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WORONI The Australian National University Newspaper Since 1948
President resigns
Undergrad president Fleur Hawes forced to resign after being academically excluded from the ANU VICTOR WHITE
ANUSA President Fleur Hawes has resigned following her academic exclusion from the University. Ms Hawes resigned at 5.05pm on Monday after learning of the failure of her appeal against her exclusion. Ms Hawes was academically excluded after she breached rule 14 (1) of the ANU Academic Progress Rules. “A student undertaking undergraduate coursework who fails more than 50% of the unit value of the courses attempted in a semester (including a session) of enrolment in his or her award program is considered to have failed to maintain a satisfactory standard of academic progress in the award program. “ She had failed a majority of subjects in two semesters, though the semesters were not consecutive. The two semesters were her first semester in 2009 as well as the final semester of 2011. Regarding her exclusion Ms Hawes stated, “the University had a lot of options other than exclusion. The decision was their discretion.” The Academic Progress Rules state that the Academic Progress Committee can make a number of findings, from recommending the suspension of a student, to reducing their coursework or seeking support from academic staff or something as general as “[determining] other strategies as appropriate”. Ms Hawes only learnt on Monday the 5th March that her appeal to Deputy Vice-Chancellor Lawrence Cram had failed. Her appeal to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor was only on the basis of procedural grounds. Professor Cram had the option of either accepting the findings of the Education Dean (Tim Beck-
ett) or setting aside the findings of the Education Dean and asking him to reconsider the original decision. On Tuesday 6th March Alice McAvoy approached Vice-Chancellor Ian Young asking him to suspend the sentence, allowing Ms Hawes to remain a student whilst a fuller appeal took place. The Vice-Chancellor declined on the basis of legal advice. Asked what she thought would be the impact on ANUSA Ms Hawes responded “As much as this will be a difficult and challenging time for ANUSA, I am confident that executive, led by Alice, will handle it maturely and effectively, whilst always ensuring the best outcome for students.” As a result of the academic exclusion, Ms Hawes is no longer a student, and as such, can no longer be a member of the Students’ Association. It is not the first time that a sitting President has had to resign. In 1995 the then President Hamish McPherson resigned for similar reasons. The academic exclusion is made more controversial by the fact that there are extenuating circumstances surrounding her failure in Semester One 2009. Woroni, on the basis of legal advice, is waiting for permission to publish the full account of these circumstances. Had her 2009 semester one results been set aside, Ms Hawes would not have been in breach of the Universities policy, and subsequently would not have been academically excluded. Acting President Alice McAvoy stated that she was “disappointed by the University’s decision, particularly because of the effect that it would have on the association.” She also went on to say that “at a lot of Universities, you must be a current student to stand for election; you do not have to be a student during your term, allowing the President to defer their studies whilst they focus on students.” The resignation came as a surprise to the ex-
CANBERRA GETS WET Huge rainfall over the past see weeks saw Cotter Dam overflowing, a swollen Sully’s Creek & some dangerous antics. {P16}
NO. 3 VOL 64 MAR 15
ANU Students’ Association offices // Inset: Fleur Hawes
ecutive of ANUSA who, up until Monday the 5th March, had been unaware of Ms Hawes’ battle with the University. A University spokesman responded to Woroni’s request for comment with “The processes for consideration of any student’s academic progress are well-established and transparent. A student’s personal academic record, including their involvement in matters of academic progress, is maintained by the university as private and confidential. Public comment is not made about the records of individual students.” As per the ANUSA constitution, VicePresident Alice McAvoy is currently act-
ing President whilst Education Officer Tom Barrington-Smith is acting Vice-President. Elections for the position of President take place from Monday the 19th March through to Wednesday the 21st March. Current ANUSA Treasurer Dallas Proctor has announced that he will run for the Presidency. In a note explaining his decision, Mr Proctor said that he wished to “finish what we [the ANUSA executive”] started. He said that by electing a current member of the executive, ANUSA would not have to “sacrifice [its] momentum”. As Woroni went to print, this newspaper was unable to confirm any other candidates for this position.
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