The Education Officer

Overseas Student Officer

The Overseas Students Officer at Vic has a two fold responsibility. On the one hand s/he must develop the activities of overseas students, bringing them into closer contact and co-operation with teach other and helping In the process of coping with New Zealand life. On the other s/he must encourage among New Zealand students a greater awareness of overseas students.

The Overseas Students Officer is elected by the SRC and unlike the practise at other campuses, is not the the Vic NOSAC rep. This person, as the represtative of overseas students on their national body, is elected through a network of overseas students clubs, not by all students.

Women's Rights Officer

The Women's Rights Officer is one of the seven Association Officers elected by SRC. At present the position is open to both women and men but it has been traditionally held by women, si nee it is unlikely that any male (no matter how, sympathetic) could be as effective in this position as a women. There are a number of reasons for this which will be dealt with later, all of them political.

Like most other SRC officers, the work of the Women's Right Officer is nearly all of a political nature. Almost her only administrative responsibility for VUWSA is to sit on the Creche Sub-Committee which meets twice yearly. She is also responsible for the VUWSA Women's Rights budget of $100. This is provided for her use in any campaigns or activities on women's rights.

The Women's Rights Officer sits on the Women' Rights Action Committee (WRAC) of NZUSA. This is a national body set up to co-ordinate campus activity on women's rights which meets 5 times a year, providing publicity and ideas for campus action. It is the responsibility of the Wome Rights Officer to bring these campaigns back and to action them on campus. This can involve distribution of publicty leaflets and posters, the holding of forums, seminars, organising meetings and various other activities such as street theatre.

In accordance with SRC policy the Women's Rights Officer may be called upon to action specific Victoria policy on a campus rather than national level. An example of this was a campaign started around the Creche in 1978. This was organised on a purely campus level since the conditions in the Creche at Victoria were not present at any other university.

It should be emphasised here that the main respo reponsibilty of the Women's Rights Officer is [unclear: acts] to action SRC policy. She is not free to campaign on her own beliefs but must subjugate these if necessary.

In all this work one of her major roles is to build campus women groups, through campaigns etc., and to involve and educate as many people as possible on women's rights. In the past abortion action groups have been kept seperate from 'women only' groups in order to allow men to participate in the former. If the Women's Rights Officer was a man, then it would be almost impossible for him to build a strong campus women's group since many interested women would be turned off by seeing a man leading campaigns on women's rights. It would be yet another example of our sexist society in which men occupy almost all leadership positions, however, seeing a women leading campaigns does help other women realise that they too could have the ability to participate in political action.

It is usual for the Women's Rights Officer to give regular reports to SRC on her activities. In this way SRC is kept up to date with action on women's rights and students are made aware that there are things happening which they could be involved in. She is expected to be available to students who want to hear about women's rights.

There is not a great deal of check kept on the SRC Officers — how much they actually do is up to the individual concerned. Not all things that I have mentioned are compulsory, they are merely my my ideas of some of the things which should be done by the Women's Rights Officer. But in the long run, the effectiveness and the work done in this position will only be determined by the enthusiasm and perseverance of the individual, within the context of the political state of the Association.

National Affairs Officer

This is a job with wide potential for anyone interested in the internal political situation in this country. It has become a particularly interesting position lately with the general acceleration of government misbehaviour in the field of Civil Liberties, and with increasing attacks on the rights of particular groups like Maoris, women, and Trade Union members.

These attacks come (and will keep coming) suddenly, and good National Affairs officer needs to be prepared to react to them quickly, publicise the situation to students, keep SRC informed, and mount a full-scale campaign if necessary or clearly desired by students. The most prominent examples of where this has occured in the past would include the SIS Bill controversy, Abortion, speaking bans on overseas visitors, dawn raids page 7 by police (the overstayers' issue) and Bastion Point.

It is evident that much of the National Affairs portfolio overlaps with those of other officers. Thus the National Officer must be prepared to work closely with other SRC officers when the issue dictates. Abortion, for instance, although obviously an important internal political issue comes most specifically under the interest of the Women's Rights Officer. Similarly, if the government refuses to come forth over Bursaries, that is primarily the concern the Education Officer, but the National Affairs Officers should be interested too. This is equally likely to occur within the fields of Welfare, Environmental Affairs, and, to a lesser extent, Overseas Students.

Of course the concerns of the National Affairs Officer do not revolve entirely around spontaneous issues. One problem that has been with us on a major scale for some time, and that affects students particularly, is unemployment. It is NZUSA's top priority for National Affairs, and the situation is still getting worse. It would not be out of place for the 1979 National Affairs Officer to make this a major, or the major field of his or her concern.

