OUSA Exec members report hours below targets for third quarter

Otago University Students' Association executives must take pay reductions after weekly work logs for the third quarter came in below their required hours. Rihana Warsame, the Welfare and Equity Representative, averaged 10.7 hours per week against a 20-hour target, and Fergus Parks, the Postgraduate Representative, averaged 5.32 hours against a 10-hour target. Warsame's reduction was set at 25 percent of her honorarium. Parks received a 30 percent cut. Both were the only reductions issued this quarter.

Exec members submit quarterly work reports, which other members review to decide whether full honorariums are warranted. Required hours are fulfilled "where practicable," and reports on sickness or family matters were weighed in the pay decisions. President Daniel Leamy said the reductions reflect the Executive's commitment to collective accountability. "We are constantly aware that, at the end of the day, we are paid with student money, and there are expectations that come with each Executive role," Leamy said. "Pay decisions are not made lightly and demonstrate the Executive taking its responsibilities seriously in a fair and constructive way."

In 2025, seven Exec members had honorariums reduced, in some cases more than once, with most cuts set at 10 to 15 percent. The Exec has described last year's reductions as a "write-off" and said this quarter's decisions are separate from that process.

Several members logged hours above their targets for the quarter. Hansini Wijekoon, the Academic Representative, averaged 21.75 hours against a 20-hour requirement, and Troy Gibbons, the Finance and Strategy Officer, averaged 21.77 against 20. Leamy averaged 40.54 against 40. Flynn Nisbett, the Political Representative, averaged 9.14 against 10 for the quarter, with a yearly average of 11.96. Kamesha Jones logged 19.95 against 20, rising to 27 hours per week when the mid-year break is excluded.

Warsame's report noted she had been away from campus and that she underestimated the effect the time difference would have on handling email and Teams in place of in-person work. Her hours fell from 15 to 17 per week in the first quarter and 18 in the second. Parks logged 7.96 hours in the second quarter after meeting his target in the first. He is not returning to the role next year.

Reports covering other work in the quarter include Flynn Nisbett's account of the OUSA leaders debate drawing 300 students, and OUSA enrolling over 500 students. Nisbett also met with 13 politicians and coordinated with four other student associations on fees-free, paid placements and voluntary student membership. Gibbons worked on a memorandum of understanding for UniQ and on budget preparation for the AGM, and wrote that he "helped Hybrid [Governance] sink, which is my greatest achievement this year." Leamy fronted at least 16 OUSA and University committees and appeared in media coverage of Hybrid Governance and the University Bookshop.

Wijekoon has been collecting student feedback through class representatives on matters including the Academic Integrity Policy, and has completed a draft plan to split the Academic Representative role between two Exec members, which requires student body approval. She has also been reviewing the Lecture Recording Policy, which she said cannot be expanded to cover more teaching formats while lecture attendance declines. Parks has been preparing the Supervisor of the Year Award and meeting with the Graduate Research School. Warsame reported the relaunch of the Otago Disabled Students' Association, with activity expected from the start of next year, and work on access to free at-home HIV testing kits around OUSA and campus. Her proposal for diversity, equity and inclusion workshops in first-year halls of residence did not proceed, which she attributed to limited enthusiasm and the need for a firm commitment from the University.

Zoe Eckhoff, the Residential Representative, averaged 7.83 hours against a 10-hour target, and Ella-Mary Sangster, the Clubs and Societies Representative, averaged 4.31 against 10, with a yearly average of 8.48. Kamesha Jones said her goals for the Administrative Vice President role have been "completely sidetrack[ed], steamrolled, [or] quashed" following an inquate special general meeting that halted structural and administrative reforms, and her withdrawal from her studies. She was re-elected for 2027. Warsame and Eckhoff were also re-elected. The OUSA Exec continues to operate through the remainder of the year.