Meeting highlights
Executive Report season begins - nothing contentious though; much discussion about a governance review is had - some questions of concern: what positions to retain (a postgrad rep? an international students rep?), what the ongoing relationship between Te Roopu Maori and OUSA would look like, how much Executive members would get paid (more if they return a second year?); there has been a forum around possible modifying to the proposed VSM bill, and some grumblings about NZUSA were discussed.
MINUTES OF THE OUSA STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE EXECUTIVE MEETING HELD IN THE BOARDROOM OF THE OTAGO UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' ASSOCIATION ON TUESDAY 29 JUNE 2010 AT 5.15PM
PRESENT
Harriet Geoghegan (Chair), James Meager, Claire Jackson, Ros Mackenzie, Michael Anderson, Walker MacMurdo, Ariana Te Wake, Daniel Stride, Art Kojarunchitt and Imogen Roth
IN ATTENDANCE
Stephen Alexander (General Manager), Donna Jones (Minute Secretary), Brad Russell (Observer) and Scott Ridley (Observer)
CO-OPTION OF NEW MEMBERS ONTO THE STANDING COMMITTEE
Moved from the Chair
sc 105/10 THAT Ros Mackenzie, Michael Anderson, Walker MacMurdo, Ariana Te Wake and Daniel Stride be co-opted onto the Standing Committee for the duration of this meeting.
CARRIED U
APOLOGIES
Stephanie Reader
Moved from the Chair
sc 106/10 THAT the above apology be accepted.
CARRIED U
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING
A capital letter W was omitted in motion sc 91/10.
Moved from the Chair
sc 107/10 THAT the minutes of the Standing Committee of the Executive held on 15 June 2010 be accepted as a true and correct record with the above amendment.
CARRIED U
SPEAKING RIGHTS
Kojarunchitt/Stride
sc 108/10 THAT Stephen Alexander be granted speaking rights for the duration of this meeting.
CARRIED
Claire arrived at 5.21pm
EXECUTIVE SECOND QUARTER REPORTS
Jackson/Stride
sc 109/10 THAT Ros Mackenzie's second quarter report be accepted and her honorarium be paid.
CARRIED
Kojarunchitt/Mackenzie
sc 110/10 THAT Claire Jackson's second quarter report be accepted and she continue to be paid her honorarium.
CARRIED
Imogen arrived at 5.35pm
Stride/Mackenzie
sc 111/10 THAT Imogen Roth be co-opted onto the Standing Committee of the Executive for the duration of this meeting.
CARRIED
Anderson/Te Wake
sc 112/10 THAT Walker MacMurdo's second quarter report be accepted and his honorarium be paid.
CARRIED
Mackenzie/Kojarunchitt
sc 113/10 THAT Ariana Te Wake's second quarter report be accepted and her honorarium be paid.
CARRIED
Ros left at 5.52pm
Ros returned at 5.55pm
Roth/Mackenzie
sc 114/10 THAT James Meager's second quarter report be accepted and his honorarium continue to be paid.
CARRIED
MacMurdo/Stride
sc 115/10 THAT Imogen Roth's second quarter report be accepted and her honorarium be paid.
CARRIED
Kojarunchitt/Te Wake
sc 116/10 THAT Michael Anderson's second quarter report be accepted and his honorarium be paid.
CARRIED
Claire left at 6.20pm
Claire returned at 6.22pm
Stride/Mackenzie
sc 117/10 THAT Art Kojarunchitt's second quarter report be accepted and his honorarium be paid.
CARRIED
Walker left at 6.24pm
Walker returned at 6.26pm
Kojarunchitt/MacMurdo
sc 118/10 THAT Daniel Stride's second quarter report be accepted and his honorarium be paid.
CARRIED
GOVERNANCE REVIEW UPDATE
Harriet addressed the meeting saying comments and feedback had been collated and sent out for further consultation. There were many emails and she appreciated everyone's input.
Further changes discussed are the retention of a Post-graduate position and perhaps an International Students' Representative position. The Te Roopu Maori President would attend regular OUSA Executive meetings to maintain good information flow between the two. There would be a committee structure set up whereby people would apply and these committees would feed back into the Executive. This would help with keeping all demographics in the loop. Some discussion developed over the selection process being an election process or by application. It was decided an application process would suit best. Further discussion took place on whether these committee members should get paid like Board of Trustees members. The final agreement by most is that people shouldn't expect to be paid for this privilege and the huge learning experience that would be achieved during the term of office.
Ros Mackenzie the Queer Representative wanted it noted she was very much in favour of an election process for committee appointments.
To retain executive members for a term longer than a year for continuity and institutional knowledge it was decided to offer a financial incentive. How could this be measured when a person runs for a 10 hour a week position and for someone who runs again for an Officer position?
It was agreed that incentives of $750, $1500 and $3,000 could be paid to returning executive members who stood for a second year and pro rata if the result of a By Election.
Imogen left at 8.14pm
Imogen returned at 8.16pm
After a long discussion it was decided to consider a change of rules to enable all students to run for the International and Post graduate Representative positions and all students can vote for these positions. This would be a change from how the elections were presently run, whereby you had to identify within these demographics to stand or vote for these positions. Further discussion on this after a few days as some wanted more time to think about this change and liaise with the Post- graduate Representative when he returns.
Harriet will update the governance review document with these changes and attach it to an email.
Meager/Kojarunchitt
sc 119/10 THAT the proposed new Governance Structure document be received and the recommendations be accepted.
Mackenzie: Against
1 Abstain CARRIED
GENERAL BUSINESS
Voluntary Student Membership Bill update
Harriet attended a forum recently and also has met with ex OUSA Executive members in Wellington to discuss some proposed compromises to the Bill. There could be an easier way to opt out and maybe OUSA fees going on student loans could be helpful.
NZUSA Update
Some FedEx members have expressed dissatisfaction with NZUSA.
OPSA want to hold a referendum. It has been apparent over the past 10 years that OUSA have been unhappy with the services they are receiving from NZUSA. Harriet has been requesting information from the Co Presidents for along time. She is very unhappy with the response and will be raising it at the NZUSA conference in Dunedin in July.
PolCom Meeting
Next meeting tomorrow at 2pm.
Meeting closed at 9.01pm
Signed: _________________________________ Date: _____________