Come Week 8, every second counts for a Monashian. The 4th MSC commenced at its fastest time yet in 2018 – 6.15pm – and had an interesting evening over two hours. The resignation of a MUSA member, Monga’s Instagram affair, and after-hours learning spaces – bring them on.

President Thush starts off with a report on the MUSA Forum that took place on May 20. He commented that attendance by MUSA members was good but the number of general students was far too little. Main concerns brought up included the sanitation of the cafeteria, the food options available on campus, and the availability of car parking spaces. Activities Chairperson Sie Mone highlighted that students usually do not feedback on anything else besides those three concerns, even when approached personally.

Moving forward, MUISS Head Hasan suggested holding the Forum at a more suitable time to accommodate Muslim students who were unable to attend due to Friday prayers. It was also recommended that the Feedback form on the MUSA Facebook page be marketed better next semester.

Thush reiterated the Forum answer of having Grab provide a common promo code to be shared by Monash and other universities within a set radius to help reduce the parking headache. Editor Terence – via FaceTime (another first for 2018 MSCs) – questioned the disappearance of the food trucks and was told that Student Services has yet to give an official answer to explain the situation.

Following the sub-committee meeting with the President on March 30, Activities Sub-Committee Ben Goh expressed that it was poor execution to have 150 sub-comms crammed into the MSC common table area, and stressed along with fellow sub-comm, Cynthia that it would have been better to have all the MUSA members present for them to be formally introduced because many of the attendees felt quite lost as to the purpose of the meeting.

Next up is the Gen Sec’s report. Finally, all rumours and speculations of who resigned have reached their end: MUISS ISO Haider stepped down after three weeks of service due to being unable to cope with his studies. According to the MUSA Constitution, a new officer has to be appointed, to which Hasan announced the process of electing a new ISO would commence after Monash Cultural Night (April 28).

The subsequent agenda spanned over 40 minutes with Terence trying to appeal against a warning letter issued to him because of his negligence in handling the Monga’s Instagram account. At the end of the heated discussion which included the input of others present, it was decided that another meeting between Terence and all the Executive Committee members would take place to discuss the matter appropriately. In line with the topic, School Representatives were advised to check with the Marketing department on whether having multiple accounts representing Monash is allowed, and to be careful not to bridge rules set out by the Constitution and Handbook.

Then the Treasurers presented their report with regards to policy amendments by the Finance department to the procedures of obtaining all forms of funds. School Rep Ethan questioned the need to liaise with the Treasurers rather than communicating directly with Finance and the vendors, to which Treasurer Jae answered that some vendors may already have accounts with the University hence it’ll be better to leave Finance to settle outstanding debts. A step towards better documentation of MUSA transactions is Finance beginning to practice issuing payment proofs, to which School Reps are encouraged to request for.  

Thankfully, the gathering’s atmosphere became lighter as the evening progressed. Activities reported that Week 7’s Glow Up event was successful with a night filled with 5000 water balloons and glow up sticks respectively. There was a slight disturbance during set-up when it was found that the venue was double-booked by a Monash staff. The RBS issue was once again brought up with the floor emphasising the urgency to resolve the matter once and for all.

Welfare announced the winners of MUSA Wars (Congratulations, Arts x Activities, Treasurers and Welfare!) and urged for all members to be more diligent in taking care of the pantry. The pantry should be fully operational to students by May 1 (hopefully). There is a new snack vending machine at the MUSA Lounge and it is debit card-friendly! Also, students are encouraged to fully utilise the Library Level 4 study areas which are probationary (until March 24) available until 3am, for the University to be satisfied with the response.

As for the School Reps’ reports, everyone agreed that the Educators’ Appreciation Week was a successful initiative and an excellent display of collaboration between MUSA departments in fostering better general student relations. A new initiative by the Science reps’ is the Resume Bank, whereby students can send their resumes to the reps and they will be forwarded to Ms Santhana from the Monash Employer Engagement; an idea adopted from the School of Engineering.

The MSC finally adjourned at 8.25pm.

For more detailed information for any of these, refer to the 4th MSC Meeting Minutes!

Article by Elizabeth Gerard