MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON MONDAY 18 OCTOBER 2021 AT 11:02 AM HELD VIA ZOOM.

PRESENT

Michaela Waite-Harvey (Chair), Emily Coyle, Josh Meikle, Michael Evans, Maya Polaschek, Dushanka Govender, Jack Saunders, Geraldi Ryan, Sophie Barham, Mhairi Mackenzie Everitt, Karamea Pēwhairangi and Melissa Lama.

IN ATTENDANCE

Debbie Downs (Chief Executive Officer) and Esther Moore (Minute Secretary)

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS EXECUTIVE MEETING

            Moved from the Chair

389/21 THAT the minutes of the executive meeting held on 11 October 2021 be accepted as a true and correct record.

                                                                                                            4          CARRIED U

SPEAKING RIGHTS

            Moved from the Chair

390/21 THAT Debbie Downs and Esther Moore be granted speaking rights for the duration of this meeting.

                                                                                                                        CARRIED U

HEALTH AND SAFETY

            Nothing to report.

OUSA UPDATE

            Debbie had a site meeting at UBS building last week – progress is looking great.

Continuing to monitor alert levels to best plan ahead for scheduled OUSA events and services, and day to day office protocol.

OUSA/TEU Collective employment bargaining – negotiations coming to an end and voting to take place this week.

            OUSA continuing to look into venue options following the closure of Starters Bar.

TE ROOPU MĀORI UPDATE

            Working on TRM handover wānanga next weekend.

            Organising things for Student Leadership hui.          

            Te Hokai – The annual TRM Ball was held on Friday, a great time was had.

OTAGO UNIVERSITY PACIFIC ISLAND STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION UPDATE

            Fakaalofa lahi atu, Happy Niuean Language week.

            Working on handover processes for next year and preparing for leadership hui.

NZUSA UPDATES

Josh had the Finance Risk and Audit Committee meeting. No changes to structure but there were changes to some levies. The 2022 budget was presented and Josh voted in favour.

Maya had the NZUSA Welfare Committee meeting, with many association reps expressing concern over the lack of masks being worn around their campuses.

Michaela has a zoom meeting with some other University presidents and Ministry of Education officials tomorrow to hold a discussion about vaccine and mask mandates and to gauge stances and guidelines for Universities. Some Universities have already mandated vaccines for halls of residence. Victoria University has made the announcement that students must be vaccinated to enter their halls in 2022.

FINANCE AND STRATEGY MEETING MINUTES

             Meikle/Coyle

391/21 THAT the minutes of the Finance and Strategy meetings held on 17 September 2021 and 1 October 2021 be received.

                                                                                                                        CARRIED

SUBWARDEN COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

            Saunders/Govender

392/21 THAT the minutes of the Subwarden Committee meeting held on 14 October 2021 be received.

                                                                                                                        CARRIED

STUDENT HUI WITH VICE-CHANCELLORS ADVISORY GROUP

            The meeting with VCAG is next Friday, a venue change is needed, and it was agreed that Quad 2 was most appropriate.

            OUSA have a 10-minute slot to present to VCAG, Michaela is trying to finalise the logistics of the presentation, the time limit means that not all exec members will be able to speak so all members are encouraged to see Michaela with any information regarding their areas that they would like presented. The topic will be “a year in review”, supplying data from Student Support, committee meeting information and highlighting key areas for students to think about for next year.

GENERAL BUSINESS

• Te Kāika will be on campus on Thursday 10am - 4:30pm providing Covid-19 vaccinations for students, the Executive will be providing a BBQ incentive.

• The wider Student Clean-up has been cancelled for Friday due to level 2 restrictions and social distancing issues with street capacity, however residents will still be cleaning. A postponement date for next year is being discussed.

• Dushanka brought up that some clubs have decided that membership with their clubs will be dependent on vaccination status. Dushanka is conducting more research surrounding the legalities and to put policies in place, but as of yet it appears that all clubs have the right to do so as they operate as private entities so therefore there is no current legislation against doing so. Many clubs involve contact sports and it is a health and safety issue when unable to socially distance effectively.

            Sophie wanted to bring medical exemptions into mind and Dushanka wanted to be considerate of those who don’t wish to disclose medical information.

            A wider discussion will be held in the future regarding this issue for both our external view and internal policies for staff.

Emily reminded the Executive to begin sending in their handover documents and offered congratulations to Geraldi for having already done so.

Meeting closed 11.28am

Signed: ___________________________________            Date: _________