
Initiatives that have been made possible through this grant
included having Guild Council and UWA Albany students
volunteer at the Albany Urban Downhill. This opportunity also
allowed greater engagement between both UWA campuses.
Celebrating on a National level
As done so in previous years, Guild Volunteering celebrated
the Friday of National Volunteer Week with V-fest. This saw
47 students partnered with 6 community organisations for an
intensive morning of student volunteering across Perth. The
number of students who participated in this year’s event was up
61% from 2014.
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2015• 153 COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS
HAVE LISTED ROLES ON THE GUILD VOLUNTEERING WEBSITE
• 43 COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS ARE ABLE TO HAVE THEIR ROLES TRANSCRIPT RECOGNISED (UP 138%)
• 603 UNIQUE WALK-INS• 26,974 WEBSITE VOLUNTEER
OPPORTUNITY VIEWS • 12,778 HOURS OF VOLUNTEERING
RECOGNISED ON SUPPLEMENTARY TRANSCRIPTS IN 2015/16 (UP 58%)
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On top of this, National Student Volunteer Week held later in
Semester 2, allowed for an Inter-University event; Tree Planting
with Friends of Lake Claremont. This annual event was once again
led by UWA in collaboration with Murdoch, Curtin and Notre Dame
Universities. The event supported by the Volunteering To Learn
Project and Volunteering WA’s Tertiary Community Engagement
Committee facilitated a unique opportunity for networking
between the universities.
Within the Guild
Guild Volunteering has also continued its endeavor to strengthen
relations with the various Guild Departments and Clubs at UWA.
This year, Guild Volunteering has worked especially close with
PAC (Public Affairs Council) for Social Justice Week, and also
SOC (Societies Council) to establish a Volunteering Zone (for
clubs with volunteering opportunities) during Club Carnival in
Semester 2. One of the internship projects also collaborated with
the Guild Welfare department to run mindfulness groups.
New Initiatives
Two new initiatives; the Guild Volunteering Handbook and Micro-
Volunteering Mondays have been introduced in an effort to
improve the engagement and transfer of information to students.
The handbook is a categorised directory that provides further
insight into some of the clubs and organisations that Guild
Volunteering works with. This platform strives to bridge the gap
between students and clubs. Micro-Volunteering Mondays allows
time tight students to volunteer on campus for 30 minutes to 2
hours in between classes. This initiative, designed to introduce
students to volunteering, has seen much success with 19 students
attending the first session, and 15 students at the second session.
Changes
Aside from the aforementioned changes, a couple of additional
modifications have been made to the scope of Guild Volunteering.
As of the beginning of 2015, service learning no longer fell under
the umbrella of Guild Volunteering, and its coordination has since
been facilitated by the university.
Furthermore, 2015 saw the discontinuation of the ‘In Conversation’
series. In Conversations with Guild Volunteering initially featured
a structured chaired discussion with a UWA Alumni, in the context
of Volunteering and Community Engagement.
There is still potential for a restructure and rebranding of this
concept following a successful collaborative panel with UWA
Young Engineers and Engineers Without Borders. The panel,
which was held during National Student Volunteer Week and
Australian Engineering Week, titled ‘The Social Impact of
Engineers’ exemplifies Guild Volunteering’s work with clubs.
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The Welfare and Advocacy Committee has students’ interest
and welfare at heart. It is focused on ensuring student’s needs
are being advocated, communicated and represented at all
levels within the university network. So far, 2015 has proved to
be an eventful year with collaboration between the committee
and various Guild departments, bringing together students and
staff and developing a range of student led initiatives.
The Welfare and Advocacy Committee and Student Assist have
worked closely throughout semester 1. The Student Assist team
have seen over 450 students already this year, proving they are
an invaluable resource for students who are in need of welfare,
financial and academic advice. Back in April 2015 the university
introduced a new review (appeal) procedure that left many
students with heightened anxiety and the fear of the unknown.
Student Assist guided many students through the transition
as well as other academic issues such as special consideration
applications and academic misconduct cases.
Welfare and Advocacy Committee reps and a member of
Student Assist also sat on the UWA Local Drug Action Group
(UWA LDAG) committee and with the help of the Guild President
they were successful in attaining a $3000 grant from LDAG so
that the Guild can provide a safe, chill out space for students
at events. This initiative has been trialled during Mental Health
Week and has been a huge success. In collaboration with the
Guild’s Event Department, Student Assist have used the chill
out space at ‘IBIZA’, the EMAS (Electronic Music Appreciation
Society) event. This turned out to be a vital service provided
to students as it gave them a safe space to wait for taxi, lifts
or friends.
International students’ welfare has also been a focus area for
the Committee this year. In partnership with ISS (International
Students Service) and Student Assist, the Guild set up a low
barrier drop in centre for international students on Tuesdays
and Thursdays. The uptake has been slow to start, but Student
Assist has dealt with a number of serious international student
welfare issues via the drop in centre. All departments hope that
the uptake will rise as word of mouth spreads and the Guild
continues to promote this great service.
Mental Health Mind Map – Earlier in 2015 the Committee
collaborated with Student Assist, student representatives,
the research department and the design team to develop the
Mental Health Mind Map, which helps students to find relevant
mental health services on campus. This map also allows
students to locate services according to low or no cost and
identify online resources, all in the one spot. The map helped
to increase awareness surrounding mental health, tackle stigma
and showcase support available for students on campus. This is
such a useful resource and is available on the Guild website, or a
printed version can be collected from the Guild Student Centre.
In future our aim is to distribute the Mental Health Mind Map
to a wider audience of students and staff, so that the Welfare
Department, along with Student Assist, is in the process of
applying for a $250 UWA LDAG small grant in order to achieve
this.
WELFARE & ADVOCACY COMMITTEE HIGHLIGHTS • WELFARE WEEK: A WEEK
OF EVENTS AND FESTIVITIES WITH FREE RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO MAXIMISE SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS
• FREE WEEKLY PILATES CLASSES ON OAK LAWN
• FREE WEEKLY YOGA CLASSES ON OAK LAWN
• DE-STRESS DAY: COLLABORATION WITH UWA PAW TO BRING DOGS & PUPPIES, KITTENS, JOEYS, GOATS AND OTHER ANIMALS TO DE-STRESS STUDENTS ON CAMPUS
• WELFARE BREAKFASTS: PROVIDING FREE BREAKFAST TO THOSE WHO MISS A MEAL IN ORDER TO ARRIVE AT UNI EARLY
WELFARE & ADVOCACY COMMITTEEby Rida Malik
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STRATEGIC RESOURCES COMMITTEEby Elizabeth O’Shea
The Strategic Resources Committee reports directly to the Guild
Council and is responsible for overseeing the Guild budget,
property management and commercial operations, and has the
delegated authority of the Guild Council to approve unbudgeted
expenditure up to $20,000.
