Live: Student Clubs Advisory Group

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UPDATE:

W’SUP has been contacted by representatives of Nerdfighters, who have indicated that some of the comments recorded in this liveblog. were incorrect. Specifically, they note that they did not receive provost funding in 2016, and have not had funding approved for arcade machines at the time of the SAG forum.

 

ORIGINAL POST:

Michael is live at the first SAG (Student Advisory Group) meeting of the year. This committee controls additional SSAF for Student Clubs.

Refresh the page to see the latest updates.

 

2:26 – Meeting close

We’re done! Yay!

Liz Lemon Flee

The editorial decision has been made that Liz Lemon is the patron saint of live-blogs. She’s now a permanent member of the W’SUP team.

 

2:14PM – General Business

Clarification is sought as to whether Collectives continue to sit within the Clubs framework.
These Collectives, including the Queer and Women’s Collectives, now sit with Student Representation and Participation, who also administer the Student Representative Council and (everyone’s favourite independant student paper) W’SUP.

Members of the committee suggest creating a set basis for funding conference fees, given the contradictory nature of some of today’s decisions. Staff also suggest that Clubs be held to a higher standard regarding the submission of financial documentation.
Have I told you how much I hate maths yet in this blog?

Galifanakis Math

Debating mainstay Robert Barrie gets a name-check, with staff noting that he’s previously been heavily involved in SAG, and suggesting he may be able to provide insight into the development of guidelines for decisions. Students note that Nicole Gismondo (W’SUP Editor and patron-saint of SAG) may also provide useful insights.

Staff also insist that minutes are available on OrgSync. This doesn’t seem to be the case however. See for yourself at orgsync.com/80999/

SAG members also note that there needs to be better communication regarding the deadlines for bids, and meeting dates, which occur on a rather ad-hoc basis.

 

1:57PM – Nerdfighters
homer-nerd

We move on to the final bid. Nerdfighters (who apparently don’t physically abuse geeks) are asking to support Game Hard, Go Home – a 24 hour gaming marathon.

Staff raise a number of questions about the bid, including the costs for shirts, public participants, and the allocation of $800 to food. Suggestions are that the club look for further donations from the community, rather than SSAF.

Apparently the Provost funded the program last year, and as such it’s questioned if this funding source can be repeated.

Connect staff suggest that given they already provide free breakfast on campus, that students can and should be accessing. Facebook promotion is also criticised, given that Connect and other clubs have facilities to share items.

The arcade machine hire has already been approved from the club’s $3000 allocation, and as such staff direct the committee to disregard that item.

Concerns are also raised that the identified dates are in the exam period. Staff in the room note that this may be a mistake.

It’s moved that the bid is denied, and that funding be sought through other channels. The motion passes.

Downvote

 

1:33PM – Law Students’ Association

The Law Students’ Association is asking for $11830 to fund 13 student’s ‘Gold’ registration package at ALSA, the national Law Students conference. The ‘Gold’ package includes social events. This is a difference of $300 per person.

I suspect that most attendees will still want to pay the $300 extra, which is spent primarily on bar tabs.

Shots

Staff cut in to point out the cost that the total SAG allocation of SSAF is $100K, which will be spent quickly if they completely fund every bid.

Other issues with LSA are now being identified, including bank accounts which sit outside the control of Clubs staff. Apparently the previous executive failed to provide a budget report, which some SAG members allege may indicate the club is turning a profit.

The opposite is true however. W’SUP understands that the funding situation of the LSA in 2016 was somewhat dire, as they had previously been charging membership fees.

It’s decided that the LSA will be asked for further clarification, and the bid will be decided at a later time.

Emma and Tom both leave the meeting due to standing commitments.

After almost 30 minutes of discussion, this decision has got me like:

Shia DO IT

1:09PM – Cheer and Dance

The committee clarifies the figure of the bid, given the figure of $45,000.

People are concerned about the allocation of such a significant cost, when much of it is going to uniforms that cannot be used by more than one person.

Yet again, we return to breaking down bids into individual itemised costs.

Someone asks if you “go straight to state because you can waive pom-poms?” Not sure that’s all that Cheer and Dance Teams do, but ok.

