USASA President – Isaac Solomon – September Board Report

Summary

This month has been an extremely busy month with many graduations which I was lucky to attend. This included the awarding of honorary doctorates to Andrew Pridham, Jimmy Barnes and George Takei.

During this month we continued conversations around authentic assessment and the future of teaching and learning arrangements. This included following up on student enquiries about specific Academic issues which had some good results for students.

This month I also attended the NUS EthnoCon which was one of the best and most informative conferences thus far. Sam and I presented a great presentation Academic Integrity and will now be working on a national student collaboration on Academic Integrity resources for student representatives and student organisations.

Discussions around major capital works continued with a focus on accessibility for students living with a disability and gender diverse students. Discussions around Deadnaming were also had with SAS and were extremely informative and fruitful.

With exams around the corner it is a stressful time for many students but work around mental health and the Working on Wellness program are in full swing.

Until next time

Isaac

Magill Campus Undergraduate Representative- September 2022 Report- Trisha Banga

Hello everyone. September has been a very hectic month. It has been fairly quiet for me with USASA, where I mostly communicated some matters over email and attended the board meeting. The DEA and academic board meetings were cancelled this month. I also have a meeting this week with an executive member of the Psychology Society of UniSA to discuss some ideas. Mostly, I have been very sick and mustering up all my strength to work on major assessments that are all due so soon. Hoping October proves to be a healthier and more productive month.

Good luck with upcoming assessments and don’t hesitate to reach out to me regarding any questions, concerns, or feedback you may have at banty008@mymail.unisa.edu.au.

Board report City East Representative – Simratdeep Singh

“The greatest glory in living doesn’t lie in never falling, but in rising every time we fall”. -Nelson Mandela

Hello everyone, hope you are eagerly awaiting for warm sunny days to enjoy at the beach🏖️, and a evening walk at the coast⛱️. The month of September was busy as usual with academic commitments and planning for the upcoming events for City East campus. Finally, we have decided to organised a free BBQ 🫕 for the students and some cool 😎 drinks🥶 in the first week of November. Stay tuned on USASA website and look👀 for posters around campus

The month of October will be full of preparation for exams and ongoing assessments. Hope everyone is coping up and helping their peers wherever possible. Look around for support and any counselling required. https://usasa.sa.edu.au/support/additional/links/                                                                                         Education committee meeting 11/10/22.                

NRW committee meeting 12/10/22.                 USASA board meeting on 18/10/22.                   

Last but not the least

Feel free to contact me on sinsy130@mymail.unisa.edu.au.                 Have a great week ahead

City East Undergraduate Report – September/October – Timothy Pham

Hello everyone,

It is now the busiest time of the year when we all have so many assignments due. It is time to focus on our studies and try to get the assessments out the way. Let’s concentrate on them together.

Here are some quick updates from my site:

BBQ’s at City East are currently planned. I am so sorry that I could not make the October BBQ as planned as I’m so busy with my study. However, I am currently planning for a BBQ on Thursday 3/11 (week 13). Hope you will come to see me and Sim and enjoy some foods on our campus.

Let’s see what USASA has for us in in next few months:

• Working on Wellness: There will be lego stations, massages, farm animals, a rage room, board games and free lunch. Dates are: 11-12/10 at City West; 12/10 at Whyalla, 13/10 at Magill, 18/10 at Mawson Lakes; 19-20/10 at City East. Do come along!
• Club Awards: Club awards will be held on Friday 21/10/22 at 7:30-11:30pm at Adelaide Oval. Make sure you purchase the tickets before it sold out.
• 2023 USASA Board Election: Voting will start at 9am on Monday 17/10 and close at 4pm on 21/10. Please vote for those whom you would like to represent you.

Key dates for August/September:

18/10 – USASA Board Meeting

15/11 – USASA Board Meeting

Good luck with your assessments. I am sure you will do them well. See you around campus!

Cheers,

Tim

Magill Representative – Michelle Emery

Hi All,

I hope everyone is well.

This month has been a quiet month; I have participated in several academic integrity decision panels, attended the monthly USASA Board meeting and assisted students with concerns on campus.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Take care,

Michelle

emesy002@mymail.unisa.edu.au

Mawson Lakes Student Representative September Report – Gagan

September was a busy month with a lot of assessment deadlines. We had our monthly Board meeting on the 13th and a very interesting project was announced – Student Voice Delegate. Having students delegates, who will sit Formal Inquiries, will definitely ease the workload off of the USASA board and I am excited to see how it progresses.

During the first week of the study break, instead of relaxing and catching up with studies, Isaac, Sam, another UniSA Student (Jeel) and I went on to attend the National Union of Students (NUS) EthnoCultural Conference. The conference was a three day event held at the University of New South Wales.

We arrived on Tuesday the 20th to allow ourselves enough time to settle into the accommodation and meet other students. Jeel and I shared the room with a few students from RMIT and it was quite interesting to meet students from a different state and hear how similar/different things are for us. Jeel, Isaac and I utilized some of the time on the day exploring the city and visiting iconic landmarks like Harbor bridge and the Opera house.

