Welcome to the April edition of the my blog!
Campus is relatively quiet at the moment given mid-semester break – a nice change for those of us still on campus with shorter coffee lines and the ability to finally get space in the library!
Speaking of the library, I recently had a tour of the flood affected areas of ANU including AD Hope, Melville Hall, Chifley Library and Toad Hall. The damage is extensive and has destroyed property, in particular books, carpets and furniture, to the value of $10’s of millions. The ANU is still working on repairing many of these areas and assessing their future use, the basement of Chifley in particular is of concern given its likelihood to flood. If you have been affected by the floods, including insurance questions, please get in contact with us for support at parsa.assistance@anu.edu.au.
PARSA, in partnership with ANUSA, remains in discussion with the ANU regarding concerns about the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation degree. I thank students for their feedback on this which has helped us develop a position, and constructive suggestions, to the ANU.
An update on our constitution changes: we are close to finalising a new draft constitution after completing community consultation through an online form(still open for a limited time), Townhall (which was live streamed with the help of ANU Observer) and a series of videos on our social media to generate awareness and discussion. PARSA will be bringing the draft constitution to the membership for endorsement at the Annual General Meeting, currently scheduled for mid-May. Look out for further announcements on this in the coming weeks.
We have a variety of great events coming up in April and May, including Star Gazing, our inaugural Public Service Networking event as well as our first Global Café for the year, plus our usual PARSA Monthly Movie and Unwind events. For the parents in our community, I hope you enjoy our PARSA Playdate on the weekend with Pirate Pete!
PARSA, as always, is chugging along regardless of the time of year. Next week I will be heading up the PARSA delegation to attend a meeting of our postgraduate peak, the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA), in Sydney. This will be a valuable forum to share information and continue strategic discussions around issues of key concern to postgraduates, including the Federal Government funding and policy, and Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in Australian Universities.
Until the next edition, all the best for the mid-semester break, and I hope 2018 is treating you well.
Many thanks,
Alyssa, PARSA President