THE UWA ARTS UNION 2013 Annual Report
2013 Arts Union
Annual Report
22 October 2013
2013 ARTS UNION PRESIDENTIAL REPORT Emma Brede – 2013 Arts Union President I have been incredibly lucky to witness the evolution of the Arts Union over the past four years. In 2010 when I first arrived, Arts Union was one of very few university clubs I felt comfortable approaching; although still viewed as quiet a “clicky” group, I feel that over the past four years this image has almost entirely disintegrated. Over the years the various Arts Union committees have strived to move away from this image to one of social inclusion; this is reflected in the mood of the Arts Common Room; once a place of intimidation and exclusivity is now welcoming environment for students of all ages and degrees. In 2013 especially we witnessed a huge growth in the amount of people coming in that weren’t necessarily even studying arts majors; they may be doing an arts broadening unit or even studying an entirely separate degree. This is a huge achievement and one that will be a top priority to uphold for future committees. The Arts Union has been committed to working with the Guild in all areas, ensuring that students are able to easily engage with both the Guild and Arts Union. To do this, Arts Union had a strong representation at pre-enrollments, orientation week, and mid-year enrollments. We also worked closely with the university student administration to help out at Link week, hosting a free barbeque for all students. This year, the Arts Union has continued to maintain a consistent presence at Guild Education Council meetings. This ensured that Faculty news was presented to the Guild and well as the goings on of the Union. The sharing of ideas and challenges was very useful as well as the inevitable discourse and debate. It was a very valuable forum to hear what issues other faculty societies were facing and how we could tackle similar issues here in Arts. Committing to both O-day and Club Carnival allowed for the Arts Union to engage strongly and positively with students who may not be super outgoing but keen to get involved with the union. This positive approach and effort was reflected with us getting over 800 new members sign up on O-Day, which in turn resulted in a heavy attendance to our first semester events as well as heavily contested junior rep elections. We also had over 100 sign ups at Club Carnival; we made it a priority to give midyear students the same attention afforded to other students but also to promote our second semester events and the Guild. In 2013, with the university and Guild moving away from a focus on alcoholic events, the Arts Union was also keen to uphold this new stance. This year, instead of hosting a camp we hosted an orientation beach day, which was a huge success. The event was 100% alcohol free and allowed for first years to interact with other first years as well as a great group of leaders. Arts Union has upheld strong representation for arts students throughout 2013. This was achieved with representation sitting on the Arts Faculty Board, the Arts Board of Studies and the Arts Teaching and Learning Committee. It was vital to have a strong voice at these meetings, as the student perspective is always required. All relevant information gathered from these three different meetings of Faculty was then complied and discussed at Committee meetings. It was very important that a strong discourse of these issues was maintained on Committee and therefore in the wider Arts community. By being a presence on three different meetings, the Arts Union has ensured that a strong relationship was maintained with Faculty and that Arts students were informed about the Education issues that concerned them. The introduction of the Arts Union’s fortnightly newsletter this year allowed us to communicate not only the awesome events we were hosting, but also these important
2013 Arts Union
Annual Report
22 October 2013
educational issues that were being discussed on the faculty level. I made it a priority to try and include as much information as I could in my presidential section about what was being discussed at the faculty level and how the issues discussed would effect students. The 2013 Arts Union committee was the first committee to have student reps from both old and new courses. This allowed us to have a good understanding of issues that may be present for one group of students but don’t effect another. In both speeches and publications the Arts Union strove to present itself as an approachable and knowledgeable in terms of the transitioning structure of the university and especially the implications towards arts students. By maintaining a strong relationship with the Faculty, the committee was kept up to speed with developments and hence had valuable knowledge on the transitioning university structure that could then be transferred to the general arts student body. This year the Arts Union’s Equity portfolio worked incredibly hard with the assistance of the Education portfolio to put together an amazing Great Gatsby themed Charity Showcase with the intention of revitalizing our relationship with the Fred Hollows Foundation. The event was a major success and we have donated over $1000 to the Fred Hollows Foundation. We also ran a sports table tennis tournament raising money for the Wheelchair Sports Association of WA. By setting up these relationships with charities, we hope that future committees will be able to continue to support and have a good connection outside of the university. Long gone and forgotten are the years where Arts Union would only host two social events a year. 2013 was a year full of successful social events including for the first time ever, a sold out and profitable ball. We kicked off 2013 with a combined event with the University Engineers Club, a faculty society Arts Union has never really collaborated with, but the event ran incredibly smoothly and opened doors and connections which future committees can now explore. The introduction of new courses in 2012 and especially the impact of broadening units have brought in a whole range of students who now identify with Arts Union even if they aren’t studying a pure arts degree. The diversity of these new students is something that the Arts Union has been eager to embrace through the introduction of a range of new events that no longer revolve around alcohol. While in previous years we have been depended on a core group of students to ensure the success of the events, this year we have been lucky to reach many students with a variety of academic backgrounds. Through the expansion of the Education, Equity and Social portfolio’s, the Union now provides a variety of events to appeal to many different students from a variety of year levels and degrees.
