The Otago University Students' Association (OUSA) is the

students' association A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizatio ...

of the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

, New Zealand. OUSA was founded in 1890 to advance student interests on campus. Today, OUSA provides a combination of representation, welfare, advocacy, recreation and events for its members. It runs student support services, supports clubs and societies on campus, and organises the

Orientation Orientation may refer to: Positioning in physical space * Map orientation, the relationship between directions on a map and compass directions * Orientation (housing), the position of a building with respect to the sun, a concept in building des ...

and Reorientation weeks. OUSA has a number of subsidiary brands and companies, including ''

Critic Te Ārohi ''Critic Te Ārohi'' is the official magazine of the Otago University Students' Association (OUSA) of the University of Otago. It is freely available around both the University's campus and selected sites in Dunedin city weekly during term time ...

'', the student magazine, Radio One, the student radio station, University Bookshop Limited, and Planet Media.

History

As well as providing facilities and student representation on university committees, the students' association began to provide services and facilities for its members. The first Student Union building, providing

meeting room A conference hall, conference room, or meeting room is a room provided for singular events such as business conferences and meetings. Room It is commonly found at large hotels and convention centers though many other establishments, including even ...

s, men's and women's common rooms and a

cafeteria A cafeteria, called canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether in a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a scho ...

, was established in 1904 in Allen Hall, which is today the university's theatre department. In the 1960s a bigger Student Union was built, and in the 1980s an adjoining building was added to house the OUSA offices, Radio One, Critic and Student Job Search. The Clubs and Societies building provides space for over 100 student clubs and a variety of activities, with fitness and recreation opportunities provided at

Unipol Unipol Assicurazioni S.p.A. is an Italian financial services holding company operating in the insurance and banking fields with headquarters in the Unipol Tower, Bologna. As of 2009 it was ranked as the country's fourth-largest insurer. The com ...

, jointly owned with the

Otago Polytechnic Students' Association Otago Polytechnic Students' Association is an independent organisation founded in the 1960s for Otago Polytechnic Otago Polytechnic is a public Education in New Zealand#Tertiary education, New Zealand tertiary education institute, centred in D ...

. OUSA also owns the University Book Shop and Student Job Search. Over the years the students' association has had its share of

controversy Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an op ...

, frequently around risqué activities during Capping (graduation) week. In 1990, student parties spilled over into the "Dunedin Riot", which damaged public opinion of students at a time when student politicians were actively lobbying and protesting against the introduction of tertiary

tuition fee Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...

s. The arguments against tuition fees included researched predictions of massive graduate debt and increased " brain drain" – graduates leaving the country for lucrative overseas positions. OUSA and students' associations around the country protested vigorously – up to 5,000 people marched in Dunedin alone – but were unable to stop the fees which were introduced in 1991. In July 2010, the OUSA executive was controversially restructured. Initiated by President Harriet Geoghegan, the new executive would have ten members: President, Administrative Vice President, Finances and Services Officer, Education Officer, Welfare Officer, and five general representatives each holding a portfolio: Postgraduate Students, International Students, Campaigns, Recreation, and Colleges and Communications. A

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

on the issue resulted in a 72.19% vote for the new structure caused a large number of complaints, none of which were upheld, and divided the existing OUSA executive. The introduction of tuition fees has led to an increased focus on quality of

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

, with improvements to the student representative system and more student input on teaching and assessment. At the same time, the growing student population has meant that OUSA services from

recreation Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for happiness, enjoyment, amusement, ...

facilities to student media have become businesses in their own right.

Structure

Membership

Under the Education Act 1989, membership in OUSA was compulsory for students enrolled at the

. However, since 2011 the Government made all students' association in New Zealand voluntary membership. The OUSA now maintains a service level agreement with the university, which sees a proportion of the compulsory student services levy used to pay for OUSA services for students, this allows for the ongoing financial viability of the association.

Executive

The association is headed by a twelve-member executive led by the OUSA president. The executive consists of the president, administrative vice-president, finance and strategy officer, welfare and equity representative, academic representative, political representative, clubs & societies representative, residential representative, international students' representative, postgraduate students' representative, and the president of the University of Otago Pacific Islands Students' Association. Executive meetings are held weekly or fortnightly, and are open to all members. Student general meetings are held periodically throughout the year to consult with and engage the wider student body in a more formal context.

