President's Report – ARC Canberra
University of New South Wales Canberra
Date: 22 October 2023
· Introduction
Good day everyone, I would like to begin this report by expressing my gratitude for the opportunity to serve as the President of our UNSW Canberra ARC during the past academic year. It has been an incredible journey to work with my team and all the ARC members, and I'm thrilled to share our achievements and activities with you all. This report will include club overview, membership growth and participation, achievements and highlights, challenges faced, financial report, upcoming plans, and conclusion.
· Club Overview
Our ARC Canberra is dedicated to enriching our members’ campus life and connecting the members with our university. Over the past year, we have strived to engage our members in a variety of meaningful experiences, activities, and create a positive impact within the university community.
· Membership Growth and Participation
One of our significant accomplishments this year was membership growth. Our club saw a significant increase in membership, bringing our total number of members to 278 (22 October 2023). This surge in interest indicates the value our club brings to our university community. The turnout in our events and activities has increased significantly compared with previous years.
· Achievements and Highlights
During this year, our club organized a significant number of regular and special events and initiatives for our members. The regular event we conducted including movie nights, ARC afternoon tea and ARC annual sports tournament (Table tennis and Badminton). The special events or new initiatives including Friendly Cricket Game, Trivia Night, Go Bowling, Undergraduate Cocktail Night, Welcome BBQ, Snow Mountain trip, UNSW Diversity festival and the upcoming ARC Gala Dinner. Some of the key achievements and highlights include:
Event Name:
1. Undergraduate cocktail night on 24 June 2023
As you may notice, UNSW Canberra is a defence-based campus. This campus has a very limited number of civilian undergraduates. To enrich the campus life of our civilian undergraduates, ARC Canberra has organized this special event-End of Semester Cocktail night for undergraduates. Nearly 30 undergraduates enjoyed their drinks and had a nice evening with their peers after their final exam after term 2.
2. ARC Snow Mountain Trip at Perisher Valley on 13 August 2023
The long-awaited snowy trip was a complete success! 47 ARC member went to Perisher valley to enjoy the snowy environment and the team was overjoyed with the fantastic snow view, warm lunch, and exciting toboggan. The snow journey was jam-packed with fun activities which was a great runaway from our study and research.
3. UNSW Diversity Fest on 21 September 2023
UNSW Diversity fest featured by the delicious food from 9 countries including Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, China, Vietnam, US, Canada, Turkey and Croatia and traditional clothes from different countries. This event was co-organized between ARC and EDI officer Tom. It attracted more than 100 ARC members and defence students to the venue to taste the free international foodies. ARC EDI officer has also provided funding support besides the funding from UNSW Sydney.
These accomplishments would not have been possible without the dedicated efforts of our club ARC committee members and the support of the university administration and community.
· Challenges Faced
While we have achieved many milestones, it is important to acknowledge the challenges we encountered. Some of the challenges included difficult committee transition in the early stage. The 2023 ARC executive committee almost started from scratch and obtained information from here and there after being elected in April 2023. It took us lots of time to get familiar with this organization, information, and facilities. However, our team’s resilience and commitment allowed us to overcome them effectively in the end.
· Financial Report
Our club's financial stability is crucial for us to continue providing valuable experiences and organizing events. Our financial report prepared by Treasure for 2023-2024 year indicates we have a strong financial record in last year. An opening balance of $13,830.35 was carried forward from 1 February 2023, signifying the financial position at the beginning of this fiscal year. Additionally, a significant funding from SAS, UNSW Caberra of $22,000 was received on 9 June 2023, enhancing the organization's financial resources. The total expenditure in 2023 amounted to $13,656.62. The closing balance as of 20 October 2023 is $26,627.18 (Note that this excludes the accepted EDI Grant of $1000 which is currently being processed.).
· Upcoming Plans for ARC
As we look ahead to the coming year, our club has several exciting plans in the pipeline. We would ensure a smooth transition between the current ARC executive committee and next executive committee. Some of the initiatives and events we are considering include:
Upcoming Event 1: ARC Gala Dinner on 11 November 2023. This ARC Gala dinner will happen after the undergraduate final exam, and it will open to all the arc members with subsidized price. This event concludes the end of academic year and will be another highlight event for ARC Canberra 2023.
Proposed Initiative 1: In order to have a smooth transfer, we propose an ARC transition meeting between the current ARC executive committee and newly elected executive committee in November-December 2023. The 2023 ARC executive committee will hand over all the ARC properties and equipment, information, required knowledge, and funding to next committee after this meeting. And the transition period will be in November and December 2023.
We are eager to build on our successes and keep working towards our club's mission.
· Conclusion
In conclusion, the past year has been filled with accomplishments and growth for our ARC Canberra. We are proud of what we have achieved, and we look forward to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. I would like to express my sincere thanks to our club members, advisors from SAS especially Vanessa, Emma and ARC Sydney Mitchell, and other university departments for their support and dedication. Here I also would like to express my sincere thanks to my team, please allow me to introduce them to you:
ARC Canberra 2023 Executive Committee | |
President | Menghu Xia |
Vice President (PG) | Saina Akbari Kouchaksaraei |
Vice President (UG) | Sajjad Mohammad Sharif |
Secretary | Raj Kaithwar |
Treasurer | Saleen Bhattarai |
EDI Officer | Kurtis Chen |
ARC Canberra 2023 General Committee | |
Public Relation Officer | Mahmuda Akter (September 2022 to July 2023) Dona Toyesha Padukkage (July 2023—Ongoing) |
Event Manager | Cayden Wellsmore |
Social Media Manager | Teresa Chhabra |
Table Tennis Coordinator | Abu Hashan Md Mashud |
Badminton Coordinator | Jue Zhang (January 2023 to August 2023) Anna Anil Thadamuriyil (August 2023--Ongoing) |
Dance Club Coordinator | Wasura Wattearachchi (September 2023-Ongoing) |
Cricket & Soccer Coordinator | Priyam Das |
Thank you for your attention, and I am open to any questions or comments from the members and attendees.
Sincerely,
Menghu Xia (Tiger)
ARC Canberra President
University of New South Wales Canberra
