News

A group of Massey University extramural students have submitted a request for a Student General Meeting, at which they could move a motion of no confidence in Extramural Students’ Society (EXMSS) President Jeannette “JV” Chapman.

Last month, MASSIVE magazine revealed that Chapman was receiving a salary of $53,000 for her part-time position. Since then, Chapman has obstructed attempts by EXMSS members to remove her and has fired MASSIVE’s web manager Adam Dodd, who was responsible for uploading MASSIVE’s content online.

EXMSS member Joy Green delivered the SGM request to EXMSS Administrator Therese McCrae on 17 September. An AGM had been scheduled to take place on 5 September, but was postponed due to quorum requirements not being met.

MASSIVE reports that earlier that day its communications manager and web publisher Adam Dodd had been fired by Chapman for leaking “private, confidential and legal information to the media.” He was initially suspended at the beginning of September.

EXMSS’s constitution requires that a month’s notice be given for an SGM, and therefore the motion gave Chapman three days to signal whether or not she would attend.

The accompanying letter, addressed to Chapman and Anne Palmer (an EXMSS area representative) read “until the meeting is held and this matter is resolved, JV is instructed to take no permanent or binding action of any kind in the Society’s behalf.”

Green confirmed that McCrae passed on the letter to Palmer and Chapman mere hours before Dodd’s dismissal. The Massey University Extramural Community’s Facebook also saw removals, with over 300 members culled from the group.

The reason cited for the members’ removal was an alleged failure to pay EXMSS membership fees, despite the page not mentioning that this was a prerequisite for joining the “open” group.

Responding to questions about the name of the group’s page earlier in the week, Chapman blogged on 13 September that, “this is an EXMSS – the Extramural Students’ Society Inc – sponsored page. It is for distance and other students supporting students, to promote the success and engagement of students. Any student, whether they are members of the society or not, can share positive and helpful tips with other students.”

The uproar from paid members who were deleted from the page prompted Therese McCrae to post on 17 September: “I was directed this morning to remove all non-EXMSS members from the EXMSS Facebook page.”

The same day, Chapman posted: “Due to circumstances careful monitoring of our extramural community Facebook page is necessary for the time being.” Chapman did not respond to Critic’s request for information regarding the need for this “careful monitoring” and whether she informed members of the change to the page’s rules.

Posts with information about the SGM and correspondence to Chapman and Palmer were also deleted. As Critic went to print, paid-up EXMSS members continued to be removed from the page.

While removing members from a Facebook group is not binding or permanent, the communications manager for the Massey at Wellington Students’ Association (MaWSA), Mike Ross, told Critic that “dismissing someone [Dodd] is pretty binding.”
Dodd’s lawyer is believed to have requested that Chapman provide full reasons for the dismissal. According to Ross, his lawyer has also asked MASSIVE editor Morgan Browne to be a witness for Dodd should the case go to court.

Ross expressed concern at Dodd’s dismissal. “It leaves EXMSS wide open to a wrongful dismissal case,” he said, as inevitably EXMSS, not Chapman, would be liable. It is also believed that Chapman has hired a replacement for Dodd.

Joy Green also contacted the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA) on 18 September “regarding the possibility of ensuring that JV takes no permanent or binding action on the Society’s behalf in the required notification period between instructing the SGM to be called and the date of the meeting.” At the time Critic went to print, Green was yet to be contacted by NZUSA to clarify the position.

Green’s motion, supported by 28 EXMSS members, declared the members’ lack of confidence in Chapman’s actions and called for her removal from office due to the unconstitutional removal of David Crampton and Linda O’Dea, the unconstitutional removal of Tiri Porter and Mandy Ward (on the grounds their services were no longer required), her unconstitutional actions made on behalf of the Society without quorum, Chapman’s failure to ensure openness and communication, failure in the duty of transparency in relation to her honorarium, and the fact that she has brought the Society into disrepute.

At the time Critic went to print neither Chapman nor Palmer had commented on the SGM. EXMSS members are exploring new methods of notifying other members of the SGM, as both Chapman and Palmer have failed to do so.