News

After a month of planning, OUSA have advertised for the new role of Projects Officer. The role is available to students, as well as the general public. OUSA President Ruby Sycamore-Smith said, “It is a role for someone who wants to be a key logistics coordinator in the OUSA election drive.”

Ruby said, “It’s for someone who has a good knowledge of politics but is non-partisan.” OUSA will specifically be looking for individuals with “experience in running events and making ideas come to life.” The role will involve “organising the day to day election push,” which will be running for the next couple of months.
The Projects Officer will be a part time role, involving 20 hours of work per week. Ruby explained, “because this is a staff role, [the Projects Officer] will report to Donna Jones, who is the Secretary of OUSA.” She said, “[Jones] also has a clear understanding of the Executive Roles.” The SEEK advertisement for the role states that the new employee shall also work with the OUSA President on a day-to-day basis.

The Projects Officer will have four key projects to support. These include: “Every student votes – student enrolment for the general election;” building faculty club capacity; the OUSA identity and engagement project; and the Policy review.
OUSA have reportedly been “mulling over [releasing the job] for a while.” According to Ruby, “Many people neglect the importance of the student vote in Dunedin.” She said, “This year [OUSA] wants to rally all the students together and ensure that they get out there and enrol to vote and take control of their future. With such a dense election plan, it would be ignorant to not get as many people involved as possible.”

The new employee will not be taking on the work of the current Executive officers. “The Executive have a vision for the students as they are elected by the students; we would never compromise that.”

The job is currently advertised on SEEK, as well as the OUSA website. It will also be available on Student Job Search in the near future. Ruby commented, “There is likely to be more roles in the future that will pop up at OUSA in a range of areas that will help students get real experience and get them some extra money in their pocket.”