Your Representatives

Representation
ANUSA is a representative democracy, which means that people that get elected to positions are student representatives, or ‘reps’ if you want to sound hip. As mentioned in the What is ANUSA? section, these reps generously (or foolishly) give up lots of their time to represent students and generally try to make the university a better place for all of us.

This section provides a breakdown of how your reps are organized.

A Note on Portfolio Flexibility
All positions on ANUSA have their roles defined in the constitution. They’re not airtight, so there’s quite a lot of ‘wiggle room’ for interpretation. This has several implications, as well as drawbacks:

Implication: That in addition to their constitutionally mandated jobs, time permitting representatives can take on portfolios of particular personal interest. This is pretty good because people generally work harder on things that they’re interested in.

Implication: Following from the above, reps aren’t entirely tied down to a particular set of jobs, which means that there’s lots of flexibility in how ANUSA deals with projects. For instance, if a particularly large project needs extra hands (i.e. campaigning against the cuts to the music programme), more help can be allocated accordingly.

Drawback: Reps can perform the bare minimum stipulated in the constitution and nothing else. Whilst this tends to be rarer in positions with higher time commitments (like in the Executive or Department officers), there have been several cases where, for instance, General Representatives can get away with not doing much.

The Executive: 6, possibly 7 reps
The executive are students crazy (or ambitious) enough to commit an entire year of their lives to the job. They’re probably some of the most visible members of ANUSA and are paid wages (at approx. $15/hour; paid hours per week vary with position), and because of this element of public obligation are probably under the most pressure to perform well.

Generally, they have lots of influence in setting the direction of ANUSA and how it goes about achieving its goals, as well as ensuring that it manages its sizable budget properly and operates within the constitution.

Members of the exec should be most in touch with student issues (whatever these are for the year) and the representative spirit of ANUSA, and often the way in which they decide to approach issues sets the tone for how the rest of ANUSA operates. This isn’t done entirely on their own, though – other reps in ANUSA or students who make their opinions heard should also be able to influence the position ANUSA takes.

Whilst it’s possible to read some sort of totalitarian control into the executive, this is balanced off by the accountability measures at meetings they’re subject to (see section on accountability).

President
Description

The President is the public face of the Association, and in a move of glorious self-sacrifice for the greater good, has more or less given up all hope of a “normal” life outside of ANUSA. The President often has a vision for how ANUSA should run, as well a pretty good grasp of many, if not all, of the issues that affect students.

Despite this, the President often has to deal with many administrative tasks – writing emails, meeting or negotiating with the university administration (the 2011 President sat on something like 15 boards in the university), and so on. This means that the President has great access to all levels of the administration – including the Vice-Chancellor, Chancellor and University Council, which is the highest decision-making body in the university. On the other hand, this also means that the President may not actually have as much face-to-face contact with students as, say, a Faculty Representative.

The President typically is also the first point of contact for the media, and so is ANUSA’s official spokesperson.

Constitutionally defined under section 14.6 of the ANUSA constitution. Projects this position works on

Fingers in almost all pies, including:
 * Student welfare: i.e. appeals, cost of living, quality of education, etc.


 * Internal education policy: policy within the university, set by admin and affecting both staff and students (such as policies regarding budgets, how classes and education ought to happen, etc.)


 * External education policy: policy set by the government, affecting all of the university (such as HECS, youth allowance, government regulation of teaching standards, share of the national budget, etc.)

Typical work commitment

9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, in addition to other meetings, prep work etc. outside these hours. The President is recognized by the university as a full-time job, and typically the President will take no more than 2 courses per semester (realistically, 1 course per semester). The President gets paid $15 per hour for 35 hours per week.

Unfortunately, visa requirements for full-time enrolment imply that no international student can hold this position.

Vice-President
Description

Because of the ridiculous number of hours they’ll spend in the office together, the VP will inevitably become the president’s best friend, and probably has fingers in just as many pies project-wise. However, if the president is the student face in the university’s administration, the Vice-President will likely deal with students a lot more.

The Vice-President typically focuses on internal education policy – policy that set by either ANUSA or the university administration and is relevant to students and staff alike. In 2012 the VP has also been heavily involved in handling student appeals.