2013 Arts Union
Annual Report
22 October 2013
2013 ARTS UNION EDUCATION VICE-PRESIDENT REPORT Rob McLeod – 2013 Education Vice-President EDUCATIONAL ADVOCACY The Arts Union this year has helped solve numerous student educational issues following the guidelines provided by the Guild and Education Council. The issue most commonly faced by myself and Emma is the change of assessment criteria after the publication of the Unit outline. This year, several units were guilty of this; adding in different assessment weighting, or adding certain criteria where it had not previously existed. These issues were addressed with the individuals in control of the units retracting their proposed changes. I made an active effort to meet with the Guild President to discuss the issues and together we came up with an appropriate solution, which was then acted upon. It was one of my main concerns to make sure that any major education problem that came about was not only addressed quickly and appropriately, but that we let other students know how we dealt with the issue. The fortnightly mailout introduced this year in particular was incredibly beneficial for communicating this information. The Arts Union provides a medium that Arts students can come and seek advice regarding any educational issue they may be facing. Whether their issues involve applying for an extension or special consideration, or unfairly weighted assignments or unfair grades; this year the Arts Union has tackled these student educational issues with great success. We have even provided referrals for students who are not solely in Arts but are having trouble with other units in their degree. Most of these cases ended with the student finding the appropriate help, and some even had their problems addressed outright as a direct result of our assistance. The other major education issue we have addressed in 2013 is Arts unit changes and availabilities as a result of the New Courses transition. The Arts Union has met this challenge head-on; with the incredible devotion by not only the Education portfolio but also all members of committee, dedicating their time and effort into learning not only how New Courses works but also the changing criteria, assessment structure and units. Committee members have become liaisons with the Arts faculty and Guild Education representatives and have confidently and competently provided help and advice to Arts students. We have made it our top priority to have a greater understanding of New Courses and its impact on the needs of our students, by cementing our position as the student-faculty medium and working closely with the Guild Education Council in staying up-to-date with University changes, particularly with the introduction of broadening units. With the move towards a flipped classroom, the practicality has lagged behind the concept. What has resulted from this move is class sizes that are unmanageable and ineffective in creating a good and sustainable learning environment for students. Students have been scheduled into interactive classes aimed to have between 10 and 15 students in total, when in reality the number of students per tutorial has been almost double. We understand that this issue is not only faced by the Arts faculty but in all faculties. To tackle the issue we launched a poster campaign to raise awareness amongst students as well as staff that the issue needs to be addressed and the Arts Union does not support overcrowding in our tutorials at the expense of the quality of our education. MOCK PARLIAMENT Mock Parliament is a fantastic education event as it brings together groups of students with a common agenda. Many of the university political clubs join in on the fun and the event provides the perfect grounds for the future politicians and leaders to practice their debating and political policy making
