Melbourne University student organisations
Encyclopedia
Melbourne University student organisations provide representation for students and a wide range of services. Currently, student services at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...

 are provided by the university-managed company, MU Student Union Limited. A separate body called the University of Melbourne Student Union
University of Melbourne Student Union
The student union, one of several student organisations at the University of Melbourne, Australia, is divided into two parts. The University of Melbourne Student Union , incorporated as University of Melbourne Student Union, Inc. provides representation for students. The service provision arm is...

 (UMSUi) is responsible for student representation. The University of Melbourne Postgraduate Association
University of Melbourne Postgraduate Association
The University of Melbourne Graduate Student Association is the graduate student organisation of the University of Melbourne, in Melbourne, Australia. GSA is an incorporated body governed by an elected council of 15 postgraduate representatives....

 (UMPA) plays a similar role for the University's rising number of post-graduate students.

MU Student Union Limited

MU Student Union Limited is a company limited by guarantee that is wholly owned by the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...

 that provides services to students at the University.

University of Melbourne Student Union

The University of Melbourne Student Union Inc. is an incorporated association of students at Melbourne University, Australia. UMSU is the successor to the Melbourne University Student Union for student representation.

UMSU is a separate body from the MU Student Union Limited, which is governed by a Board, and administered day-to-day by a Chief Executive Officer. The Board consists of a majority of University appointments, with some elected student representation.

Culture

There is a long history of student activities at the University of Melbourne. Particularly noteworthy is Union House Theatre, out of which a large number of notable Australian celebrities have emerged, such as Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...

, Barry Humphries
Barry Humphries
John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE is an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the...

 and Malcolm Livingstone; the Union Band Comp, which has kick-started the careers of several well-known Australian bands; and an annual comedy review which produced the Working Dog
Working Dog Productions
Working Dog Productions is a small film and television production company based in Melbourne, Australia. It was originally known as Frontline Television Productions Pty Ltd...

 crew. Several Members of Parliament
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...

 were active within MUSU, including Sir Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....

 (former Australian Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

), Lindsay Tanner
Lindsay Tanner
Lindsay James Tanner is a former Australian member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Melbourne, Victoria, for the Australian Labor Party, having first won the seat at the 1993 federal election. He was a member of the Australian Government from 3 December 2007, serving as...

 (Member for Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

) and Sophie Mirabella
Sophie Mirabella
Sophie Mirabella is an Australian federal politician. She has been a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2001, representing the Division of Indi, Victoria...

 (Member for Indi).

Services

The student union has been funded by compulsory fees since 1911, with the fees going towards student services, along the Cambridge and Oxford unions model. Since changes to the Federal Higher Education Act in 2003/04, amenities and services fees collected by Melbourne University have been changed at a rate of $49 per subject. Full-time students generally in 2006 $392 or around 5 weeks in rent in shared accommodation.

In 2005, around three-quarters of the student union's funds were directed the cost of employing staff. Some of these staff are employed to operate the Rowden White Library, the Computing Centre, the Student Union Advisory Service; subsidised legal, health and dental services; a campus information centre; and common areas in Union House. The remaining money went to clubs and societies, entertainment, and student grants for cultural and artistic events.

Of the $12 million budget of the student union, somewhat less than $1 million goes towards the funding of Union Departments, which includes funding Farrago, the Women's Department and the Queer Department. In 2005, this also includes funds set aside for possible payment for NUS
National Union of Students of Australia
The National Union of Students is the peak representative body for Australian university students. Most student unions in Australian campuses are affiliated to NUS...

 affiliation fees.

Farrago

First published in 1925, Farrago is the University of Melbourne student newspaper.

