By Nick Fredman
LISMORE — The council of Southern Cross University (SCU) has appointed a management committee to "manage the affairs" of the student bodies. Students have strongly condemned the action and are organising to return control to their elected representatives.
The Students Representative Council (SRC) and the University Union are undergoing a trial merger to become the Students Representative Union (SRU).
In a letter to the SRU's executives in March, the university administration claimed "deficiencies in financial management" and the fact that a number of constitutional changes had not been registered with the Department of Fair Trading (making them technically illegal), as justification for an SRC audit.
However, the SRC had appointed a committee to investigate the audit problems when informed of them in March. This was ignored by the University Council, which voted on April 18 to appoint its own management committee.
"This decision by the SCU Council was a complete over-reaction", SRC president Michelle Adam told Green Left Weekly. She noted the body's $87,000 surplus and the fact that a qualified accountant had only singled out an unspecified amount of unaccounted for funds spent on photocopying.
Adam pointed out that the management committee, to be made up of four university representatives and two students appointed by vice-chancellor Barry Conygham, was empowered to draw up "appropriate" legal and organisational structures for the merged student body, not just look at alleged financial problems.
Fifty students attended an emergency meeting on April 28. A numbers of speakers highlighted the connection between the take-over and the cuts being implemented by the federal government and the university. Others pointed out that similar recent events had taken place at the University of Western Sydney (Macarthur campus) where the SRC was sacked and only reinstated after students mobilised.
It was resolved to pursue a legal challenge to the administration, seek support from student organisations and staff unions, and use the May 8 national day of action against education cuts to mobilise students against the take-over.
The action will take place on campus and, in addition to the national demands, a new one — "Student control of student affairs! Kick out the management committee!" has been added.
Within two days of the meeting the administration building was fortified by a new $100,000 security system that barred students' entry without possession of a security code. When Adam, who was appointed to the management committee, told its meeting on May 2 that she could not collaborate with such a body, but had the right to observe its proceedings, she was told to leave.