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22 October 2013
skills. Mock Parliament encourages all students, both new and old to come forward and speak on topics chosen especially to coincide with student issues. This environment is both an established but welcoming one, encouraging students with a particular eye for politics to become involved. BACK TO SCHOOL QUIZ NIGHT Our Quiz Night was a great night with a solid turn out; we had eight tables of students who competed through the night answering questions and broadening their knowledge. Whilst not typically an educationally focused event, it is a good way for students to become involved in not only the faculty but to also have attention drawn to the Arts Union education. While students are often drawn to our social portfolio, drawing attention to Equity and even Education can be a bit more challenging. I believe our Quiz Night exists as a fun and safe way to help include new students and raise awareness of important Arts issues. 2013 ARTS UNION SOCIAL VICE-PRESIDENT REPORT Henry Austin – 2013 Social Vice-President As Arts Union’s Social Vice-President for 2013, it was my endeavour to further the society’s fantastic relationship with Arts students to ensure they have the knowledge, resources and social-structure to aid them in every way possible throughout their university career. It was my goal to achieve this through the planning and running of new social events, while continuing the portfolio of traditional occasions that have become an inseparable part of Arts Union’s history over the course of the society’s bright and industrious life. The end of 2012 marked a significant period of financial stress for the Arts Union. Our current economic standing is indicative of great success in the Social portfolio and is a testament to the diligent and untiring nature of this year’s committee. I consider social engagement and communication to be vital tools for educational success at University and believe the Arts Union committee of 2013 to have promoted a positive and supportive social environment. BEACH-DAY ORIENTATION EVENT In the face of adversity regarding the cancellation of long-standing Orientation camps at UWA, The Arts Union achieved what no other faculty society was able to do, by successfully and profitably running an orientation event in February 2013. The event was held at City Beach Surf Life Saving Club and was an all-day event that encompassed team building exercises such as body painting competitions, treasure hunts, triathlon events and a quiz competition. The event was thoughtfully run with medical, equity, chef and leadership positions filled by older students at UWA. All positions were applied for and subsequently approved by committee to ensure that those in positions of responsibility were suited to their role. The event was a social and financial success and proceeded without equity or medical issue. The event helped approximately one hundred first-years by connecting them to other young, as well as more experienced students, who would prove to be an all-important resource at University, as well as a new friend. Arts Union was the only faculty society to run an orientation event in 2013, and is an example for other societies to continue orientation events in the future. BRAVEHEART PUBCRAWL Arts Union continued the Scottish-themed Braveheart Pubcrawl to Freedom in 2013 visiting four venues across Perth with one hundred and fifty UWA students. The pubcrawl, entrenched in Arts Union history, included creative costumes, Party Bus transport to and from venues as well as free drinks for the organizing committee as a thank you gift. The event was smoothly run and venues praised students for their good behaviour. The first venue was the UWA Guild Tavern, continuing the Union’s long-standing relationship with ‘The Tav’ and promoting social-life on campus.