BUDGET
The Guild budget process has been well managed across the
year with 2014 financial result ending in an accounting profit of
$140k. The 2015 budget is tracking well, with expenditure below
budgeted forecasts.
This year the SRC appointed Deloitte as the Guild’s new financial
auditors. They will work with the committee and the Guild’s
financial team on preparing the end of year accounts for the
organisation.
COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS
2015 will be a challenging year in revenue generation due to
reduced student cohort on campus. This will impact on two
revenue fronts for the Guild. Firstly, on the Student Service
Amenity Fees (SSAF) which is distributed three ways by the
University to; UWA Sports Association, UWA Student Services
and the Guild. Secondly on lower catering revenue due to the
reduced volume of students being on campus. The Guild is in a
position to weather this downturn in student numbers on campus
across the next few years.
The Bookshop continues to work well in the current environment
providing in 2014 a $180k return back to students on second-hand
books. The environment does however remain challenging with the
market trend moving to online. The Guild online Texchange service
is continuing to grow effectively.
COMMERCIAL TENANTS & PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
The Guild manages external services for students on campus. In
the Guild village precinct a variety of commercial tenants have
businesses which are there to primarily support the student
population. In 2015 the process of upgrading tenant’s leases was
launched. The aim is to have all leases updated by early 2016.
The SRC has overseen a number of key construction projects and
initiatives, namely the Student Collaborative Zone (first floor of
the east wing) and the new Subway and Boost Juice catering
outlets. The committee also approved budget for the catering
outlet refurbishment program. In line with the Catering strategy,
focusing on quality and venue experience has seen the Guild invest
in improving the services of the following outlets; Hackett Café
(May 27), Nedlands Café (June 1), and The Tavern (July 10). The
Guild expects this program to continue into 2016 with other cafes
and the Tavern receiving investment in the future.
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EQUITY AND DIVERSITY COMMITTEEby Charlie Viska
This year, the Equity and Diversity committee has remained
committed to a number of objectives. Meeting monthly, the
committee has grown from its previous inaugural year and is
developing into an extremely important aspect of the UWA
Student Guild.
Firstly, the committee aimed to increase representation for
students whose interests, lived experiences and perspectives
are not necessarily present within the structures of the Guild.
The first steps that were taken to achieve this goal was to
co-opt new members onto the committee that we felt would
add to the overall representativeness of the committee.
Whilst the committee is comprised of students of all different
backgrounds, we found that this was a strategic move to
increase the effectiveness of the committee.
Additionally, active steps were made to ensure that all members
of the committee, as per the Guild regulations, were included
in decision-making processes. As such, this year the Equity
and Diversity Committee actively sought out the contribution
of representatives from the Women’s Department, Queer
Department, Welfare Department and Western Australian
Students Aboriginal Corporation (WASAC).
In striving to make the Guild a more diverse and representative
student body, one of the priorities of the Committee has been
to support and encourage the establishment of autonomous
collectives on campus. This year, the committee has been
dedicated to reaching out to student groups on campus
whom have not previously had an autonomous group or
space provided by the Guild. Consequently, the committee
has made an effort to support both a Disabilities Collective
and Ethnocultural Collective on campus. Whilst initial steps
have been taken, this project should remain a focus of the
committee in years to come.
Additionally, another focus of the committee has been to
encourage club committees to hold equitable events, as well
as helping committee members understand and appreciate
the beneficial role that diversity has to play on campus. Given
that UWA does indeed have such a diverse student body, the
committee felt it was particularly important that the clubs
and club committee members felt well-equipped to run
inclusive and engaging events. For this reason, the committee
released an Equity and Diversity guidelines document for
clubs. Whilst not a definitive how-to, the guidelines provide a
handy checklist of things that are important to consider when
running, promoting and organising events and activities. It is
hoped that the inclusion of an Equity and Diversity document
in club resources will be a useful tool with which to engage a
larger degree of the student populous in Equity & Diversity
issues and ideas.
Furthermore, the committee has collaborated with the
University Equity and Diversity team to adapt a ‘Discovering
Diversity’ workshop for Guild staff members, student
representatives and club committee members. Included as
part of mandatory club training, these workshops are a useful
launch-pad for engaging students in these issues, as well as
promoting good, equitable practices.
The committee has used its position to endorse and promote
policies and guides that will help to make students feel as
comfortable as possible whilst on campus. In this role, the
committee endorse the Women’s Safer Spaces policy as a
distinct affirmation of the belief that all students have the right
to feel safe when at University, particularly when in autonomous
safe spaces such as the Women’s Department.
Overall, it has been a successful year for the Equity and
Diversity Committee. Hopefully the steps taken by this year’s
committee may continue to be built upon by committees in
the future, working alongside each Guild department and
consulting with different student groups on campus.
IN STRIVING TO MAKE THE GUILD A MORE DIVERSE AND REPRESENTATIVE STUDENT BODY, ONE OF THE PRIORITIES OF THE COMMITTEE HAS BEEN TO SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AUTONOMOUS COLLECTIVES ON CAMPUS.
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OFFICE BEARERREPORTS
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EDUCATION COUNCILby Tom Beyer
The Education Council, which is chaired by the Education Council
President, has membership comprising representatives from
Faculty Societies and Guild Departments. The Education Council
provides a forum to address education issues and broader issues
faced by Faculty Societies and the student body. The portfolio of
Education Council President covers the running and chairing of
Education Council, working with the Guild President to represent
student Education Issues with the university at large, and ensuring
the Education Action Network is functioning effectively. The first
half of the year has been incredibly busy!
This year Education Council has continued work started last
year by reaching out to groups that have previously been under
represented. We’ve built on work done in 2014 to restart the ALVA
Students’ Society and are working with Population Health Students
to restart the Health Students’ Society. Furthermore, Education
Council Vice-President, Melissa Lee, is working on a project to
ensure that every student in the University is represented on the
Education Council and no one falls through the cracks or goes
voiceless.
As well as reaching out to new groups that have been under
represented, Education Council this year has also made a concerted
effort to engage more effectively with student groups who are
based primarily away from the Crawley Campus. This has involved
initiatives such as trips to the Nedlands and OCHWA campuses
to distribute Guild merchandise and speak to the students about
the services the Guild offers, as well as discussing issues faced
by Albany students with the Albany campus rep and speaking to
Medical Students about Wifi issues they face.
