ADSA Committee 2019 Nominees

Being the 2018 Sponsorship Officer and in the subcommittee the year before, I have had various opportunities which provided me with insight into the workings and intricacies of the ADSA as a student organisation. I believe that my accumulated communicational skills, organisational skill and overall increased confidence gained over the past 2 years provides a solid foundation to transition and represent the student members in 2019.In my previous role, I had to tailor my approach to appeal to each sponsor’s company needs. Communication was crucial as I had to convince each sponsor to agree to the terms of sponsorship which was mutually beneficial for both the students and their company.

If given this opportunity I hope to use my knowledge and skills to be the voice of the students at the meetings with the dental board and be the anchor of support for both the president and the ADSA committee.

Having experienced being a part of the 2017 ADSA committee, I have communicated and interacted with those in other positions, gaining an understanding of what each role entails.The ‘secretary’ position appeals most to me as my experiences in the past as Media Officer (ADSA) and Social Events Officer (BOHDS) have allowed me to develop a range of relevant skills. I wish to maintain and improve on the openness of communication between the executive and general committee members. I’d ensure deadlines are kept to and that all meetings, and their corresponding minutes, are organised well in advance to maximise efficiency.

I would like to work closely with relevant international student bodies to make sure that ADSA members are fully informed and benefit from their membership in all aspects.

If I were to be elected, I’d bring a sense of positivity to the committee, hoping to push and inspire the others to do their best work for themselves as well as ADSA members in general.

There was always something special about bringing a community together. Being quite gregarious in nature, I have always sought to cultivate a positive environment in a plethora of ways – whether it be as First Year Dentistry Representative at La Trobe or through leadership roles at school. As Sponsorship Officer, I will be eager to liaise with neighbouring companies and organisations in a professional manner, hoping to ameliorate relations between ADSA and immerse myself for the betterment of the community – something I have had experience in especially in university and in secondary school as School Prefect and House Captain. Seeking new innovative ideas from my peers have always formed part of the foundation of my leadership, particularly those may be useful to the student community. It would be honoured to exercise this enthusiasm within this role. These aspirations would also attribute to my role as community officer, as I have been involved with numerous volunteering projects such as the Smith Family and the Sony Camp.Having a rather unique knack for writing, my role as publications officer would allow me to be involved with all aspects of the ADSA community. Even though I am indeed in my first year of dentistry, it would be a privilege to contribute to the benefit of ADSA.

Despite already attending 2 ADSA conventions, the thought of joining the committee had somehow never crossed my mind until last year. In 2018 as the subcommittee member for community, I realised how fulfilling and engaging being part of such a driven team could be. In addition I learnt the innards of how the team works and the multitude of events throughout the year that need to be supported. By attaining my desired role as community officer, I hope to foster an increased engagement via correspondence of uni reps whilst interlinking broadly with volunteering organisations worldwide. Appropriate volunteering opportunities would be timely distributed to dental students Australia-wide on my behalf. I am slightly obsessed with checking my email…so any email received would definitely be responded to asap! (I promise I have a life) Since 2019 is my final year of dental school, I hope this will be my last hurrah being able to contribute to the committee and giving back to the dental students community. Overall, I would love to inject some of my passion and enthusiasm into the role and can’t wait to see what magic ADSA creates in 2019!

Since my first year into Dentistry, I have actively engaged my self with roles involving operation of student committees and bodies. After starting the first ever media/design committee for the Dental Student committee at Griffith University, I translated the experiences I have into my role as a member of the ADSA design sub-committee 2018. Working alongside students who share a common goal and passion towards accentuating the importance of ADSA’s visions has allowed me to not only replicate my past successes as a designer but also to grow as one also. The experience and insight gained from ADSA is invaluable and I wish to make further influences as a Design Officer and perpetuate the success past design officers have created.

Having been the Website Officer over 2018 and subcommittee in 2017, I understand the position, workload and challenges and want to continue to be involved in ADSA. I have experience in the WordPress platform that is being used, assisting with the creation of the current new ADSA website, and further improving it with a re-design over the past year. I’ve been involved in creating everything you see as you browse this site!I have also coded websites from scratch independently (most notably http://varnomen.hgvs.org/), so I am able to implement any ideas suggested and approved by the new committee. Additionally, I have been fortunate to be a part of many club committees throughout my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, and I hope to apply the management and communication skills I have learnt to this position.

Most of all I hope to help in continuing and building upon the success of the previous ADSA committees.