Each day was structured in a similar pattern from mostly 9-5, starting off with a plenary from First Nations community Representatives, another plenary, two workshops running at the same time, then a lunch break. After that would be another plenary, and two workshops running at the same time. The schedule was as follows:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

As Jeel and I both are of south Asian descent and are women in STEM, we gave a presentation on the unseen barriers women of color face in the industry ranging from micro-aggression to stolen work. The topic was definitely very personal to both of us and we tried to make it as interactive as possible with Kahoot and discussions. Isaac and Sam also gave a presentation on overcoming discrimination in Academic Integrity policies and procedures. The presentation was wonderful and highlighted the need for transparency and equity in university policies.

My favorite presentation was the one about the impact of the Myanmar coup on Myanmar students in Australia, I could resonate with the fact that how issues in third world countries get brushed under the rug and never get the same attention in media like issues in other countries do. If you would like to know more about what is going on in Myanmar and how you can help, here’s a link: https://www.isupportmyanmar.com/

We made a lot of connections there from all over the country and I hope i will get to work with those student leaders in the future. On a final note, voting for elections opens next week, make sure you vote and choose your representatives wisely!

As always, feel free to contact me on kaugy023@mymail.unisa.edu if you have any questions or concerns or just would like to chat!

City West Undergraduate – September Activity Report – Hayate Yamada

Hi all, we are nearing the end of SP5 and the end of the year. I hope we get warmer weather as we head to the end of the year. As we head to the end of the year, I would look to be outside doing more activities. What will you be doing as the weather gets warmer?

For this month, I have attended several formal inquiry meetings and aiming to attend more this month. During this month, I have focused on my courses to finish the semester well.

If you would like to discuss anything, please contact me.

Thanks

Hayate Yamada

City West Representative- September Activity – Tanya Salvi

Say hello to September!

This month has been a rollercoaster ride filled with assignments, job interviews and part time jobs.

It started with the monthly board meeting on 13th September. This time, we had our meeting a little early than our usual dates. This is because it was Bridget’s, our USASA Coordinator (Governance & Student Leadership) last board meeting! We wish her all the best!

I also had a formal inquiry scheduled on the 14th, however it got cancelled since the student accepted the original outcome.

The rest of the month has been quite hectic with managing assignments, lectures, project work, 2 part-time jobs and 1 internship. Honestly, I don’t know how I survived the pressure. For the first time it felt like I needed more days in a week, 7 days were not enough to balance it all!

September is also my birthday month & my friends managed to make it a special/memorable one!

October is also going to be a stressful month given the final assignments.

That’s basically it for this month!
Email me your queries on praty005@mymail.unisa.edu.au

Online student report

Well well, you’re in the middle of the next block, all the best for the last block of the year, you’re almost there! Remember to look after yourself and your well-being first and foremost.

This past month I’ve been concentrating on moving myself into the workforce after completing my degree. However, I’m still here to support you guys should you need anything and I’m always open to suggestions for anything online related!

Being online sometimes feels isolating, so don’t forget to connect to others where you can too. My email is : Djiay002@mymail.unisa.edu.au

Sam Bhattacharjee- MLK Undergrad Rep Report Sept 2022

Hi all!

I hope everyone had a great month! this was a pretty exciting one as we saw the return of the Royal Adelaide Show! Hopefully you managed to get out too see it with friends/family. I myself was there and had lots of fun!

other than that we finally came to the middle of SP5! hope everyone got some of that much needed rest so we can power through to the end of the semester.

Now, onto the fun part, as mentioned in previous report I was given the amazing opportunity to represent UniSA and USASA at the National Union of Students Ethnocultural Student Conference. Myself, the Mawson Lakes Rep Gagan, USASA President Isaac Solomon and another UniSA student were sent to deliver presentations on issues regarding International and CALD student issues, we also listened to other students and their issues as well as networked with like minded students from all across Australia!

we arrived a day before the conference and met with some students from Melbourne, Sydney and even Wollongong! We spent some time getting settled into accommodation and then socialised, preparing ourselves for the next three days of presentations. The three days were sectioned into similar schedules, we began with welcome to countries, from first nations community representatives, then a plenary, we were then given the option of two different presentations, another plenary, more presentations and then the day was finished, in between all these were given time to eat and socialise.

After the first plenary of the first day Gagan and a fellow UniSA student delivered a presentation about breaking barriers in STEM as women of colour, an extremely interesting presentation that ended with an interactive session of brainstorming and understanding.

for the sake of the word count I wont go into complete detail about all presentations and plenaries but to summarise there were presentations on combating anti-Semitism, issues surrounding Hong Kong and Taiwan, issues surrounding racism towards First nations people and people of African descent and Issues surrounding allyship towards People of colour. These presentations were extremely well done and what’s more, they gave us a platform to have meaningful conversations and give us ideas of how we could implement them here at UniSA.

Obviously In my opinion Isaac and I gave the best presentation, based on how we can overcome discrimination within academic integrity, our presentation spoke about how we need to educate and empower students over penalise and demonise. I was proud to be able to represent UniSA and USASA speaking about issues that had been raised to me by my fellow students. We concluded that universities owe students consistency and transparency so that they have the tools and knowledge to succeed, overall this was an amazing experience.

But will all good things some bad must occur, on the flight home I contracted Covid 😦 . I spent the next week recovering and am now back on my feet! please all stay safe, wear masks when necessary, sanitise/was hands accordingly and if you’re feeling sick, stay home an rest up!

as always, if you have and questions comments or concerns or you want my infamous Butter Chicken recipe, email me at bhasy035@mymail.unisa.edu.au