The advent of a Student Consultative Committee in late 2014 has
evolved to be a key facet of student representation, as it brings
together Guild leaders and Faculty Society Presidents with the
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education and heads of all student facing
departments to work through issues and grievances students
may be facing. So far in 2015 it has been instrumental in working
through many issues such as availability of textbooks in libraries
and students being given surprise assessments with no warning, to
lecture recordings cutting off before the end of class and how the
university can better support students dealing with mental health
and other welfare issues.
Wifi has been a consistent issue for students in recent times and
Lizzy O’Shea and I have worked constructively with the University
BITS team to assist in an expansion of wifi in key areas for students.
Using data gathered by the Guild, we have now seen a massive
expansion of access points and back end hardware in the following
areas:
• Geology/Geography from 4 to 47 access points
• Business School from 29 to 53 access points
• Guild Village and Cameron Hall from 5 to 27 access points
• Oral Health Centre of WA from 5 to 47
• Reid Library third floor from 5 to 16 access points
This is not the end of the process of improving wifi on campus, but
a great example of what can be achieved with a constructive and
positive dialogue with the university.
Incidental Fees and Charges policy, and sometimes more
importantly, enforcement of the policy, has been another focus
of the Education Council this year. Anecdotal stories of students
suffering from unexpected costs that they’ve encountered through
their degrees are always concerning and we’ve strived to stand up
for students in this area. Advertising student rights has unearthed
cases where students have been made to purchase something for a
unit that was not allowed within the policy and in some cases we’ve
managed to have students reimbursed for those costs!
This year as Education Council President I have been involved in a
University Review of Assessment Policy and at the time of writing
this, a final draft of the new policy is being finalised and through
thorough consultation and a constructive approach, there are
many areas of vast improvement for students. Linking assessment
to teaching and learning, or ensuring access to all assignments to
review where a student performed strongly and poorly might seem
obvious but it’s taken until this review to ensure this is the case.
Furthermore, virtually eliminating 100% exams and limiting the use
of failed component assessments will help improve student welfare
as the stress caused by these can be incredibly harmful. Students
are also excited about the potential for greater transparency
around mark adjustment and moderation, as well as rules around
word limits and late penalties. That’s just a small facet of the
recommendations from the review but I’m sure it’s something
students will welcome with open arms.
As well as the changes to assessment policy, another area that
we’ve seen massive improvements for students through working
with the university in a positive manner is around timetabling policy
and processes. I’ve worked with a steering committee to implement
improvements to timetabling for 2016 that will create a far more
student-friendly timetable that, as well as being more convenient,
will also provide far more flexibility and options. Furthermore, it is
likely that we’ll have a new class preference allocation website in
operation for 2016, something sure to vastly improve the student
experience, particularly for enrolling students.
All in all it’s been a busy year but one that I’m proud of!
WE’VE BUILT ON WORK DONE IN 2014 TO RESTART THE ALVA STUDENTS’ SOCIETY AND ARE WORKING WITH POPULATION HEALTH STUDENTS TO RESTART THE HEALTH STUDENTS’ SOCIETY.
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PUBLIC AFFAIRS COUNCILby Charlie Viska
The Public Affairs Council (PAC) exists to promote student and
community awareness of and engagement in political, social
and cultural issues on campus. As a council, PAC also aims to
enhance students’ University experience through involvement
with arts and culture.
This year PAC has focused on the promotion of clubs and
societies as well as complementing campus culture through
our organised events and themed weeks.
Our Poems on Oak and PAC Club Show-Off! events started
the year with an explosion of creativeness, artistry and talent.
Both evenings were tremendous achievements and it was
a fantastic opportunity to showcase what our artistic and
performance-based clubs are capable of.
Our themed weeks this year have also been extremely positive,
and had a great reception and engagement by students
and members of the community alike. They were a great
opportunity to expand our commitment to student experience
beyond the main campus.
Our Social Justice Collaboration was a huge success, largely
thanks to the incredible efforts afforded by Eloise Chenu (PAC
Vice President) and Maya Shah, through their roles as co-
chairs. Throughout Social Justice Week, our Teach for Australia
Quiz Night, Social Justice Club Carnival, Film Screening and
Fair-trade Fashion Fest were all a great opportunity for clubs to
collaborate and promote social justice at our university.
A reinvigorated Faith Week showcased a wide array of events,
including collaboration with the Women’s Department and an
innovative Dine-at-Mine culture-sharing experience. A number
of faith-based clubs eagerly joined in on this year’s festivities,
culminating in the Inter-faith panel discussion.
One of the highlights of the year, our Fringe Festival, was an
absolute blast! Featuring comedy, dance, music, art, installations
and a throw-back 1950s-themed party, the UWA Student Guild
Fringe Festival was a vibrant celebration of the arts and culture
on campus. Presenting a combination of both student and
professional artists and performers alike, the two-week period
made a huge impact in bringing the campus culture alive.
As a committee, our vision has been to improve PAC identity
between clubs as well as increasing communication between
the committee, clubs and the general student populous. The
streamlining of communication through an organised PAC-only
mailing list, as well as the establishment of explicit affiliation
criteria has helped us to achieve this goal. Our weekly PAC Club
of the Week section in Guild Weekly was a great way to promote
smaller clubs on a weekly basis.
It has been an action-packed year, and I look forward to seeing
the Public Affairs Council expand its scope in years to come.
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SOCIETIES COUNCIL by Nevin Jayawardena
The Societies Council (SOC) is the home of all affiliated student-
run clubs and societies on campus. Our club culture celebrates
diversity and inclusivity, and is a part of why campus life here is
so rich! With a range of clubs that suit just about every possible
interest, there is bound to be a club for all!
The Societies Council’s primary focus for 2015 has been to support
clubs through streamlined and improved procedures; providing
better training material, increasing networking and promotional
opportunities, improving financial support, and introducing new
ways to manage a club online.
ACHIEVEMENTS FOR 2015
Clubs on campus
We currently have 117 affiliated clubs for 2015. Of these, 10
have been newly affiliated this year. These clubs collectively
run hundreds of events throughout the year and bring life and
excitement to this beautiful campus. The popularity of O-Day and
Club Carnival is a great indication of why clubs are so important
to the UWA experience.
