Student Representation & Development

Student Academic Representation

The Student Academic Representative (SAR) program, managed by FUSA, provides an opportunity for students to have a voice regarding their learning. The SAR program involves the recruitment, training and ongoing support for student reps, as well as support for staff who are engaged with reps. A total of 415 student academic representatives were recognised for their work in 2022. Feedback received from student representatives has been overwhelmingly positive and speaks to the multiple benefits reps gain from taking part in the program. A Course Representative from the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) noted that “they have gained significant self-confidence, met with a diverse group of student peers and teaching staff members, and developed a wider network of connections with students."

Our highly developed training program for reps is also very well received, with over 80% of participants evaluating the training as ‘extremely valuable’. The Student Academic Rep program also attracts a diverse community of students, with demographics for participants in our training program indicating:

24% are ‘first in family’ to attend university; 33 % are mature age students, and; 27% of are international students.

Development Grants

FUSA Development Grants (FDG’s) fund the professional and personal development of students at Flinders University. In 2022, FUSA awarded $33,700 worth of grants to 117 Flinders students to assist their professional development and enhance leadership skills.

223 students applied across three rounds with over $99,000 in requested funding. Thanks to the FDG’s, many Flinders students were able to take advantage of professional development opportunities supported by FUSA they otherwise may not have been able to access.

Some successful applications included:

1. A PhD student who received funding to present their research at the International Symposium on Cleaning Energy Materials.

2. A Master of Teaching student who received funding to undertake a course on best practice for relationship and sexual health education with SHINE SA.

3. A Bachelor Sport, Health and Physical Activity student who received funding to undertake a Bushwalking Leadership course.

Student Led Teaching Awards (SLTAs)

The Student-Led Teaching Awards (SLTAs) offer a way for students to recognise and raise the profile of teaching at Flinders University while celebrating best practice. FUSA invited students across the University to nominate teaching staff in four categories (College SLTA, TA that Saved the Day, Most Supportive Supervisor, and Best in Flo), before an allstudent judging panel, chaired by the FUSA Education Officer, had the difficult task of reviewing the many nominations and selecting the best in each category.

The awards introduced in 2021, have grown in popularity, with the number of nominations doubling in 2022 to recognise remarkable academic staff.

FUSA congratulates all the winners of the 2022 Student-Led Teaching Awards:

2022 Student-Led Teaching Award (College Awards)

College of Business, Government and Law

Dr Sharif Rasel

College of Education, Psychology and Social Work

Dr Steve Corrie

College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

Dr Laura Roberts

College of Medicine and Public Health

Dr Anthony Venning

College of Nursing and Health Sciences

Kristy Burfield

College of Science and Engineering

Dr Bruno Alves Buzatto

For the second year in a row, the top nomination from the six colleges was awarded the University Ducks in Teaching (Best of the Best). Huge congratulations to Dr Steve Corrie who brings home this award once again for the College of Education, Psychology and Social Work.

Most Supportive Supervisor Award

Dr Michael Doane

TA that Saved the Day

Simon Pegoli

Best in FLO

Dr Svetlana King

PhD student Safira Moura Barros used their Development Grant to attend and present research at the Royal Australian Chemical Institute National Congress (RACI 2022). Safira received an Honourable Mention from The RACI Woman in Chemistry Group, which was related to the activity funded by FUSA Development Grants.

Outstanding Student Representative Awards

While all our Student Reps are valued, there are some that go above and beyond in their roles and really make a difference in representing their cohort. That’s where the Outstanding Student Representative Awards come in! The awards provide an opportunity for Topic and Course Coordinators to acknowledge the contributions their student representative make across the year.

In the nomination from the course coordinator of Master of Information Technology, Dr Brett Wilkinson commented on his course representative Mian Shun: “Mian has approached her role with dedication. She regularly consults with her peers and is thoroughly prepared for regular meetings with an agenda and action items. This type of coordination has enabled a productive semester with many issues raised and resolved across the course and topic both. Mian clearly demonstrates her commitment to the improvement of the education programs for her cohort. Mian exemplifies the goals of the student rep program.”

The awardees in 2022 are:

-Mian Shum (College of Sceince and Engineering)

-Mengxin Han (College of Education, Psychology and Social Work)

-Kirsty Emery (College of Medicine and Public Health)

-Kahli Jeffery & Abbey Nicholls – Team Award (College of Science and Engineering)

Elections

Each year, elections are held for FUSA Student Council, Empire Times editors, and National Union of Students Delegates. Elections are one way that students contribute to the vibrant democracy at Flinders University, by having a say in who their representatives are or by standing for positions themselves. We were pleased to see that voter turnout was slightly higher in 2022 than in 2021, with more students back on campus. The elections also included the liveliest presidential candidate’s debate, moderated by Associate Professor Rob Manwaring, from the College of Business, Government and Law.

