Communication and Getting Engaged

Why get involved?
We’re of the belief that communication and involvement is part-and-parcel of the duties that ANUSA, as undergraduate student representatives, should carry out. Whilst our reps are the (elected) students who have volunteered their time and effort to further student interests, there are issues that affect us all – issues such as how we learn, what we get out of our time at university, and the policies that affect our time at university.

As joint stakeholders in the “university experience”, we believe that all students should be able to have a say. It is difficult for representatives to represent all points of view, which is why making a variety of student voices heard is so important.

We believe that more student engagement is the way to create a more vibrant community on-campus. It gets students to think about the issues that affect them, voice their opinions, and creates healthy debate.

In all of this, knowing what’s going on is crucial. When we don’t know about the issues affecting us we don’t think about them – aptly, “out of sight, out of mind”. And when students don’t know about issues, it is impossible to expect them to get involved.

However, we see several barriers towards information and involvement.

The way things are
As student representatives in regular contact with the university administration, ANUSA has access to lots of information (see What is ANUSA?). This includes things like the state of the university, government policy and university policy, as well as the costs and benefits of such policies. In short, there’s a lot of thinking and planning around the issues and actions that have the potential to affect students in a very significant way, both in the short and longer runs.

As elected representatives, ANUSA has the mandate to act upon this information in the students’ interest (see Section 3 of the ANUSA constitution). However, there is no mandate that it must engage student participation in furthering students’ interest. In essence, the constitution suggests that ANUSA can function as a purely representative body, without any sort of consultation from its members.

Though such extreme cases are rare, overall it sets a low standard for student engagement. The quality and quantity of this engagement varies from year to year. Although these have been on the upswing in the last two years, there is no clear guiding objective that deals with student engagement in a concrete way.

The results of this are clear: of over 8000 undergraduate members, few attend the meetings that ANUSA holds. Public information about student issues coming from ANUSA can sometimes be inconsistent, as is information regarding what ANUSA is working on.

However, this is all working on the assumption that students do want to get involved.

Are students really apathetic?
Let’s look at why students may seem to be “apathetic”. The issue of low student participation may be the result of several factors:
 * 1) Students really don’t care.
 * 2) Students do care, but don’t have the time or energy to get involved
 * 3) Students do care, but don’t know about how they can get involved

All three are perhaps particularly relevant. Addressing the difficulties of factor 1) are massive, which we’ll leave to later. First, let’s address 2) and 3).

Looking at the Clubs and Societies on campus will suggest that 2) and 3) are the case. There are dozens of Clubs and Societies on campus, all of which require the time and energy of students outside of their study to maintain. Many of these students run fantastic events and functions. At the moment about 22% of ANUSA’s budget, or $235,000,  is set aside to help fund and support these Clubs and Societies.

This would point to the fact that students are willing to get involved. Looking at how to make participation easier, as well as ways to let students know about such opportunities, would be a logical next step.

Returning to factor 1), one approach would be to foster an environment where thinking and caring about student issues is the norm.

Though this diagnosis may sound simple, it covers many aspects of the university experience. We believe that these issues can be adequately addressed by a comprehensive and multifaceted approach to communication and interaction.

We envision the following as solutions to complex and deep-rooted structural problems. What this means is that it may take some years before the problem can be fully addressed – as such, this ties into proposals for a strategic vision for ANUSA.

Do
We believe that public education and awareness of the issues that affect students is the first step towards greater engagement.
 *  Solution  : public education and awareness programmes

Digital and printed fact sheets outlining the state of university or government policy, an online layman’s guide to student issues and regular briefing sessions are some of the ways in which this could be done. Getting students involved requires their time, effort and awareness of what’s going on. With this in mind, we believe that ANUSA should actively reach out to students and take the initiative in inviting them to get involved.
 *  Solution:  role of initiative

