A Process of Recognition – Caulfield Student Union Honourary Life Memberships
Under the MONSU Caulfield constitution, MONSU Caulfield has the power to award honourary life memberships.
According to current records, the Student Union has only ever awarded one honourary life membership. This honourary life membership was awarded to Mr Paul Ramler, the current Deputy Chancellor of Monash University.
MONSU Caulfield believes that we need to be doing more to honour the contribution of those who are actively involved in the student union, whether they be current / past students, current / past student representatives, current / past club participants, current / past student union / Monyx staff or current / past University / Institution staff.
MONSU Caulfield believes that one avenue of recognising contributions is to award honourary life memberships. This award is an appropriate means to honour a contribution, and will only ever be made to a small group of distinguished people – those people who have made a significant contribution above and beyond the call of duty.
Further, MONSU Caulfield wishes to ensure that the awarding of these memberships should be a process of recognition for not just past Student Presidents, but people who have made a significant contribution above and beyond what is expected.
Consequently, MONSU Caulfield has established a set of guidelines to set a framework of the rules that applications should be considered against when being considered to be awarded with an honourary life membership. Further, the actual decision to award an honourary life membership should go to the MONSU Board.
The guidelines for awarding an honourary life membership shall include:
Student – a minimum of three years involvement in the student union in a student representative position or club as a member of a club executive, with at least two years in a voluntary unhonouraried position, with an additional and commonly recognised and agreed upon contribution above and beyond their role as a student representative or member of a club executive. This criteria could also include a mix of the two. An honourary life membership could not be awarded to a student until a year after they have completed their service as a member of a club executive or as a student representative, excluding an honourary unelected role such as past President member on the MONSU Board. An honourary life membership cannot be awarded to a member who is sitting on the MONSU Caulfield Student Council or MONSU Board;
Student Union / Monyx Staff – a minimum of ten years of service in employment with a commonly recognised and agreed upon contribution above and beyond their role in their capacity as a staff member, and;
University / Institution Staff – a minimum of ten years of service working with, as a staff member, a club or the student union, with a commonly recognised and agreed upon contribution above and beyond their role in their capacity as a University / Institution staff member.
The process for awarding an honourary life membership shall include:
1. A recommendation is made to the MONSU Caulfield Student Council through a student or staff member;
2. The MONSU Caulfield Student Council resolves whether the individual has made a significant contribution and makes a decision whether the individual fulfils the criteria as required;
3. The MONSU Caulfield Student Council makes a decision to recommend to the MONSU Board;
4. The MONSU Board makes a decision based on the evidence and recommendation provided to it by the MONSU Caulfield Student Council, and;
5. Depending on the resolution of the MONSU Board an honourary life membership of the Caulfield Student Union is awarded.
One of the key reasons that the MONSU Board is the body that awards an honourary life membership is to ensure that personal and student politics that may exist from one year to another does not interfere with the appropriate recognition of contributors. The membership of the MONSU Board includes a 50% split of Caulfield and Peninsula members and should avoid making a decision on personal or political grounds.
On these grounds it is also advisable that if, jointly, two students and a Student Union / Monyx / University / Institution staff member makes a recommendation to the MONSU Board to consider the awarding of an honourary life membership that the MONSU Board can independently investigate the matter, using the guidelines of MONSU Caulfield, and award an honourary life membership without the recommendation of the MONSU Caulfield Student Council.
The awarding of honourary life memberships will be officially titled “Honourary Life Membership, Caulfield Student Union,” in view of the possibility of a future renaming of MONSU Caulfield, and so that we may consider awarding honourary life memberships to former students from the days of the Chisholm Institute of Technology, Caulfield Institute of Technology and Caulfield Technical School.
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