An online referendum will be held next week to decide the future structure of the OUSA Executive and whether Student General Meetings should be moved online.
The OUSA Executive has voted to change the Executive structure, reducing the 17-strong Executive to only ten. This now has to be approved by the student body.
The restructuring has been proposed by a working party which was established in July last year to address perceived problems with the current structure.
n July last year to address perceived problems with the current structure. OUSA President Harriet Geoghegan says that the current structure is trying to be both a governing board and a representative group. As a result of this dual role OUSA is not reaching its potential in either area, she says.
Geoghegan says that the proposed “bottom- up” structure will greatly benefit students in a number of ways. It will include more people, give better training and support to the Executive, increase OUSA’s efficiency, better reflect the reality of how OUSA operates, and increase communication both within OUSA and within the University.
Geoghegan says the response to the change has been “overwhelmingly positive”, with the notable exception of those who have taken issue with specific aspects of the policy.
The first draft was released last semester and raised concerns among Executive members and students alike that the General Exec positions could not provide enough representation for minority groups, specifically post graduate students. To rectify this, five specific portfolios have been added: a post graduate, an international, a clubs and recreation, a colleges and communication, and a campaigns portfolio. In addition, the Te Roopu Maori President will be given voting rights on the Executive to ensure good communication and relationships. Te Roopu Maori is the only student association or group that runs parallel with, rather than under, OUSA.
Geoghegan says that although there is no Women’s, Queer, Pacific Islands, or Maori Representatives in the proposed structure, minority issues will still be acted on. “Currently the way to get welfare issues acted in [sic] is through the welfare committee, so that wouldn’t change. The committee would be a formal part of the structure and its recommendations would have to be considered and acted on by the Executive.” Geoghegan says that currently, representatives of these groups spend much of their time discussing operational and governing issues rather than discussing the welfare issues that they were voted in to discuss.
Voting in the online referendum will open at midday next Monday and run until Thursday July 22 at 4pm. A debate forum will be held prior to this, at 12pm on the first day of voting. For the referendum to be binding, five percent of the student body, or around 1000 students, need to vote.
The referendum will also include a motion to move SGMs online, allowing all external policy, constitutional changes, and legal appointments to be voted on online.
The referendum will be conducted in time for the 2011 Executive nominations, so, if the referendum is in favour of the proposal, the new constitutional structure could be in place at the start of next year.
Critic will have extensive coverage and analysis, as students begin voting, in next week’s issue.
Exec Reshuffle.