There have been two approaches to the way the position of VP is seen. In some years, it’s thought of as a compliment to the president – that the VP takes on roles and projects that the president wouldn’t otherwise have time to commit to. The other approach is to see the VP as a (potential) substitute to the president – in that the president and Vice-President would essentially work in the same areas. The constitution stipulates that the VP steps up to the presidency should the president not be able to fulfill the role. Constitutionally defined under section 14.7 of the ANUSA constitution.

Projects this position works on

Almost identical to the president:
 * Internal education policy: policy within the university, set by admin and affecting both staff and students (such as policies regarding budgets, how classes and education ought to happen, etc.)


 * Student welfare and advocacy: i.e. appeals, cost of living, quality of education, etc.
 * With the addition of projects and outreach: i.e., projects directly related to promoting student welfare and engaging with the wider student body.

Typical work commitment

Something close to a part/full-time job, but less than the president’s work commitments. The VP is not officially a full-time job, and as such can take up to 4 courses per semester. The current ANUSA VP works 4 days a week (hours unclear), in addition to additional prep work etc.

The Vice-President is paid a weekly wage equivalent to 20 hours of work.

General Secretary
Description

The Gen Sec is the one that handles the nitty gritty of ANUSA – he or she is responsible for organising meetings, taking minutes, organizing documents, and generally making sure that things run according to procedure.

The Gen Sec is also the go-to person for issues regarding the constitution – he or she will be on top of things that need clarification, interpretation, or enforcement. Constitutionally defined under section 14.8 of the ANUSA constitution.

Projects this position works on

Anything that has to do with organising meetings, constitutional interpretation, and enforcing the rules of the constitution among your ANUSA reps. This typically takes up most of the Gen Sec’s time, but any leftover time is typically spent in projects of personal interest.

Typical work commitment

Exact hours unclear, but roughly equivalent to a part-time job, which means it’s possible to do this and still study full-time (i.e., 3 or more courses per semester).

The Gen Sec’s hours may fluctuate (i.e., typically busier when there are general meetings to prepare for, or during a constitutional crisis), but the position is paid a weekly amount equivalent to eight hours of work.

Treasurer
Description

The Treasurer handle’s ANUSA’s treasure – i.e., it’s finances, and is responsible for preparing the budget. This means making sure that money is well-spent and goes to the right places, knowing how much has been spent and how much is left, and making sure that people know where the money is going.

The Treasurer is also responsible for making sure that ANUSA is professionally audited, to help maintain transparency and accountability. Constitutionally defined under section 14.10 of the ANUSA constitution.

Projects this position works on See above. Time permitting, the Treasurer is also capable of working on other projects of personal interest.

Typical work commitment

Exact hours unclear, but roughly equivalent to a part-time job, which means it’s possible to do this and still study full-time (i.e., 3 or more courses per semester).

The Treasurer’s hours may fluctuate (i.e., typically busier when the budget has to be prepared), but the position is paid a weekly amount equivalent to eight hours of work.

Education Officer
Description

The Education Officer handles the external education side of the story, which is education policy as it relates to the federal government and broader university sector. This means talking to and coordinating action with national-level bodies, such as the National Union of Students (NUS), government ministers, and politicians. Word has it that the NUS is a very politicized organization, with it being customary for particular positions to go out to members of specific political factions like Labor left and Labor right. This doesn’t at all imply that the Education Officer has to be political, but it probably would be helpful if he or she was aware of and capable of navigating such structures.

Projects this position works on

The Education Officer helps organize campaigns that have to do with higher education policy (i.e., Youth Allowance, HECS, student housing etc.). He or she also helps prepare submissions to the university and the government on issues that broadly relate to tertiary education – for instance, in 2012 the Education Officer is working on a campaign for a nationwide student concession card.

The Education Officer is also responsible for convening ANUSA’s education committee, which is supposed to be a forum for interested students to come discuss and work on issues related to higher education.

Typical work commitment

Exact hours unclear, but roughly equivalent to a part-time job, which means it’s possible to do this and still study full-time (i.e., 3 or more courses per semester).

The Education Officer’s hours may fluctuate (i.e., typically busier when campaigns have to be organized, and so on), but the position is paid a weekly amount equivalent to eight hours of work.

Social Officer
Description

The social officer is the sociable events planner at ANUSA – he or she is responsible for helping to organizing things like O-Week, Bush Week, events during the semester, and typically does the most liaising with clubs and societies. If you love planning and organizing events, then this position is probably for you.

