The following motions will be submitted for debate and voting at the student general meeting on May 1.
Any student may submit a motion for debate by contacting the MSA secretary at ben.zocco@monash.edu
Appointment of elected representatives to University Council
That the University Council appoint the democratically elected student and staff representatives (Ali Majokah, Carol Williams and Jeffrey Bender) to University Council as observers with full speaking rights and access to all agenda papers, similar to what University of Melbourne has done.
Monash – business or community?
We reject the idea that Monash is a business and endorse the idea that it is a community organisation.
Reinstate Faculty Boards as managing bodies of Faculties
We reaffirm the idea that universities function best when students and staff have formal decision making power at all levels of university management. At its next meeting on May 8, we ask University Council to rescind its decision on March 20 seeking to reduce Faculty Boards to advisory bodies and instead commit to working in consultation with all Monash student unions, as well as the NTEU, to reform the University Statutes so as to allow students and staff to have a greater say in how our university is run.
Reduce Vice Chancellor’s pay, prioritise student welfare
We understand that there are only a finite amount of resources in the world and if some people take more than they need, then it reduces the pool of resources from which others can benefit, leading to poverty, hunger and starvation. Further we do not consider administrative work to be of greater importance than academic work and hence reject the idea of Administrators having higher wages than academics. In light of this, we consider the awarding of a $1.1 million annual salary to the Vice Chancellor to be not only inappropriate and wasteful but in breach of the University’s commitment to social justice. To this end, we call on University Council at its meeting on 25 June to make a commitment to reduce the Vice Chancellor’s so that it is no greater than that of a professor, before the end of the year 2014.
Further we suggest that the money saved be used fund free food programs for financially struggling students across all Monash campuses, as well as assisting student welfare initiatives in order to help alleviate student poverty.
Reduce wages of senior Administrators, prioritise community building
For similar reasons as outlined for the reduction in the Vice Chancellor’s pay, we ask University Council at its meeting on 25 June to make a commitment to reduce the wages of all relevant senior Administrators so that no Administration official has a wage greater than that of a professor, before the end of the year 2014.
Further we suggest that a portion of the money saved be used to provide honorariums to Presidents of all student clubs and societies as financial support so that they are able to dedicate more of their time to helping create a vibrant and close-knit community on-campus.
Suspend Menzies Lawn and ‘Campus South Walk’ capital works, prioritise staff and quality education
We understand that with increasing student numbers and increasing class sizes, the University needs to be hiring, not cutting staff. To this end, we call on the Vice Chancellor to prioritise the retention and hiring staff over the re-landscaping of the Menzies Lawn and the construction of the ‘Campus Walk South’.
We require that work on both these projects be suspended immediately and only recommenced if authorisation is given to do so by a majority vote in a student referendum held at the Clayton campus.
We stress to the Vice Chancellor that it is predominantly our fees that are being used to fund these capital works and as we constitute the majority of the University population, we will be most greatly affected by the works, as such we require that our approval be sought before any further money is spent or work undertaken.
In the scenario that our wishes are not respected and work on the projects permitted to continue, we are more than willing to assert our right to not have our money wasted and to be able to enjoy a quality education, as such we endorse students taking non-violent direct action, if necessary, to prevent the works from going ahead without approval being given through a referendum.
