This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2021) |
RMIT University Student Union | |
---|---|
![]() RUSU logo | |
History | |
Founded | 1944 |
Leadership | |
President | Finbar Bray |
General Secretary | Dulan Ariyathilaka |
Structure | |
Seats | 28 |
Length of term | 1 year |
Affiliations | National Union of Students |
Meeting place | |
![]() | |
Storey Hall and Building 57, Level 4, RMIT University, 115 Queensberry Street, Carlton 3053 | |
Website | |
rusu | |
Constitution | |
RUSU Constitution | |
Rules | |
RUSU Regulations and Policy |
The RMIT University Student Union (RUSU), is the peak representative body for students enrolled at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). The Student Union is independent of the university and operates under the direction of annually elected student representatives. According to the constitution, all students are automatic members of the Student Union but may choose to become a financial member. [1] RUSU works in collaboration with its sister organisation the RMIT Vietnam Student Council to achieve common aims and objectives for all students.
The Student Union offers a range of services, including student rights advocacy, campus activities and events, funding student media including RMITV & Catalyst as well as hosting Women's, Queer and Postgraduate student lounges. RUSU is also responsible for funding and supporting over 100 clubs & societies that are either Academic, Cultural, Political, Social or Spiritual based. RMIT Link, which is run by the university (not the Student Union) funds and manages all Arts and Sports clubs. RUSU has offices at the three major Melbourne campuses and sites of RMIT University. RUSU is an affiliated body to the National Union of Students and the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations.
John Storey Junior helped found the Student Representative Council in 1944, acted as its first President, and lobbied for the establishment of a central library. His studies were cut short when he was diagnosed with leukaemia and died in 1947, aged just 22. His recognition of service to the RMIT community lives on with one RMIT's most striking buildings – Storey Hall – in tribute to John Storey Junior and his father Sir John. [2] Over the years since its founding, the student union has continued to grow and expand into more areas to become an integral part of the student experience on campus.
In 2006, with the introduction of voluntary student unionism (VSU) legislation, the Student Union underwent a major reorganisation. Most of the staff were made redundant, the organisation's three separate campus councils were merged, and several services such as the second-hand bookshop were abandoned. While the organisation suffered a drastic funding cut (from $3.9 million AUD to $1.3 million AUD) as a result of VSU, it managed to survive the cutbacks and continue providing services, advocacy and representation to students.
In 2010, the RMIT University Student Union adopted the acronym and rebranding of RUSU. The student union had become formally incorporated in 2021, leading it to achieve a non-for-profit status.
As of 2024, the Student Union Council has 28 voting members, who are elected by RMIT students at annual held elections. Each Melbourne campus of RMIT (Brunswick, Bundoora and City) has a campus coordinator and a general campus representative as part of the 28 voting member structure.
Councillors are typically elected in the second week of September and hold November to October terms. Ex-officio (non-voting) members may be appointed to the Student Union Council at its discretion. All members of the Student Union Council must be financial members of the Student Union.
The Student Union Council meets regularly, and it is also responsible for electing the President and Communications Officer, as outlined in the Student Union Constitution. A smaller group of student office bearers, known as the Secretariat, meets more regularly to discuss day-to-day operational, staffing, and other urgent matters.
