Today, the University of Sydney Union will hold a Special General Meeting (SGM) as the first step of its plan to incorporate. The Conservatorium Students Association endorses the Union’s goal to incorporate, tentatively supporting the plan endorsed by the Board to reach this goal, with a caveat that other significant governance changes must later accompany the constitutional amendments required to implement this plan.

This SGM is to vote upon necessary amendments to the Constitution before the Board Elections in mid-May, with changes mostly surrounding the number of new Directors able to be elected (from 6 down to 4). It will also introduce the Immediate-Past Vice-President (IPVP; or other Executive), and grant voting-rights to both it and the Immediate-Past President (IPP). There are then plans to implement the other proposed changes at the Annual General Meeting next month, including the exchange of Senate-Appointed Directors for External Directors (who chair the various committees of the Union).

The Union has wanted to incorporate for quite some time, but it has always found a roadblock in the University Senate, which must approve any amendments to the Constitution. In the past, this has meant the University wanting less directors overall, and the removal of a student-chair; it is thus impossible, within the current relationship with the University, for the Union to incorporate without any governance changes.

To this end, it cannot be understated just how significant it is for the University to be open to keeping the student majority and chair, as well as removing the Senate-Appointed Directors — these changes are a massive win for students, and only serve to increase students’ ability to run the Union as we see fit, without University interference. Other changes we would like to see, such as alumni directors or better recognition of Faculty Society and Association Presidents, can happen after these initial changes proposed to incorporate.

We do have consistent concerns to the overall administrative and governance of the Union, particularly to its lack of a General-Secretary (instead seeing a CEO interpret the Board’s perspectives), a lack of alumni participation, and minimal student leadership within the managerial decision-making. None of these can be fixed without incorporation, and independence from the University, and this plan for incorporation brings us closer to implementing these changes we think necessary.

Incorporation would see the Union created as a separate legal entity from its members (which includes many Conservatorium students), essentially transforming it into a legal “person” — these significantly reduce the risk faced by Union members, and enable it to both enter contracts and hold assets. Without incorporation, the Union members and Board are liable for all decisions made — this is a major issue given the size of the Union (with over $36 million in annual turnover). We do not see incorporation as a measure to corporatise or distance the Union from a student voice, nor to give more power to certain factions. It is instead a chance to build better governance with independence from the University, and protect the members from substantive legal and financial risk.

Many concerns about this incorporation plan come from the proposed reduction of immediately-elected Directors to the Board — from 11 directors to 9. We saw two issues that arose out of the current Board makeup: that there are a superfluous number of Directors, and a lack of continuity in its handover process between the Directors’ terms. Many of these concerns come from a disconnect to what’s commonly understood about the Board, and its actual purpose, and any goals for further student representation in the Union may be resolved through other changes in its administration.

On the first point, the Union Board is significantly larger than the boards of other non-profit organisations. This can mean that oftentimes, there is an uneven distribution of workload amongst the members of the Board, all whilst receiving a stipend (which comes from the Student Services and Amenities Fees). We hold reservations to inclusion of the IPVP — given the historically undefined nature of the Vice-President’s duties — as well as new voting-rights proposed for the IPP and IPVP following the Union’s plans to incorporate. We, however, also understand that engagement from the IPP is sometimes low given they do not have voting-rights, and as such, the Union loses this valuable continued insight from an experienced director, insights which should be expanded with the inclusion of the IPVP.

On the second point, it is critical to properly understand the purpose of the Board, primarily providing financial and governance oversight, and not in specific managerial decisions, which is more the role of the staff of the Union. At the University of Sydney, the USU Board tends to be seen as a quasi-SRC, with full control of managerial decisions, instead of the oversight body it is. Many nominees for the Board come with policy platforms of reformed administrative systems and new events, but end up disappointed as they find the Board doesn’t actually make the decisions to implement them. Student-control of the Union extends beyond simply the Board, and we must be pushing for more student leadership positions within managerial decision-making. There is already a disconnect between the intention of the Board and the implementation by staff, and there is significant opportunity to recreate paid student event coordinator positions, and new student officers in the various departments of the Union.

The University of Sydney Union is in a really significant transition period, and it’s important we take the opportunity offered to do best for its members, especially those within the Conservatorium community, whilst we keep pushing for the other necessary changes we want.

It is important to note that whilst some sentiments of this statement have been informed by our Secretary Alexander Poirier’s time as a Director on the USU Board — and they may also shared by other USU Board Directors — this statement of the Conservatorium Students’ Association has been endorsed by a majority of our Representative Council.