This could take the form of sending out (personalized) email invitations to events, utilizing networks and relationships with clubs, societies and residences, as well as holding events in publically accessible and friendly spaces. Where possible, ANUSA should also endeavor to take events to students (in the way that the 2011 ANUSA Housing Review was conducted), as opposed to having students come to events. Deliberative democracy is a form of public decision-making where individual members of a community gather and collectively debate and decide on a course of action. In this way, students are encouraged to think critically and actively engage with issues that matter to them.
 *  Solution  : deliberative democracy

We believe that holding public sessions like these will encourage students to get involved. It will also help to foster a greater sense of shared community by granting individual students the ability to shape ANUSA’s responses to larger issues. A well-documented repository of past position papers, meeting minutes, fact sheets, research and publications is essential to the functioning of a well-informed ANUSA.
 *  Solution  : a knowledge repository

This will help preserve the thoughts and analyses of previous generations of ANUSA reps, assist with public transparency and accountability, and can function as a reference point for public education and awareness programmes. We believe that ANUSA should provide an opportunity for students to apply their ideas, research and problem-solving skills in a practical context. An affiliated but independent think-tank will allow students to think about and debate student issues, as well as help develop alternative (and even creative!) policy suggestions.
 *  Solution  : an ANUSA think-tank

We also want the work that students produce in this way to be publically acknowledged. This could be in the form of students using ANUSA as a case study for an assignment, course credit for independent research, or publishing articles.

It’s all too easy to be trapped into a certain way of thinking, and the students serving as ANUSA reps are no exception. We believe that the Organization of Critical Students should be revived and utilised as a source of differing perspectives, constructive criticism and as an alternative avenue for students to get involved with student issues.
 *  Solution  : Organization of Critical Students

In a sense, this would be giving a firm ground for opposition and dissent. The Organisation, which should be totally independent of ANUSA, should be utilised as a sort of check and balance against ANUSA – an entity that can keep track of ANUSA’s progress, highlight its shortcomings, and make constructive suggestions for improvement.

We hope that such an organisation can also help cultivate a culture of critical and independent thought amongst students, telling them “it’s okay!” to think and have opinions about student issues. A positive culture of engagement should start from a student’s first year at university. We want to tell first-years that it’s alright to participate in organisations like ANUSA and be aware of the issues that affect them.
 *  Solution  : first-year engagement

This will be done by having a Gen Rep portfolio to spearhead such initiatives, as well as developing specific forums and public education programmes. As a part of improving the information that flows from ANUSA to the students, we believe that ANUSA must clearly indicate where it intends to go – in other words, it’s long-term strategic plan.
 *  Solution  : strategy & values

This will give students a much clearer idea of ANUSA’s role and functions, and will supplement public education programmes, as well as provide a benchmark for public scrutiny. As an institution with a large budget and lots of representative power, we believe that ANUSA’s actions must be subject to oversight and accountability. This is a significant issue to grapple with, and undoubtedly will be one to address over the course of several years.
 *  Solution  : oversight

More oversight could be provided through an independent group committed to such functions (potentially the Organisation of Critical Students), through public and easily accessible activities and expenditure overviews, and a dedicated internal review process. If the relationship between ANUSA and the student body is deficient, then might ANUSA’s organizational structure be the cause of this?
 *  Solution:  review of positions

Along with public consultation, we believe that we need to think hard about how well ANUSA’s current structures serve the student body. We are open to exploring alternative structural arrangements if this will improve ANUSA’s functionings.

If ANUSA wants more students to get involved, then there must exist easier ways for students to get involved in meaningful ways. This needs to extend beyond attending meetings, or helping flip patties at barbeques.
 *  Solution  : more informal participation

We want to continue with the drive towards more informal methods of participation. This could include activities such as skill swaps, student-led lectures or workshops, or attending open brainstorming sessions. When students do good work it’s only right that their hard work is acknowledged. This helps cultivate a culture of positivity and appreciation, which may encourage students to stay involved.
 *  Solution:  more recognition for work

This might include certificates, mentions in the newsletter or online, incentives such as food/drink vouchers, or even honouraria.