USU Board Executive election results
Fabian Robertson reports.
The full USU Board Executive election results are as follows:
President: Prudence Wilkins-Wheat
Vice President: Ruby Lotz
Honorary Treasurer: Benjamin Hines
Honorary Secretary: Vikki Qin
Director of Student Publications: Vikki Qin, Nicholas Comino and Isla Mowbray.
Finance Committee (Deputy Chair): David Zhu
Clubs and Societies Committee (Deputy Chair): Cole Scott-Curwood
Electoral Committee (Member): Nicholas Comino
Awards Committee (Member): Isla Mowbray
People and Culture Committee (Member): Telita Goile
Governance Committee (Non-Executive Member): David Zhu
Wom*n’s Portfolio: Telita Goile
Queer Portfolio: Nicholas Comino
Environment Portfolio: Isla Mowbray
Ethnocultural Portfolio: David Zhu
International Student Portfolio: Du Du
Disabilities Portfolio: election postponed.
Election of the Executive
The 5 senior Board Directors arrived 20 minutes late, visibly stressed, having already decided who would take the executive positions.
Prudence Wilkins-Wheat was elected unopposed to the coveted Presidency, claiming $29,965.17 over the next year. The result represents a win for the campus Left, who recently won 2 seats on the board in the form of Switch candidates Telita Goile and Isla Mowbray. Pulp understands that Wilkins-Wheat bested Presidential hopefuls Benjamin Hines and Belinda Thomas. Wilkins-Wheat was nominated by Ruby Lotz.
Lotz was elected Vice President unopposed, nominated by Wilkins-Wheat.
Hines was elected Honorary Treasurer unopposed, nominated by Wilkins-Wheat.
Wilkins-Wheat nominated both Belinda Thomas and Vikki Qin for Honorary Secretary, citing a desire to not exclude any of the five senior Board Directors from the Executive.
“In the interests of respecting Belinda’s running for Presidency, I would like to nominate Belinda for Secretary. But I would also like to seek out a role for Vikki,” said Wilkins-Wheat, before then also nominating Vikki Qin for the role.
Qin was elected Honorary Treasurer by vote.
Contested positions
Other than Honorary Treasurer, only two positions were contested.
Cole Scott-Curwood and Du Du were both nominated for Deputy Chair of the Clubs and Societies Committee. Scott-Curwood was elected by vote.
Scott-Curwood and David Zhu were both nominated for Non-Executive Member of the Governance Committee. Zhu was elected by vote.
Who votes?
Each of the 11 Board Directors and the two Senate-Appointed Directors vote for the Executive positions. Senate-Appointed Directors David Wright and Marie Leech are staff members holding significant sway in the election of the executive. Their voting rights have received criticism as efforts by USyd management to surreptitiously exert influence over the board, which would otherwise be entirely elected by students.
Looking ahead
These positions will be held from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022. Pulp will be watching the Board Directors closely for the remainder of the year to see if their wage is commensurate with their commitment to the role, or if they keep their various election promises.
Here's a list of the 2021/22 USU Board, along with their position and stipend for the year:
Prudence Wilkins-Wheat: ($29,965.17): President.
Ruby Lotz (14,982.59): Vice President.
Benjamin Hines ($14,982.59): Honorary Treasurer.
Vikki Qin ($14,982.59): Honorary Secretary.
Belinda Thomas ($4994.20): Board Director.
Nicholas Comino ($4994.20): Board Director, Director of Student Publications, Electoral Committee (Member), Queer Portfolio.
Du Du ($4994.20): Board Director, International Student Portfolio.
Telita Goile ($4994.20): Board Director, People and Culture Committee (Member), Wom*n’s Portfolio.
Isla Mowbray ($4994.20): Board Director, Director of Student Publications, Environment Portfolio.
Cole Scott-Curwood ($4994.20): Board Director, Clubs and Societies Committee (Deputy Chair).
David Zhu ($4994.20): Board Director, Finance Committee (Deputy Chair), Governance Committee (Non-Executive Member).
Irene Ma ($4994.20): Immediate Past President.