Melbourne University Debating Society

The Melbourne University Debating Society is Victoria's oldest student organisation, founded in 1876. MUDS holds weekly debating competitions, as well as larger annual invitational compeititions for other universities in the lead-up to the World Universities Debating Championships, and the Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships. Historically, the University of Melbourne has been very successful, hosting the 1993 World Universities Debating Championship, and making it to the Grand Final of the 2003 WUDC. Additionally, MUDS were semi-finalists (and the most successful Australian team) in the 2010 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships. The Society also hosts Public Debates, and is one of the largest student groups on campus.

Political Clubs

Political clubs in 2011 include Liberals
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

, ALP (Labor Left), Labor (Labor Right
Labor Right
The Labor Right, or Labor Unity in some State branches, or Centre Unity in NSW, is the organised faction of the Australian Labor Party that tends to be more economically liberal and socially conservative than Labor Left....

), Greens
Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...

, and Socialist Alternative
Socialist Alternative (Australia)
Socialist Alternative is a Trotskyist political organisation in Australia formed by an expulsion from the former International Socialist Organisation in 1995. It is one of the largest groups of the Australian far Left, claiming to have the largest active membership. With branches across...

, as well as clubs representing Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

 and the Political Interest Society.

Theatre Clubs


The main theatre group on campus is the Union House Theatre. College theatre groups include the Trinity College Drama Club, founded in 1879. More recently formed theatre groups include the Melbourne University Absurdist Theatre Society (MUATS), the University of Melbourne Music Theatre Association (UMMTA), the Throwback Players and the Union Players. Faculty theatre clubs include the Law and Medical
Medleys, University of Melbourne Medical Revue
Medleys is an annual comedy revue, performed at the Union House Theatre and written by a group of medical students from the University of Melbourne. The Union House Theatre is the premiere theatre of the Union House building of the university's Parkville campus. The Med Revue has been running since...

 Revues. Theatre clubs from culturally diverse backgrounds include Chinese and Sri Lankan theatre groups.


MUATS


Formed in 2004, the Absurdist Theatre Society put on productions of Six on the Beach and 24 Hour Theatre Experience in 2005, and Fando y Lis

Fando y Lis
Fando y Lis is a film adaptation of a Fernando Arrabal play by the same name, and it is Alejandro Jodorowsky's first feature length film. Arrabal was working with Jodorowsky on performance art at the time...

 in 2006.


TentPEG Productions


Performing 5/27 Pandora Lane in 2005 as the University of Melbourne Original Theatre Society, TentPeg has produced Hedda Gabler

Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...

 in September 2006, featuring Julia Harari
Julia Harari
Julia Harari is an accomplished Australian actor known for film and theatre performance. She is well remembered for title role appearances as:* the fragile Hedda in Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabbler, and...

 and 'Art'
'Art' (play)
‘Art’ is a French language play by Yasmina Reza that premiered on 28 October 1994 at Comédie des Champs-Élysées in Paris. The English language adaptation, translated by Christopher Hampton opened in London's West End on 15 October 1996, starring Albert Finney. It played on Broadway in New York...

 in August 2007.


Throwback Players


Formed in 2005, the Throwback Players performed originally written plays Freshers in April 2005 and Good Mourning in August 2005. Anna Jennings-Edquist

Anna Jennings-Edquist
Anna Jennings-Edquist is an Australian actress, playwright and director in both theatre and television. Jennings-Edquist has written and directed several Australian university and festival productions and is known for her acting roles on the popular soap opera Neighbours.-Career:Jennings-Edquist...

 directed the Throwback Players' production of Heat in May 2006. In May 2008, Throwback performed Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.


UMMTA


UMMTA was established in 2002 and performed productions of The Boyfriend (Oct 2002), Dance with the Devil (June 2003), Merilly We Roll Along

Merrily We Roll Along (musical)
Merrily We Roll Along is a musical with a book by George Furth and lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim. It is based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart....

 (Oct 2003), Pirates of Penzance (Apr 2004) and The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...

