Monash University Student Association (MUSA) Monash Student Council (MSC) 2 nd Council Meeting Minutes Date: 28th March 2013 Time: 6.15 p.m. Venue: Room 6-2-11, Level 2, Building 6 The following members of the council were present, constituting a quorum: Voting Members President: Melvin Shawn D Silva(chair-casting vote only) Vice President: Sheryl Sim Wun Shee General Secretary: Chong Chern Sam Treasurer: Lam See Yuen Head of Clubs & Societies: Khoo Kean Wai Activities Chairperson: Dexter Teh Aik Joe Publicity Officer: Cheng Shi Yin Welfare Officer: Muhammad Khalid Ipaldin School of Business Representative: Jonathan Doraisamy Michelle Soong Jia Xin
School of Engineering Representative: Siew Karwei Amanda Ong Pui Pui School of Arts Representative: Aaron Seth Uduwewelagedara Rushanka School of Science Representative: Donovan Kwan Shin Hung Connie Devi Doraisingam School of IT Representative: Eugene Chia Chun Kit School of Medicine Representative: Reuben Singaraveloo Ding Xian MUISS President: Nesar Hossain MUPA President: Rishwaraj Non-voting Members Vice President: Nisshanthan Dhanapalan Treasurer: Khoo Tien Earn Activities Chairperson: Aina Nordin Publicity Officer: Ng Wei Chun Editor: Lestari Hairul Vinanie Wijesoma Soong Jia Ten Kee Tze Han
Meeting Chairperson Melvin Shawn D Silva MUSA Advisors Mr Eng Cheong Meng Student s Representative Shahrman Nayan Chamila Gunetilleke Raymond Lim Zhun Ming 1. 2012 Office Bearers Report 1.1 President s Report 1.1.1 T-shirt design 1.1.1.1 The new MUSA T-shirt design designed by Ng Wei Chun was accepted unanimously by council members. 1.1.2 Occupational, Health, Safety and Environment meeting 1.1.2.1 Concern about the smoking area was brought up. 1.1.2.2 After discussions with Mr. Jasbair, it has been decided to expand the smoking area, making it more conducive instead of relocating it. 1.1.2.3 The concern of students regarding the walkway to the paid car park had been brought to Mr. Jasbair s attention and it will be discussed further. 1.1.3 Meeting with the Pro vice-chancellor (PVC) 1.1.3.1 Issues discussed that concerned the students the most were high fee of visa renewal for international students, which they are working on, and parking problem which have not been resolved so far.
1.1.3.2 Pertaining to the parking problem, about 120 of paid parking lots will be occupied for the duration of a year due to the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Sunway Line construction which starts next month. 1.1.3.3 Short term solutions have been proposed, such as cheaper parking rate provided by Sunway Pyramid shopping mall. 1.1.3.4 Suggestion to allow students to park their cars at both sides of the road along the Sunway Monash Residence U-turn has been brought up to Mr Dinesh. 1.1.3.5 An announcement to students will be sent through email. 1.1.4 Appointment of student representative in University council instead of the democratic elected student representative Ground Rules 1.1.4.1 Victorian state has come up with a bill that urges University council to voice out students concerns. 1.1.4.2 The student representative can be appointed and Monash University is adopting appointment instead of election. 1.1.4.3 This defeats the purpose of student representative as appointed students tend to have same opinions as the university. 1.1.4.4 Negotiation has been done with chancellor. 1.1.4.5 The result is that a Student Leader Committee is proposed to be formed with two representatives from every campus sitting in it. 1.1.4.6 Problem arises as not every opinion from the committee might be channelled to the University council meeting. 1.1.4.7 The appointment has started nevertheless. 1.1.4.8 Advices have been sought and next Wednesday is the last day for Presidents to accept to be in the committee. 1.1.5 Reminder about promises made 1.1.5.1 Council members are reminded to be professional in everyday dealing.
