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Interesting article on the mq offical website about EFS subsidising the costs of running amenities in response to the inevitable student apathy that will come with VSU.
VSU? Commerce Division comes to the rescue of student amenities at Macquarie
January 23, 2006
It will be “business as usual” this year for Macquarie University’s many student sports and social clubs and other services despite passage of the Federal Government’s Voluntary Student Unionism Bill in December.
The new legislation will take effect mid-year, leaving many student amenities and services with a shortfall in the second half of 2006, and beyond.
Thanks to a generous donation from the University’s Division of Economic and Financial Studies (EFS) all student services run by Students at Macquarie (SAM) and Macquarie University Sports and Recreation (MUSR) will operate as normal.
These include health, dental and welfare services, child care, sporting facilities and clubs, and various student societies.
EFS, which has enjoyed strong growth in recent years, was able to make the donation because of a hard-earned accumulated cash surplus. It is the largest academic division at Macquarie and one of the biggest of its kind in Australia.
It comprises the five departments of Accounting and Finance, Actuarial Studies, Business, Economics, and Statistics and also includes the Applied Finance Centre, Graduate Accounting and Commerce Centre and the Centre for Japanese Economic Studies.
The VSU legislation was passed in the Senate by one vote on 9 December last year.
It means that from 1 July 2006 no student will be compelled to join a student organisation, union or guild as a condition of their enrolment. It also means no student will be obliged to pay a fee to a university for non-academic amenities, facilities or services.
This will mean a loss of income to SAM, MUSR and the Students’ Council.
“SAM and the Sports Association have well-thought-out strategies to preserve many essential services after 1 July, but other aspects of student life were threatened unless the University made up the shortfall,” said Macquarie Vice-Chancellor, Professor Di Yerbury.
“This is where the generous donation by EFS has been so invaluable. It will enable all our student services to operate ‘business as usual’. Students will not notice any difference,” she said.
“I am very grateful to the Division’s management for this very generous gesture, and I am sure students will be too.”
Professor Yerbury said the university experience was not confined to teaching, learning, research and other scholarly activity. It also included students being able to take part in many other activities, such as sports, debates, voluntary work, and providing services on campus for the benefit of other students.
“Many of today’s business or political leaders have cut their teeth working on student organisations - not necessarily political ones, but those involving the provision of services,” she said.
“At Macquarie and other universities first-rate students often compete for the benefit of being president or director of the board of an amenities body. Being responsible for staff members and to govern a multi-million dollar services organization is superb experience that will serve them in good stead when they embark on their careers.”
Professor Yerbury added that some level of continuing subsidy by the University for a time would be inevitable if important services were to be retained.
VSU? Commerce Division comes to the rescue of student amenities at Macquarie
January 23, 2006
It will be “business as usual” this year for Macquarie University’s many student sports and social clubs and other services despite passage of the Federal Government’s Voluntary Student Unionism Bill in December.
The new legislation will take effect mid-year, leaving many student amenities and services with a shortfall in the second half of 2006, and beyond.
Thanks to a generous donation from the University’s Division of Economic and Financial Studies (EFS) all student services run by Students at Macquarie (SAM) and Macquarie University Sports and Recreation (MUSR) will operate as normal.
These include health, dental and welfare services, child care, sporting facilities and clubs, and various student societies.
EFS, which has enjoyed strong growth in recent years, was able to make the donation because of a hard-earned accumulated cash surplus. It is the largest academic division at Macquarie and one of the biggest of its kind in Australia.
It comprises the five departments of Accounting and Finance, Actuarial Studies, Business, Economics, and Statistics and also includes the Applied Finance Centre, Graduate Accounting and Commerce Centre and the Centre for Japanese Economic Studies.
The VSU legislation was passed in the Senate by one vote on 9 December last year.
It means that from 1 July 2006 no student will be compelled to join a student organisation, union or guild as a condition of their enrolment. It also means no student will be obliged to pay a fee to a university for non-academic amenities, facilities or services.
This will mean a loss of income to SAM, MUSR and the Students’ Council.
“SAM and the Sports Association have well-thought-out strategies to preserve many essential services after 1 July, but other aspects of student life were threatened unless the University made up the shortfall,” said Macquarie Vice-Chancellor, Professor Di Yerbury.
“This is where the generous donation by EFS has been so invaluable. It will enable all our student services to operate ‘business as usual’. Students will not notice any difference,” she said.
“I am very grateful to the Division’s management for this very generous gesture, and I am sure students will be too.”
Professor Yerbury said the university experience was not confined to teaching, learning, research and other scholarly activity. It also included students being able to take part in many other activities, such as sports, debates, voluntary work, and providing services on campus for the benefit of other students.
“Many of today’s business or political leaders have cut their teeth working on student organisations - not necessarily political ones, but those involving the provision of services,” she said.
“At Macquarie and other universities first-rate students often compete for the benefit of being president or director of the board of an amenities body. Being responsible for staff members and to govern a multi-million dollar services organization is superb experience that will serve them in good stead when they embark on their careers.”
Professor Yerbury added that some level of continuing subsidy by the University for a time would be inevitable if important services were to be retained.
