Mature Age Students’ Association

BY VIKNASH VM

2021 has been a fulfilling year for the Mature Age Students’ Association (MASA). The department has gone from strength to strength with the hard and tireless work of the committee who have presented new and innovative events to draw in Mature Age student crowds.

This year we saw the relaunch of the MASA Facebook page and the launch of the Instagram page and fortnightly Newsletter. These were vital in creating our social presence and engaging with more Mature Age students especially those Offshore and not at the Crawley campus. We started giving out MASA stickers to members to place on their student cards as part of our marketing drive and made MASA more visible at every turn.

The key to making a successful Department and most importantly a sustainable one was the engagement of the members. We had run our Coffee Catchups every fortnight at Hackett Café that enabled us to grow the community as well as to allow for other students to meet each other and have a network to rely on at UWA.

We held our Tavern Wine Tastings in the afternoon for those who wanted to have a relaxed time after the stressful week of academia. These were very well attended as well and allowed us to have a good mix of attendance from the wide range of Mature Age students at UWA.

We had expanded to also engage with the Student Parents on Campus Convenor and allow for more child-friendly events where children would be welcome to join in and participate, allowing parents to bring their kids onto campus. We collaborated with the Postgraduate Students’ Association (PSA) to hold a Mucky Duck Bush Dance event which saw parents and their children dance and start their holidays in a wholesome manner. This has been noted to be a key group of students that MASA will continue to engage.

The MASA Department structure and Rules have been updated to clarify committee responsibilities and function. Having seen the growth and stability in the department this year, I am confident that the future of the Department is bright, and I cannot wait to see how it grows and flourishes in years to come. Thank you for the opportunity to be your 2021 MASA Chair and allowing me to reinvigorate the Department.