Adelaide Student Politics

Posted 16th July

Early last year brought a funding agreement with the university. Set at $1.2 million in the first year, it is to continue for ten years, with a new amount being decided every year in negotiations between the university and the union. Threatened with financial meltdown in late 2007, it was hoped this funding agreement, the details of which are not avaliable to the public, would ensure the long-term viability of the AUU.

These weeks see the end of the first financial year of said agreement. A new budget is being prepared to present to the university, which in all likelyhood will only agree to fund part of it. The disaffiliation of the Sports Association from the union may have an effect on the final amount, as the university may demand a reduction in the cash given to the AUU if it has one less expense. Amid these fears of a fall in revenue, the AUU Board also discovered (at the May meeting) that, due to an accounting error, its projected income for the coming year is in actuality $168,000 less than expected, due to a complex system where the AUU pays the wages of SA employees, with the SA then paying the AUU back (one would assume only the incoming money appeared on the budget).

This comes at a bad time for some Board directors looking to rebuild after the VSU cut-backs, particularly AUU President Lavinia Emmett-Grey. She has long pushed at Board meetings for a Clubs Administration officer, believing this will be very benificial for the effectiveness of the services provided by the CA. Others, while acknowledging that there is a need, are pushing for the outsourcing of these services, which they argue will be cheaper and more effective (both claims are disputed). Also discussed, though I believe at this stage shelved, was honoraria for On Dit editors, who currently work full-time hours on a volunteer basis.

These expansions are now the last thing on the minds of some, intent on coming up with a budget acceptable to the university. Board Director Mark Joyce, in a failed bid to minimize expenditures, made the novel suggestion of scrapping the snacks provided prior to AUU meetings. Given that the AUU is largely believed to be working on a bare minimum, finding things to cut is going to be no easy task.

Chairing the Finance and Development Standing Comittee, which is responsible for producing the budget, is AUU VP Jainbin Jiang. Other sources of revenue for the AUU include it's $20 membership package, which has sold well this year. Financial concerns were a key argument in the decision regarding whether or not to sell Unibooks, which was voted on at the June meeting.