Projects this position works on

Remember those huge events and parties that get thrown every year at O-Week, and the less huge events at Bush Week? That’s the Social Officer’s doing. There are O-Week and Bush Week Directors to help out at around the time of each, but planning events is what the Social Officer thrives on. The Social Officer also sits on the Grants and Affiliations Committee (GAC), which is the committee that looks after all the clubs and societies on campus. If clubs want to affiliate with ANUSA or need funding, GAC is where they’ll be going.

Typical work commitment

Exact hours unclear, but roughly equivalent to a part-time job, which means it’s possible to do this and still study full-time (i.e., 3 or more courses per semester).

The Social Officer’s hours may fluctuate (i.e., typically busier when events have to be organized, and so on), but the position is paid a weekly amount equivalent to eight hours of work. Warning: planning O-Week can get very, very hectic.

Communications Officer – the “seventh exec”
Description

In short, the Communications Officer was a position specifically designed to address the broader lack of interaction ANUSA had with the student body (the fact that this Dummy’s Guide exists is probably testament to that fact). Because reps often got very caught up in their portfolios, they had a tendency to neglect the key aspect of getting ANUSA more involved with the everyday student, and vice versa.

It was proposed that the Communications Officer would specifically focus on this aspect. Broadly, the position would look to help develop policies and channel efforts into engaging the student body, as well work with other reps in helping communicate their activities.

Because of the scale of the project it was proposed that the Communications Officer needed to be an Executive position, in order to be able to engender positive change from the top-down as well as to be able to secure the appropriate time commitment. It was also proposed that since student engagement was (implicitly or explicitly) a part of each rep’s portfolios, the lack thereof could very well be a temporary issue. The Communications Officer was thus conceived of as a temporary solution, subject to yearly reviews of it’s effectiveness and relevance.

Projects this position works on

Developing engagement strategy:
 * Developing and articulating the reasons and values which drive broader student engagement


 * Finding strategies which will encourage student engagement: i.e., discussion forums, debates, how to encourage different student demographics to get involved


 * Thinking about and managing the important, public relationship between ANUSA and students

“Nitty gritty” of getting information out there, including:
 * Working on the ANUSA email newsletter


 * Helping write position papers, media releases

Typical work commitment

Conceived as putting in similar hours as the Gen Sec, Treasurer, Education Officer and Social Officer (see above), as well as being paid similar rates.

Department/Collective Heads: 6 reps
Despite being represented by their heads in ANUSA, departments function independently. They represent areas of the student body that are typically underrepresented, have their own membership (which can be limited to specific demographics), meetings, budgets and constitutions. The ways in which each department looks to further the interests of its members also varies.

There are six departments, with membership limited to:
 * Women’s’ Department – limited to students who identify as women
 * Queer* Department – limited to students who identify as LGBITQ (lesbian/gay/bisexual/intersex/transgender/queer)
 * Environment Department – membership is open


 * Indigenous Department – limited to students of Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander heritage


 * International Students’ Department (ISD) – limited to international students (see their constitution for definitions – this might be defined based on how much one pays for tuition?)


 * Disabilities Department – limited to students with a disability, registered with the Disabilities Office

The head of each department is elected at the same time as the rest of ANUSA is. In addition to managing their own collectives, they have attendance requirements at CRC, SRC and General Meetings These are constitutionally defined under section 26 of the ANUSA constitution.

Departments and Collective Independence

Each department is capable of forming a collective [still need to look up how this is done specifically]. All the departments, save the International Students’ Department, have established collectives.

Each collective or department will have different ideas of how to best represent the interests of their constituents – through organising sporting events, social events, activism, social awareness programmes, and so on. Departments and collectives prize their independence when it comes to working with ANUSA. This means that whilst ANUSA may have a general policy direction they want to see a collective or department take (for instance, greater awareness for students with disabilities on campus), it’s ultimately up to the head of each department as to how this is done.

Electing representatives

It’s a bit tricky with regards to elected representatives. You have to be a member of a department in order to be able to run for the head of a department – see the relevant constitutions of each department for their membership conditions. The ISD is a little different. If you are an international student you’re automatically a member of the ISD, so that’s made a little easier. The president is elected at the same time as the rest of ANUSA, but they hold their own elections for positions on their executive. See the ISD constitution for more details.