Motion #1: That the MUSA Presidents report to be accepted by MSC accepted by Jonathan Doraisamy, seconded by Michelle Soong Jia Xin. 2.2 Vice-president s Report 2.2.1 Golden Key Reimbursement 2.2.1.1 3 delegates from Golden Key Club went for Golden Key Asia- Pacific Conference 2013 in February and asked for reimbursement. 2.2.1.2 Agreement for the subsidy was not recorded in the 2012 meeting minutes. 2.2.1.3 There was an email showing that it was agreed by 2012 VP to subsidize RM3000 per participant/ RM12000 per event. 2.2.1.4 Last year s council account has already been closed. 2.2.1.5 So, the event will be subsidized under VP for the amount of RM9000 for three participants. 2.2.1.6 VP has made it clear to the Golden Key president that the council will not subsidize for any future conference if Golden Key members are going on behalf of their club instead of under the name of Monash University. 2.2.2 Subsidize for Liew Wei Chun 2.2.2.1 Liew Wei Chun was invited to attend the Postgraduate Colloquium for Environment Research 2013 along with a lecturer, representing Monash School of Engineering. 2.2.2.2 According to VP policy, we will only subsidize RM250 for a participating body within Malaysia. However, the registration fee itself RM350 exceeded the maximum amount. Motion #2: For the council to subsidize more than RM250 to Liew Wei Chun for this conference. For: 14 Against: 5 Abstain: 1
Motion #3: For the council to subsidize Liew Wei Chun RM350 for the registration only. For: 16 Against: 4 Abstain: 0 2.2.3 Student Initiative Event: Sri Lankan New Year Celebration 2013 2.2.3.1 Sri Lankan New Year Celebration has been held annually since the year 2012. 2.2.3.2 This year s celebration will be on 13 April (Saturday), from 345pm till 1030pm. 2.2.3.3 Number of target audience is 160 students and expecting 20 students from other universities. 2.2.3.4 The event will be run together with the Activity Chairperson. Motion #4: To subsidize fully Rm3050 for the event and get back all the revenue obtained from the event. For: 20 Against: 0 Abstain: 0 2.2.4 Subsidize for Saadi Abdullahi 2.2.4.1 Saadi Abdullahi has been selected to participate in the 2013 International Scholar laureate Program (ISLP) Delegation on Business, representing Monash School of Business. 2.2.4.2 The total projected expenditure is RM 16082.80 which is higher than the amount stipulated under VP SOP which is RM 2000 per participant or RM 10000 per event.
2.2.4.3 Saadi Abdullahi has not sourced for sponsorship. He is unable to present proof of rejected scholarships, therefore he is not qualified. 2.2.4.4 This will be further discussed. 2.2.5 Malaysia Women s Marathon (MWM) 2.2.5.1 6 students joined the competition and asked for reimbursement for the registration fee. 2.2.5.2 They were told that the fee will be reimbursed if they are representing Monash. 2.2.5.3 There was a miscommunication between VP and the students about the concept of representing Monash. 2.2.5.4 VP clarified that representing Monash means that the participants are not directly registering to the organizer of the event but to the Monash who will deal with the organizer. 2.2.5.5 President advised council members not to speak on behalf of another council member from different department. Motion #5: To subsidize RM330 for the 6 students who joined Malaysia Women s Marathon. For - 0 Against - 18 Abstain 2 Motion denied. 2.2.6 USANZ 2013 2.2.6.1 2 medical students from Johor School will be representing Monash to Melbourne for the oversea medical conference from 13-16 April 2013 2.2.6.2 The whole event will cost RM9954.00 with an estimate of RM 4977.00 per capita 2.2.6.3 The amount exceeds the amount allowed for reimbursement stipulated under VP SOP, which is RM2000 per person or RM10000 per event. 2.2.6.4 There is only 1 quotation for the accommodation and airfare. 2.2.6.5 It is decided that VP will handle it themselves according to their SOP.
