Student association to seek relevance

Otago University Students' Association president-elect Paul Hunt. Photo by Gregor Richardson.
Otago University Students' Association president-elect Paul Hunt. Photo by Gregor Richardson.
Fighting to preserve Dunedin's unique student culture and increasing the Otago University Students' Association's relevance are among the aims of newly-elected president Paul Hunt.

Mr Hunt, a sixth-year politics and law student, who is OUSA finance officer, comfortably won the presidential race, picking up 59.2% of the votes, nearly double that of Henri Faulkner.

However, the win came amid an almost 40% drop in voter turnout on last year's OUSA elections.

One of the first items on his agenda when he took over from current president Ruby Sycamore-Smith next year would be fighting parts of the Dunedin City Council's draft local alcohol policy.

The draft policy, which included a one-way door policy starting at 1am, was strongly opposed by students, he said.

''Students are already aware the authorities are slowly trying to chip away at the unique student culture.''

After the recent closures of the Captain Cook Tavern and Monkey Bar, it was worried the policy would lead to further bars shutting their doors.

Students needed safe environments to drink in, he said.

''They need to provide safe and regulated environments for them to be able to socialise in.''

Another major aim was increasing student engagement with OUSA, which he planned to do by having greater involvement with student groups.

He hoped this would help increase voter turnout.

The risks to the association were enormous if student engagement continued to fall, particularly since the advent of voluntary student membership, which meant the association was funded by the university rather than directly by students.

''If OUSA does not remain relevant, people might ask 'what's the point?' and that could lead to a whole lot of catastrophic consequences.''

Another priority was diversifying OUSA's revenue, including by investing some of the more than $5 million it had put aside.

vaughan.elder@odt.co.nz

 


Five aims

• Fight Dunedin City Council's draft local alcohol policy.

• Increase support for campus groups.

• Increase links between students and the wider community.

• Offer more support to first-year students in their transition into university study.

• Diversify OUSA's revenue stream.


 

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