2013 Arts Union
Annual Report
22 October 2013
EQUINOX In 2013 Arts Union joined forces with the University Engineer’s Club to run the first ever Equinox party. The event ran on a fenced area of Oak Lawn from the late afternoon into the night showcasing a range of live music provided by UWA student bands, followed by a party with professional lighting and DJ performances. This event was the first of its kind on the UWA campus and shows great promise for years to come. Equinox encouraged students to showcase their musical talent and engaged attendees with the creative pursuits of their fellow students. Measures were taken, such as the inclusion of free water and food in the form of hamburgers, to ensure the event ran without medical or behavioural problems. One hundred and fifty students attended the event and gave great feedback regarding the inclusion of live music. POOPDECK PIRATE PARTY As Social Vice-President I perpetuated Arts Union’s annual pirate-themed party in 2013. The event ran for a profit at the UWA Guild Tavern, solidifying our relationship with the venue at UWA despite a growing tendency to run events off-campus. The Tav was thoughtfully decorated and attendees seemed to have great fun engaging with the pirate theme! Poopdeck 2013 also proved to be profitable and helped the Arts Union into a better financial standing. THE ARTS BALL Despite a loss of approximately $11,000 in 2012 on the same event, Arts Union defied all odds and sold out The Ball for the first time since its inception. As always, the event was run at the Parmelia Hilton in Perth’s CBD and set a new precedent by making a profit for the Union. With a oriental theme, Arts Union engaged the use of UWA clubs such as EMAS to provide music and lighting and attendees were dazzled by a oriental-inspired performance from Dance UWA. Attendees enjoyed a three-course meal, professional photography, charming decorations and awards were presented for noncommittee members’ contribution to sport and education. The venue were so satisfied with the way students conducted themselves at the Arts Ball that they offered a discounted price for next year’s event, which has already been confirmed for 2014. HALLOWEEN PARTY Arts Union’s Halloween Party will run for the second time this year. The event will take place at Varsity Bar on October 31st and will see the announcement of the 2014 committee following elections beginning on October 22nd. Due to AU’s great financial success this year, all tickets have been offered at membership prices. The Halloween party engages numerous students under the Social Subcommittee who make fun decorations (such as pumpkin carving!) and help plan and run the event. This event is great for encouraging students to immerse themselves in club and society participation.
2013 Arts Union
Annual Report
22 October 2013
2013 ARTS UNION EQUITY VICE-PRESIDENT REPORT Molly Dale – 2013 Equity Vice-President The Arts Union aims to promote a culture of inclusiveness and improve the welfare of arts students in everything that we do: from social events to educational representation to providing students with a well-equipped common room where they can spend their free time. The Arts Union equity portfolio has a proud tradition of running and being involved with events that raise money for charity, such as Relay for Life, our own Charity Gala (renamed Charity Showcase this year), which raises funds for the Fred Hollows Foundation. This year we have also made a real effort to promote the welfare of arts students through running events like Orientation Day, to ease the transition to university for first year students, and publications like our Student Welfare Guide. The following were our major equity initiatives in 2013: STUDENT WELFARE GUIDE The inaugural Arts Union Student Welfare Guide, launched online in semester one, is a handbook designed to help students negotiate a wide range of issues they may encounter whilst at UWA, like how to appeal marks and apply for special consideration. Also included was a guide to saving money for students on a tight budget, especially those who may have recently moved out of home, and a directory of useful Arts Union/Guild/University contacts that are useful for resolving educational, physical and/or mental health and financial issues.
Excerpt from Student Welfare Guide
CHARITY SHOWCASE In 2013, Arts Union’s traditional Charity Gala was combined with our Education Showcase to become Charity Showcase! The Great Gatsby themed event was held in the UWA Tavern on September 18 th, and featured a display of student artwork, live performances and a series of raffles and auctions, with all proceeds going to the Fred Hollows Foundation. All items that were given as door prizes, raffled and auctioned had been donated by local businesses at the request of the Arts Union, and we were overwhelmed by their generosity, receiving items such as a night’s stay at the Parmelia Hilton Hotel and a $250 clothing voucher to auction off. We also chose to cater the event ourselves to minimise outgoing costs without letting attendees go hungry. Charity Showcase was a great success, with around 85 people attending, and that was reflected in the awesome fundraising total of around $1000.
2013 Arts Union
Annual Report
22 October 2013
RELAY FOR LIFE The Arts Union maintained a strong presence at this year’s Relay for Life at UWA, with many students braving the less than ideal weather conditions to help raise over $500 for the Cancer Council. We also helped to promote Relay and raise funds for our team on campus in the lead up to the event, running a cake stall on Oak Lawn at the ‘Relay Festival’ during common lunch hour the Tuesday before the main event, and having team members compete in the ‘Mini Relay’ run by the Relay for Life committee.
