Interview with ANUSA Social Officer

An Interview with ANUSA Social Officer

By Grace Sixsmith

In the midst of second waves, constantly changing regulations and the threat of another lockdown period, ANUSA Social Officer Sophie Jaggar has planned Bush Week 2020. In a discussion with Woroni, Jaggar outlined the issues she has faced while planning, and what’s different this year.

Woroni: What have been the main challenges in planning the 2020 Bush Week?

Sophie Jaggar: “The main challenges in organising Bush Week have just been around the COVID restrictions and how they interact with social events. All of our events are online due to the restrictions and I believe it is difficult to create successful events due to things like Zoom fatigue of students and the general strain of being socially distanced for so long. Planning is difficult due to the changing nature of the COVID situation and the different restrictions, meaning we are trying to plan for as many different situations as possible, to try and make sure that the most ideal event for students is held.”

W: Is Bush Week projected to use all its funding?

SJ: “Currently Bush Week is projected to not use all its funding, however hopefully the left-over funding will either be used to help students through grants or will go towards social events later in the semester if they are possible.” Bush Week was allocated $20,000 in the 2020 SSAF bid.

W: What’s happening with the Bush Week Directors? I remember in SRC 3 or 4 you mentioned that you were not planning to hire any. Has this made your job harder in organising? Have any other members of the SRC stepped in to help out?

SJ: “That is correct – I have not hired any Bush Week directors. This has made my job slightly harder due to an increased workload, but overall due to the current circumstances I do not think this has made my job harder, especially given that managing my team would be harder when our office is working from home. The exec have been a great help and I know that the SRC are always willing to help out where necessary.”

W: How will Bush Week work to ensure that students commencing in Sem 2 will feel included in the ANU community?

SJ: “We have events in place to introduce people to the key social foundations of ANUSA – clubs and departments. We also have plans for some online social events for students to be able to get involved in that way. Ultimately, we are limited in the way that we are able to make students feel comfortable in this community, but we are trying the best we can with the hope that we will be able to do more later in the semester.”