As with all the SRC positions, the officers must be prepared and able to liase with a range of organisations, ranging from NZUSA to the University Welfare Services. But even more important is the ability to involve students in hi her activities, as mass action is one of the most important weapons the Association has.

The International Affairs Officer

Traitionally, the position of International Affairs Officer has held an important place in the Students' Association. During the late 1960s and early 1970s the International Affairs Officer was responsible for co-ordinating and initiating large campus demonstrations against the Vietnam War and the proposed Springboks Tour. In more recent years the IAO has been responsible for organising activities commemorating the atrocities perpetrated on what has now become known as Sharpeville Day, and in protecting the rights of overseas students. These sorts of activities still have a high priority in the IAO's portfollio. However, with the increased student focus on the domestic situation because of the increasing infringement on our civil liberties the role of the International Affairs. Officer has shifted slightly in emphasis to that of a more educative role.

The IAO must Liase closely with the Overseas Student Officer in the protection of overseas students' rights. In 1976 the Government announced dramatic cuts to the number of overseas students coming to New Zealand. These cuts were made in collaboration with the Malayan Government to cut down on the number of students coming from that country. In 1977 and 1978 NZUSA and VUWSA carried out a campaign at both an official and campus level to reinstate the numbers of overseas students. So far this campaign has met with little success, but it must be continued again in 1979.

However, progress has been made on some questions concerning overseas students ie the two-year probation period for overseas students marrying New Zealanders has now been removed. In all issues concerning overseas students the IAO should be working in close co-operation with NZUSA and its standing committee on overseas students, the National Overseas Students Action Committee (NOSAC).

The IAO is alto the liason between the Students' Association and outside groups concerned with inter nation affairs. The Association has worked closely in the past with Hart, the National Anti-Apartheid Council, Friends of Thailand, the New Zealand East Timor Committee, and the NZ China Friendship Society. It is up to the IAO to ensure that if any campaign is being organised downtown in which the Students' Association has a policy he or she acts as the liason.

One of the main roles of the IAO, is, as previously mentioned to inform Association members of our policy. It is up to the IAO to write articles for Salient on International Events and to publish leaflets on topical issues. It is important that at SRC meetings motions that deal with International policy should be explained beforehand in leaflet or article form. The IAO should also try and initiate activity in the form of seminars and forums on topical international events and education type forums which further explain our policy.

Most of the IAO's work is done in close co-ordination with NZUSA and in particular with the General Vice-President who has the responsibility for international issues. As international policy and action are decided at the May and August Councils of NZUSA, it is expected that the IAO will stand as a delegate to these councils to act as the Association's representative.

In order to further the IAO's campaigns in educative work the Association allows an expenditure of $100 on international issues. This money is controlled by the IAO.

Welfare Officer

The Welfare Officer is charged with actioning activities relating to students' welfare. Much of the, work is done in conjunction with various University departments, particularly the Welfare Services which administer creche, councelling services as well as running accomodation and employment services. S/he also sits ex officio on the VUW Council's Committee on Welfare Services.

While this work is Important there is more to the job than merely trotting along to committee meetings and holding discussions with Welfare staff. The Welfare Officer is expected to work in with other SRC officers where their interests over lap (e.g. with the EO in the field of bursaries).

There is also a lot of work that the Welfare Officer can set up off his/her own back. Aside from working to extend the range of Welfare services available on campus to include such things as optometry and dentistry, there are things like setting up a Poverty Fund for broke students which would be a valuable addition to the Association.

Although some of this work involves some, amount of research, a liason with the NZUSA Research Officers will make this part of the job easier. Many of the welfare plans that VUWSA wants to see introduced are also things that NZUSA is working on, but the initiative and the drive must come from the Welfare Officer.

Environmental Affairs Officer

From the early seventies, VUWSA has shown a continous concern for Environmental issues reflected by the creation of the position of Environmental Affairs Officer in the mid seventies. VUWSA's environmental policy has been maintained almost unbroken since before the Save Manapouri Campaign.

The Environmental Affairs Officer must be an active person. Forums, film showings, and deputations to people in "Authority" are activities that as a student campus in the capital city, VUWSA must be actively engaged in.

In Wellington, there exist a whole host of organisations sharing similar concerns to those of VUWSA. All these bodies must be issued with, in an effort to gain co-operation and a faring of work loads. Similarly VUWSA's Environmental Affairs Officer must be prepared to assist the General Vice President of NZUSA.

The EAO is also required to sit on various University Committees ex officio, speak at faculty meetings, and generaly ensure the well being of students taking Environmental Studies.

Perhaps as a bonus, the E.A.O. will be expected to become involved with VUW's strong Environment Group, a club that has shown it's displeasure on more than one occassion, when officers have not followed VUWSA policy.