2013 ARTS UNION ADMINISTRATION REPORT Hannah Gifford – 2013 Administration Vice-President FINANCES When the 2013 Committee began our terms in December 2012 we were in an incredibly difficult financial position. Our account was minus 3,250.37 and after the delayed receipt of our second semester grant from the Guild we knew we would still be starting the year in 2013 owing the Guild over $1000. Unable to run a camp financially (along with the issues raised by the ViceChancellor in response to 2012 camps), we decided to run a Beach themed orientation activity for first year students prior to semester beginning to: a) give arts first years an opportunity to make friends before their classes start; b) engage first years with the Arts Union and; c) make money from the event to help the Arts Union financially. While our Orientation event was not as successful socially as our camps have been in the past, our elections for Fresher positions on our committee were highly contested and the Arts
2013 Arts Union
Annual Report
22 October 2013
Union made an incredible $2720 profit which resulted in the Arts Union starting the academic semester with over $1000 in our account. The 2013 Arts Union Committee has taken great care in our spending and resultantly has had a very successful year financially. At the beginning of October we had over $20,000 in our bank account! As Administration Vice-President I have ensured, along with the rest of our executive, that: all spending is properly approved and considered; all events have a budget and specific targets regarding profits and ticket sales; financially appropriate contracts are entered into (particularly in regards to our Ball this year where our President and Social VP opted for a smaller contract which lead to the Arts Union for the first time in its history making a profit from our ball!); and, that all grants available to us are applied for and our Guild funding is maximised. Additionally our President (Emma) and I have introduced a thorough receipts system where all our expenditure is filed and accounted for which we recommend continues on future committees. We originally had a financial target at the beginning of our terms to leave next year’s committee with $10,000 in their bank account so they have the financial freedom to expand the Art Union’s priorities and representation of arts students. At this point in the year I believe we will exceed this target and leave over $15,000 to the 2014 Arts Union Committee which is something to be very proud of. ARTS UNION PUBLICITY AND MEMBERSHIP This year the Arts Union introduced our first regular electronic mailout, Gnome News! Every second week over semester our mailout is sent out to our members (over 450 students!) which includes messages from our committee members, promotion of our events, educational issues and representation, sports opportunities, career opportunities, equity publications and much more. We have also shifted on Facebook from a group to a Facebook page, which currently has over 800 “likes”! Improving our transparency, promoting the Arts Union as a professional faculty society and redeeming the Union financially have been our primary administrative priorities this year and I am very proud of our achievements in these areas.
2013 Arts Union
Annual Report
22 October 2013
2013 ARTS UNION SPORTS ANNUAL REPORT Michael Morrisey – 2013 Male Sport Representative This year Arts Union has been exceptionally involved in inter faulty sport, an event that previously would barley have enough participants to even make a team. Below are some of the things Arts Union achieved in the field of sports in 2013: The Arts Union managed to field teams of Arts Students and compete in every event of each round/week of Inter-Faculty Sport in 2013; including the rowing round in which only 2 other faculties managed to compete in. We introduced a male and female “Fairest & Best” award determined by participation rather than skill (obviously this promotes inclusion over elitism) and the two medals were awarded at the 2013 UWA Arts Union Ball in a style similar to the Brownlow medal night in the AFL. This has been a great initiative created in 2013 and hopefully this will become a tradition to be continued by the 2014 Arts Sports Reps and beyond. I also made a conscious effort to record the names of every student who participated in Inter-Faculty sport for the Arts Union, as well as what sports they played in 2013 and how many times they played. This information will be used in an Arts Union Archive as well as a future honour board that will be displayed in the common room, celebrating the participation of Arts Students in sport. We also hosted a table tennis tournament in the UWA Arts Union common room to raise money for the Wheelchair Sports Association of Western Australia. We raised over $71.35, which isn’t too bad for almost a regular Wednesday afternoon in the Arts Union Common Room, and we hope to continue these fun tournaments next year on a monthly basis and make donations each semester. This year a major focus for all of the 2013 Arts Union committee as well as the guild will be to create and uphold fantastic handovers to make transitions easier and less stressful. To set the stepping stones for this I ran a “Sports in Arts subcommittee meeting” to discuss and plan the future of sports in the Arts Union as well as creating a handover document for the 2013 Arts Union Sports Reps to pass on to the 2014 Arts Union Sports Reps to ensure future sports reps continue to uphold the goals and aspirations laid in 2013.
