President’s Address

Hey Flinders!

Congratulations all - you’ve made it through the year 2021!

My name is Molly, I’m your Student President for 2022 :)

A little bit about myself… I’ve been on Student Council for three years, as First Nations Students Officer and then General Secretary, which has given me the tools and skills for this new role. I’m currently studying for a degree in Social Work. In the past, I was studying for a degree in tourism and events combined with a degree in arts. I switched my degrees as I found my passion for helping people, supporting them to see the powers they have and gaining new powers they didn’t know they had. I’m an animal lover with two cats: Sox and Eli Perry and when I’m not working for you I’m a gamer: I love video games and board games.

What really is Flinders University Students Association (FUSA) Student Council?

Student Council consists of 19 members. All of these amazing students have been elected by the student body to represent you and fight for your rights and interest as a student at Flinders University. FUSA is made up of the Student Council, sub-committees and amazing staff (yes, they’re amazing too) that create social events on and off-campus. We all take part in creating O’Week events and activities such as picnics in the Plaza, free Grab and Go’s, Pride Fest, NAIDOC week, and more!

We as a Student Council believe in empowerment, advocacy, and integrity – and that’s what you’re going to see through our plans for this year.

For a little flavour of what we do as a Student Council, here are some highlights from 2021. We finalised the opening of a new disabilities space in the Library. This is an accessible and welcoming space for the use of students with disabilities. We also refurbished some of the older spaces on the Bedford Park campus (the

ESIDENT’S ADDRESS

Women’s Room, Queer Space and Postgraduate Space) to be more welcoming places for our student community. Our Student Council connected with all the Flinders campuses around the state and in the Northern Territory – including a tour to meet with students at every campus. You will see around the Bedford Park, Sturt and Tonsley campuses that there are menstrual product dispensers; a Student Council initiative to combat period poverty that was achieved last year. A little less flash but no less important, Student Council members participated in the development of the new assessment policies and were the student voice on Academic Senate and other University committees and working groups.

This year we have some big plans too. My own priorities are:

● Making sure that we continue building our connections with all

Flinders University campuses, ● Continuing to work on the student poverty campaign. Last year, we began a campaign to highlight student poverty. This is a crisis that many students experience due to insecure work, poverty-level Centrelink payments, unaffordable bills and rent and the personal toll that

this takes on us. ● Working on the Be A Better Human campaign. BABH was a great success for FUSA and we’re re-launching it this year. ● Work on an enrol to vote campaign: South Australian and Federal elections will happen this year, and it’s important that our student voices count. ● Working on obtaining a space for mature aged students. ● Continue to make sure that student voices are heard in all areas of the

University.

You can get involved too! You’ll see more information about joining Collectives (student groups that focus on a particular community of interest, for example, the Postgraduate Collective or the Queer Collective). There are also plenty of non-sporting Clubs to join. FUSA provides funding and support for affiliated clubs. And you will also see the opportunity to become a Representative as well in your Colleges. This is a chance to work with teaching staff to improve your and your cohorts experience in the classroom.

If you want to get in contact with me, my email is: student.president@flinders.edu.au