Otago University Students’ Association(OUSA) 2023 president Quintin Jane was elected last week with a 58% majority, or 1005 votes.
About 18,000 students were eligible to vote.
Boosting engagement between students and the OUSA, reopening Starters Bar, and pushing for a clear Covid-19 policy were Mr Jane’s main campaign policies.
"It’s exciting to know the policies I went with are well received."
A reporter with student station Radio One, the 21-year-old said he fell into student politics.
"I’ve been in the building next door to OUSA — it’s really hard to avoid everything that’s going on there."
Mr Jane moved from Rangiora to Dunedin to study health sciences in his first year, but swiftly revised his plans.
"I did six weeks and went, nope that’s not for me — I was not a fan of the human anatomy."
He was now in his final year studying politics, chemistry, and mathematics.
New Zealand’s first Labour prime minister Michael Joseph Savage, who had an "unwavering" focus on improving people’s lives, was a politician he admired, he said.
His hands-on experience including sitting on the OUSA academic committee and his ongoing two-year position as president of the Mathematics and Physics Students Association.
"That’s been a really good experience — we’ve almost tripled our membership numbers this year from last."
Mr Jane hoped to increase engagement between students and the OUSA.
A lot of work the OUSA did, such as making submissions, "fell by the wayside" unnoticed by students, he said.
The Covid-19 pandemic had not helped in raising its profile, as events could not be held as usual earlier in the year.
In August the OUSA’s annual meeting was cancelled because less than the requisite 0.5% of the student population showed up.
He planned to share more information about what was going on behind the scenes in hopes of sparking a feedback loop.
Another plan, now that the pandemic situation allowed it, was to drop in on lectures and halls of residence to explain what the OUSA was all about and encourage students to reach out.
"The more that students get involved with OUSA, the more that OUSA can do what they want."
Increased voting numbers in the next election would be a sign of a successful year, he said.
