Santa will be delivering a lump of coal to Macquarie University this year after they announced the forcible closure of Macquarie University Postgraduate Representative Association (MUPRA) and locked elected student representatives out of their offices just five days before Christmas.
“Macquarie University has said ‘bah humbug’ to postgraduate students and their democratically elected student representative body just five days before Christmas” said Meghan Hopper, President of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations.
“Making this announcement on the final business day before the Christmas closure is a deliberate ploy to attempt to avoid scrutiny from the postgraduate students, national student representatives and parliamentary representatives, like Senator Lee Rhiannon, who have vowed to support the Macquarie University Postgraduate Representative Association” Ms Hopper said.
MUPRA President, Doug Williamson said that he arrived on campus today to discover that his office had been locked by the University and that he was unable to access MUPRA files or his personal items as security staff were attending their Christmas party.
“The attempt to forcibly close MUPRA demonstrates the completion of the corporatisation of university culture at Macquarie University as they remove all forms of student representation” said Doug Williamson.
“MUPRA views Macquarie University’s actions as quite a blatant cash grab for assets that ultimately, don’t belong to the University – they belong to students, and should remain in the property of students” Mr Williamson said.
Macquarie University Deputy Vice Chancellor (Students and Registrar), Deirdre Anderson distributed a letter to students and staff today announcing that they would begin today to act toward the shutting down of MUPRA.
In her letter, she cited concerns around MUPRA’s decision to hold a recent election to elect their 2014 office-bearer team, suggesting that the University’s intention was to have MUPRA’s existing funds redirected toward postgraduate scholarships and have MUPRA operate as a “social networking organisation”.
“MUPRA’s terms of reference are to exist as an independent, democratically-elected student representative body – it is frankly bizarre to ask them to return funding they received to complete this task years ago, or to ask them to cede student representation and advocacy to a committee of students appointed by the University” Ms Hopper said.
“That MUPRA held an election for their 2014 office-bearer team shows that they are serious about continuing to provide democratic representation on campus, and that the University’s claims otherwise are nonsense.”
Ms Hopper said that the closure of student representation for postgraduates didn’t make sense as Macquarie University pushed forward toward a postgraduate-centric course offering.
“Macquarie University’s new model which blends Honours qualifications into Masters programs means that they will experience a surge in postgraduate enrolments. The closure of MUPRA would mean that these new postgraduates would not be represented – this is not something the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations intends to see happen” Ms Hopper said.
The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations is investigating whether Macquarie University’s actions comply with SSAF legislation, and will arrange a peaceful protest at the campus once the University re-opens in the New Year.
MEDIA ENQUIRIES
Meghan B. Hopper, CAPA National President
president@capa.edu.au / 0421 807 303
