Message from the president of the Student Representative Council

Mary-Pearl Chung, the president of the Student Representative Council.

Since the start of July, I have been in the role of president of the WSU Student Representative Council.

It goes without saying that this year will hold innumerable unprecedented challenges, not just within our university community but also globally and in our personal lives.

I am excited beyond words to represent and amplify the voices of WSU students— though I feel extremely humbled to have such invaluable support and guidance from my new SRC team.

Although we have only just commenced our term it is clear to me that the new SRC team is filled with outstanding talent, passion and experience of which I admire and am motivated by. It is our mission for the year to listen to students and take action on concerns, suggestions and needs.

Our vision for the council is that we will do our best to establish and maintain a more vibrant and inclusive university student experience.

During elections, I had three campaign promises that I remain committed to achieving with the role of the council;

To push for full transparency of SSAF funding and more student consultation into its decision making,
More events, initiatives and student societies across all WSU campuses (including online students),
Greater social justice involvement from the university through extracurricular initiatives and advocacy.

I believe that equity within the university community and a greater sense of belonging are so important in having a positive and memorable university experience. I am proud to be a student at WSU, a young university that has so much potential because we can draw from the successful implementations of other universities and be better to enrich our diverse and unique Western Sydney communities.

Over the past few months some new council members and myself have been working alongside the previous council to address various issues such as COVID- 19 student support, student concerns against ProctorU, the BLM movement and solidarity with Indigenous communities, among several other issues at hand.

However, I know that there is so much more that we as the SRC can do especially during these trying times deeply affecting so many of our students. As the President, my vision for the SRC in the year ahead is to have stronger relations and consultation with the student body— I want WSU students to feel like they can just reach out at any time to the SRC or myself for any concerns, suggestions or enquiries.

I know how I had imagined my uni life might be like, with all the excitement of clubs, societies, events and networking— and I want to be able to create that experience for as many students as I can. Remote online study has made this vision a little more difficult for sure, but I hope that we can work through this eventually.

Again, please do not hesitate to contact the SRC for any concerns, issues, suggestions or feedback related to your experience at Western Sydney University. You can also find us on our social media to keep updated with our work and ways to get involved in uni life.

I look forward to hearing from you all in the coming year.

Sincerely,