The VUWSA exec meeting last Monday started with the regular protocol of accepting apologies, reviewing the minutes from the previous two meetings, and confirming the items on the agenda — I move that we… does anyone second this… all those in favour… against… abstention. Very official. There was only one correction to be made to previous minutes — Lil’ Yachty is spelled with “y” not “ie”.
Engagement Vice-President Nathaniel Manning outlined VUWSA’s upcoming general election campaign, We Have Power (name is “pretty much confirmed”), that aims to increase the amount of students who vote in the upcoming general election. They’ll be launching the website (hopefully) by the end of the month, and are recruiting new volunteers.
Welfare Vice-President Anya Maule provided verbal report on last trimester’s Stress Free Study Week, which “ran really smoothly.” Written report is yet to be written. There was the recurring problem of an overstocking of milk. Though VUWSA reduced the amount of cow’s milk and increased the amount of soy milk, the problem remained. Wellbeing and Sustainability Officer Bethany Paterson noted that the Te Aro campus they kept running low on milk.
Rotary Wellington and VUW are co-hosting a half-day event “The Impossible Dream For Wellington” discussing what Wellington will look like in ten years time. The Rotary are concerned that they have a “vast majority” of older members, and are selling discounted tickets for students in an effort to increase younger attendees.
There was a very brief mention of the progress of the Constitutional Review from Treasurer/Secretary Tom Rackley. Most submissions received came in after the public submission due date. The draft changes will be released two weeks before the AGM.
Submissions for VUWSA’s budget will be opened to students soon. Students will be able to suggest new projects or where the budget should be allocated.
Beth’s food survey received more than 1000 responses, and there were clear indicators that many students didn’t know about all the free or cheap healthy food supplies and services they had access to. VUWSA is going to establish a VUWSA Food Network so this information is readily available for students.
The meeting went into committee which Salient is unable to report on. All of VUWSA’s minutes are available on their website.