Administrative Support
SOC has drastically improved administrative support to clubs
this year. This mainly includes the new Clubs’ Dashboard which
comprises of individual club profiles, club history, an online
membership database, a working mailing list, online sign-ups, all
of the relevant forms in one place, and a decoration lease/hire
system which will soon be available.
In 2015, over $90,000 worth of grants will be provided to clubs
for O-Day, support for club events and initiatives through the new
Special Projects Grant, general club expenses throughout the
semester, and start-up grants for every new club. Clubs will also
find it easier to manage their finances with more and more clubs
moving over to online banking this year.
SOC has spent much time in 2015 streamlining and rewriting
templates, procedures and policies including the Clubs Grant
Policy, Room Access Policy, Mailbox Policy, Tenancy Allocation
Policy, the SOC Rules, the constitution template, and Treasurer
Handbook. We have also created a new Clubroom and Storage
Room Tenancy Agreement, Secretary Guide, Constitution ‘How-
to’, Equipment Hire List, Event Budget Template, Constitution
Template and a How-to-SOC Guide – an all-in-one guide to all
things SOC.
Events & Training
This year SOC has also continued to run events like PROSH
Olympics, the monthly SOC Meetings, two Presidents’ Summits,
two Club Carnivals, multiple Treasurer Training sessions, a Google
Workshop and the first ever Club Culture Conference, where clubs
were able to voice their ideas and discuss ways in which the Guild
could better support clubs and contribute to campus culture.
SOC is also planning on holding the first ever Networking Event,
for clubs to learn about other clubs and encourage collaboration
events.
Tenancy
The Guild hosts a variety of clubrooms in both the Guild Village
and Cameron Hall, where clubs are able to engage members and
the wider community in a variety of activities and events that take
place throughout the year.
The Guild provides maintenance and practical support to these
clubroom tenants. This year, an active Tenancy Committee has
seen the continued attention to these student areas on campus
with improvements to Wi-Fi and a dedicated tenancy budget.
The Student Central hub, which is currently under construction,
aims to provide shared space to all affiliated clubs and societies
including boardroom facilities, workstations, a production
workshop and storage. These facilities will help clubs plan and
host the best events possible and foster the growth of our great
campus culture.
Thank you to the supportive and dedicated SOC Committee: VP
– Samuel Shenton, Secretary – Jack Looby, Treasurer – Olivia Jo,
and OCMS – Lianne Leung, Sasha Johnson and Chelsea Kneale.
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ALBANY STUDENTS’ DEPARTMENTby Katie McAllister
The Albany Students’ Department of the UWA Student Guild
is representative of approximately 150 Albany-based students,
undertaking studies at the University of Western Australia,
Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management and
Rural Clinical School of Western Australia.
2015 has been a successful year for the committee so far, with
an event held at a local restaurant/pub to celebrate the end of
semester one and to create a sociable atmosphere for students.
Over 75% of the campus’ student population attended and
the night was enjoyed by everyone. The committee has even
bigger things planned in semester two, starting with a sociable
ten-pin bowling event acting as a meet-and-greet for students.
A Halloween scary-movie screening and party is also planned,
along with a paint-balling event and a whale-watching tour to
encourage socialising of students.
The committee is also busy working on improving the support
provided by the Albany Centre by funding Microsoft Excel and
Word workshops for new students, providing volunteering
opportunities as an outreach to the community, working with
and supporting local charities to provide garden furniture for
students and organising community-based events such as the
upcoming talk with Eugene Eades, a local Noongar elder, who
is concerned about the spread of Dieback disease throughout
the South-West.
The Albany Students’ Department hopes to continue to
improve its services to the Albany students, whilst maintaining
the foundations already provided, such as Guild-funded weekly
yoga sessions for students which aim to encourage relaxation
and de-stressing. There are many ideas in the process of
becoming implemented and we hope to continue to work
closely with the student body of the Albany UWA campus, the
City of Albany community and the UWA Student Guild in Perth.
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INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ SERVICEby Sean Farrell Matjeraie
The International Students’ Service (ISS) is a Guild Department
that exists to be the peak representative body for all international
students at the University of Western Australia. ISS strives
to look after the well-being of all 5100 international students
studying at UWA, as well as represent the international student
body on councils such as the Guild Council and the Education
Council of the UWA Student Guild.
All International students are automatically members and
represented by the Department. They are also encouraged to
sign up as committee members to get involved in representing
international students and voicing their issues and concerns.
ISS also acts like an umbrella organisation for smaller
international clubs and student associations providing support
and advice when needed.
The Department is committed to organising high quality and
relevant events, both for international students to experience
Australian culture as well as providing an avenue to engage with
domestic students.
The ISS Director supervises the running of the department and
is committed to a role of representation and advocacy for the
department’s members.
Key goals and achievements in 2015
Semester 1 events:
ISS GOES TO ROTTNEST
• Part of a campaign to provide international students an
opportunity to visit various tourist locations within the
Perth vicinity.
• Event was highly successful, with all 50 tickets selling out
in just over 10 minutes.
COURSE HELP BBQ
• The Course Help BBQ was an initiative by the Welfare
Department of ISS to provide students the opportunity to
meet with unit coordinators and tutors of various first year
units in the commerce and science faculties.
MID-AUTUMN FEAST
• This was a social Department event that brought together
the expertise of the MCW (Multicultural Week) Department
to provide international clubs a platform to raise funds and
to increase their reach and marketing.
Semesters 2 events:
ISS GOES TO COLLEGE ROW
• Part of an attempt to engage more with international
students, ISS held an all of college event to bring the Guild
services and support to the colleges. Allowing international
students to learn more about what the Guild can offer to
enhance their student experience.
ISS GOES TO THE EAGLES
• This event was organised in partnership with the community
engagement director of the West Coast Eagles. It allowed
International students to learn more about Australia’s most
popular sport.
THE ISS SEMINAR SERIES:
• Migration Seminar (8th September 2015)
• Employability Seminar (13th October 2015)
The two largest perceived issues for international students of
2015 are the complication of the graduate visa, and general
visa processes as well as the lack of graduate employment
opportunities. This is why ISS endeavours to increase the
knowledge of international students to ensure they are fully
prepared and have the correct expectations in both areas.
ISS GOES TO ROTTO 2.0
• Due to the incredible demand of the semester 1 event, the
ISS Department decided to bring back the event, with the
same price and offerings to provide more international
students with the opportunity to attend. Capacity has been
increased to 75 people for this reason.