 (Oct 2004). In 2005 UMMTA performed Divorce Me, Darling!
Divorce Me, Darling!
Divorce Me, Darling is a musical written by Sandy Wilson. Set ten years after the events depicted in Wilson's much better known The Boy Friend, it is a pastiche of 1930s musicals rather than the "Roaring Twenties" shows that inspired the earlier show.-Productions:Divorce Me, Darling ran for 91...

 in March and Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...

 in September. Recent productions include Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....

 (April 2006), Do or Die (Oct 2006), The Pajama Game
The Pajama Game
The Pajama Game is a musical based on the novel 7½ Cents by Richard Bissell. It features a score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story deals with labor troubles in a pajama factory, where worker demands for a seven-and-a-half cents raise are going unheeded...

 (Apr 2007), Fame
Fame (musical)
A stage musical based on the 1980 musical film Fame has been staged under two titles. The first, 'Fame – The Musical' conceived and developed by David De Silva, is a musical with a book by Jose Fernandez, music by Steve Margoshes and lyrics by Jacques Levy. The musical premiered in 1988 in Miami,...

 (Oct 2007) and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown is a 1967 musical comedy with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner, based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in his comic strip Peanuts...

 in April 2008.

Melbourne University Sports Association

Melbourne University Sports Association provides sporting facilities and funding for sporting clubs at the University. These facilities include a gymnasium, swimming pool, ski lodge, group fitness and team sport venues. Membership is open to graduates, University staff and to students at discounted rates. Its mission statement is "to enrich the Melbourne Experience through outstanding sport and recreation programs and facilities." After Voluntary Student Unionism
Voluntary student unionism
Voluntary student unionism is a policy, notable in Australia, under which membership of – and payment of membership fees to – university student organisations is voluntary....

 was introduced, MUSA began charging fees for the use of basketball courts and hockey fields.

The Association also awards Blues and Half-Blues for significant sporting achievement.

Graduate Student Association

The Graduate Student Association represents postgraduate students at the University of Melbourne. UMPA has over 9,000 members including all those engaged in studying for Graduate Diplomas, Postgrad Diplomas, Masters degrees and doctorates. UMPA is an advocacy, representation and lobbying organisation. It is based in the 1888 Building at the University.

UMPA is governed by a council of 19 students, elected by the postgraduate student body. UMPA is an incorporated association, fully independent from the University, the School of Graduate Studies, from the University of Melbourne Student Union and Melbourne University Student Ltd..

Clubs affiliated with larger networks

Melbourne University has local chapters of:
  • AIESEC
    AIESEC
    AIESEC is a global youth organisation that develops leadership capabilities through their internal leadership programmes and engaging students and graduates in international student exchange and internship programmes for profit and non-profit organisations. Its international office is in...

  • SIFE
    SIFE
    SIFE is an international non-profit organization that works with leaders in business and higher education to mobilize university students to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders...

  • FMAA
  • Robogals
    Robogals
    Robogals is an international student-run organisation that aims to substantially increase the number of young women pursuing engineering in their tertiary studies and careers. Its primary activity is fun, educational robotics workshops aimed at girls in primary and secondary school...

  • Melbourne University Young Engineers (Engineers Australia
    Engineers Australia
    The Institution of Engineers Australia, often shortened to IEAust and trading as Engineers Australia, is a professional body and not-for-profit organisation dedicated to being the national forum for the advancement of the engineering field within Australia...

     student chapter)
  • Institution of Engineering and Technology
    Institution of Engineering and Technology
    The Institution of Engineering and Technology is a British professional body for those working in engineering and technology in the United Kingdom and worldwide. It was formed in 2006 from two separate institutions: the Institution of Electrical Engineers , dating back to 1871, and the...



The international student organisation Robogals
Robogals
Robogals is an international student-run organisation that aims to substantially increase the number of young women pursuing engineering in their tertiary studies and careers. Its primary activity is fun, educational robotics workshops aimed at girls in primary and secondary school...

was founded at the University of Melbourne, but now has 15 chapters across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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