2013 Arts Union
Annual Report
22 October 2013
2013 ARTS UNION CAREERS ANNUAL REPORT Daniel Kirkby – 2013 Careers Officer This year has seen marked growth in the careers portfolio, and represented a meaningful step towards this portfolio achieving its full potential. The careers area of arts is by far our newest portfolio, only being created at the start of last year it still represents the area of the arts faculty society with the most room for growth. This year however, careers in the Arts Union started offering students with meaningful advice and advertising and exposing them to future opportunities. Careers will never be an easy portfolio for the Arts Union, unfortunately unlike other faculty societies the job description isn’t in our title, but this year showed there is real capacity for the Arts Union to connect students with future employers. The first major achievement of the careers portfolio was, for the first time in arts union history, the publication of our careers handbook. This handbook contained two sections the first detailing the way in which arts students could affect their university studies interacting with future employment prospect. In particular, recognizing that many arts students go on to further study at university, talking about all the postgraduate study options available to arts students (such as the new masters programs talk through arts), and how they would affect future careers prospects. The second was a general guide to getting employed using an arts degree, including sections on employers who have traditionally hired a lot of arts students, guides to finding employment using your arts degree and collations of other resources arts students could use in the quest for gainful employment. The other major part of the careers portfolio this year has been trying to get arts students in touch with job opportunities and work experience programs on an ongoing basis. Using our new arts student wide mail newsletter, the careers portfolio has been emailing out arts students a list of prospective job opportunities on a fortnightly basis. These opportunities have come from a wide variety of places including the careers hub, Arts WA, the state government and more. These emails have been seen by hundreds of arts students and have given them access to opportunities that can often be exceedingly time consuming just to discover. Overall this year represented the careers portfolio for arts beginning to engage with students about their career prospects. It involved a lot of first and we can only hope there will be many more to come.
2013 Arts Union
Annual Report
22 October 2013
CONCLUSION The UWA Arts Union has seen a large expansion in all areas over the last few years. As the 2013 Arts Union president, I have been privileged to work with people who are fully committed to making the Arts Union reach its potential through hard work and dedication. By expanding all portfolios this year and by building on the successes of previous years, the Arts Union is ready to embrace and take on 2014. It has been the aim of the 2013 committee to ensure that the Arts Union is known as a welcoming and inclusive Faculty Society. By promoting our events to all Arts students and students who are involved in arts in any capacity whether it be through a broadening unit or otherwise, the turnout for all our events, across all portfolios, has been the highest its ever been, reflecting the success of the union. As 2013 comes to a close, we predict that Arts Union will continue to grow and expand in the next few years. We have witnessed continuous growth not only in our event numbers but also general interest in the Arts Union from students from all levels of study. By introducing new events and initiatives, through the expansion of committee, and by fostering the relationships with the Faculty and Guild, the Arts Union will be a great force in the future of the University.
2013 COMMITTEE President: Emma Brede Administration Vice-President: Hannah Gifford Education Vice-President: Rob McLeod Equity Vice-President: Molly Dale Social Vice President: Henry Austin Careers Officer: Daniel Kirkby Senior Careers Representative: Corey Walsh Senior Education Representatives: Tom Beyer and Toni Woolhead Fresher Education Representative: Lily Sullivan Senior Equity Representatives: Sean Standen and Chitra Saraswati Fresher Equity Representative: Harriet Calverley Senior Social Representatives: Thomas Chadwick and Sofia Tkatchenko Fresher Social Representative: Alex Hamilton Male Sports Representative: Michael Morrissey Female Sports Representative: Jess Murray Publicity Officer: Paul Couchman
2013 Arts Union
Annual Report
22 October 2013