Student General Meeting

The first Student General Meeting for 2019 will be held on 21st March 12:30pm in the Main Common Room. Come along and have your say! 

Here are the questions being put forward for the SGM

Note: Highlighted text are proposed changes

Online Referenda and Student Forums

Online referenda are one of the many ways you can have your say through OUSA. Whether it's about university policy or a wider issue, you can change OUSA's stance.

Online referenda are used to guide OUSA policy; it's a direct online vote allowing every University of Otago student to have their say.

Student forums provide an opportunity for students to discuss the questions that will be in the Online Referenda. You can also submit your own questions/motions for online referenda. For example, if you think OUSA should support or oppose mandatory veganism, you can submit a referendum question so that students can have a say.

For more information contact secretary@ousa.org.nz or refer to the OUSA Constitution.

Committees

Committees are a great way for you to get involved - both in making policy and in helping OUSA reach out to students. There are a wide range of committees that need all sorts of different skills so there's always one for your interests and talents. Committees commence in March of each year.

Colleges Committee

Chairperson: Jack Manning (Colleges Officer)

Members: College presidents or elected other from each college, OUSA President

Contact: colleges@ousa.org.nz

Purpose: The Colleges Committee exists to share ideas between the different colleges and help set up events and competitions between the Colleges as well as to inform OUSA of the issues facing first year residents.

Education Committee

Chairperson: William Dreyer (Education Officer)

Members: Class and Divisional Representatives

Contact: education@ousa.org.nz

Purpose: The Education Committee meets regularly to talk about academic policies and regulations.  If you are interested in the academic practices of the University then volunteer to be a Class Representative, or get in touch to attend Education Committee meetings.

International Committee

Chairperson: Sabrina Alhady (International Officer)

Members:

Contact: international@ousa.org.nz

Purpose: The International Committee meets regularly with the International Clubs to discuss the issues of international students at Otago University. They come from a diverse range of backgrounds and utilise their skills to plan awesome International events for the wider student body. Please feel free to approach us if you have any pressing International issues, ideas, and concerns - we are here to help!

Policy Committee

Chairperson: Porourangi Templeton-Reedy (Administrative Vice President)

Members: Thomas Aerepo-Morgan, Rebecca Turner, Jonathon Arrell, Sam Keen, Daniel Stride

Contact: adminvp@ousa.org.nz

Purpose: The Policy Committee facilitates policy development at OUSA. The core function of the Committee is to draft, regularly review and recommend policy to the OUSA Executive before it is ratified by the student body at referendums.

Welfare Committee

Chairperson: Kerrin Robertson-Scanlon (Welfare Officer)

Members: Open to anyone interested

Contact: welfare@ousa.org.nz

Purpose: The Welfare Committee is the place to discuss and take action on things that affect student welfare. We're in charge of things like the Women's Room and Free Scarfie Breakfasts. If you're keen on helping with these projects or have any ideas of your own on how to improve the living condition of students in Dunedin, then pop along to our meetings and help. 

Postgraduate Committee 

Chairperson: Dermot Frengley (Posgraduate Officer) 

Members: Not yet appointed 

Contact: postgrad@ousa.org.nz

Purpose: The Postgraduate Committee aims to provide postgraduate students with an opportunity to voice their concerns and communicate directly to OUSA, lobby and campaign postgraduate issues as efficient and informed as possible and make recommendations to the OUSA Executive regarding postgraduate issues.

Reviews

We want to make sure that OUSA provides the best possible service and value to students so we'll be looking at the way we do things all the time to see how we can do better. Keep an eye out on the OUSA website, facebook and Critic to see what we're looking for feedback on.

Class Reps

The class representative system is an avenue for encouraging communication and consultation between staff and students. Class Reps help to resolve issues that affect the entire class (or many students) and give students the chance to give both positive and negative feedback on their courses. For more info on Class Reps, click here.