University of Queensland Union

UQ Union

University of Queensland Union
UQU
Founded	1911
Members	40,000 (2011)
Affiliations	University of Queensland
Website	www.uqu.com.au [1]

The University of Queensland Union (UQU) is a student organisation established to provide service, support and representation to the students of the University of Queensland.

Aims

The specific aims of the UQU as defined by its constitution are:

a) to further the right of all people to a quality education on an equal basis;
b) to advance the interests of students in the fields of social security, health, welfare, equity, equal opportunity and cultural activities;
c) to represent students within the University and the community;
d) to financially assist affiliated bodies;
e) to provide quality facilities and services to students;
f) to foster the principle of student unionism; and
g) to do all such other things as are incidental or conducive to the attainment of these objects and the exercise of the powers of the Union.

Student Services

The UQU operates most of the campus's student eateries, cafes, bookshops in addition to the university bar and cinema. These facilities and services are concentrated at the Union Complex at the St Lucia campus, union services are provided at all campuses.

The UQU organises the university's orientation week ("O-Week") activities, regular barbecues and free bands, as well as a range of larger events, such as Oktoberfest. It funds the university's 135 clubs and societies, including faculty, ethnic, and a variety of social groups; sporting groups, however, fall under the domain of UQ Sport. The UQU also provides a free legal service to university students. In addition, it also organises the weekly Wednesday markets at the St Lucia campus.

One of the other roles of the UQU is to see that minority groups on campus are adequately supported. To this extent, it provides a Queer Space at St Lucia campus and Women's Spaces at both St Lucia and Ipswich campuses. The spaces at St Lucia are rooms in the UQ Union building, open all the time; they provide a safe place for discussion and political organization related to women's and queer issues, as well as socialising. They also provide students with access to information about relevant topics like feminism and safe sex. UQU also has queer, women's, environment, disabilities and Indigenous collectives to represent their respective interests, all of which are headed by at least one elected officer who sits on the UQU committee.

Student Representation

UQU coordinates student representation to the University through its Student Representation and Postgraduate Student Areas, supporting students to take positions on faculty and University committees, and the Academic Board. UQU recently successfully negotiated for the University to contribute 1 million dollars to the Union annually for student services. UQU also negotiated for the "formula marking" scheme (under which markers can deduct marks in multiple choice exams if a marker believes the student guessed answers) to be abolished .

Postgraduate Students

In 2010 the UQU along with the University of Technology Sydney Student Association (UTSSA) become the first student unions to be disaffiliated from the Council of Australia Postgraduate Associates Incorporated (CAPA). CAPA is the peak body representing the interests of Australia's 300,000+ postgraduate students. Founded in 1979, CAPA is a membership based non-profit organisation.

According to a press release the decision from CAPA was based on a number of factors including failure to respond to repeated attempts to engage with CAPA, failure to pay affiliation fees since 2005, consistent failure to send representatives to the CAPA annual conference and failure to adequately represent postgraduate students and their concerns. The UQU in combination with UTSSA owed CAPA in excess of $145,000 in outstanding affiliation fees, which has now been written off as bad debt.

In 2011 UQ postgraduate students re-formed a postgraduate representative body within the UQU, called the UQ Association of Postgraduate Students (APS). This new body has been in regular contact with CAPA and sent a representative to the 2011 CAPA annual conference in Sydney.

Clubs and Societies

The UQU oversees over 160 student run Clubs and Societies, with a combined membership across these clubs of approximately 30,000 students. Clubs fall under one of four broad categories based on where they derive their membership base. These categories include: Faculty/School; International Students; Colleges; and General Interest.

