The University of Queensland Indonesian Student Association (UQISA) held the Annual General Meeting (AGM) last Sunday (16 September 2018) with two main agendas: the report from the former president and the election of the new UQISA president. According to Fajar Anandi, the head of the election committee, there were four candidates of UQISA President in this AGM: Ferry Apriadinata (Master of Environmental Management), M. Syaikh Rohman (Master of Economics), Rosalia (Master of Animal Science), and Arimbi Mardilla Ashany (Master of Applied Linguistics and TESOL). The election began by means of a consensus decision-making and consultative discussion by the candidates. However, it was continued with voting by 72 participants of AGM as the candidates did not reach an agreement, which resulted in Arimbi Mardilla Ashany (a.k.a Bea) being elected as the new president of UQISA for 2018-2019 through voting.
Bea, who proposed “Happy and Productive UQISA” as her vision, was voted by approximately 50% of the AGM’s participants. That meaningful vision was created to make UQISA become the place for all Indonesian students at the University of Queensland (UQ) to stay happy and keep being productive as well. In her presentation, Bea proposed some programs, including the “Aspiration Box” and the “Academic Assessments and Academic English Support”. The “Aspiration Box” will be conducted regularly either online or through face-to-face discussion, while the academic support will focus on sharing some valuable tips and tricks in doing assessments as well as to improve students’ Academic English.
In addition to Bea’s vision, there are some expectations from Fendi Widianto (the former president) for the next UQISA’s committee. His first wish is that the next president can maintain the essential programs, such as panel discussions and Indo Day (Independence Day), as well as to maintain engagement with potential stakeholders including Indonesian communities in Queensland. Particularly, Fendi also suggested the improvement of collaboration between UQISA and PPIA by holding online discussions or other related activities.
Writer : Hesti Retno Budi Arini
