Jack Manning nominated two senior University employees for life membership of OUSA. In his statement nominating Stephen Willis and David Thomson for life membership, Jack acknowledged that he was “somewhat bucking the trend of not nominating current University staff”.
Both nominees are current senior university employees. Stephen is the University’s Chief Operating Officer and David is the Director of the Strategics, Analytics and Reporting Office.
OUSA Life Members get voting rights in elections and referenda for the students’ association.
“I nominated Stephen and David because of their instrumental role in the University’s Covid-19 response,” said Jack. “It is because of their pivotal role in responding to a one-in-a-hundred year event that I thought to go against the grain of nominating current University management.”
“In a normal year I likely wouldn’t have nominated a current member of the University management, but that said I don’t hold as strong a reservation about nominating them as others might,” he said.
“In terms of our ability to hold Life Members accountable – The Minister of Finance, Grant Robertson, is a Life Member of OUSA, and that doesn’t at all limit our ability to convey our disappointment regarding the financial support provided to students and the tertiary sector, the dropping of the Fees Free Policy and Postgraduate Student Allowance reinstatement, or the Government’s inaction in implementing a Universal Education Income.” Grant Robertson is a life member because all former OUSA Presidents are made life members at the end of their term.
The OUSA Exec discussed the nominations for life membership in their meeting last Monday, but Critic cannot report on the discussion as it was confidential. The details of the nominations were on the agenda for the meeting.