Elections

Elections are held annually to select the incoming executive for the following year. Election weeks typically involve candidate forums for questions and debating between individuals running for office. In September 2008, president-elect Jo Moore was disqualified from becoming the 2009 president after a complaint she came within 20 metres of a

polling facility Poll, polled, or polling may refer to: Forms of voting and counting * Poll, a formal election ** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts ** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions ** Polling pla ...

during voting.

Student Services

Annual Events

The OUSA is responsible for organising the annual

Orientation week Student orientation or new student orientation (often encapsulated into an orientation week, o-week, frosh week, welcome week or freshers' week) is a period before the start of an academic year at a university or tertiary education, tertiary ins ...

events held at the beginning of the university year. A number of well-known artists have performed at these events including

Macklemore Benjamin Hammond Haggerty (born June 19, 1983), better known by his stage name Macklemore ( ; formerly Professor Macklemore), is an American rapper. A native of Seattle, Washington, he started his career in 2000 as an independent artist rele ...

Tinie Tempah Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie (formerly Tinie Tempah), is a British rapper and singer. He has been signed to Parlophone since 2009, now a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his ...

, Empire of the Sun,

Flume A flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to t ...

and

Shapeshifter In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through unnatural means. The idea of shapeshifting is found in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest exist ...

. At the beginning of the second semester, in July, OUSA organises the equivalent Reorientation events. The Hyde Street party, also known as the Hyde Street Keg Party, is an annual event held in Dunedin in the first semester for students from the

and

Otago Polytechnic Otago Polytechnic is a public Education in New Zealand#Tertiary education, New Zealand tertiary education institute, centred in Dunedin with additional campuses in Cromwell, New Zealand, Cromwell and Auckland. Otago Polytechnic provides career-f ...

, where many participants wear fancy dress. The event originated in 1995, starting as a post-exam celebration organised by residents. The first event saw roughly 3,000 people and attracted bonfires, riot police and 13 students were arrested. It has since become a become a regular part of the Otago University social calendar. Since 2013 OUSA has organised the ticket sales and the health and safety surrounding the event. Other regular events organised by the OUSA include market days, art week, diversity week, the Capping Show, the Dunedin Craft Beer & Food Festival and an annual Battle of the Bands competition.

Clubs and Societies

As the largest student association at the

, the majority of on-campus clubs and societies affiliate to the association. Notably the

Otago University Debating Society The Otago University Debating Society (OUDS) is a debating society established in June 1878 and is the oldest society of the University of Otago, the first university to be founded in New Zealand. Echoing trends in Australia and the United States ...

, now an affiliated club, pre-dates the formation of the association, and it was members of the debating society that initiated the formation of OUSA in 1890. There are a number of long-standing clubs and societies on campus including the

Otago University Rowing Club Otago University Rowing Club is a Rowing (sport), rowing club affiliated with the University of Otago, New Zealand and was formed in 1929 to provide students of the university the opportunity to compete against other universities in New Zealan ...

, the Otago University Rugby Football Club and the Otago University Medical Students Association. Today there are more than 150 clubs and societies affiliated to OUSA, representing a range of ethnicities, religions, politics, sports and interests of Otago students. The OUSA Clubs and Societies Centre houses the staff that manage the various clubs and societies and the recreation programmes organised by OUSA. Facilities within the centre for students include a sauna, study rooms, music rooms, dance rooms, storage for clubs and an exercise hall. A number of recreation classes are organised and run from the centre, including arts, crafts and cooking, music, sport and dance. Lunches are available at the centre daily during University semesters.

Student Support

OUSA owns and maintains a department that provides support and advocacy for students. This includes class representation, queer support, a hardship fund and advocacy for a number of grievances.

Student Media

Critic

Critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

'' is the official

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

of the Otago University Students' Association. It is freely available around both the university's campus and selected sites in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

city weekly during term time. ''Critic'' is

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

's longest-running student newspaper, having been published since 1925. Weekly circulation is 5,000 copies, with an estimated readership of 21,000. ''Critic'' is a member of the

Aotearoa Student Press Association The Aotearoa Student Press Association is an association of eight student newspapers and magazines that are published by the student associations of universities and polytechnics in Aotearoa (New Zealand). The Aotearoa Student Press Association ...

