At the November meeting of the USU Board of the Directors, the amended Affirmative Action Review 2012 will be presented to the Board and the full list of recommendations within will be voted on by the Board. These recommendations have been formulated out of the internal research conducted as part of the Review, student submissions and the Affirmative Action Consultation Forum held at the end of Semester 2. The full list of recommendations to be voted on are as follows:
Recommendation (1): That this amended version of the Affirmative Action Review 2012 be accepted by the Board.
Recommendation (2): That the Board recognises the continued need for the Affirmative Action policy outlined in Section 10.2c of the USU Constitution and will uphold and endorse this policy as part of the USU’s commitment to ensuring women are actively participating as leaders within the USU.
Recommendation (3): The Board recommends that another review of the Affirmative Action policies for Board directors be undertaken in 2016, ten years after the policy’s initial implementation.
Recommendation (4): That the USU maintains the Affirmative Action provisions that already exist within the recruitment process for student leadership positions.
Recommendation (5): That the USU investigates strategies to increase female participation across the organisation, including (but not limited to) the introduction of further Affirmative Action provisions across student leadership positions that do not already have such provisions.
Recommendation (6): That the positions of Queer Coordinator, Charity Officer and Humanitarian Week Director be closely monitored during the next Affirmative Action Review.
Recommendation (7): That the USU strives to collect data surrounding female participation within the Clubs & Societies program, and the amounts of females who apply for and are appointed to Student Leadership Positions.
Recommendation (8): That the USU focuses upon forming a strategy of recruitment to attract more female applicants for the position of Women’s Coordinator and C&S Committee Members
Recommendation (9): That the USU develops processes for dealing with an inability to apply Affirmative Action.
Recommendation (10): That the USU develops procedure for implementation of Affirmative Action in student recruitment discussions.
Recommendation (11): That the USU develops a plan aimed at celebrating women’s participation in the USU community.
Recommendation (12): That the USU develops a plan for structurally encouraging women’s involvement throughout the students programs.
Recommendation (13): That the Electoral Committee, Programs Department and Marketing Department take this Communications Review into consideration when marketing and promoting the 2013 Union Board Elections.
Recommendation (14): That the Communications Working Party and Women's Portfolio develop a Comprehensive Communication Strategy around women's leadership and our Affirmative Action practices to utilize USU communication channels to be implemented in marketing. This will be done in conjunction with the Women’s Officers of the SRC and other relevant and interested parties.
Recommendation (15): That the USU endeavours to provide regular opportunities for women to network with and receive mentoring from female leaders within the USU community. These regular networking and mentoring events would be organised by the Women’s Event Co-ordinator in conjunction with the Women’s Portfolio Holder.
Recommendation (16): That female representatives from the USU, together with the SRC, SUSF, Colleges, the University and other interested parties engage in regular dialogue about issues facing women on campus and collectively formulate ways to address these issues.
Recommendations (17): That the USU recommends affirmative action provisions be included in the C&S Model Constitution on an opt-out basis, where Clubs or Societies choosing not to adopt this Model Constitution must otherwise demonstrate their commitment to equity for women and women’s representation in other ways. The Clubs and Societies Committee would be responsible for formulating and implementing this recommendation.
The President of the USU and the Women's Portfolio Holder will be holding an informal open-door discussion this Thursday (29/11/2012) at 10-11 am in The Board Office, Level 5 Holme Building, for members to discuss any aspect of these recommendations with us before the Board meeting on Friday. Members can also feel free to email the Women's Portfolio Holder Hannah Morris a th.morris@usu.usyd.edu.au with any further questions or concerns.