At the AGM in 2021, an amendment to the FUSA Constitution was approved to create the People of Colour Officer position to represent the interests of culturally diverse students. This position was elected for the first time at the 2022 elections.

2022 was also the first year that the First Nations Officer position was to be directly elected by the First Nations student cohort. While no initial nominations were received for First Nations Students Officer during the election, the vacancy was subsequently filled by a selection process overseen by an all First Nations student panel.

2022 FUSA Election Results

STUDENT PRESIDENT

Billy Greet

GENERAL SECRETARY

Shanii Sparrow

EDUCATION OFFICER

Jess Williams

WOMEN'S OFFICER

Aishwarya

WELFARE OFFICER

Alivia Vickers

POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS OFFICER

Sharleen Kabiri

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS OFFICER

Suyatra (Sue)

QUEER OFFICER

Riley Jones

FIRST NATIONS STUDENTS OFFICER

Nadia Metzger (casual vacancy appointment)

ENVIRONMENT OFFICER

Lupin Lo

DISABILITIES OFFICER

Danielle Rohrlach

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES OFFICER

Antonio Pupulin

MATURE AGE STUDENTS OFFICER

Shannon Whitford

PEOPLE OF COLOUR OFFICER

Darlyn Tan-Sik

GENERAL COUNCIL MEMBERS (SIX POSITIONS)

Kevin Chao

Jess Trezona

Bree Elliott

Janageeth

Gwydion Rozitisolds

Maddy Tapley

EMPIRE TIMES EDITOR TEAM

Katie Stedman

Katia Rawlings

Rachelle Summers

Georgia Nolan

NUS CONFERENCE DELEGATES

Darlyn Tan-Sik

Billy Greet

Janageeth

Molly Turnbull

Maddy Tapley

Jess Williams

Events

FUSA ran a diverse range of events that combined fun, information, awareness, and education. These events helped to build FUSA’s profile as a student focused and student centric association.

While the start of 2022 was challenged by COVID restrictions, the rest of year saw a solid return to on-campus events and activations. We continued to find new ways to engage with students and collaborated with multiple stakeholders across the University.

Events and activations included:

- FUSA Uni Ball, Enchanted Forest

- Halloween Party

- So Fresh Winter Edition

- RUOK? Day

- Exam Support

- Wellbeing & Spiritual Health Day

- Clubs Fair

- O'Week After Party: Heaven & Hell

- Be A Better Human Fair Day

- World’s Greatest Shave

- Grab ’n’ Go

- Tonsley CSE Social

Highlights from 2022 include:

Uni Ball - FUSA hosted the largest ever Uni Ball with 350 attendees maxing out venue capacity. This was our first full scale Uni Ball following cancellations and capacity restrictions in 2020 and 2021. This year’s Enchanted Forest theme proved popular, and the event was thoroughly enjoyed by attendees. We plan to build the event to 400 attendees in 2023.

Be A Better Human (BABH) Fair Day - FUSA hosted a large activation at Bedford, and pop-up activations at Sturt and Tonsley. The activations included an expo stall with educational resources and free merch, commitment to ‘being a better human’ photobooth, live music, stalls, and DIY bead making and tote bag painting stations. The event was extremely popular with students across the days.

Halloween Party - FUSA hosted a Halloween themed event at the Flinders Tavern. This followed a range of successful Tavern parties across 2022. It was one of our most popular events, and included a DJ, photo booth, free food, drink specials, theming and décor, and a best dressed competition.

Orientation Program 2022

Semester 1 O’Week was mostly cancelled due to COVID restrictions. Staff had to rapidly pivot back to delivering on-campus activity and engagement. This included a FUSA stall, Welcome Hub, student services stalls, live music, picnic furniture, free food vouchers, plus a range of online activations, giveaways, and freebies.

Semester 2 Orientation saw a return to mostly unrestricted events on campus. FUSA ran a successful program of O’Week activities across several days including clubs, stalls, live music, free lunch, games and more. Events included two Fair Days, a Market Day, Winter Warmer and an O’Week After Party. The Fair Days were a great opportunity to boost the club’s

66 Grab ‘n’ Go events

community, as they were not able to take part in Semester 1 Orientation due to covid restrictions. The Clubs team also hosted an online Clubs presentation with 122 students streaming online.

FUSA Grab 'n' Go

FUSA hosted our second year of the Grab ‘n’ Go program, a weekly welfare initiative providing free snacks and stationery to students. It ran three times per week between Monday to Thursday and rotated across Bedford, Sturt and Tonsley. FMC campus was not viable due to ongoing restrictions.

*Note: above numbers were impacted by COVID due to event cancellations, and budget restrictions. 108 events were originally planned.