Welcome back to the Guild Catch-Up series! As your Guild Executives are elected by students into a paid role, we find it important to provide as much clarity as possible to students and created this series to show you what your elected students have been up to. This is a monthly series, so stick around and hold your QUT Guild Executive accountable, and keep in the loop with what’s going on with our organisation.
All Execs were given 350 words and have been provided with Guild Catch-Up submission deadlines for the rest of the year, as well as reminders via email to submit.
Past Guild Catch-Ups: May, June
President – Aamna Asif
During the cost-of-living crisis, the Guild acknowledges the urgent matter of food insecurity among students. The Governance Team is working tirelessly to advocate for additional campus space and essential resources dedicated to our Foodbank. Helping students with food insecurity is our top priority, and we are working on strategising sustainable plans to reach as many students as possible and provide them with the support they need.
In collaboration with the Treasurer and Secretary, I have been closely involved in creating essential supporting documentation. This documentation is vital and will serve as a foundation for ensuring consistency and efficiency within the Guild’s internal procedures. By having these documents in place, it allows our team members and SRC to concentrate their efforts solely on advocating for students and creating initiatives and events that enhance the university experience.
The Governance Team is actively collaborating with our Marketing Department to create a strategy that promotes increased consistency in the Guild’s events and initiatives. The primary aim of this project is to ensure that our events and initiatives remain tailored to the specific needs of students, while also maintaining the continuity of popular events. This will ensure that students have enriching and supportive experiences that contribute to a lively and thriving campus community.
If you would like to ask Aamna about what she has been up to, send an email to president@qutguild.com.
Treasurer – Usama Shafiq
The majority of my time has been dedicated to working on plans for next year. In addition, I have still been working on developing supporting documentation and policies for our organization. Although these materials are still a work in progress, they are crucial for establishing essential guidelines that will contribute to the smooth and consistent operation of our team.
Furthermore, I wanted to provide an update on the ongoing website project. As mentioned before, this endeavour is still in progress and will require a significant amount of time to be perfected. Hopefully we will have a plan enacted before the end of the year.
If you would like to ask Usama about what he has been up to, send an email to treasurer@qutguild.com.
Secretary – Deepika Sharma
Stay tuned for a Meet the Execs article from Deepika!
Did not submit. If you would like to ask Deepika about what she has been up to, send an email to secretary@qutguild.com.
Education Officer – Emme Muggleton
Did not submit. If you would like to ask Emme about what she has been up to, send an email to education@qut.edu.au.
Welfare Officer – John Longwill
Currently on leave until the end of the month.
If you would like to ask John about what he has been up to, send an email to welfare@qutguild.com.
Clubs & Societies Officer – Madison Shepherd
Did not submit. If you would like to ask Madison about what she has been up to, send an email to clubs@qutguild.com.au.
Environment Officer – Isabella Foley
This month I joined up with the UQU Environment Collective to protest Queensland Labor’s budget. We also stood alongside hundreds of CFMEU workers who walked off the job to oppose the budget’s housing crisis ‘solutions’. The Labor Party plans on building a measly 500 homes, meanwhile there’s tens of thousands of people waiting for public housing. On top of this, the government has announced a surplus of over $12 billion! Labor’s response to a growing housing crisis is shameful. It was great to see activists and trade unionists fighting for money towards public housing and immediate rent caps across the state.
If you would like to ask Isabella about what she has been up to, send an email to environment@qutguild.com.
Women’s Officer – Sia Hills
Did not submit. If you would like to ask Sia about what she has been up to, send an email to womens@qutguild.com.
International Students Officer – Moin Rahman
I am in the process of collaborating with QUT Guild Clubs & Societies team and QUT Student Services for the formation of QUT Bhutanese Club. I am working with many Bhutanese students who have expressed interest in starting a new student club encompassing and exhibiting their culture and community. Currently, the Bhutanese student community has significantly increased, becoming the second largest international student cohort at QUT.
Curation of the essential info-pack document for international students consisting of important links and information for new and existing international students is in progress, looking to cover topics ranging from superannuation to tax, overseas student health cover, volunteering opportunities, work entitlements, etc.
I have also commenced work with external stakeholder, Multicultural Australia, to enable exposure to their wide range of volunteering program to QUT international students from which they can gain opportunities, meet likeminded people, and proactively contribute to the essence of Multiculturalism within QUT and in Brisbane.
If you would like to ask Moin about what he has been up to, send an email to international@qutguild.com.
Disability Officer – Harley Manley
Did not submit. If you would like to ask Harley about what he has been up to, send an email to disabilities@qutguild.com.
Post Graduate Officer – Aaron Bui
Currently on leave.
If you would like to ask Aaron about what he has been up to, send an email to postgrad@qutguild.com.
Queer Officer – Eli Spencer
Did not submit. If you would like to ask Eli about what he has been up to, send an email to queer@qutguild.com.
Engagement Officer – Zara Vaz
Did not submit. If you would like to ask Zara about what she has been up to, send an email to engagement@qutguild.com.
Glass Editors – Ciaran Greig, Celeste Muller, Ben Steele
This has been one of our busiest months of the year! Along with getting our winter edition copyedited, designed, and sent to the printer, we have also been busy planning lots of exciting content coming soon and attending the National Union of Students education conference.
We have received some fantastic column ideas from your fellow students, with the first column, You Won’t Finish Reading This Article by Abishai Sujith, published at the end of June. Each columnist has committed to one article per month about a chosen topic. And they all sound amazing! We can’t wait for you to read them!!!
While Ciaran has been on clerkship (doing very professional, lawyer-y things), Ben and Celeste attended the NUS education conference from 26 June to 29 June. This was the first time Glass has attended. The conference was held at UQ this year, with student politicians from all over Australia coming together. It was an eye-opening experience, and we certainly learnt a lot. We also had the chance to meet some student journalists from other universities! As seasoned conference attendees, their feedback and advice were very much appreciated.
Student Guild elections will be happening in Semester Two, and Glass is busy preparing some useful election content. If you are a keen student politician, and you would be interested in helping to produce content, get in contact with us. Until next time, Glassies!
If you would like to ask the Glass Team about what we have been up to, send an email to media@qutguild.com.
