University venue bookings reopen for staff, but no word for students
During Semester 1, student societies were beset with setbacks with university venues.
The University of Sydney will resume holding in-person events for staff, but student clubs and societies remain waiting for news on when they can get back on campus.
According to a staff intranet circular, in-person events may resume on campus if they are approved by University Venues and conducted in line with the university’s conditions of entry and standard COVID safety precautions.
There are three steps to the approval process, the first being considering if the event could be held online. Staff then need to adhere to the health and safety responsibilities, ensuring all attendees abide by Public Health Orders and meet the standard contact tracing requirements as issued by the NSW government.
USyd’s conditions of entry mean that attendees must be double-vaccinated.
As restrictions on physical gatherings ease across Sydney, USyd has not updated students on whether they can book university spaces for in-person events.
The Student Representative Council (SRC), as well as the University of Sydney Union (USU) which oversees 200 clubs and societies, say that they have received no concrete updates from USyd.
The USU is allowing clubs to book its spaces again. According to its website, Courtyard and Hermanns are available for bookings, while clubs will receive an email when rooms in Manning and the Holme Building are available again.
During Semester 1 when some classes were on campus, student societies were beset with setbacks with university venues.
Sydney Law School, for example, did not allow its main faculty society, the Sydney University Law Society (SULS), to hold any events in the New Law Building or the Annex.
Earlier in the year, Honi reported on campus activism being “stifled” by University Venues taking weeks to respond to requests for bookings.