Yours sincerely,
Board of Directors
University of Sydney Union
28 November 2012
06 November 2012
Summary: October Board Meeting
Last month's Board meeting saw a number of important decisions and some great
reports from the USU departments. Here's what's happening:
Environment Portfolio
The
Environment Portfolio was created and approved. Brought to Board by Tom
Raue, the Portfolio will seek to oversee the environmental practices of
the USU within all its functions. The Portfolio will be held for the
next year by Tom, who will be looking into the best ways to incorporate
and investigate environmental best practice. If you want to get involved
in the work of the Environment Portfolio contact Tom at t.rau@usu.usyd.edu.au
AA Review
The
AA Review was accepted by the Board as the 2012 annual review and the
first step in a consultation process with staff and students around AA
within the USU. The Review considered a number of different areas of AA
including clubs and societies, Board membership, student leadership
positions and women's mentoring. If you want to find out more about the
review and give your thoughts on AA within the USU you can read more
here http://share.pdfonline.com/
SCASS USU Art Gallery Working Party
The
formation of a Working Party between the USU and the Sydney College of
the Arts Student Society was approved to continue collaboration
discussions. The working party aims to look at the opportunities for
students in curatorship, installation and extra curricular study. The
working party will be made up of a mixture of USU students and staff,
SCASS representatives and SCA representatives.
What's going on in the departments….
- There's a promotion of $2 coffees during Exams at our USU Coffee Carts from 8-10am! (Comm/Ops)
- We're letting students know about our new coffee blend; starting in 2013 we will be using Rainforest Alliance blend. (Communications)
- The tender process is continuing for our new website.
- Verge was a huge hit! The dome went off and student programs is exhausted.
- C&S celebrated another great year at the C&S awards
- Hermes 2012 has been launched
- The USU is undertaking D&M Market research to find out more about what students want. Join the USU Hub to get involved!
- The Holme Redevelopment Project is well underway, students should expect to see changes from as early as semester 1, 2013
- Our student leadership positions for 2012 have been filled
- Plans for O Week 2012 (stalls, set up, events, sponsors) are well underway. Directed by students Kristy Samal and Robby Magyer the theme is "Down the Rabbit Hole"!
Board meetings are open for all USU members to attend. The next Board meeting will be held Friday 30th November.
That's a wrap up of your USU in October. If you want any more information or to get involved get in touch president@usu.usyd.edu.au.
Brigid Dixon
Vice President
Follow up from AA Consultation Forum
On Thursday 1st November the USU held an Affirmative Action Consultation Forum that was open to all members of the University community. The purpose of the forum was to discuss the results of the Affirmative Action Review 2012, as well as to hear the opinions, experiences and
ideas of the membership surrounding the USU’s affirmative action
policies and how to encourage women’s participation and leadership
within the USU and in broader campus life.
The
forum was split into two sessions- an autonomous session held in the
Women’s Room in Manning House, and a general session held in the
MacCallum Room in the Holme Building. In both sessions issues effecting
women on campus were discussed in thoughtful, respectful and
constructive ways, and there were many interesting new ideas raised on
how to encourage women to get involved as leaders within the USU and how
to work to shift attitudinal problems within the community.
Some issues, concerns and ideas raised included:
· Lack of information surrounding Affirmative Action
· Potential for an education campaign
· Greater networking between student groups concerned with women's leadership and participation
· Potential sources for more quantitative and historical data
· Promotion of AA within the clubs and societies program
· Experience of members within club and society executives
· Affirmative action within student leadership positions
· More communication with the University administration about women’s issues on campus
· Creating
a “think tank” of female leaders who represent a variety of student
groups across campus to meet and discuss women’s issues on campus and
organize joint events and campaigns to promote women’s participation and
leadership
The
opinions and suggestions expressed by members at these sessions will be
compiled into a section of the amended Affirmative Action Review 2012,
along with a series of amended recommendations that will be drawn from
the ideas raised in the Consultation Forum as well as from members’
email submissions. Email submissions will remain open until November 18th.
In
the week before the November Board meeting, the full list of
recommendations contained that will be voted on by the Board at that
meeting will be released online for members to view. Following this, the
USU President, Vice-President and Women’s Portfolio Holder will be
holding a session of “open-door consultation” (at a
location TBA) for members to chat with us and ask us any questions on
the recommendations contained within the Review.
The
USU Board would like to thank everyone who participated in the
Consultation Forum and who sent in email submissions, we are always
happy to hear from and engage with our members on significant issues
such as these.
If
you would like to send in an email submission or have any further
questions about the Affirmative Action Review or women’s issues on
campus, feel free to email the Women’s Portfolio Holder Hannah Morris at
H.Morris@usu.usyd.edu.au
Yours sincerely,
Board of Directors
University of Sydney Union
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