Lowdown on the Executive Elections

With the written withdrawal of the only three candidates for the five positions, the Election Committee has decided to reopen nominations for the Executive by- election. So, this means that if you are interested in applying for any of these positions you should hurry in with your application.

If you read the leaflet noting the vacant Exec positions and wondered what they are read on for a job description

President

The President is expected to be a full-time worker for the Association, hence the $3,000 honorarium. S/he is responsible for the overall social, political, administrative running of the Association. This doesn't mean that s/he has to do all the work her/himself, but rather must be able to delegate work effectively. The President is the chairperson of the Board of Directors of Victoria Book Centre and must take an interest in the running of the Book Centre. S/he is also chairperson of the Union Management Committee and must ensure that the Union is operating effectively and must act as the liaison between student recommendations regarding the Union and Union staff. The President is also the chairperson of the Executive and the Student Representative Council meetings, and VUWSA's representative on NZUSA's National Executive meetings.

So, what qualifications do you need?

You don't need a degree or even years of experience, but what is required are large amounts of time, energy, enthusiasm and interest in the Association. For more details, contact the interim President, Lindy Cassidy, who can be located at the Student Association Office.

Secretary

The position of Secretary is a fairly crucial one in the Association. The Secretary has a dual role, liaising between the Office Staff and the Executive, and dealing with the bulk of the administrative, bureaucratic side of the Association. So, if you are a frustrated bureaucrat, this could be your job. The honorarium is $450.00 per annum and includes pleasant working conditions. This could be a position for someone who doesn't necessarily feel confident about organising large-scale social activities, or taking an active front person role but would rather work quietly in the background. For gaining experience in the running of the Association this job is ideal.

S.R.C. Coordinator

This again is a very important position, as the S.R.C. Coordinator is responsible for the publicity of S.R.C., and ensuring that the student representatives attend meetings and follow Association policy.

There has been much criticism that the Council reps do not know what is coming through the Professorial Board or from any of the faculties. Also representatives often are not fully aware of the Association's position on an issue. This makes our policy stands very inconsistant. The main S.R.C. Officers should also be coordinated, in that their campaigns, forums, etc., tend to clash.

Publicising S.R.C.'s and encouraging people to attend meetings includes producing and distributing a leaflet (we would show you how to lay it out), and perhaps painting a paper banner and anything else you can come up with. Honorarium is $300.00 per annum. Again, this is an excellent job for coming to terms with what's going on.

Sports Officer

Do you belong to a sports club? Do you have an administrative bent or was it just that you were hit with a cricket ball? A great deal of the ground work for Sports Officer has already been laid. The mam bulk of the work is organising teams for Easter and Winter Tournament, dealing with any complaints or problems experienced by sporting clubs, and attending Sports Council and Executive meetings. If you want further information contact Peter Thrush. Honorarium is $300.00.

Cultural Affairs Officer

The job of Cultural Affairs Officer is to encourage . . ., you guessed it, club and social activity. To do this almost insur-mountable task s/he is given a cultural afaffairs committee (already elected at the clubs AGM) and three thousand dollars to dish out to eager clubs. With the stimulation of last year's Arts Festival there is now a base to build cultural activity.

You don't have to be a cultural arty- fart; just enthusiastic, full of energy and someone who can motivate lots of people into action.

General Guff

Quite a few people ask how much time is involved in an Executive position. Obviously it varies from position to position, but it is a bit like Sociology 101 where where you can spend very little time (about 3 hours) a week or 40 hours a week week. It's up to you;

But if you are interested, then go to the bottom floor of the Union Building, walk into the Students Association Office and pick up an application form or if you can't find them, then ask someone on the other side of the counter; they might even give you a cup of tea if you come at the right time.

For those of you who will not be filling in application forms (and that will be most of you) why not involve yourself in the Association by voting?

Unlike this year's National elections, where there is little difference between the party candidates, the people standing for Executive positions will markedly differ in their ideas.

If you didn't vote, you can hardly grumble if the Executive turns out to be fascist.