President's Report - Edition 5 2019

After much excitement, we’ve opened our new outlet in the refurbished Physiol. Pantry 63 is eco-friendly and focused on providing locally sourced, healthy food. It also has amazing coffee, and like all of our outlets, a 50c discount for keep cups. Be sure to check it out next time you’re on that side of campus.

We know students have been working hard over the last few weeks, and we’ve been working to support you during what is a very stressful time. Our amazing volunteers ran our usual Exam Support Stalls outside BSL during SWOTVAC – I hope the free pancakes and $2 coffee helped with some of those late nights!

The mid-year break is a great time for UQU to take a step back and consider what we’ve done in 2019. In particular, our Vice-Presidents and Treasurer are working on mid-year budget reviews (fun!) and I get to look at our strategic plan to see how UQU is trekking in 2019.

Earlier in July, I travelled to the UK with our Student Advocacy and Strategy Manager, Glenda, and two of our Vice-Presidents, as part of a trip organised in conjunction with the University. We set out to visit the most successful student unions in the UK (in particular, Loughborough Students Union, who visited us in March) to learn what measures of theirs UQU could adopt. We learned so much! Our Clubs & Societies Vice-President, Rebekah, will be implementing a brand new Societies Recognition Scheme as a result of the trip, and our Equity & Diversity Vice-President, Amy, has plans for the restructure of UQU’s various collectives so that the students involved have more of a voice within the Union.

Though most students are away recharging for Semester 2 (and recovering from Semester 1!) we’re hard at work planning exciting things for your return. There’s so many exciting things happening that I can’t share just yet, but I can’t wait to unveil it all to UQ students soon!