After a lonely forty-minute wait for the in-camera portion of the meeting to come to a close, Honi Soit was finally allowed into the Cullen Room for July’s USU Board meeting. Despite being the first formal gathering of first-year Directors and the newly-elected Executive team, the meeting’s agenda remained the same as those earlier in the year.
Honi received notice that this meeting was taking place only a couple hours before it was scheduled to begin. Some of the recently elected directors such as Ethan Floyd had policies in their platform calling for more transparency. Honi is looking forward to seeing those implemented and we understand some directors have been pushing for expanded access.
Most Board Directors were present, with Georgia Zhang, Sargun Saluja, Floyd and Ben Hines joining from Zoom. Notably, it was President Bryson Constable’s first time chairing a session.
Following a motion to make all minutes from June’s meeting public, Constable invited the Finance Committee to deliver this month’s Finance Report. Those speaking to this agenda item noted that the USU had witnessed a “forecasted deficit” across its food outlets, and that analysts are “unable to pinpoint a driver for why.” Alongside greater engagement with data around “average spend and weather variables” impacting sales at these outlets, speakers noted that cost-savings in other areas across June have helped to offset this deficit.
The Board was also asked to approve the Finance Committee’s budgetary reassessment for the second half of the year (referred to throughout the meeting as the “Q2 Re-forecast”), emphasising that these are “milestones and targets we can work towards in the coming months for profit and revenue.” The Q2 Re-forecast included capital expenditure plans across investments and asset purchases for the next six months, the most notable of which centred on requests for an additional $99,000 in spending. In an attempt to clarify the origins of this strikingly large number, Constable explained that this money “comes from a repurposing of funds from earlier in the year.”
Discussions of the Finance Report moved into broader debates over the long-term strategic management of the USU’s $30 million annual turnover, with Board Directors reaching the conclusion that the Union should “make profit for a purpose, not be a for-profit organisation.”
The Board unanimously approved the Report and the Q2 Re-forecast before moving to Executive Reports.
Honorary Secretary Julia Lim thanked outgoing Board Director Onor Nottle, as well as Director of Student Publications, Ethnocultural Portfolio Bearer & Deputy Chair of the Finance Committee Ethan Floyd and Phan Vu, for their recent respective handovers. Honorary Treasurer James Dwyer also extended his gratitude to the Finance Committee for their help in developing the Q2 Re-forecast and Capital Expenditure Reports, before stating his excitement to facilitate “broader discussion about the nature of the Board’s investment strategy.”
Vice President Ben Hines spoke to the four recommendations provided in his report, which have been moved and accepted en bloc by the Board. President Bryson Constable then congratulated the Board on an “incredibly productive month”, highlighting his work in meeting with “all major student organisations on campus” and meeting with the Vice-Chancellor about “governance reform and student experience.”
Constable also promised that Honi would receive a copy of the USU’s recent impact reporting for Semester 1, detailing the use of SSAF grants and student access to food outlets.
A brief inlet into the work of Portfolio holders saw Georgia Zhang recap her commitment to providing free period products and combatting period poverty through a recent Women @ Sydney event, as well as Ethan Floyd mention their work with the University’s Pride Network for Queer Beers during Semester 2’s upcoming Welcome Week. Floyd also noted their engagements at a PULPxVerge Panel, as well as a separate panel featured in the Chau Chak Wing Museum’s exhibition on the history of student unionism.
At the end of the meeting, Honi was finally allowed to ask questions. In response to queries about the likelihood of extending interim CEO Michael Bromley’s tenure beyond its expiry in September, as well as how the recruitment process will function, Constable stated that Bromley’s performance “will be measured against the requirements set at the beginning of March”, and that details will be provided publicly following “consideration of the timeline and project scope of the CEO.”
Additional questions centred around the USU’s position on the University’s recent implementation of the Campus Access Policy (CAP), as well as the Student General Meeting (SGM) to be held on August 7. Although Honi extended the opportunity for all Directors to respond, Constable instead stated that “there are 44,000 student [USU] members who encompass a broad range of views.” He went on to say that the CAP “deals with difficult matters”, but that the Board’s role should be in “making students feel safe and maintaining free speech.” Constable also stated he “looks forward to seeing what comes out of the two motions on notice” at the SGM, and that his discussions with the SRC President Harrison Brennan have been “productive.”
July’s meeting was officially closed at 3:17pm. The next USU Board session will be held on August 30.
