He karere nā te Tumuaki (AUSA)
A message from Emma Rogers
It has been a very real privilege being able to serve you at AUSA this year, first as Education Vice-President and now as Acting-President of AUSA.
In January, myself and the AUSA team along with many, many, many excited students were looking forward to what was going to be, and still is, a huge year. Not only was AUSA set up to have the biggest orientation event of the year, in Spark Arena and events of that quality to follow throughout the year, we were also facing one of the most politically charged years we have seen in a while with the general elections.
Nobody planned for Coronavirus so when the impacts of Covid-19 spread, there was no corner of our lives left untouched. Our lectures moved online, tutors fumbled with Zoom and our libraries digital books saw more action than our social lives. While physical events were unfortunately cancelled, online events took their place so we could still “socialise” (at a distance).
For this turbulent year, I have been lucky enough to be involved in our student community through AUSA. The team at AUSA, much like our students, have managed to pivot with the changing times. It is because of this, we were able to stay connected during the lockdowns and work to support our students.
2020 at AUSA looked like:
- AUSA supporting students financially with over 60k going to students via our financial hardship grants. That’s roughly three times as many applications as we processed last year.
- Our advocacy service stepping up to support countless students through Covid-19 changes on top of their usual workload. We welcomed an awesome team of student advocates who did a great job in, and out, of lockdowns.
- Shadows reopening better than ever in its new home right next to AUSA house!
- Party in the Spark going ahead weeks before the lockdown with huge success. This was the biggest orientation event of the year with Mako Road and Drax Project headlining and the perfect way to kick off the year.
- Our AUSA Student Council growing bigger and proving to be essential in student consultation, especially when it came to changes in the University.
- Working with the new Vice-Chancellor Dawn Freshwater, via Zoom
- Scoring a huge win for students with a universal 5% grade bump for students in Semester One
- The massive launch of our new Student Support Hub – the one-stop-shop for everything you need
- Addressing period poverty, despite Covid-19, in halls by offering free sanitary products to residents in partnership with the University
- Online consultation on the UoA Strategic Plan when we went into a surprise second lockdown
- Witnessing the biggest voter turnout in a decade with over 4000 votes choosing the 2021 AUSA Executive from a pool of 61 great candidates
The highlight of my year, despite everything, has been seeing how people adjust under pressure and how we have used kindness to help each other out.
For us, it has been an incredibly busy and rewarding year being able to serve you. To my fellow executive members, to our AUSA staff and in particular to those who have supported me in my roles this year – thank you for everything you’ve done and that you do for students.
It hasn’t been an easy year for many, adjusting to online learning and suffering from the negative impacts of Covid-19 is something that we continue to work on however we have proven that, not only as a student community but a wider country, we are able to adjust and move forward. This has been an exercise in strength and resilience of students, staff and our entire University community. The highlight of my year, despite everything, has been seeing how people adjust under pressure and how we have used kindness to help each other out.
2020 is my final year at the University of Auckland and has been the most informative year so far. Thank you to all the University staff who were able to pivot and support our students in the time of uncertainty. Thank you to all my AUSA whanau who continue to work tirelessly to make sure AUSA delivers great student experience, who never stop the mahi to support us and who support our exec and representatives to create and amplify our strong student voice.
This year has been anything but normal. It has been a new experience for all of us and not an easy one at that. Congratulations to everyone for making it through 2020 and also a huge congratulations to those who are graduating this year! It’s been a huge year for everyone and no doubt, it is far from over. Good luck and all the best for next year and beyond.
Ngā mihi,