3 December 2009
Dear Member,
I am writing to you on behalf of your Committee to strongly encourage you to attend a Special General Meeting, called for in two weeks time. There is only one item for this meeting: the issue of the future of the Club on Hughes Plaza or, as it will become, the so-called 'learning hub'.
Members of the Committee and I have been engaged in discussions with the University since the 17th of October on this issue, and have argued very forcefully that we should remain in this building, which was constructed for the express purpose of housing the University of Adelaide Club. The University's response to this has, regrettably, been a predictable one. In somewhat reluctantly acknowledging the importance of our Club to members of staff and postgraduate students, the University has nonetheless insisted upon providing us with no guarantee of a return to existing premises. Instead, the only reassurance they have been able to give us is that we will have the opportunity to present a business plan to a committee charged with deciding upon providers of services on the Hub. The University has stressed that such a plan cannot be lodged in advance of the proposed temporary move of the Club to Union House while destruction and construction on Hughes Plaza is initiated in January. Temporary accommodation for us has been earmarked as the current Equinox caf' in Union House. I think it is fair to say that the University would prefer to have us remain there permanently, and have consistently downplayed the importance of maintaining the Club in its current location.
We have argued strongly that we represent a significant cross-section of the University, and are the only facility of our kind on campus that provides hospitality services to the University and is governed by members of the University community itself. Furthermore, we have also informed the University that we have in the past eight years been running in a financially successful way, and have developed a strong bond between staff and postgraduate students, a bond that is offered by no other university in the country. Finally, we have argued that we should not be treated as another tenderer for a presence on the proposed Hub, but as an exception to this 'rule' because we are an organisation for University people run by University people. Such an argument has, most regrettably, fallen upon deaf ears. We should, according to the University, see ourselves as nothing more than a commercial punter competing with other commercial punters for a space which had been purpose-built for us, was financially secured by non-University funds, and which we have run continuously since it first opened in the late 1960s. Furthermore, our presence on Hughes Plaza has been a continuous one since we first had dedicated buildings here.
The notion of the importance, and the fragile nature, of a Club such as ours has made little impression on the Administrative divisions charged with the construction of the Hub. Instead, they have indicated, and in an unfortunate fashion, how insignificant we are in the eyes of senior members of the University. We know that this is not the case, as we regularly see senior members of the University dining, running events at the Club, bringing visitors to it (to consummate effect, as the visitors uniformly and enthusiastically comment on the enviable facility we offer the University) and using its bottle shop. Unfortunately, might appears to have outweighed right in the context of the conduct of our negotiations, and the insights we have had from those presenting the argument from the University's side suggest that our temporary move from the Plaza, and from our purpose-built home, will be a permanent one.
We should also point out that it is perhaps an indication of the University's intent with regard to the Club that we were first approached only in mid-October, with the timing of this clearly in anticipation of presenting the Hub plans to the University Council for approval, and being able to say that all parties on the Plaza had been consulted. The Club was not consulted, it was summoned to a meeting with the University Administration, and told what was going to happen by the end of the year. It has been patently clear from discussions after the fact that the University is not at all clear about our nature, the success of our operations in the past eight years, nor even on some important factual matters concerning the Club. Had such information been sought early on in the process, we could have engaged in genuine consultations regarding the future of the Club on Hughes Plaza, rather than being served a fait accompli.
As the Vice-Chancellor has written to me to explain what will happen at the end of the year, and with the offer of alternative premises and a very modest 'sweetener' to help our relocation, it is, I think, quite appropriate that members who feel strongly about the Club and its continued presence on the Plaza/Hub should write to him directly, expressing their views on why this should be the case. I should also indicate that while we have on a number of occasions raised the important contribution made to Club life by our retired colleagues and Alumni, the University has been singularly silent on this important element of our membership, and the contributions it made, and continues to make, to the University of Adelaide. Furthermore, while the University acknowledges the important connection the Club has forged with postgraduate students on campus, it nonetheless doesn't feel that this is a strong enough case for recognising our existing 'student-centric' nature; an odd outlook in itself, given the popularity of the Club with successive generations of our postgraduate student members, many of whom have continued their association with the Club after the completion of their degrees. If you are hesitant to write to the Vice-Chancellor, then please feel free to send me your views (felix.patrikeeff@adelaide.edu.au) and I will pass them on to him and/or Mr Paul Duldig's office in advance of our SGM.
Let me close by reassuring you that we continue to push our cause with the University, and do so in a determined and energetic way. By the time we convene, I will be able to pass on further insight into the situation. We can then formulate a consolidated approach to convey to the University.
With best wishes,
Yours sincerely,
Felix Patrikeeff
(Chair, University of Adelaide Club)