Clubs play a vital role on campus, with the majority of social events at UQ being run by these student groups. The ten largest clubs by membership base in 2011 were:

Rank	Name	2012 President	2011 President	Type	Number of Members
1	UQ Law Society (UQLS)	Ganesh Jegatheesan	Luke Furness	Faculty/School Based	2,800+
2	UQ Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS)	Annabelle Hassall	Michael Zivcic	Faculty/School Based	1,200+
3	Financial Management Association of Australia (FMAA)	Brendan Kruger	Zhuoxun Yin	Faculty/School Based	750+
4	UQ Business Association (UQBA)	Victoria Sing	Colin Finke	Faculty/School Based	750+
5	Society of Undergraduate Science Students (SUSS)	Harrison Bolt	James Nightingale	Faculty/School Based	720+
6	QUEST	Jennifer Ross	Christine Schindler	General Interest	650+
7	UQ Liberal Club (UQLC)	Brodie Thompson	Brodie Thompson	General Interest	580+
8	UQ Interfaculty Competitions (UQIC)	Tate Stubbs	Michael Zivcic	General Interest	550+
9	Singapore Student Society	Aaron Ang	Cheryl Gan	International	520+
10	Mechanical Engineering Student Society (MESS)	Blaice McCaul	Patrick Whittle	Faculty/School Based	500+

Executives of the UQU

Year	President	Secretary	Treasurer	Ticket
1981	David Barbagallo	Fiona McKenna	Nigel Pennington	N/A
1982	Ken Macpherson	Fleur Kingham	Nigel Pennington	N/A
1983	Fleur Kingham	Danielle Bond	Paul Lucas (politician)	N/A
1984	Tony Kynaston	Ric Moore	Karen Axford	N/A
1985	Brad Bauman	Kate Greenwood	Tony Kynaston	N/A
1986	Jillann Farmer	Jenny Fox	Mark Herbert	N/A
1987	Andrew Lamb	Jorge Jorquera	Scott Barclay	N/A
1988	Dirk Moses	Robyn Finkin	Mark Bahnisch	N/A
1989	Victoria Brazil	James Jarvis	Julian Sheezel	N/A
1990	Jane Lye	Kirsten Greathead	Rebecca Keys	Reform
1991	James Gifford	John Briggs	Donna Sinopoli	Liberal
1992	Michael Kleinschmidt	Anne-Marie Valentak	Marcus Clark	Liberal
1993	Sandy Brown	Daniel Varghese	Martin Bush	SEA
1994	Murray Watt	Jenny McAlister	Mary Thorpe	Focus
1995	Maya Stuart-Fox	Timothy Ward	Michael Caldwell	Labor
1996	Jody Thompson	Luke Myers	Michael Barry	Liberal
1997	Cynthia Kennedy	Anna Straton	Jamie Dawson	Labor Left
1998	Bede Nicholson	Katie Connolly	David McElrea	Labor Left
1999	Matthew Carter	Alissa Macoun	Benjamin Turnbull	Labor Left
2000	Sarah McBratney	Matthew Collins	Rebecca Lang	Labor Left
2001	Juliana Virine	Angela Setterlund	Adam Kent	Labor Left
2002	Christopher Vernon	Lisa Chesters	Aaron Meadows	NOLS
2003	Aaron Marsham	Antonio Ferreira-Jardim	Jemma MacGinley	NOLS
2004	Margot Balch	Jonathan Hames	Michael Wright	Vision
2005	Leah Sanderson	Jorn Herrmann	Alex Main	Focus
2006	Lucinda Weber	Erin Fentiman	N/A	Thrive
2007	Julie-Ann Campbell	Diana Mackay	N/A	Voice
2008	Josh Young	Lisa Colyer	Ben Riley	Fresh
2009	Brandon Carter	Luke Walker	Lisa Colyer	Fresh
2010	Michael Zivcic	Michelle Delport	Robert Hilmer	Fresh
2011	Benjamin Gorrie	Brodie Thompson	Hannah Bona	Fresh
2012	Colin Finke	Brodie Thompson	Linda Cho	Fresh

See also

• University of Queensland
• University of Queensland Business Association
• Semper Floreat (UQU Publications)
• University of Queensland Debating Society

External links

• UQ Union