MULTICULTURAL WEEK (MCW)
Targeted at a wider audience and funded by sponsorships and
grants. This year looks to be the largest MCW yet, wrapping up
on the Thursday night with SpringFeast. With an anticipated 60
stalls and close to 5000 people it is one of the largest single
events at UWA.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS COUNCIL (ISC)
One of the largest initiatives undertaken by ISS this year, the
council aims to bring together all of the international clubs,
faculty societies and colleges to become a collective voice for
the international students at UWA.
It will also act as a platform for collaboration and communication
between the international affiliates to provide quality events for
international students.
ISS STRIVES TO LOOK AFTER THE WELL-BEING OF ALL 5100 INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS STUDYING AT UWA.
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ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENTby Jessica Cockerill
2015 has been a big year for the Environment Department,
in which we’ve had a number of opportunities to expand and
consolidate our presence on campus. Perhaps the most notable
of these was the UWA Students say NO to Lomborg campaign,
in which students and staff openly opposed the establishment of
a Consensus Centre at UWA. Not only were we successful in this
campaign, but our action also resulted in a greater mobilisation
of students on environmental issues. As such, the department has
expanded rapidly, as can be seen in the success of our numerous
events and projects.
Events
Envirofest, our major annual event, was 100% Guild-run and funded
this year. It was a huge success, drawing the crowds with dingos,
cockatoos, live music, and over 20 stalls for environmental clubs,
researchers and community groups.
We have also supported the Enviro Council clubs in hosting their
own events, including:
• AYCC (Australian Youth Climate Coalition): Earth Hour picnic;
“Bye Bye Lomborg” tavern event; “Cowspiracy” movie night.
• PAW (UWA People for Animal Welfare): De-Stress event; two
“Clothes Swap and Donation” days with Code Green.
• SEN (Sustainable Energy Now): Laser Tag .
• Enviro Quiz Night, which is a collaboration of SEN, AYCC
and PAW.
Volunteering
Most of our projects and initiatives rely on the selfless efforts
of volunteers. This year we have a Projects Team of 25 regular
volunteers, who each devised and spearheaded their own projects.
We also ran several volunteering events, designed to engage a
broader range of students. These events include:
• The Guild Urban Orchard
- Establishment of a Coordinator role.
- Volunteer group meets fortnightly.
- Installation of a worm farm, to compost green waste
from the garden itself.
• A planting day for native garden at ALVA (Faculty of
Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts).
• SERAG (Swan Estuaries Reserve Action Group) volunteer days
• SEN and Sustainable Initiatives collaboration on Campus
Audits.
Online
This year we have put particular focus into our online presence,
in the hope that this will achieve better environmental awareness
among students, as well as reduce the need for paper advertising/
resources.
• Increased traffic on Facebook page
• Established an online Enviro Collective with 187 members
• Update website with resources including the revised
Sustainability Plan, a Sustainable Clubs Guide, and Sustainable
Students Guide
Projects
The hard work of our Project team has resulted in the following
successes:
Waste and Recycling
• Introducing default double-sided black and white printing.
• Continuing percentage reductions in printed election fliers to
reduce paper use by 40% from 2013 levels.
• Continuing the KeepCup Program:
- Bring 1 Get 1 Tree campaign with EarthCarers and the
City of Subiaco resulted in 434 KeepCup uses in Science
and Reid cafes, which will translate to 434 natives being
planted.
- Guild KeepCup users diverted 18, 525 disposable cups
from landfill in the last financial year, giving students
$5,557.50 in coffee discounts.
• Initiating the Guild Recycling Plan, which consists of 3 focus
areas:
- Catering: Front-of-house recycling bins have been
introduced inside the Refectory and Guild Café, along
with informative posters.
- Cameron Hall & the Guild Central Wing: The
recycling system aims to help tenants to manage
their waste. This system is still in the planning
stages.
- The Guild’s Commercial Tenants: This stage has not
begun yet.
Energy and Climate Change
• Approved funding for Guild solar panels, so that 40kW panels
can be installed on the UWA Business School by late 2015.
• Carbon offsetting O-Day.
• Installing a second bike maintenance station on campus.
• Supporting the establishment of a Fossil Free UWA group on
campus.
ENVIROFEST, OUR MAJOR ANNUAL EVENT, WAS 100% GUILD-RUN AND FUNDED THIS YEAR. IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS, DRAWING THE CROWDS WITH DINGOS, COCKATOOS, LIVE MUSIC, AND OVER 20 STALLS.
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EDUCATION ACTION NETWORK
QUEER DEPARTMENT
by Tom Beyer
by Ellen Cohen and Ruby Blakeway
The UWA Education Action Network (EAN) has been incredibly
active in 2015, led by EAN Coordinator, David Cann. David
has reinvigorated the group at a crucial junction in student
representation with a focus on creating an engaging environment
where all students can feel comfortable.
The strong levels of student engagement this year in EAN has
been in no small part because of the success of the O-Day stall,
where students were given the chance to send a message to
cross-bench senator, Dio Wang, via Polaroid photos. Incoming
students loved the idea and this made engaging with discussions
relating to education quality and Federal policy inclusive, low-
barrier and great fun.
EAN has worked closely with the National Union of Students
in the ongoing campaign against fee deregulation proposals.
Through effective marketing, UWA has had large contingents at
all NUS National Days of Action in 2015. David has led a team
of keen activists, who are able to have conversations with
ordinary students about the effects of $100,000 degrees, whilst
The UWA Student Guild Queer department aims to represent the
LGBT+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, intersex, and queer)
community on campus and to provide a space where LGBT+
students can socialise. The Queer Department has succeeded
in its goal of providing social events and support to the LGBT+
students of the University of Western Australia this year. We
have provided resources on LGBT+ mental and sexual health in
the form of numerous pamphlets, a safe social space for LGBT+
students and events that cater specifically to the needs and wants
of the UWA LGBT+ community.
At the start of semester one, our office bearers worked with
the Guild executive to create comprehensive rules to better the
LGBT+ space on campus. These rules aid in ensuring the safety,
comfort and well-being of our LGBT+ students, and can be found
on the UWA Queer Department’s Facebook page. Following the
implementation of these rules, we represented the university at
Pride Fair Day to advertise our presence on campus. We then
successfully ran a stall at UWA’s O-Day, having a ‘guess the
lollies in the jar’, free drinks, distributing event fliers and also
adding a record amount of people to our mailing list. In second
semester we had a stall at the Club Carnival, where we handed
out pamphlets surrounding LGBT+ health, as well as distributing
safe-sex barriers. These actions in and around campus aid in
advertising the presence of our department on campus, and allow
us to better provide resources and support to the university’s
LGBT+ students.
also maintaining a light-hearted environment and brand image
at the rallies and in materials. Various placards and posters are
becoming ‘meme-worthy’ and have been increasingly popular on
social media.