(ASPA), and was awarded Best Publication in the annual ASPA awards in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2013. Critic has caused controversy on a number of occasions in the past. In 2006 the

Office of Film and Literature Classification The Office of Film and Literature Classification (), branded as the Classification Office (), is an independent Crown entity established under Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993 responsible for censorship and classificatio ...

banned an issue of the magazine, due to it containing a "how-to-guide" on drug rape. Possession or distribution of this issue was deemed illegal. In 2010 The Press Council upheld a complaint against Critic over the article 'The Bum at the Bottom of the World', which depicted three people the publication deemed homeless and vagrant. In 2013 Critic's Editor Callum Fredric received a $35,000 payout after a series of personal disputes with OUSA General Manager Darel Hall. Fredric was suspended by Hall on Friday 3 May, and was trespassed from OUSA buildings by Hall after attending a meeting on Monday 6 May to explain the situation to staff, before being asked to leave by Police. After filing legal proceedings, Fredric accepted a $35,000 settlement package from OUSA on Friday 17 May, and resigned as Editor.

Radio One

Radio One, or The One, is a

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most The Commonwealth, commonwealth countries, a "student" attends ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

operating from the

. It broadcasts on a frequency of 91.0

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

. The station is run largely by volunteer announcers, with a small paid staff. It runs a wide variety of general interest and specialist shows to audiences not catered for by other Dunedin radio stations, such as New Zealand music show The Local and cannabis law reform radio show Overgrown. It is run by Planet Media on behalf of Otago University Students' Association. In the station's early years, Radio One was broadcast from a 100-watt ERP transmitter atop the 11-storey Hocken Building (now Richardson Building) – then the tallest building on the university campus. In the late 1980s, the station moved their transmitter to Dunedin's main FM radio transmitter atop

Mount Cargill Mount Cargill, known in Māori as ,Place names'' on Kāti Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki website, viewed 4 January 2012 is a volcanic outcrop which dominates the skyline of northern Dunedin, New Zealand. The peak is named for Captain Willia ...

, north of the campus. This gives the station a range which covers much of coastal

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

, from

Oamaru Oamaru (; ) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast; State Highway 1 (New Zealand), Sta ...

to past Balclutha. Radio One can now be heard anywhere in the world as it streams all content in 128 kbit/s stereo mp3 over the Internet. The impetus for the station began with an open letter to the president of the association (then Phyllis Comerford) from Alastair Thomson, who had worked on the

Waikato University The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in numerous disciplines such as education, socia ...

student radio station. This letter brought together other interested parties including members of the bands

Netherworld Dancing Toys Netherworld Dancing Toys, often simply known as The NDTs, was a New Zealand band from Dunedin formed in 1982. In 1985, their single "For Today" reached number 3 in the New Zealand singles chart. History The group formed at the University of O ...

and

The Verlaines The Verlaines are a New Zealand rock band from Dunedin. Formed in 1981 by Graeme Downes, Craig Easton, Anita Pillai, Phillip Higham and Greg Kerr, the band went through multiple line-ups. Formed at the beginning of Dunedin sound, The Verlaine ...

. With a grant from the OUSA of approximately $12,000, the station first went to air in early 1984 broadcasting from the OUSA's former boardroom. The station ran on a part-time basis during the university year until the mid-1990s, from which time it has been operating round-the-clock throughout the year in a new annex to the Student Union building which was specifically designed to house the station, the OUSA's offices, and the university's student newspaper ''

''. The station celebrated its 25th birthday at the beginning of 2009. Radio One alumni include

Shayne Carter Shayne P. Carter is a New Zealand musician best known for leading Straitjacket Fits from 1986 to 1994, and as the only permanent member of Dimmer (1995–2012). Carter is a member of the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame, and has been awarded the ...

Wallace Chapman Wallace Leslie Chapman (born 1969) is a New Zealand radio and television host. Early life Chapman attended Nelson College from 1982 to 1986.''Nelson College Old Boys' Register, 1856–2006'', 6th edition Career He began his broadcasting career ...

Charlotte Glennie Charlotte Glennie (born c. 1972) is a New Zealand journalist, who became the first Asia correspondent for Television New Zealand. She reported on the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that followed, and won the Supreme and Best Senior Repor ...

, Sam Hayes,

Jan Hellriegel Jan Hellriegel is a singer/songwriter based in Auckland, New Zealand. Her first recorded appearances were with Dunedin band Working With Walt in the mid-1980s when she studied at the University of Otago in Dunedin. She then formed all-woman b ...

, Lesley Paris, David Pine,

Brent Hodge Brent Hodge (born July 9, 1985) is a Canadian-New Zealander documentary filmmaker and entrepreneur. He is best known for his documentaries '' I Am Chris Farley'', '' A Brony Tale'', '' The Pistol Shrimps'', ''Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary'', ...

