Wednesday, 12 August 2009
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Posted by: Jennifer Miller
Armidale Express, Page: 5 By James Bell Wednesday, 12 August 2009
UNIVERSITY of New England students will finally have representation over the direction of their institution, after a three-year hiatus left them without a voice.
Students met on Monday for a barbecue on campus, to launch their new student representative organisation, The Undergrads of New England Guild (UNEG) to staff and the wider community.
The demise of the UNE Students ' Association and the UNE Union left students without a suitable forum to air concerns over student affairs, management of the campus and the allocation of university funds.
Public officer of UNEG, Alicia Zikan, said the transition from compulsory to voluntary student unionism under the former Howard Government 's Higher Education Support Amendment had been a primary reason for the failed student bodies of the past three years.
She said the new body was great news for students and would improve relations with university management.
"The aim is to promote the intellectual and social life of students and to act as a conduit between students and the university," she said.
"We will put forward ideas about where revenue should be spent around the university and make suggestions on behalf of students." Ms Zikan believed political divisions that beset the previous student representative organisations at UNE would disappear under the new structure, which is bound by legal obligations under the Corporations ' Act.
"The new body was incorporated by the Department of Fair Trading on June 16 which we believe is important as it provides guidelines that members of the executive must abide by," she said.
"This gives the organisation, which all undergraduates automatically become a member of, a more stable structure unlike previous bodies which have failed.
"Students are now less interested in pointless political campaigning on campus and more interested in constructive work which will improve the student experience at UNE." Reflecting this change in sentiment, Ms Zikan said the new student body would be apolitical, allowing it to focus on grassroots representation. - - -Elected positions to be decided include president, vice-president, college representative, town student representative, international student representative, two external student representatives and two non-specific representatives.
An undergraduate member of the UNE Council will also be appointed to ensure students ' concerns are heard.
Ms Zikan said she enjoyed the support of the university, which had agreed to provide UNEG with additional office space in a new building, which is due for completion by the end of next year.
"I have been working on this project for about 10 months and it has been a hard slog, but I would like to thank the university for its support," she said.
"Hopefully students will get behind the voting process, carefully consider the candidates up for election and cast their vote accordingly." The elections will take place when students are sent electronic ballots on Monday, with voting closing on August 24 and results announced on August 25.
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