2.2.7 MUSA BY-Election 2013 2.2.7.1 The Vice-Presidents took on the responsibility to handle the 2013 MUSA By- Election. 2.2.7.2 Chong Chern Sam won the post General Secretary. 2.2.7.3 Dexter Teh and Aina binti Nordin won the post Activities Chairperson uncontested. 2.2.7.4 Same goes to Teo Ding Xian as the post School of Medicine Rep and Rushanka Ratnayake for the post School of Arts Rep. 2.2.7.5 School of IT Rep (female) position is still vacant. 2.2.7.6 Expenses incurred is RM60 which is paid to the poll clerks at the rate of RM5.00 per hour. 2.2.7.7 Vice-president report accepted by Eugene Chia Chun Kit, seconded by Gan Tzy Lin. Motion #6: That the MUSA Vice Presidents report to be accepted by MSC accepted by Muhammad Khalid Ipaldin, seconded by Dexter Teh Aik Joe. 2.2.8 Amendment of Vice Presidents Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) 2.2.8.1 Minimum 3 quotations are needed for subsidies and they have to be submitted before attending any events. Motion #7: That the MUSA Vice Presidents SOP to be accepted by MSC adopted by Ayman Shams, seconded by Eugene Chia Chun Kit. 2.2 General Secretary s Report 2.3.1 Resignation letter from previous General Secretary 2.3.1.1 Resignation letter from Natalie Leong Wei Yeen was received and accepted. 2.3.2 Stationary Requisition 2.3.2.1 Stationeries can only be requested from the office every Thursday.
2.3.2.2 All departments/divisons can claim the stationeries from week 5 onwards. 2.3.3 Agenda Report Submission 2.3.3.1 All reports should be sent to General Secretary before the deadline. 2.3.3.2 Any late submissions for the coming council meeting will not be entertained and will not be included in the agenda once it s sent out to council members. 2.3.3.3 If your report is not stated in the agenda for in the meeting, you can only present your report in the next meeting. 2.3.4 Printing 2.3.4.1 Printing with the MUSA printer is only allowed for council-related events. 2.3.4.2 Every department/division has to use your own A4 papers to print your stuffs. 2.3.4.3 Council members are reminded to remove the remaining paper after printing. 2.3.5 Students RSVP for council meeting 2.3.5.1 Students have to send in RSVP template as stated in the first meeting. 2.3.5.2 The template can be obtained from the General Secretary. 2.3.6 Third council meeting date 2.3.6.1 Third council meeting date will be on 18th April, Thursday in Week 7 tentatively. 2.3.6.2 The date will be confirmed two weeks before the next meeting. Motion #8: That the MUSA General Secretary report to be accepted by MSC accepted by Sheryl Sim Wun Shee, seconded by Gan Tzy Lin.
2.4 Treasurers Report 2.4.1 Expenses report (01/01/13 25/03/13) 2.4.1.1 Total expenses as of 26 March 2013 is RM55888.84. 2.4.1.2 No departments/divisions expenses went over their budget to date. 2.4.2 Comparison of event expenses 2.4.2.1 Comparison between the budget proposed and actual expenses was shown. 2.4.3 Reminders 2.4.3.1 Council members reminded to send in the sub-committee list to the Treasurer. 2.4.3.2 Council members are reminded to send in the budget proposal on time. Motion #9: That the MUSA Treasurer report to be accepted by MSC accepted by Nisshanthan Dhanapalan, seconded by Khoo Kean Wai. Rishwaraj Gengarajoo and Jonathan Doraisamy left at 8 p.m. 2.5 Activities Chairpersons Report 2.5.1 The Party 2.5.1.1 This is an event in collaboration with MUISS welfare, publicity and activities Chairperson 2.5.1.2 So far everything is smooth. 2.5.2 Orientation Bash 2.5.2.1 There were 295 participants for this event. 2.5.2.2 Minor injuries like scratches happened and they were dealt with by a certified First Aider appropriately. 2.5.2.3 In the future event it is proposed to have more First Aider.