Cheer

Training venues and uniforms seem to be time-critical. A lack of quality venues on campus are pointed to as the major issue. Some sports such as HAC Rugby don’t have to pay venue hire for training, so the provision to other sports is being questioned as an equity issue.

Venue hire and association fees are approved, at just over $5000 in total.

 

12:53PM – Still debating Debating

We’re now discussing one particular part of the Debating bid, Australs.

While this is the Austral-asian Intervarsity Debating Tournament, although the room believes it is simply the Australian Championships. I can’t clarify as I have been involved in the Debating Executive in the past.

There seems to be questions regarding what costs should be prioritised. A number of people are very surprised by the $350 per-person quote for flights to Brisbane. This is Webjet’s alternatives:

Webjet

Staff are once again advocating that funding above 50% is questionable, given it is a lot of money. Given it is a student committee, the role of staff is questionable. 

The motion is put that funding for Australs registration be approved. It passes.
The remaining part of the bid will be held over.

 

12:32PM – Debating’s SSAF Bid

It’s decided that any members of clubs present can sit-in on the conversation, but cannot comment or provide clarification.

No butting in to defend your bids, guys!

Castle Interrupt

Clarification is sought as to whether SAG can approve more than 50% of the bids. Members of the room seem divided, but Matt suggests that this is definitely the case.

The mood of the room is that students should have to pay their own travel costs. In the case of Debating, this would require students to fund their own way to Mexico.

They are trying to dissect the exact finances – Debating is asking for a significant percentage of SAG’s total funds.

Jodie leaves the meeting due to work commitments.

Staff in the meeting interrupt to ask what the reach of the program is, suggesting that there is only very few students who’ll be selected to travel.
Further examination of the documents reveals that while members may return to mentor others, the total pool of Debating members is comparatively small.

It appears to be a rather dog eat dog. Some of the committee members have bids later on, or to come later in the year. As such, they seem hesitant to spend the largest amount upfront.

Members of the Forum ask what time-sensitive actually means. This is hard to know, given that there is no set meeting schedule for SAG Forum meetings.

Staff are now asking clarifying questions regarding other sources of income.

Members of the forum suggest discussing the bids separately. This vote passes.

Matt says that the next forum will be held in the end of semester break. Jo clarifies it will be earlier, near the end of May.

 

12:30PM – Clubs Handbook

The Clubs Handbook caused a stir late last year, however this tension appears to have dissipated.
This item is moved to General Business, at the end of the agenda.

 

12:26PM – Moving on.

Matt reports on a number of procedural processes.

Emma questions the disappearance of the Student Editors of Clubs Hub, which were allegedly moved as part of the past meeting.

There appears to be no student oversight of our closest competitor, which suffered a major downfall over the last 12 months. It originally was a full gloss colour magazine, but was published earlier this year as a single double-sided A3 sheet.

 

12:16PM – Elections of SAG Forum Chair.

Marija and Taylor nominate for SAG Forum Chair. Vote is done by a show of hands. The candidates are still in the room.

This is odd – essentially a popularity contest.

The forum has an equal number members. This results in a tied vote. Both Marija and Taylor are elected as co-Chairs of SAG Forum.

Emma is elected Vice-chair unopposed.

Shia Claping

Marija will take the Chair for this meeting.

Paul Clarke, Manager Sport & Community Services, joins us.

 

12:13PM – And we’re off.

We start with a round of introductions.

 

12:05PM – Waiting to start

We’re waiting to start, although Zoom (the Uni’s equivalent of Skype) seems to be causing some issues at Kingswood.

Bankstown:

  • Tanya Cook – Staff (Student Participation and Success)
  • Jo Quinn – Staff (Campus Life and Student Clubs Coordinator)
  • Matt Stansfield – Staff (Student Clubs Officer)
  • Barakah, Rotoract (Campbelltown)
  • Anthony, Tennis Club (Campbelltown)
  • Me (Michael, an observer)

Parramatta:

  • Marija, Sapere Aude (Parramatta)

Hawkesbury:

  • Taylor, HAC Rugby (Hawkesbury)

Remote:

  • Jodie, Debating (Parramatta)
  • Emma, Nerdfighters (Kingswood)
  • Tom, Law Students Association (Parramatta)
  • Sam, Solar Car (Kingswood)

WSUP Editorial Team

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