Instatement manual for SUPRA council

What is SUPRA?

SUPRA is the postgraduate student union at the University of Sydney, run by postgrads, for postgrads.

Your SUPRA council

You have been elected to govern SUPRA on behalf of all University of Sydney postgrad students. Your role is to represent them and ensure they have access to independent support services.

As an elected representative (‘rep’), SUPRA is what you make it!

You are guided by your policy book, and by the objects and principles set out in the SUPRA Constitution. These outline the broad organisational goals of SUPRA, and some ways to achieve them. How you strive toward these goals and engage with and represent Usyd postgrads is your decision.

You will need to decide how much work you expect to do, and how much you expect from your fellow councillors. You’ll also need to think about how you can build foundations for future SUPRA councils and Usyd postgrads.

Your role is also to ensure Usyd postgrads know they can ask SUPRA for assistance with any academic or welfare issues they have while enrolled. This assistance is provided through the SUPRA casework and legal services, which you are responsible for overseeing.

SUPRA is a safer space

Safer spaces are spaces that are welcoming, engaging and supportive. They are intended to be spaces where people support each other and can feel free to be themselves, where abuse and discrimination are not tolerated. There is more information about this under Safer spaces.

SUPRA’s structure

SUPRA is a student union, and its foundation is its constituency (which includes all Usyd postgrads) and membership (Usyd postgrads who have joined SUPRA). The councillors are elected leaders guided by the needs of all Usyd postgrads.

Members can formally set the rules and direction for SUPRA Council at any general meeting, where they can question council, scrutinise reporting, propose constitutional changes, and have the same voting powers as SUPRA councillors.

These rules and directions have been accepted by the membership, and can only ever be changed with the formal consent of the membership, as the membership is the highest authority within the organisation. This includes the rules you are governed by as a SUPRA councillor, and the objects and principles which you must be guided by.

The SUPRA Constitution, Regulations, Safer Spaces Policy and other important policy documents can be found on our Regulations and Policy page.

Constituent

All postgraduate students at the University of Sydney are constituents of SUPRA. All postgrads benefit from the work SUPRA does whether they actively engage with us or not. It is important to recognise the diversity of our constituency so that we can be properly representative of all postgrads’ interests.

Member

All constituents are encouraged to become members of SUPRA. The benefits of membership include being able to access our free casework and legal services, attend our events to connect with other postgrads, participate in council elections, nominate for council and participate in general meetings.

Councillor

SUPRA is governed by a democratically elected council of postgraduate students: that’s you! It is your responsibility to represent all our constituents, and engage with membership.

Council structure

There are different types of representatives on SUPRA Council.

General councillors

The general council is elected from SUPRA’s membership. It includes positions reserved for international students, satellite campus students, women, non-cis gendered students, coursework students, research students, and one student who is a carer.

Executive officers (‘Exec’)

The President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Education Officer and HDR Officer are elected from the SUPRA Council by councillors. These positions receive a stipend.

Non-Executive officers

The Director of Student Publications and Community Engagement Officer are also elected from SUPRA Council by council, and receive a stipend, but they are not considered to be members of the Executive.

Equity officers

Elected by autonomous networks to represent their equity groups’ interests, equity officers have the same rights and responsibilities on SUPRA council as other councillors. These positions receive a stipend.

Office bearers (‘OBs’)

Collectively, all of the Executive and non-Executive officers, and the equity officers are referred to as office bearers.