The Auckland UniversityStudents' Association, founded in 1891, represents students at the University of Auckland. AUSA organises student events, publicises student issues, administers student facilities, and assists affiliated student clubs and societies. It also produces Craccum magazine and bFM radio station. The constitution of the AUSA centres the organisation around student advocacy and the provision of welfare services. Today AUSA has 27,000 members out of 42,000 equivalent full-time students enrolled at the University of Auckland. AUSA has over 100 affiliated clubs, the student bar Shadows, University Book Shop, Student Job Search, market days and events such as Orientation, Summer Shakespeare, End of Daze, Capping week, Womensfest, Cultural Mosaic, Blues Awards and Ecofest.
Executive
The AUSA Executive consists of Officers and Portfolios.
AUSA membership is free to all current students of the University of Auckland. As required by legislation, the University Council conducted a student referendum in 1999 on whether membership in AUSA should be voluntary or compulsory. The majority of students supported voluntary membership and this was enacted. Referendums on the same issue were held in 2001 and 2003, and in each case, the majority of students voted for voluntary association. Detractors of voluntary student membership say that AUSA suffers drastically from it, and that VSM undermines AUSA's ability to advocate on behalf of students and provide welfare services. They also say that in controlling the flow of money, the University dictates the terms to some extent of its operations through various agreements. As early as the mid-nineties, a number of incidents increased AUSA's credibility and alienated a lot of members who were previously disinterested in student politics, and were an undeniable factor in the 1999 referendum. Contentious issues like allocation of funds was the focus of at the Quad. Proponents of VSM, on the other hand, claim VSM means freedom of choice for students. They cite the United Nations declaration of freedom of association. They also paint AUSA executives under compulsory unionism as being wasteful, and believe that under voluntary AUSA executives are forced to be more accountable to members. They claim that the level of intervention is very limited.
Craccum
Craccum is the weekly magazine produced by the AUSA. The name originated from the scrambled acronym of "Auckland University College Men's Common Room Circular". The publication has frequently found itself in legal difficulties due to its deliberate attempts to be controversial. These attempts have included an issue containing methods to create a bomb, and an issue discussing ways to commit suicide. A publicity stunt in 2005 saw Craccum sell its cover - which was bought by Salient, the student magazine of Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association, with the funds from Victoria University of Wellington's marketing fund. The joke turned out to be on them, as the theme of that issue of Craccum was corporate sellouts. Craccum made the point that commercialism would erode the students' voice.
bFM
95bFM is a typical student radio station that plays alternative music. Like other student broadcasters, it supports local artists well before they become mainstream. Originally started as Radio Bosom, a capping stunt, bFM has gone a long way. Today, with voluntary student union membership, bFM is pushed to make a profit for the Association, and exists more as a corporate entity than a student radio station.