UWA is a particularly crucial campus in the campaign against
fee deregulation given that our Vice-Chancellor has been one of
Christopher Pyne’s most ardent backers. As such, there has also
been a focus towards more on-campus activities for students who
are concerned about fee deregulation to engage with. The EAN ran
a hugely successful “Unhappy Birthday Christopher Pyne” event,
where the gimmick of being timed near the Minister’s birthday
allowed a birthday party atmosphere of party hats, puppies to
pet and fairy floss, creating a light hearted atmosphere to talk to
students about their concerns with fee deregulation.
The EAN in 2015 has been more inclusive and welcoming than
in previous years, and the strong attendance and engagement in
their events by the student body is no coincidence. It’s been a
busy first half of the year!
Our biggest event thus far has been the department’s participation
in the Guild charity event Prosh. With both of our officers acting
as Marshalls we successfully sold papers from 6am until 11am in
Claremont Quarter, and then made our way back to the university
for the ensuing celebrations. We also sent three delegates to the
Queer Collaborations conference in Canberra for education and
information building as well as national networking.
In the coming semester we have Pride Week to look forward to,
which will be in week 8 from September 14-18. We have a fantastic
set of events lined up during this week of celebration and look
forward to engaging with students across campus during this
period. The biggest event so far is looking to be our collaboration
with UWA Careers and Alumni Relations on campus, which will
be a Career Panel featuring LGBT+ professionals starting at 6pm
on Tuesday the 15th of September. Events such as these assist in
employment opportunities and networking for LGBT+ university
students at our university and others.
Semester two looks to be an exciting one filled with events such
as discussion evenings, pizza nights and games evenings that
aid in creating a support group for LGBT+ students at UWA, and
educating the wider community on LGBT+ issues. We look forward
to hosting many more events such as these, providing education
and resources on and off campus, and welcoming newcomers into
our department and community.
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MATURE AGE STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATIONby Tammy Pinkerton, Breeana Smith, Pat Hallett, Simon Branchi, Kim Pedler,
Mark Smith & Lucy Moyle
2015 has been an historic year for the Mature Age Students’
Association (MASA) in its maiden year as a legitimate Guild
Department, with the establishment of its first formalised
committee and innovative events taking the department to
new representative levels.
Mature age students are, by definition, those who are aged 20
or over when they enrol for the first time at a tertiary institution
and follow such pathways as the Mature-Age Access Program
(MAP), however the department has always been inclusive
and welcoming to any interested students who wish to get
involved. Membership of MASA is determined by the number
of students on the mailing list, which has grown significantly
this year due to presence at both Guild O-Day and Guild Club
Carnivals. Advertising events on Guild Weekly and on posters
around the University has also expanded numbers at these
events, and thus our membership.
In Semester One of this year, MASA held a Welcome Back
Lunch in the UWA Guild Tavern, traditional Coffee Catch-ups
in Hackett Café, and an End of Semester Sundowner at the
University Club. MASA also held its inaugural AGM, electing a
committee of six passionate mature age students coming from
a range of disciplines and bringing to the table a plethora of
ideas and projects. One of these individual projects includes
surveys at MASA events about university life and involvement
for mature age students, which has seen the data collected lead
the department’s strategic direction for the remainder of the
year.
Semester Two will see the launch of the department’s own
monthly newsletter, filled with events run by MASA, the Guild,
UWA and the wider Perth community which will benefit mature
age students. It will also contain advice and assistance from the
Guild and promote Guild and UWA services relevant to students.
The department will also aim to connect mature age students
to clubs and faculty societies across campus through the
MASA Open Day Forum. Exposing students to these groups on
campus will mean that they, along with MASA, will understand
the specific needs of mature age students and will strive to
represent them to faculties and the University.
RESIDENTIAL STUDENTS’ DEPARTMENT (RSD)By Kelly Dunn and Cameron Payne
The Residential Students’ Department (RSD) exists to represent
the interests of the college community on the UWA Student
Guild Council, and to assist the Guild in promoting the student
experience for those at college. The RSD this year ran a large
number of diverse events, including social, sporting, cultural and
competitive functions:
• Fresher Festival – Games, Fresher Dances and competitions
as a friendly introduction for new college residents to inter-
college events and to the other colleges.
• Barbarians & Librarians Nightclub Party – kick-off to the
RSD social calendar, held at Air nightclub.
• LipDub Competition and Screening – the annual (and very
popular) lip-syncing-music-video competition, this year
followed by a games night.
• InterCollege Quiz Night – a great event with plenty of
comedy and prizes!
• InterCollege Movie Night – screened ‘Now You See Me’ for
residents from all colleges with popcorn and snacks.
• Annual RSD Charity Ball – held at the Parmelia Hilton (a
move from Winthrop Hall as in previous years), with high
levels of attendance.
• Tav Show – marking the beginning of semester 2 for college
residents.
• Battle of the Bands – fantastic performances and support
from all colleges.
• InterCollege Debating – held at St George’s College. It
was excellent to see fiery wit and top-notch banter from all
participants.
• Spring Serenade – a new twist on the classic Arts Night
event, with performances and pop-up stalls (featuring Pink
lemonade) on a sunny afternoon in the St Cats courtyard.
• InterCollege Pub Crawl – another new event, attendees had
a fantastic time bar-hopping with friends (new and old) from
across college row.
This year the RSD also finalised their constitution, formalising
their structure and processes and giving the organisation greater
legitimacy and support for next year and beyond. The committee
structure and electoral process were also overhauled to improve
the RSD’s ability to capture and retain talent from across college
row, and to grow as an organisation.
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WASACby Torey Rickerby
In 2015, the sole focus of WASAC (Western Australian
Student Aboriginal Corporation) was to develop strong long-
term relationships with various faculty societies and Guild
departments, and to engage with our first year students
to ensure they had a smooth transition into university life.
With this in mind, WASAC had a much stronger presence on
campus through various social, cultural and sporting events.
In the last week of semester one, WASAC hosted its annual
Marnda Week celebrations which saw over 150 students and
staff attend the events throughout the week. The week opened
with a cultural day, which involved student performances, a
Welcome to Country, various cultural artefacts and a lot of
Aboriginal inspired food. The inaugural Marnda Cup was held
next with WASAC and PESA (Physical Education Students
Association) battling it out for first place in a friendly touch
football match. The Marnda Cup was first introduced by the
WASAC committee to promote positive relationships and
reconciliation between WASAC and other faculty societies on
campus through the sports medium. The Student Art Exhibition
concluded Marnda week with wonderful submissions from many
WASAC students.