In addition to having student representatives as board directors of the organisation, the Student Union employs professional staff to help deliver key programs and services, and assist in governance. All staff members are supervised by an elected student representative as determined by the Secretariat. [3]
No. | Portrait | Name | Term | Election year | General Secretary |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
54 | 1 November 1997 – 31 October 1998 | 1997 | Mandi Scott | ||
55 | Mandi Scott | 1 November 1998 – 31 October 1999 | 1998 | Lizzie Minchin | |
56 | Jess Latimer | 1 November 1999 – 31 October 2000 | 1999 | Kristin Godby | |
57 | Jonathan Wilkinson | 1 November 2000 – 31 October 2001 | 2000 | Danny Bouvong | |
58 | Emily Anderson | 1 November 2001 – 31 October 2002 | 2001 | Ty Capach | |
59 | Emily Anderson | 1 November 2002 – 31 October 2003 | 2002 | Kittisak Muckaprom | |
60 | Dinesh Rajalingum | 1 November 2003 – 31 October 2004 | 2003 | Duc Hieu Le | |
61 | Sridaran Vijayajumar | 1 November 2004 – 31 October 2005 | 2004 | Duc Hieu Le | |
62 | Dan Thomas | 1 November 2005 – 31 October 2006 | 2005 | Taylor Wright | |
63 | Patrick O'Keeffe | 1 November 2006 – 31 October 2007 | 2006 | Priyanka Erasmus | |
64 | Robert Harding | 1 November 2007 – 31 October 2008 | 2007 | Priyanka Erasmus | |
65 | Jessica Hall | 1 November 2008 – 31 October 2009 | 2008 | Natasha Ferroff | |
66 | Emma Henderson | 1 November 2009 – 31 October 2010 | 2009 | Thomas Ayers | |
67 | David Swan | 1 November 2010 – 31 October 2011 | 2010 | Hovig Melkonian | |
68 | Hovig Melkonian | 1 November 2011 – 31 October 2012 | 2011 | Jian Zhong | |
69 | James Michelmore | 1 November 2012 – 31 October 2013 | 2012 | Gabriel Brady | |
70 | James Michelmore | 1 November 2013 – 31 October 2014 | 2013 | Ariel Zohar | |
71 | Himasha Fonseka | 1 November 2014 – 31 October 2015 | 2014 | Ariel Zohar | |
72 | Ariel Zohar | 1 November 2015 – 31 October 2016 | 2015 | Abena Dove | |
73 | Abena Dove | 1 November 2016 – 31 October 2017 | 2016 | Emily Hansen | |
74 | Abena Dove | 1 November 2017 – 31 October 2018 | 2017 | Ella Gvildys | |
75 | Ella Gvildys | 1 November 2018 – 31 October 2019 | 2018 | Aditya Sharma | |
76 | Daniel Hoogstra | 1 November 2019 – 31 October 2020 | 2019 | Beatrice Co | |
77 | Akshay Jose | 1 November 2020 – 31 October 2021 | 2020 | Jarred Armitage | |
78 | Adam Steiner | 1 November 2021 – 31 October 2022 | 2021 | Sheldon Gait | |
79 | Beth Shegog | 1 November 2022 – 31 October 2023 | 2022 | Mark Morante | |
80 | Ella Byrne | 1 November 2023 – 31 October 2024 | 2023 | Dhweep Shah | |
81 | Finbar Bray | 1 November 2024 – Incumbent | 2024 | Dulan Ariyathilaka |
No. | Portrait | Name | Term | Election year | President |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
54 | Mandi Scott | 1 November 1997 – 31 October 1998 | 1997 | ||
55 | Lizzie Minchin | 1 November 1998 – 31 October 1999 | 1998 | Mandi Scott | |
56 | Kristin Godby | 1 November 1999 – 31 October 2000 | 1999 | Jess Latimer | |
57 | Danny Bouvong | 1 November 2000 – 31 October 2001 | 2000 | Jonathan Wilkinson | |
58 | Ty Capach | 1 November 2001 – 31 October 2002 | 2001 | Emily Anderson | |
59 | Kittisak Muckaprom | 1 November 2002 – 31 October 2003 | 2002 | Emily Anderson | |
60 | Duc Hieu Le | 1 November 2003 – 31 October 2004 | 2003 | Dinesh Rajalingum | |
