What are the Faculty Councillors?
Faculty councillors are members of the Guild council. Two councillors for each faculty are elected by the students of that faculty, the councillors may exercise half a vote each at council meetings on behalf of the students they represent (QUT Guild Constitution, C9).
QUT Guild regulations s 43.1 illustrate the responsibilities of the faculty councillors.
Councillors shall be responsible to Guild Council for:
- circulating information from the Guild to students enrolled in their faculty as required;
- representing the views of students enrolled in their faculty to Guild Council;
- liaising with relevant members of the Executive Committee regarding issues of students enrolled in their faculty;
- promoting the Guild amongst students enrolled in their faculty;
- monitoring issues of students enrolled in their faculty both within the Guild and the University and advising the Executive Committee and Guild Council on developments and needs in this area;
- acting in accordance with the Constitution and Regulations; and
- carrying out such other duties as from time to time may be prescribed by Guild Council
Meet your Faculty Councillors!
Last month, Glass has reached out to all faculty councillors with four questions:
- Tell us about yourself. How many years of your degree have you completed?
- Why did you run for your position?
- Why are you interested in representing students in your faculty?
The councillors that have provided answers have been posted below. We look forward to bringing more information about elected representatives to the Glass platform!
Business Faculty Councillors:
Hamish Killen
Contact: hkillen@qutguild.com
I’m a 2nd year Human Services/Business student, majoring in Economics. I ran for my position primarily because I want to advocate for students. I am interested in representing students in my faculty because I want to ensure equitable outcomes.
Jeffrey Wang
Contact: jwang@qutguild.com
Law Faculty Councillors:
Rusha Joshi
Contact: Rjoshi@qutguild.com
Eleanor Rogers
Contact: erogers@qutguild.com
Science and Engineering Faculty Councillors:
Saskia Mathers
Contact: smathers@qutguild.com
I’m Saskia, this is my fourth year at QUT and I study Software Engineering!
Last year, I was involved with the Guild as VP of Campus Culture, and through that I learnt a lot about student representation and what that looks like here at QUT. I have had / currently have roles as a representative on QUT Council, University Academic Board, SEF Academic Board and Guild Council, and am involved with the Student Representative Network, and these have given me so much experience and insight into what we can do to improve our methods for hearing the student voice at QUT. I ran for SEF Councillor to start with representing the students in my faculty and go from there, and also as I saw huge room for improvement with the roles of Faculty Councillors overall in the Guild.
Working with my fellow SEF Councillor Suraj and all the other Councillors has been fantastic so far this year and we’ve been getting some great work done, and very soon we hope to have some new ways to connect with students! Stay tuned 🙂 In the meantime, if you’re a SEF student and have any concerns to raise or issues to address, get in touch through email (smathers@qutguild.com) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SEFskia
Science and Engineering Faculty Councillors:
Suraj Singh Nijjar
Contact: snijjar@qutguild.com
My name is Suraj Singh Nijjar and I graduated from the Queensland Academies for Science, Mathematics and Technology in 2018. I am currently a second-year undergraduate student studying Bachelor of Engineering at QUT, majoring in civil.
As a first-year student, I didn’t know much about the guild or what it did and now, me being a part of it has made me realise that people should be aware of this opportunity. What I noticed is that the interaction between students and councillors could be improved. I wish to help create a platform for easier interaction between students and councillors. A platform where they can be informed of the latest news and updates and bring up any issues/feedback they have regarding anything.
I love STEM and at the end of the day, I just want to do what I can for the biggest faculty on the campus!
Creative Industries Faculty Councillors:
Geneveive Hitzke
Contact: ghitzke@qutguild.com
Hi! My name’s Genevieve, I’m in my 3rd year of BFA in Music choosing between a minor in Film or Entertainment. I’m also the secretary for QUT’s Creative Industries Society, and helped run the 2019 CI Ball! I’m incredibly passionate about the arts and getting the recognition and appreciation we work so hard for. The Arts are often brushed aside or joked about, but we truly are such an important part in life, now more than ever. I hope to be a good voice for our faculties, and will do my best to have our needs heard and met. Never hesitate to talk to me if you’re struggling and need support!
Nelson Reed-Banyard
Contact: nreed-banyard@qutguild.com
Education Faculty Councillors:
Tully Grimley
Contact: tgrimley@qutguild.com
I’m in my second and final year of the Masters of Teaching (Secondary), looking to teach music and drama.
I ran for the position because I didn’t hear from my representatives last year, and wanted to ensure that this was changed. I soon found that there are structural barriers to student communication with their representatives and my goal this year has become establishing clear pathways to enable that communication.
Samuel White
Contact: swhite@qutguild.com
Health Faculty Councillors:
Dominique Lew
Contact: dlew@qutguild.com
