SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: GUPSA BOARD, NEW CONSTITUTION, AND 2020 ELECTIONS
Thank you to all the postgraduate students who attended the GUPSA Special General Meeting (SGM) on 12 March 2020.
The SGM Minutes are available HERE
At the SGM, two motions were passed by majority vote:
- That the proposed new constitution for GUPSA be adopted; and
- That the term of GUPSA board members voted in at the 2020 elections be extended until 31 October 2021, to align with the new electoral cycle and board term that will take effect in 2021.
Both SGM motions were subject to approval by University Council of the proposed new constitution for GUPSA.
On 1 June 2020, University Council approved GUPSA’s new constitution. It is available HERE.
When University Council approved the new GUPSA Constitution, it came into effect on 1 June 2020. Unfortunately, there was some miscommunication and lack of clarity around when the new GUPSA Board structure changes would come into effect.
The GUPSA staff and Board members assumed the new board structure wouldn’t come into effect until the 2021 GUPSA election. On this basis, GUPSA held two Board meetings in June and July, with our GUPSA Board members who were elected in the 2020 election.
As requested by postgraduate students at the SGM, our GUPSA Board meeting minutes are now available on the GUPSA website HERE.
The GUPSA staff and board recently became aware that University Council intended for the new GUPSA board structure to come into effect on 1 June 2020.
Our old GUPSA board structure consisted of the following roles: Research officer, Coursework officer, International officer, Equity officer, and Campus coordination officer.
Our new GUPSA board structure consists of the following roles: Research officer, Coursework officer, International officer, Online officer, Communications officer, Sustainability officer, Indigenous officer, LGBTQI+ officer, Women’s officer, Disability officer, and Carers officer. The position decriptions for all of them can be found HERE.
There are three roles that exist in both the old and new board structures: Research officer (Jasmin Gross), Coursework Officer (Saira Khan), and International officer (Omer Khan). In accordance with the second motion passed at the SGM, these three board members will have their board terms extended until the 2021 elections.
In essence, until we elect postgraduate students for the vacant roles of: Online officer, Communications officer, Sustainability officer, Indigenous officer, LGBTQI+ officer, Women’s officer, Disability officer, and Carers officer – GUPSA currently has three elected board members: Research officer (Jasmin Gross), Coursework Officer (Saira Khan), and International officer (Omer Khan). As we only account for three of the eleven positions under the new GUPSA board structure, we have decided to not hold any further GUPSA board meetings until elections are finalised for the vacant roles, and we hopefully have quorum (at least six board members, if all eleven positions are filled).
Griffith Corporate Governance Office has advised that GUPSA will need to finalise elections for the vacant positions on the new GUPSA board, before the end of October 2020. All current postgraduate students on the northern campuses will receive an email today with details about the GUPSA election for the vacant positions of: Online officer, Communications officer, Sustainability officer, Indigenous officer, LGBTQI+ officer, Women’s officer, Disability officer, and Carers officer.
Unfortunately, due to these changes, the old GUPSA board positions of Equity officer (Aishwarya Singh) and Campus coordination officer (Pratik Chanchad) no longer exist. We thank both Aishwarya and Pratik for their efforts and contributions to GUPSA, during their terms. Griffith Corporate Governance Office has confirmed that motions passed by the old GUPSA board during our board meetings in June and July 2020, are still valid.
We invite all students who are eligible for the vacant GUPSA board positions to please consider running for election. You will be representing postgraduate student interests, relevant to your portfolio, and will be giving them a voice during these challenging times. Being a GUPSA board member is an incredibly rewarding experience where you will also learn about governance, how decisions are made at Griffith University, and meet and work alongside a great team of GUPSA staff and board members.
– Your GUPSA Interim Board: Saira, Jasmin, and Omer.
