News

T he meeting began by welcoming the new Postgraduate Officer, Chris Jackson, and International Officer Toa Sailusi. It was announced that Campaigns Officer Alice Sowry and Education Officer Greer Mahoney have resigned. The second by-election for 2015 is set to be announced in the near future.

The executive discussed Hyde Street 2015, and all members thought it was run very smoothly. Possible changes for next year included the idea of only allowing alcohol from kegs. Martin said there are dangerous “cultural behaviours and activities” surrounding kegs, and OUSA CEO Debbie Downs also said this would cause “difficulties with licensing” the event.

Admin Vice-President Isaac Yu pushed the idea of a bidding system for Hyde Street tickets. The majority of the executive were against the idea, and Martin pointed out that the budget would be more “unpredictable”. These issues will be discussed and decided on in future.

President Paul Hunt has been meeting with the Policy Committee to discuss the “general exec structure”. The committee agreed by-elections have been “occurring frequently”, and decided to add another full-time member to the team. The changes will be “cost-neutral”, so the structure of the executive will be adjusted for 2016.

The rest of the meeting was taken up by the executive’s quarterly reports. In the reports the executive members are asked to describe what they have done in the first quarter of their role, as well as how many hours on average they have completed. Each member presents their report to their fellow executive members, who decide whether the executive member should be paid their full honorarium.

Admin Vice President Isaac Yu said his role is going “very well”. He said “a couple of times” he has been under his twenty hours, but meets the hours most weeks. Feedback from the executive was generally positive. Welfare Officer Payal Ramritu did suggest Yu have “goals other than E sports”. Yu was granted his full honorarium.

Finance Officer Nina Harrap says she took “a while to get up to speed” in her role. She said she has been averaging about 15 hours per week in her 20-hour position. The executive noted that she had not been meeting her hours and discussed how she shall be paid. It was decided that Harrap would be paid 90 per cent of her honorarium.

Colleges Officer TaoTao Li said she started the year by establishing contacts with the heads of colleges. Li said she is “confident” she has met her ten hours. Ramritu noted that Li is “hard to get a relationship with” and Hunt pointed out that this should not affect her pay. Li was granted her full honorarium.

Campaigns Officer Alice Sowry said she does not expect the full honorarium as she “averaged about seven hours a week”. Sowry said she just “hasn’t had the time to prioritise OUSA”. Sowry was given 90 per cent of her honorarium.

Former Postgraduate Officer Claire Mitchell said “in terms of hours per week”, she “averaged seven to ten”. Mitchell said she did not have time to complete her full hours, “hence why I had to leave”, so she asked to be paid 70 per cent of her hours. The executive agreed on 90 per cent.

Welfare Officer Payal Ramritu believed she had completed all of her hours. Yu said she has “volunteered more than any of [the executive]” and should be paid the full amount. Ramritu will be paid her full honorarium, as well as being back paid for the period between January and 5 February when she was not in Dunedin but still worked.

Recreation Officer Johnny Martin said he has been “pretty busy” and has been working “around about 15” hours each week. Martin was not in Dunedin in January or February, so has only been present for one of the three months in the quarterly period. However, the executive agreed he had done as much work as he could while away. He will be paid 90 per cent of his honorarium.

President Paul Hunt announced where his hours were spent, and Secretary Donna Jones believes he works 75–80 hours per week. The executive agreed his work has been great, though the general view was that he needs to take more time off. Yu said Hunt should “delegate” work more, as the hours he is working are “unsustainable”. Hunt will be paid his full honorarium.