Students have taken their University’s recruitment process into their own hands, publishing an advertisement for a “student-friendly” Macquarie Provost in The Australian’s Higher Education section following the resignation earlier this week of the previous holder of that role.
The advertisement, which appeared on page 28 of The Australian on Wednesday February 5th, seeks “a student-friendly provost for Macquarie University” and includes key performance indicators such as a belief in democratically-elected representation and a willingness to reinstate independent student organisations at Macquarie.
The advertisement was conceived by the newly-formed Macquarie Independent Representation Working Group, a collaboration of students from across a range
of New South Wales Universities, and was funded by the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations.
CAPA President Meghan Hopper said whilst the advertisement was published in humour, the message it contained was an important one.
“We would hope that for Macquarie University as for all Universities, hiring a Provost who cares about students and who supports student representation would be a priority – so the advertisement, while satirical, is also pertinent” Ms Hopper said.
“Macquarie University postgraduate students are eager to see a student-friendly individual appointed to the role of Provost, and look forward to the barrage of applications they are sure to receive in response to their advertisement” said Ms Hopper.
Macquarie University announced the closure of Macquarie University Postgraduate Representative Association (MUPRA) on December 20, locking democratically elected representatives out of their offices. The National Australia Bank has since suspended MUPRA’s access to its own bank account.
“The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations agreed to fund this advertisement in support of our affiliate MUPRA, who, for reasons they are still struggling to understand, appear to have been suspended by the bank from access to their own independent account” Ms Hopper said.
“As they are thus unable to fund their campaign to represent the postgraduate students of Macquarie University who elected them, we will be providing them with assistance during this time” said Ms Hopper.
“We remain hopeful that we will be able to reach a positive, student-centric outcome through our discussions with Macquarie University, and will continue to work toward that goal” Ms Hopper said.
Meghan B. Hopper, CAPA National President
president@capa.edu.au / 0409 694 937
Doug Williamson, MUPRA President
president@mupra.com.au / 0411 254 512