Another key event on the WASAC calendar is the National
Indigenous Tertiary Education Student Games (NITESG).
This year WASAC sent a team of fourteen students and two
staff to participate in various sports throughout a weeklong
competition. Unfortunately the Western Waagyls couldn’t back
up their previous two championships and came in at fifth place.
With the two major events out of the way for the year and a
less busy semester two, WASAC could focus on maintaining
relationships that it had developed throughout the year. A social
event collaboration with PESA in week 3 saw this relationship
remain strong with plenty more to come. Every two weeks
WASAC put on a free lunch at Shenton House. This was an event
to bring our students together and have a friendly yarn. This
year WASAC definitely achieved its goals and yet again has out
done itself for another year.
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WELFARE DEPARTMENTby Rida Malik
University should be a great experience for every student but it can
be a little stressful at times. This is why the Welfare Department
is committed to students’ health, safety and well-being and aims
to ensure that every student is happy, de-stressed and aware
of the resources available to them on campus, so that they can
achieve their true potential at university. This year the Welfare
Department has been busy implementing some new and exciting
programs and initiatives in order to best support students.
At the start of Semester One 2015 we launched Free Pilates on
campus, which successfully ran every Tuesday from 4-5pm on
the Oak Lawn and engaged over 100 students each session.
Due to the great feedback from students these weekly sessions
continued into Semester Two. Like all Welfare Department events,
these classes were free of cost and open to all Guild Members.
The Welfare Department also continued weekly free Yoga
sessions every Wednesday from 4-5pm on the Oak Lawn in both
Semester One and Two. Through a combination of social media
promotions (Facebook, Instagram and Guild Weekly) attendance
for these weekly sessions have almost tripled from 2014 levels
and yoga has become solidified as a fixture in the annual Guild
events calendar.
Welfare Week was run in week 12 of Semester One & included
four themed days of festivities and events with free resources
available to maximise support for students in order to get through
the tough end of the semester.
• Monday Food Day: We collaborated with UWA Arts Union in
running a free pancake breakfast and exam help session which
was very successful. The department also ran a free BBQ
during lunchtime and also worked with the Guild Environment
Department, giving away free tea and coffee with a Keep Cup
purchase.
• Tuesday De-stress Day: The highlight of Welfare Week as we
collaborated with our good friends at UWA PAW (UWA People
Animal Welfare) in bringing kittens, puppies, joeys, goats, dogs
and so many other cute animals to de-stress students. We also
ran a ‘Spot George the Pug’ competition where students took a
photo of (or with) George the Pug on Instagram and then went
into a draw to win a prize.
• Wednesday Health Day: We collaborated with external
organisations to hold free health and foot checks by REACH
clinics and the Podiatry student society respectively. UWA Arts
Union also had a free art and craft session which was enjoyed by
many students.
• Thursday Mental Health Day: People often don’t talk about
mental health, due to the stigma associated with it. In order to try
and reduce this stigma and get more students talking and thinking
about mental health, the Welfare Department collaborated with
ECOMS (Economics & Commerce Student Society UWA) to hold
a free mental health awareness workshop, which was followed
by free pizza. The event was attended by a lot of students and
deemed to be a huge success.
The Department also teamed up with HUG (Hispanic University
Group) to run a free Zumba session. Google at UWA gave out
free stationery to students and the Arts Union had a really fun
pillow fight (perfect for de-stressing) followed by a movie night.
FABSOC UWA (Fashion & Beauty Appreciation Society) set up
a ‘fabwall’ where students wrote messages on what makes them
feel fabulous and how they take care of their mental health. We
also had a meditation session run on Oak Lawn.
The Welfare Department gave Mental Health Grants to Faculty
Societies and Guild affiliated clubs on running innovative events
that aimed to improve the mental health of students during
Welfare Week in Semester One.
The Welfare Department ran numerous free breakfasts in Semester
One aiming to provide breakfast to those who miss meals to come
to uni early. We also teamed up with the Women’s Department
and ran weekly jogging sessions for all students, plus ‘women
only’ sessions every fortnight, to provide a safe space for women
identifying students to exercise. These jogging sessions were
followed by free breakfast and they were really well received.
The Mental Health Mind Map is an initiative run by the Welfare
Committee to increase awareness surrounding mental health
services on campus at UWA. The map can be used as an online
tool for students or as a staff resource in its printed form.
Student Assist is in the process of helping the Welfare department
apply for a UWA LDAG (Local Drug Action Group) small grant of
$250 which will help distribute the Mental Health Mind Map to a
broader student and staff base.
2015 has been great in terms of providing resources to students
and supporting them in stressful times at university. The Welfare
department will continue to run programs such as Free Yoga,
Pilates and breakfasts until the end of the year, and into 2016.
Semester Two will feature weekly meditation sessions (in
collaboration with Guild Volunteering), plus a bigger Welfare
Week, including a chill out zone, self–defence classes and greater
representation and support for off-campus students including
ALVA, Medicine and Dentistry.
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WOMEN’S DEPARTMENTby Emma Boogaerdt
The Women’s Department has two main functions; first,
to provide services and a safe space for women students
on campus, and advocate for their rights, and secondly,
to run events, campaigns, and initiatives to promote the
achievements of women and raise awareness about issues
that women are facing.
We started off by giving the Women’s Department some
much needed TLC by re-vamping the Women’s Room; adding
a table and some chairs to make the area an accessible study
space, and painting one wall with chalkboard paint to allow
women to express themselves on the wall. I re-wrote the
‘Women’s Survival Guide’, which provides women students
with information on important services on and off campus.
In order to improve the visibility of the Women’s Department
and to assist students on campus we created posters and
stickers with a map and instructions on how to find the
Women’s Room.
One major focus for this year was making the Department
more inclusive, especially for women who face multiple forms
of oppression, so we started up two new groups; the Women
of Colour Collective, coordinated by Laura Mwiragua, and the
Queer Women Collective, coordinated by Lizzie Long. Both of
these groups have been successful in engaging with women
who haven’t been involved in the broader Women’s Collective
before. We also got involved in Faith Week and ran a ‘Women
of Faith’ Panel Discussion, which again engaged with another
new group of women. Every Friday I have been posting a
‘Forgotten Woman’ on the Women’s Department Facebook
page to raise awareness about significant women throughout
history, who haven’t been properly recognised. This has been
a great way of raising the profile of the Department too!
