At last week’s Exec meeting, the last half of the quarter three reports were approved. Here’s what those Exec members got up to to get paid for their honorarium (i.e., top-up their StudyLink). It was a drama-filled quarter for many, but here’s what the Exec were doing when Critic Te Ārohi wasn’t reporting.
Daniel Leamy – Finance and Strategy Officer
Q3 Average Hours - 17.23/20
For the Finance and Strategy Officer (FSO), quarter three’s work was dominated by getting the OUSA budget ready for student approval at the upcoming AGM (23rd October, 12:45pm in the Main Common Room). “The Executive budget continues to look good from savings in Officer Honorariums from January and February,” Daniel wrote.
Outside of the money stuff, local election work shaped Daniel’s quarter as the chair of the Political Action Committee because Jett couldn’t. He helped organise both the visits to first-year halls to drive voter registration and mayoral candidate forums with the Debating Society. Behind the scenes, a proposal for bulk power and Wifi discounts for students is being worked on, and seven out of eight committees he’s a part of have met.
Daniel did admit campaigns have “fallen by the wayside” at this point in the year. “It's a shame that we haven’t been able to do more but I think a big reason for that is overcommitting early on,” said Daniel. Owing to having taken a week off during the semester break (“there was one week where I pretty much didn’t work at all in early July”) Daniel was under his hours in the last quarter.
At last week’s Exec meeting, President Liam asked Daniel what his plan was to make up his hours. Daniel replied, “Realistically they're not gonna be made up cause it’s exams in a few weeks and Exec stuff is about to be winding up,” but he would try his “damn best”. After some back and forth about whether a cut would be fair (similar to that Liam and Amy W received a couple weeks ago) the decision was made to cut Daniel’s honorarium by 10% for the next month.
Stella Lynch – Academic Representative
Q3 Average Hours - 20.12/20
Last quarter saw a final push to get a lecture recordings policy approved, as a University Senate meeting in the coming weeks determines its fate. A chalking demonstration was arranged inviting students to write their reasons for wanting – often needing – lecture recordings. Stella also pushed the policy by speaking to the media: Critic Te Ārohi and the ODT. Focus groups of tauira from different groups were arranged which had good engagement, including interactions with students who weren’t aware of the precarious nature of lecture recordings.
Beyond lecture recordings, Stella has attended or been involved in 19 different committees, and has been working with the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) on the Blackboard replacement. In other news too, Stella said she’s “dealt with a lot of academic grievance issues this quarter,” and put her planned campaigns on paid placements and an AI expo on hold for the rest of the year. Stella’s report and honorarium were kept at 100% for the next quarter, with Prezzie Liam telling her, “You should be incredibly proud of the work you’ve done.”
Ibuki Nishida – International Students Representative
Q3 Average Hours - 8.38/10
Quarter three coincided with the beginning of semester two, bringing a new cohort of international tauira to Otago. Buki has had plenty of work to do, who said the international student welcome event was a “massive success” – as was the multicultural ball. For OISA, Buki re-ran a karaoke night (after the first one was so successful) and he also gave a campus tour to the Japan ambassador programme for the Council. He’s also helped Stella with consultation for the lecture recordings policy, collaborated with UniCrew and the Social Impact Studio, and ran a beach clean-up with a tour bus full of international students. Buki’s report posed no issues to the Exec, and Admin-VP Amy M particularly praised him for being the “most committed” Exec member for helping out with OUSA elections. For this, his report was accepted and he was awarded his full honorarium.
Deborah Huang – Clubs and Societies Representative
Q3 Average Hours - 9.46/10
The last quarter was a busy time for many clubs and societies, leaving Deborah with plenty of work to do. Lots of grants were given out, and meetings arranged with the outdoor clubs over club’s alcohol and welfare policy. She also helped liaise with the Debating Society to run local-election mayoral forums for OUSA, and has been encouraging clubs and socs to hit up Critic and the University Zine – Te Aka Tauira. Deborah sits on seven different OUSA committees, and has completed a grants policy review this quarter too. In Q3, she discovered and promoted the Emerging Leader Programme to club executives, and has also been attending the AGMs of many clubs as a returning officer (with many more to come in Q4).
Deborah admits she was a bit under her hours last quarter, due to being overseas and not working for three weeks over semester break. Since getting back, however, she’s worked over 10 hours every week (“and many weeks significantly over”). When Deborah left last week’s Exec meeting for the Exec to discuss her report, she had barely enough time to shut the door behind her before they unanimously agreed to accept her report and give her 100% of her honorarium. “I appreciate it has been a difficult quarter […] you have been fantastic,” said Liam as Deborah walked back in.
Jett Groshinski – Political Representative
Q3 Average Hours - 10.58/10
Submissions on policy are the bread and butter for OUSA’s Political Rep, and Jett is no exception. He submitted on five different policies or bills – everything from elections, to parking and entertainment. Jett also orally submitted for the Regulatory Standards Bill to Parliament for OUSA, and is in talks on beginning two more policy submissions. Beyond these, Jett has written numerous letters to MPs and Ministers about key issues affecting students currently. He even snagged in-person meetings with politicians Francisco Hernandez, Christine Garey, Rachel Brooking, Shanan Halbert, Tim Mepham, and Elliot Weir last quarter. For the University, Jett is also involved in the information management governance committee and web transformation group.
At last week’s Exec meeting, a conversation around Jett’s conduct and conflict of interest management reared its head while discussing his report. While he had met his hours, numerous Executive members expressed concerns over Jett’s failing to unpin a TikTok about OUSA on his election account (violating his conflict of interest management plan), a lack of communication, and his lack of involvement in helping with OUSA elections. Buki expressed his disappointment saying “he didn’t come to the table at all”, concurred by Amy M who oversaw most of the Exec’s election work. After a (long) discussion, ultimately the Exec voted to indefinitely reduce Jett’s honorarium by 30%.
Callum Hadlow – Residential Representative
Q3 Average Hours - 4.9/10
Callum has been pretty absent this year in the eyes of Critic Te Ārohi, often showing up late to Exec meetings, not showing up at all, or leaving early. According to his report, though, Callum’s had meetings with Campus Watch, three different Residential College committees, “built rapport” with Student Support, and helped with Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. On his current goals, Callum finished visiting all the halls, helped President Liam create a flatting survey, and has given advice on housing to a number of concerned students.
The glaring issue with Callum’s report: he’s well below hours. He knows this, too, saying, “I will continue to carry out this work and fulfil my responsibilities as best as possible, but I respectfully request a full pay cut for the remainder of my term. This decision reflects my recognition of the areas where my performance can improve, while ensuring that the role continues to serve students effectively without financial burden.” The Executive agreed – Callum’s honorarium has been cut for the rest of the year. While there are concerns that this may mean Callum abandons his work for the rest of the year, as Stella and Amy M put it: “He’s not doing anything anyways."