61 | Duc Hieu Le | 1 November 2004 – 31 October 2005 | 2004 | Sridaran Vijayajumar | |
62 | Taylor Wright | 1 November 2005 – 31 October 2006 | 2005 | Dan Thomas | |
63 | Priyanka Erasmus | 1 November 2006 – 31 October 2007 | 2006 | Patrick O'Keeffe | |
64 | Priyanka Erasmus | 1 November 2007 – 31 October 2008 | 2007 | Robert Harding | |
65 | Natasha Ferroff | 1 November 2008 – 31 October 2009 | 2008 | Jessica Hall | |
66 | Thomas Ayers | 1 November 2009 – 31 October 2010 | 2009 | Emma Henderson | |
67 | Hovig Melkonian | 1 November 2010 – 31 October 2011 | 2010 | David Swan | |
68 | Jian Zhong | 1 November 2011 – 31 October 2012 | 2011 | Hovig Melkonian | |
69 | Gabriel Brady | 1 November 2012 – 31 October 2013 | 2012 | James Michelmore | |
70 | Ariel Zohar | 1 November 2013 – 31 October 2014 | 2013 | James Michelmore | |
71 | Ariel Zohar | 1 November 2014 – 31 October 2015 | 2014 | Himasha Fonseka | |
72 | Abena Dove | 1 November 2015 – 31 October 2016 | 2015 | Ariel Zohar | |
73 | Emily Hansen | 1 November 2016 – 31 October 2017 | 2016 | Abena Dove | |
74 | Ella Gvildys | 1 November 2017 – 31 October 2018 | 2017 | Abena Dove | |
75 | Aditya Sharma | 1 November 2018 – 31 October 2019 | 2018 | Ella Gvildys | |
76 | Beatrice Co | 1 November 2019 – 31 October 2020 | 2019 | Daniel Hoogstra | |
77 | Jarred Armitage | 1 November 2020 – 31 October 2021 | 2020 | Akshay Jose | |
78 | Sheldon Gait | 1 November 2021 – 31 October 2022 | 2021 | Adam Steiner | |
79 | Mark Morante | 1 November 2022 – 31 October 2023 | 2022 | Beth Shegog | |
80 | Dhweep Shah | 1 November 2023 – 31 October 2024 | 2023 | Ella Byrne | |
81 | Dulan Ariyathilaka | 1 November 2024 – Incumbent | 2024 | Finbar Bray |
Position | Name |
---|---|
General Secretary | Dulan Ariyathilaka |
Education Officer | Bunny Wadhwa |
Welfare Officer | Tathya Grover |
International Officer | Xin Shen |
Postgraduate Officer | Tandeep Singh |
Women’s Officer | Amellysha Amran |
Queer Officer | Luna McLeod |
Queer Officer | Maya Szyszko |
Indigenous Officer | Tessa Cristiano |
Indigenous Officer | Maddie Quail |
Disabilities & Carers Officer | Samuel Coombs |
Activities Officer | Amandi Peiris |
Sustainability Officer | Thikshani Abayasekara |
Clubs and Societies Officer | Ashar Husain |
Vocational Education Officer | Daiyan Mustansir |
Brunswick Coordinator | Snigdha Garg |
Bundoora Coordinator | Mathy Sivakumar |
City Coordinator | Tanya Ajit |
Brunswick Representative | Amrutha Baburaj |
Bundoora East Representative | Georgia Collier |
Bundoora West Representative | Karthik Karkala |
City Representative | Yoan Theodore |
1st-elected General Representative | Finbar Bray |
2nd-elected General Representative | Holly Medlyn |
3rd-elected General Representative | Nishtha Rana |
4th-elected General Representative | Ben Milne |
5th-elected General Representative | Zhenghuai Ni |
1st Alternate General Representative | Kashish Juneja |
2nd Alternate General Representative | Felicity Monk |
The RMIT Student Union funds the student-run magazine Catalyst & student television on-campus production studios RMITV. It continues to have strong ties with SYN radio station located within RMIT, however there is no formal or funding relationship between the separate organisations.
Catalyst Magazine was first published in 1944, the same year the Student Union was established. It is one of two official student magazines and news sources on RMIT campus.