Postgraduate Students and Guild Elections

All UWA students (this includes postgrads!) are automatically members of the Student Guild. It doesn't cost you anything, but you do need to activate your membership. You can do this by going to the Guild Reception (ground floor of the Guild Village) and showing them your student card.  

The Guild is the primary body for student representation on campus, and student representatives from the Guild sit on almost all of the University Committees, form the Senate down. Guild Council is the Guild’s governing body and is made up of 20 voting Councillors, who are actively involved in all aspects of managing the organisation and setting Guild policy. Guild Departments are represented, but as non-voting members.

Among the benefits of Guild Membership, you get to have a say in who represents you on the Student Guild (The Postgraduate Students’ Association, as a Guild Department, has a non-voting position on Guild Council. Who represents you and what their interests are has an impact on how effectively the PSA can work for you). The Council is an elected organisation, chosen from the University student body. Guild elections are held annually and this year’s Guild elections will be held from Monday September 23^rd to Thursday September 26^th at a variety of locations across campus. Information about Guild Elections, including booth location, dates and times, can be found here: http://www.guild.uwa.edu.au/welcome/representation/elections

Nominations for positions on Guild Council closed in August, but you can find out more about the various candidates and read their statements in the UWA Student Guild 2013 Election Broadsheet (You can find the Broadsheet on the elections page listed above). Be warned: it’s a 70 page document and some of the candidates don’t seem to take themselves very seriously. It’ll certainly give you a sense of how well (or not!) postgraduate issues are being tackled, and allows you to vote for the people that you think represents your interests the best!

And there’s some food for thought for next year: if you don’t think that postgraduate concerns are being adequately addressed or represented, consider nominating for Guild Council. PSA has a voice on Council, but not a vote. As an elected Guild Councillor, you could put some political weight behind that voice.