The OUSA Exec held Critic hostage for two hours at their meeting last Thursday (we outlasted Liam, even). In what could only be described as a “robust” meeting (I can’t stop) the agenda had three big ticket items: finally talking about the referendum results, NZUSA withdrawal, and protest planning for lecture recordings policy.
Two months ago, 1,766 students voted “yay” or “nay” to 20 questions in the OUSA Referendum. Before the meeting, Liam sent the Exec a memo with suggestions of action for each of the thirteen questions that students had given the green-light, ranging from neutral to bold. As a brief summary, students continue to be broke (voting yes to paid placements, a postgrad allowance, and review of the Hardship Grant eligibility criteria), enjoy drinking (voting yes to a student bar and alcohol advertising), and support student equity (Te Rōpū Māori getting a seat on Uni Council, plus a Disabled and Queer Rep on the Exec).
The most controversial question – triggering a collective “ooo” in the room – was whether OUSA should adopt a Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) policy to ensure separation from the state of Israel. It’s been a hot topic this year. Long story short, a behind-the-scenes decision by the Exec last year to informally adopt a BDS “posture” to show support for Palestine meant OUSA lost money from BDS-listed businesses like Domino’s at O-Week’s Tent City. Students were split on their support – some strongly for, others against – and the Exec went back to the drawing board in March to reassess their stance (that was another very long meeting).
Just over half of students in the referendum voted “yes” to the BDS policy. It’s important to note, however, that referendum results aren’t constitutionally binding, but a good indicator of student opinion. Outside of ethical considerations, the biggest factor the Exec considered was the price tag that came with the policy – a trade-off that Clubs and Socs Rep Deborah worried students weren’t made aware of and thus were unable to make an “informed decision”. These concerns were echoed by students’ comments in the referendum, with one person saying, “OUSA has little enough money as is.” After some debate, they passed a motion to abandon the position of BDS, noting that it would cause enough hardship that OUSA would have to cut other services to pay for it. They will instead pursue “alternative action” to support the people of Gaza.
The second biggest agenda item was led by Academic Rep Stella. For the past two years, a lecture recording policy has been her brainchild. The gist is that apart from a small list of exceptions, it was an expectation that University lectures would have to be recorded for tauira to watch on-demand. As the first ever University policy that has been co-sponsored by OUSA, countless hours of student consultation has been put into shaping the policy. Stella has described the policy as “two years of blood, sweat, and tears (emphasis on tears)”.
Things were looking promising for the policy getting approved by the University Senate in recent months, but that is now in doubt according to Stella. Junior academics have tended to be more supportive than senior staff members – but only the latter tend to have seats round the Senate table. With the fate of the policy getting decided on September 24th, Stella is planning to mobilise OUSA to save the policy. The Exec unanimously adopted a motion to support a protest involving “copious amounts of chalk”, writing reasons for lecture recordings on the central part of campus – a somewhat unavoidable area for most Uni staff and students to and from classes.
Another important feature of the meeting was perhaps the long anticipated withdrawal from the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA). The majority of this part of the meeting was spent in confidential committee, so Critic can’t actually say what happened. What we can tell you is that OUSA passed a motion to withdraw from NZUSA, with the intention of seeking something beginning with ‘L’ and ending with ‘egal advice’.
For a full report, the minutes from each weekly Exec meeting can be found on the OUSA website. Critic Te Ārohi will continue coverage on Exec actions, despite them trying to shake us by scheduling their Sem 2 meetings on the same day as our print.