University of South Australia Students Association

UniLife Inc

Type	Public company
Industry	Students' union
Headquarters	Adelaide, Australia
Number of locations	6
Area served	University of South Australia
Key people	Keith Rudkin (GM) Melissa Davies (Current President)
Employees	15+
Parent	University of South Australia
Website	www.unilife.edu.au

UniLife is the peak student representative body at the University of South Australia (UniSA). UniLife is spread across UniSA's four metropolitan campuses as well as the Centre for Regional Engagement, encompassing the Whyalla and Mount Gambier campuses.

Upholding its three pillars of "Voice · Advice · Play", UniLife provides key student services to the UniSA student body such as supporting university clubs, holding events, running the student publication - UniLife Magazine, providing advocacy services and volunteer programs.

History

From 1 January 1991 the University of South Australia became a reality as a result of a merger between the Institute of Technology and significant elements of the South Australian College of Advanced Education. This merger necessitated the formation of a single student association that represented the needs of the then six campuses of the newly formed university. The New University Merger Discussion Group was the beginning of the UniSA Students Association (USASA). USASA was inaugurated in 1994, with the Confederated Student Union, the South Australian Institute of Technology Union and the Council of South Australian College Student Organisations managing the intervening years.

When the Howard Government introduced Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU) in 2006, USASA had to restructure to cope with the dramatic loss of income. Part of this restructure included rebranding UniSA's student association as 'UniLife'.

Structure

UniLife is a democratic organisation run by students that is responsive to student needs. UniLife provides opportunities for students to become involved in the decision-making process at the central level and their local campus level through branch committees. UniLfe has established a number of standing committees that deal with specific areas of student concern. These standing committees include the Education Standing Committee, the Equity and Welfare Standing Committee, and the Services Standing Committee.

UniLife Board

The overarching policies of the student association are set by the UniLife Board. This is composed of students elected by and from the student population. The composition of the UniLife Board and its powers and responsibilities are set out in the UniLife Constitution.

UniLife Board 2010-11

President	Melissa Davies
Postgraduate and International Student Officer	John Anthony Sy
City West Representatives	Ryan Dow Stephen McCallum
City East Representatives	Evelyn Fam Mandy Koay
Magill Representatives	John Hunt Natasha Nayan Sud
Mawson Lakes Representatives	Ali Hussaini Timothy Dixon
Whyalla Representative	Rachael Hancock
Mt Gambier Representative	Hannah Persello (Resigned) (Vacant)

Staff

UniLife employs over 15 permanent, temporary, and casual staff as the organisation is spread across six campuses. Representation and student service delivery provided by UniLife is coordinated by the UniSA City East head office and assisted by branch offices on each campus.

Student Services

UniLife is recognised by the University as the preferred provider of student amenities. The UniLife receives income from its commercial operations including the second hand book service. As a non-profit organisation all income received is returned to the student members via the provision of services that encompass the full gamut of student needs.

Clubs

UniLife provides support to over 100 sporting, social and academic clubs. UniLife pays homage to club activities throughout the year by holding the UniLife Awards Night.

Events

Since 2007, UniLife has held the Annual Masked Ball event (known as the Black Tie Event prior to 2009) at the Adelaide Town Hall.

In 2012, part of City West will turn into a West End Adelaide Fringe precinct called "The Grand Academy of Lagado". This will enhance the on-campus student experience, give students the opportunity to engage in the Adelaide arts community and further promote artistic expression at UniSA.

Student Bar

UniSA purchased the "Rapture" nightclub building situated at 58-60 North Terrace to be refurbished into a student lounge in 2009. This was opened for casual student use in Study Period 2, 2009.

Notable events held at the venue include the National Campus Band Comp Heats, National Campus Art Prize Finals Exhibition and an exclusive Sundance Kids gig organised by UniSA CareerShop.

Student Media

UniLife Magazine

UniLife Magazine 1906 - Sept 2011

The UniLife Magazine is a student-run magazine published eight times a year and distributed around all of UniSA's campuses. UniLife Magazine covers the latest student-relevant events, photos, interviews, reviews and stories. Any UniSA student can contribute to the UniLife Magazine. The publication is run by a team of editors working out of the UniLife Magazine office at UniSA Magill Campus.

UniLife Magazine Editorial Team 2010-11

Head Editor	Jordan Archer
Chief of Staff	Laura Pietrobon
Graphic Designer	Jessica Matthews
Chief Sub-Editor	Steph Simon
Web Editor	Erin WIllis

Entropy Magazine

Entropy Magazine was a spin-off project started by the UniSA student association to promote youth culture in 1992. The design driven magazine proved to be an effective means of discovering new creative talent within the fields of design, art, illustration, photography and writing.

In 2004, Entropy beat 26 other student magazines from Australia and New Zealand to win the ACUMA "Best Student Magazine Award".

The Greenpeace Design Awards was a poster design award in 2009, presented by Greenpeace Australia Pacific and UniLife Inc, in association with the University of South Australia. The aim of the competition was to motivate creative communities around the world to create artwork that encourages the public to take action on environmental issues and support Greenpeace. This need for a call to action message was stimulated through the poster brief "Be Part Of The Action". The Greenpeace Design Awards proved an international success, garnering 1500 entries from 77 different countries. Melbourne designer Sam Dickson won the inaugural competition, with Denis Popenkov from Russia and Spencer Harrison taking second and third place respectively.

March 2009 signalled the rebranding of "Entropy Magazine" as "UniLife Magazine" to ensure that the student publication more greatly represented UniSA student interests.