This year in March we ran the first-ever ‘International Women’s
Day Breakfast’, which featured three fantastic women
speakers. The event completely sold out so we had to expand
capacity! The next night, in collaboration with the Colosoul
Group, we ran a ‘Women in Music Festival’ on campus, which
showcased the talent of local women artists from around
Perth. We also included guest speakers, plus food and drink
was available from BarPop.
Safety on campus has been a big focus for us this year. Along
with the Welfare Department we established a jogging club for
women students, and plan to run self-defence classes during
Semester Two. I have collaborated with the Guild’s Student
Assist team to run ‘UWA By Night’ - a nighttime campus tour
of UWA which shows women students the most well-lit paths
to take, how to use the help points, and gives general safety
tips, followed by a short self-defence lesson. This initiative was
coupled with the ‘UWA At Night’ map that was created with
the Guild Design team. This interactive map shows information
about which areas of campus are well or poorly lit at night and
provides information on assault, safety, and security. I am also
planning on collaborating with Faculty Societies and colleges
to create a survey into safety on campus which can inform the
Guild and University’s approaches in the future.
The Women’s Department has run a variety of campaigns
throughout the year. In Semester One we focused on the
Gender Pay Gap, sharing information about the extent and
effect of it. We held a movie night and also ran a cupcake stall,
which charged different prices depending on the impact of the
pay gap on the purchaser, to raise awareness about the issue.
In second semester we have run Bluestockings Week, which
celebrates the achievements of women in higher education,
by collaborating with the NTEU to hold a ‘knit-in’, hosting a
‘Women of Colour in Higher Education’ discussion, and a
banner-painting session. Later on in the Semester we will be
running Sex Consent Respect Education Wellbeing (SCREW)
Day to promote information about sexual health and consent
to students.
Other activities of the Department include working on creating
a new issue of Damsel Magazine, an autonomous publication
which allows women students to express themselves
creatively. We also had some students attend the Network of
Women Students Australia (NOWSA) Conference in Hobart
which included valuable skill sharing workshops and speaker
sessions.
WOMEN’S DEPARTMENT FACEBOOK PAGE LIKES: 1,177
GENDER PAY GAP CUPCAKES SOLD: 100+
NUMBER OF FORGOTTEN WOMEN FRIDAY POSTS SO FAR: 25
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NATIONAL UNION OF STUDENTSby Elizabeth O’Shea
The National Union of Students (NUS) is the peak
representative body for tertiary students in Australia. The
UWA Student Guild is affiliated to NUS, which means that
UWA students can be represented and have a voice at a
national level, when decisions are made that affect their lives,
experiences and education.
UWA Student Guild Office Bearers have been able to work
with NUS Office Bearers on nation-wide campaigns across all
campuses relating to women’s safety, fair pay for graduate
work, international student rights, education quality and a
number of other topics. NUS has also actively collaborated
with UWA Office Bearers on issues relating to the Federal
budget, including running a nation-wide campaign against
fee deregulation and proposed higher education changes
that could price many students out of an education. NUS also
supported campus Presidents in meeting with local Federal
Senate Crossbenchers, and assisted the UWA Student Guild in
lobbying Senator Zhenya Wang from the Palmer United Party,
who was influential in ensuring that the fee deregulation did not
pass through the Federal Senate.
NUS have supported the UWA Student Guild with resources
throughout SSAF (Student Services and Amenities Fee)
negotiations, and the ‘Save Our Voice’ campaign, which opposes
proposals to remove student, staff and graduate representatives
off University Senates/Councils. The NUS West State Branch has
also worked with the Guild to run campaigns at a state level.
SENATE REPRESENTATIVEby Maddie Mulholland
The University of Western Australia is governed by the
Senate – a body comprising elected members of the student
body, academic and general university staff, Convocation
(graduates), external appointed members and co-opted
members. The Senate is chaired by the Chancellor, Michael
Chaney.
The Senate is the peak decision making body at UWA, and
has the power to make and uphold University statutes,
regulations and by-laws, whilst also discussing events and
projects and influencing the organisation’s strategic direction.
The full Senate meets every two months and the minutes of
meetings are available on the UWA Website.
The 2015 elected student members of the University
Senate are Lizzy O’Shea in her capacity as Guild President,
Vikraman Selvaraja in his capacity as the Postgraduate
Student Association President and Maddie Mulholland as
a student-elected member. The Guild President sits on the
Senate Strategic Resources Committee and all three student
Senators can be drawn on for membership of the Board of
Discipline. Other Senate committees include the Audit & Risk
Committee, the Chancellor’ Committee, Research Committees
and the Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) Board.
The Senate is the highest level of representation in the UWA
structure and it is crucial to have student involvement at
this level. This ensures that the student voice is heard in key
decision making and that key student issues are raised and
addressed by the Board.
This year we have been working with the University to address
poor teaching quality results, build trust in Guild activities and
those of our affiliates, and identify student groups as a great
source of improving the student experience on campus. We
have sought explanations on decisions that affect students
such as the proposed introduction of the Australian Consensus
Centre and effects of deregulating fees, and we have worked
to bring student facilities (such as Wifi and parking) to the
table for consideration.
We believe that the contributions of elected student
representatives ensure that the University’s peak governing
body have been positive and constructive in 2015, ensuring
that the University doesn’t lose sight of students and that
key principles of transparency and accountability are upheld
when it comes to student fees.
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SPORTS DEPARTMENTby Elizabeth O’Shea
This year has been a year of change for Sports at UWA, with
provision of sporting services for the University transitioning
closer into the University structure as “UWA Sports”, when
previously this had been an external body. The UWA Student
Guild President and Guild Sports Representative were
members of the Board of the previous entity, and oversaw
the transition to the new entity with particular concern for
the provision of services to student-run clubs and societies,
and the delivery of quality sporting services and choices to
all students. This transition between entities has required
the Guild’s role in oversight and assistance with sporting
services to change and grow, with the Guild and University
in discussions over the transition of the Sports Council back
to the Guild.
This year the Guild has been active in pushing for a more
consultative process surrounding the allocation of SSAF
(Student Services and Amenities Fee) revenue by the
University. UWA Sports currently receives 30% of all student
SSAF revenue, which is the same base allocation that the
Guild received in 2015. Guild representatives have also been
ensuring that there is increased funding and support for Inter-
College sporting activities, and a focus on social sporting
opportunities that all students can access.