2.5.2.4 President suggested to have a post-mortem for the event. Motion #10: That the MUSA Activities Chairperson report to be accepted by MSC accepted by Cheng Shi Yin, seconded by Khoo Tien Earn. Aina Nordin left at 8.20 p.m. 2.6 C&S s Report 2.6.1 Cash in Advance 2.6.1.1 Measures to prevent the misuse of cash-in-advance were proposed in the first meeting. 2.6.1.2 Abu Zayed Kazi Masudan Nabi will liase with the administrative officer about stopping students from graduating if they misuse the cash-in-advance. 2.6.2 Extra Funds for certain clubs and societies 2.6.2.1 MUMEDS are asking for RM14,319.76 subsidy. 2.6.2.2 Most of the clubs and societies are already closed when the first year came in. 2.6.2.3 There are also other events like rural week where medical students will be sent to Segamat and they will miss out school events and activities. 2.6.2.4 They have sought for sponsorship and tried hard to earn revenues. 2.6.2.5 According to last year s record, MUMED balls, which cost a lot, did not fall under clubs and societies. 2.6.2.6 Therefore, VP suggested to take up the fund for the Med balls under the student initiative event while the rest will be taken up by the head of Clubs and Societies. 2.6.2.7 The MUMEDS representative was asked to reconsider and re-present the new proposal with the balls separated out from the existing proposal in the next meeting. 2.6.2.8 In addition, Facilities department do not allow them to use the auditorium for their annual concert. 2.6.2.9 The hall rental fee will take up more than half of their RM5000 fund for the club itself.
2.6.2.10 Concerns were raised regarding the potential problem that other clubs and societies may ask for more than rm5000 for their respective fund because of these exceptions. 2.6.2.11 Head of Clubs and Societies clarified that special considerations are given to dance club because the club was rejected to use the facilities in the campus. 2.6.2.12 It s decided that the issue will be further discussed through emails, including the issue of further revenue provision. 2.6.3 Subsidies ½ or 1/3 for clubs T-shirt 2.6.3.1 It is decided by the head of CNS that application by any Club for T-shirt subsidy will not be accepted as all other clubs and societies might follow their footsteps. 2.6.3.2 This is in accordance to what the council had agreed on in the first council meeting. 2.6.3.3 Concern was raised regarding the reason why the subsidy of T-shirt can be approved for an event but not for any clubs or societies. 2.6.3.4 Head of CNS explained that any funds should be used on student experiences instead of being converted into monetary or non-monetary form. 2.6.3.5 Conclusion was reached that as long as the money falls under the RM5000 budget for each clubs and societies, it will be up to head of CNS discretion. 2.6.4 Jersey for clubs and societies which represent campus 2.6.4.1 Monash does not have jerseys for Monash representatives in any tournaments. 2.6.4.2 Budget was not prepared and this will be further discussed. Motion #11: That the MUSA C&S report to be accepted by MSC accepted by Shalane, seconded by Khoo Tien Earn. 2.7 Welfare Officers Report 2.7.1 Food giveaway 2.7.1.1 It was on 9 th March. 2.7.1.2 President asked for a post-mortem for the event.
2.7.2 Welcome Back Party (Activities, MUISS and welfare) 2.7.2.1 This event has collaboration with MUSA welfare, activities and MUISS and publicity and school representatives 2.7.3 Proposal to increase loungies salaries 2.7.3.1 The current salary for loungies is RM5 per hour. 2.7.3.2 It was proposed to increase to RM6. 2.7.3.3 This is because last semester, there were court attendees working as well and these two posts were separate and the salary for each job is RM5 per hour. 2.7.3.4 This semester, all the workloads have shifted to the lounge and the loungies have made complaints about it. 2.7.3.5 Sponsorship sought is enough to cover the cost. 2.7.3.6 Treasurers are of the idea that the current salary rate is good enough. 2.7.3.7 Concerns were raised regarding the amount of workloads actually handled by the loungies and the nature of the job. Motion #12: For the council to increase the salary of the loungies. For - 3 Against - 12 Abstain 5 Motion is denied. 2.7.4 Installing CCTV s for the lockers 2.7.4.1 Welfare s officer has to talk to security department of Monash University about this and come out with a detailed proposal. 2.7.4.2 This will be discussed further in the next meeting.