, Sean Norling, Chris Armstrong and

Ria Vandervis Ria Vandervis (born 5 July 1984) is a New Zealand actress. She is most known for her role as Harper Whitley in ''Shortland Street'' and Miratrix in ''Power Rangers Operation Overdrive''. Career From 2002 to 2006, Vandervis acted in multiple UN ...

. Aaron Hawkins served as Radio One's breakfast host from 2006 to 2013 and music director from 2011 to 2013 before standing for the Dunedin mayoralty and being elected a Dunedin City central ward councillor.

Notable alumni

Past Presidents

* Francisco Hernandez, President 2013 (

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

Member of Parliament) *

Ayesha Verrall Ayesha Jennifer Verrall ( ; born 1979) is a New Zealand politician, infectious-diseases physician and researcher with expertise in tuberculosis and international health. Since 2020 she has been a Member of the New Zealand House of Representat ...

, President 2001 ( Labour Party Member of Parliament) *

Rachel Brooking Rachel Jane Brooking (born 18 October 1975) is a New Zealand Labour Party politician and Member of Parliament who served as the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries and Minister for Food Safety in the Sixth Labour Government. She first became an ...

, President 1997 ( Labour Party Member of Parliament) *

Grant Robertson Grant Murray Robertson (born 30 October 1971) is a retired New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party who served as the Minister of Finance from 2017 to 2023, as Minister of Foreign Affairs in November 2023, and as the 19th Deputy Pr ...

, President 1993 ( Labour Party Member of Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister 2020–23,

Vice-Chancellor) * Kirsty Graham, President 1992 (Deputy Permanent Representative Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New York) * Sir Jon Doig, President 1988 (Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland) * David Payton, President 1976 (

Administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

Tokelau Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, an ...

2006-09 and Ambassador to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

2002-06 and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

1997–2000) * Sir James Bruce Robertson, President 1968 (President of the Law Commission and High Court Judge) * Patrick Thomas Finnigan, President 1967 (Filed the injunction to stop the Springbok Tour) * Sir Murray Brennan, President 1964 (Chairman of the Surgery Department of the

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute– designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Its main campus is ...

and author) * Sir Frank Holmes, President 1947 (Economist and government advisor) * Jack Dodd, President 1946 (Hector's Medal Winner and well-known physicist) * Dr Douglas Peter (Doug) Kennedy, President 1937 (Director General of Health) * Wilfred (Mick) Borrie, President 1936 (Demographer and Australian government advisor) * Sir John Arthur Stallworthy, President 1930 (Nuffield Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology,

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

) * Phillippe Sidney de Quetteville Cabot, President 1924-26 (Founding President of the National Union of Students (precursor to NZUSA) and an All Black) * Professor Alexander Aitken, President 1920 (Renowned mathematician who developed a number of novel methodologies such as Aitken Extrapolation) *

Te Rangi Hīroa Sir Peter Henry Buck ( October 18771 December 1951), also known as Te Rangi Hīroa or Te Rangihīroa, was a New Zealand anthropologist and an expert on Māori culture, Māori and Polynesian cultures who served many roles through his life: as a ...

(Sir Peter Buck), President 1901 (Renowned doctor, politician and military leader)

Past executive members

* Barry Allan, Treasurer 1986 (Contract Law and Torts Law Lecturer at the

) * Lady Nola Holmes, Women's Vice-president 1946-47 (The first Women's vice president to receive honorary life membership)

Life Members

Sukhi Turner Dame Sukhinder Kaur Gill Turner (born Sukhinder Kaur Gill, 13 April 1952), commonly known as Sukhi Turner, is a New Zealand politician who served as the Mayor of Dunedin, New Zealand, from 1995 until her retirement from the position in 2004. Sh ...

, Appointed 2004 (

Mayor of Dunedin The mayor of Dunedin is the head of the local government, the city council of Dunedin, New Zealand. The mayor's role is "to provide leadership to the other elected members of the territorial authority, be a leader in the community and perform c ...

) * Ronald Chambers, Appointed 1999 (

Proctor 1980–2001) * Rod Carr, Appointed 1980 (

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

Vice-Chancellor 2009–2019) * Sir Arthur Beacham, Appointed 1966 (

Vice-Chancellor 1963–66) *

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...

, made a life member when visiting the

as Duke of York in 1927.

References

External links

Otago University Students' Association website

Critic
– weekly newspaper
Radio One
– student radio station
Planet Media

University Book Shop

NZUSA
is the national student body, of which OUSA is a founding member. {{University of Otago University of Otago Students' associations in New Zealand