Dear UWA ASA members,
I trust you are all surviving the end of semester, and looking forward to marking season… But before that comes to pass, we wanted to take a moment to reach out to you and check in.
The last five years have been, in many respects, an absolute ordeal. In a short timeframe, we have gone through the global havoc caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; endured yet another internal restructure; awaited the potential for further disruption of the WA Review of the University Sector (remember that? It’s dormant but not gone…); copped two successive federal governments who seem to share an iron will to botch any higher education policy they decide to put in place, and, also, we can no longer park when we come to work (I am probably forgetting stuff, but you get the gist).
In the midst of all this, we have witnessed how the frightening polarisation that occurred during the campaign for the Referendum on the Voice to Parliament and reactions to the ongoing horrors in the Middle East have impacted our university communities.
In this broader context, with creeping workloads, endless administrative checklists, a depressing de-personalisation of professional services, etc.. it can be hard to remember who we are, what we do, and why.
Yet, we see signs of hope. After years of heartbreaking and often untactful dismissals, and a mass retreat to the confines of our offices and homes, we have started to see people coming back to our beautiful campus and welcomed many new faces. While trust in our governance remains understandably shaky, there seems to be a generalised yearning for a lost sense of community and shared purpose.
UWA ASA can and wants to play a role in the bottom-up rebuilding of our university community. With a rich and longstanding history, we remain ‘uniquely placed to represent the needs of the academic staff at UWA. The core mission of the University of Western Australia is to serve the public good and UWA ASA functions to maintain the visibility of this mission by supporting the collective exercise of academic citizenship’.
As universities evolve, so does the nature and purpose of academic life, and UWA ASA wants to be a protagonist in shaping the future of that academic life and citizenship at UWA. While the last few years have been very hard on any collective organisation (ours included), we are still here, and we have the motivation and (some..) means to rise to the challenge!
To get this conversation started, we want to invite you to our AGM, which will take place on Thursday 24 October between 11.30am and 2pm at the University Club (you will have received a calendar invite already). If you cannot come in person, please reach out to a fellow member to organise a proxy. However, if you can, please come and join us. We really do want to hear from you as we imagine the future of our organisation and of our university. We also attach our membership form, please talk to colleagues in your area, as there will certainly be some who would love the opportunity to be part of a community-rebuilding process.
UWA ASA 2024 Annual General Meeting
Date: Thursday 24 October 2024
Time: A light lunch will be available from 11:30am. The AGM will commence at 12:30pm
Venue: The University Club of Western Australia, Hackett Drive, Crawley WA 6009
RSVP: For any last-minute RSVP’s please email uwaasa@uwa.edu.au to confirm your attendance (by 9:00am Thursday 17 October). For catering purposes please include any dietary preferences.
If you are unable to attend, please consider a proxy vote!
Each attending member can hold 2 proxy votes. If you would like to (and we would like you to!) place a proxy vote please complete the proxy form. We will contact each proxy to confirm that they are attending. If you are not aware of someone who can take this on, please contact us and we can match you with someone.
We hope to see you at the AGM. In the meantime, take care of yourselves, and feel free to reach out to us should you wish to discuss UWA ASA and its role.
Best wishes,
| Dr Marco Rizzi President, UWA Academic Staff Association T +616488 3836 M004, Perth, WA 6009 UWAASA – THE VOICE OF ACADEMICS AT UWA www.uwaasa.org.au | Dr Emily Brink Vice-President, UWA Academic Staff Association T +616488 3836 M004, Perth, WA 6009 UWAASA – THE VOICE OF ACADEMICS AT UWA www.uwaasa.org.au |