Projects this position works on:

Varies, but usually with the aim of working towards promoting the interests of and advocating for their constituents. May include:
 * Social events – balls, parties, BBQs, etc.


 * Policy – i.e., pushing for gender-neutral policies at the ANU


 * Initiatives – i.e., trying to encourage a water bottle-free campus


 * Activism – campaigns, petitions or protests

Typical Work Commitment:

Up to 20 hours per week – includes tending to the department and collective, and attending department/ANUSA meetings.

Faculty Representatives (Fac Reps): 12 reps
Description

Each academic ANU College is represented by two faculty representatives (fac reps), which makes for a total of 12 representatives. The Colleges represented are:


 * College of Arts and Social Sciences


 * College of Asia and the Pacific


 * College of Business and Economics


 * College of Engineering and Computer Science


 * College of Law


 * College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences & College of Medicine, Biology and Environment (here treated as one College)

They attend meetings with College deans and class representatives, and generally ensure that classes are being taught well and that students are happy. They primarily deal with internal education policy, and are the first point of contact for students who have issues with their classes, education, etc.

Constitutionally defined under section 10 of the ANUSA constitution.

Projects this position works on

Lots of meetings! Includes
 * College Education Committees


 * Meetings with student reps


 * Following up with appeals, grievances, etc.


 * Keeping in touch with student sentiments and helping out where possible – i.e., dissatisfaction towards changes to Bachelor of Music programme


 * Projects that help improve the experience of learning – i.e., encouraging better use of Wattle


 * As of 2012, Fac Reps were also responsible for helping to plan their relevant first-year faculty camps

Typical Work Commitment:

Varies depending on how many issues/projects there are: anywhere between maybe 3-5 hours during a “slow” week to likely over 15 in a crisis (think School of Music protests).

General Representatives (Gen Reps): 14 reps
Description

There are 14 gen reps in ANUSA, and their responsibilities are probably some of the most ill-defined of all the positions. According to the constitution, they provide “general assistance to the activities of the Association” and undertake various projects. This provides tremendous flexibility in the work that they do: previously, gen reps have been involved in things as varied as painting banners to conducting an independent review of student engagement. There are also lots of issues surrounding gen reps because their position is so ill-defined. It can be difficult to gauge how much work gen reps need to take on, and because of their lower time commitments it can be difficult to get them organized to do good amounts of work.

Projects this position works on

Varies tremendously: can be anything from helping stock a BBQ, to doing research for advocacy, to sitting on the meetings that decide on tariffs for on-campus accommodation.

Typical Work Commitment:

Gen reps in ANUSA 2012 are expected to put in 2 hours a week. Currently, they’re organized into groups of 4 and given projects to work on once every two weeks or so.

O-Week/Bush Week Directors
These guys will help the Social Officer in planning, organising and executing O-Week and Bush Week.

They’re usually elected in a General Meeting the semester before the event, which means O-Week Directors will be working over the summer holidays, whilst the Bush Week Directors will work over the winter holidays.

The Directors are also paid a one-off honorarium – a token sum of money to express thanks – in recognition of the massive amounts of effort they put in.

Grants and Affiliations Representative
According to section 25 of the ANUSA Constitution, one undergraduate representative sits on the Grants and Affiliations Committee. This representative is elected at the first General Meeting of the year.

Publications Officer
The Publications Officer has a pretty ambiguous role, but usually has the task of managing one of ANUSA’s official publications. In 2011, the Publications Officer handled the ANUSA Annual Report, whilst in 2012 the Publications Officer handled the bi-weekly email newsletter.

The Publications Officer is appointed by Student Representative Council (see the section on meetings), which means that although students may submit expressions of interest in running for the position, only ANUSA reps get to vote. It should also be noted that the position is only filled when ANUSA reps decide there is a need for it. This means that there have been years when there has been no Publication Officer.

Like the O-Week and Bush Week Directors, the Publications Officer is also paid an honorarium.

ANUSA Bryan Kenyon Student Space Staff
These guys are the ones that man the counter at the ANUSA Student Space. They’re responsible for handling general inquiries, processing AV and room bookings, and looking after the Student Space. In 2012, there were three Student Space staff members.

These guys are ANUSA staff, which means that they’re hired on the basis of a job application and an interview. They are also paid an hourly wage.