Uni is only 6 weeks into semester one, but we’re already a quarter of the way through our year. This first quarter has been a big one for the Student Union, I’ve written an update for the up coming edition of the SWINE magazine, which you can read below:
First off, we had a tremendous O-Week, and our biggest yet! Thanks to the amazing work of our volunteers and new representative team – and in spite of some terrible weather – we engaged with thousands of students to grow the union’s membership by close to 10% on the previous year. We also held our annual welcome back party with over 700 students turning out in their best classical Greek attire.
Our volunteering program has grown too. This year we have new opportunities open to all students in office & admin support, promotions volunteering, and a massively expanded weekly BBQ. We are also looking to expand opportunities in our activities & events program.
Thanks to some excellent feedback from our members, we’ve been working hard to improve our social media content. And not just the memes. If you jump on any of our pages, you can now find a heap of student discounts, competitions and giveaways. The Hammer & Swine occasionally provide some cheeky discount bevs, and if that’s not your thing, the SSU page is regularly updating on local discounts.
And there’s more good news for the Hammer & Swine. Having hired a new bar manager this year, the bar has branched out from regular trading. On top of the usual Thursday night events, we are running some quality events with clubs – such as the recent Bollywood night. We have also expanded booking and catering packages for all clubs, student groups and departments here on campus.
It hasn’t all been positive though. Unfortunately before the return of classes, many of our new international students received notice of an additional tuition fee invoice, just days before payment was due. The Union’s Education Department engaged with dozens of students on the issue, and provided advice to hundreds more as we sought clarity for our members. We will be continuing discussions with the University to seek assurances on fairness and clarity surrounding fees in the future as part of our increased engagement with university staff and committees.
I hope you all have a fantastic rest of the semester, and if you’d like to find out more or get involved with the Union at any time, be sure to get in touch,
Sam Roberts
President
Swinburne Student Union