2.7.5 Monash survey 2.7.5.1 The result of the survey will be circulated among council members through email. 2.7.5.2 Welfare officers will follow it up with president on 29 April 2013. Motion #13: That the MUSA Welfare report to be accepted by MSC accepted by Ayman Shams, seconded by Donovan Kwan Shin Hung. 2.8 Wom*n Officers Report 2.8.1 Volunteer Program 2.8.1.1 A visually impaired girl just joined English Language Bridging Programme and she needs help from people to read her questions. 2.8.1.2 Interested people can send an email to Wom*n Officer email. 2.8.1.3 President suggested to bring this issue up in the next meeting of OSHC. Motion #14: That the MUSA Welfare report to be accepted by MSC accepted by Ayman Shams, seconded by Lam See Yuen. 2.9 Editors Report 2.9.1 Arrival of desktop 2.9.2 MonDo 2.9.1.1 Status report on the desktop from the Treasurer is requested because the publicity is in week 9 and it s week 4 already. 2.9.2.1 MonDo is received well by the students. It will be advertised in Facebook and Tweeters.
2.9.2.1 Council committee are encouraged to write articles for MonDo. 2.9.3 MonGa/MonDo report as an exchange for MUSA fund 2.9.3.1 In the previous meeting it was agreed by council members that any organizations that use MUSA fund should write a report. 2.9.3.2 MUN is submitting their report. 2.9.4 Monga tentative printing price 2.9.4.1 The budget is RM7500 per semester for Monga publication. 2.9.4.2 The actual expenses negotiated is RM5700 with RM3.80 per piece for 1000 pieces. (clarification needed) Motion #15: That the MUSA Editor report to be accepted by MSC accepted by Ng Wei Chun, seconded by Khoo Kean Wai. 3.0 School Representative 3.0.1 Theme day 3.0.1.1 Theme day is a week where students have to wear their outfits according to the theme. 3.0.1.2 For this semester, there will be 3 theme days which fall in week 6, week 8 and week 10. 3.0.1.3 Themes are pre-selected. 3.0.1.4 Prizes are allocated for the event. 3.0.1.5 Publicity about the event by MUSA is needed. 3.1 School of Business 3.1.1 Seminar with vizavii 3.1.1.1 This was a graduate programme seminar which happened on 23rd March. 3.1.1.2 There were only 5 representatives from School of Business.
3.1.2 National achievers congress 3.1.2.1 It will be from 3rd May to 5th May. 3.1.2.2 The company is offering 100 free seatings for Monash students and lecturers. 3.1.2.3 The location is at Mines Wonderland. 3.1.3 Shirt 3.1.3.1 The design has not been finalized yet. 3.2 School of Science 3.2.1 Design of shirt 3.2.1.1 The design has not been finalized yet. 3.2.2 Science Exhibition Fair (August) 3.2.2.1 It was planned to take place in Semester 2 2013. 3.2.2.2 It will be increased to 10 groups for participation in the event with 3 people per group. 3.2.2.3 RM100 will be given to each group to invent their own creations. 3.2.3 Career scope seminar 3.2.3.1 It was planned to take place in Semester 2 2013. 3.2.3.2 Employers in the Science field will be invited. 3.2.3.3 For this event, it will be collaborated with the Career Department. 3.3 School of Arts and Social Science 3.3.1 Student staff liaison survey 3.3.1.1 Feedbacks about lecturers from students are collected and will be presented during lecturers meeting. 3.3.1.2 There will be two every semester.
3.3.2 Postponement of photography exhibition 3.3.2.1 It was not decided until further notice is given by the school representative due to complication with the budgets. 3.4 School of engineering 3.4.1 Buddy buddee night 3.4.1.1 It happened on last Thursday 21st March 2013 and it was successful. 3.4.1.2 There was not enough food so in the future this issue will be looked into. 3.4.1.3 The whole event was fully funded by school of engineering. 3.4.2 Student staff liaison committee meetings 3.4.2.1 Students had a meeting with lecturers. 3.4.2.2 Feedbacks from students were heard and responses were given from lecturers. 3.4.3 T-shirt design 3.4.3.1 The design has not been initiated. Motion #16: That the MUSA School Reps report to be accepted by MSC accepted by Cheng Shi Yin, seconded by Gan Tzy Lin. Meeting adjourned at 9.25 p.m. Prepared by, Chong Chern Sam General Secretary Monash University Student Association