I wish to join the ADSA Committee because I think it will be both a challenging and fun experience. I have met some of the 2017 committees and can see that everyone was very close with each other and was having lots of fun while working together.This is my second year applying for the position for WEBSITE OFFICER and between 2017-2018, I have expanded my skills in website design by participating in a web designing project with Unleash Design Australia and the University of Western Australia. This project, “Sites4good”, aims to provide free website building for Australian charities at absolutely no cost. We aim to help charity to raise awareness and funding. You can visit our website (build by us) on www.sites4good.com.au. Alternatively, you can find us on our FB page https://www.facebook.com/site4good/. In addition to building website for the community, we also focus on digital marketing of the website, i.e. how to rank higher on google search page for the charity’s website. I believe I am up for the role this coming year as the 2019 WEBSITE OFFICER.

Thank you for your consideration.

Tsz Wai Yau

I grew up in a rural part of Queensland and have a strong passion about working rurally in dentistry once I graduate. I think many dental students are not aware of the benefits of working rurally in Australia and would benefit greatly from more promoting and education on rural Australia and the benefits of working there. I hope to be this voice for students who aren’t aware of the benefits of working rurally. I would bring a fun, upbeat personality to ADSA. I have many experiences in public speaking, fundraising and executive leadership. I’m hoping to achieve a more informed student society on the benefits of working rurally in Australia.

If there is something that really works well for me it is group work and being able to complete tasks efficiently. Previously, I have been part of organising community festivals, with a cultural group based in Perth, which included volunteering on the day and being part of event planning. So, in terms of organising and planning, I can transfer and develop skills further, related to my career, as part of ADSA.
Growing up in Perth (which is a city that can be rural enough) and studying at Latrobe University Bendigo (so close to Melbourne, yet so far away), I believe I have a good understanding of rural life and can promote rural health initiatives based on my own experiences in WA aswell.
Moreover, I have always supported fundraising events that help the people in need. I have been involved in the 48hr Famine and multiple fun runs that have raised money for people in need and have also encouraged many of my friends to join. I can bring this interest as a community officer promoting positive events for the community!
Overall, I’m really keen to be part of a dental students association especially during my first year of university as it would good experience working in a team with a different dynamic!

I’d like to help solidify ADSA Talks as a staple component of our yearly program by building a stockpile of presentations for a more consistent delivery of talks (e.g. every two months), and by creating more student engagement through different outlets (e.g. obtaining feedback, selection of topics, Q&As, etc.). My keen interest in supplemental learning has motivated me to attend dental talks/lectures/events and I hope to use this as a way to recruit speakers, alongside collaborating with university reps to find professionals wiling to share their knowledge with the student community. My hope is that ADSA Talks will eventually become a resource that students look forward to receiving every month or so, as an adjunct to their academic studies.

– This is a SELF-NOMINATION PROCESS ONLY. You can only nominate yourself and no other person.

– Elections will take place at the Australian Dental Students’ Association’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). It will be held at 2.30pm Friday the 6th of July 2018 at the University of Western Australia. Please note, no proxy votes are allowed.

– Official list of nominees will be released on at least 1 week prior to the AGM

– You will be required to present a short 2-3 minute speech at the AGM in Perth. If you are unable to attend the AGM, please send a 2-3 minute video of your nomination speech to [email protected] Sharing a link to a google drive upload of the video is preferred. If you need help with the submission, please don’t hesitate to contact Cindy at [email protected]

– Please note, the election is only held for the Executive Committee (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary), and for General Committee (Sponsorship, Media, Community, Design, Website, Rural, Publications, Oral Health and Education)

– These positions will have a term starting 1st January 2019 and conclude on 31st of December 2019.

– Positions for Sub-Committee will open after the Executive and General Committee has been elected. The Sub-Committee will be chosen by the President, Vice-President and the respective General Officer(s).

– University Representatives are elected or appointed by the relevant dental student society according to their own by-laws.

– You must be a current dental or oral health therapy/dental hygiene student to nominate and you must NOT be in your final year of study in 2018.

– Oral Health Officer must be held by an oral health therapy / dental hygiene student.

– Training for your position will start in late July. Current Committee members will guide you through your role and you will assist in the upcoming events of this calendar year (2018) up until you officially start your position.

– Only students who have previously held a formal committee position or have been an ADSA Convention Co-Convenor may stand for the position of President. Additionally, in 2018, you must not be in your penultimate or final year prior to graduation.

– You can nominate up to three (3) preferences for your choice of position.

– You are encouraged to discuss the role with the current ADSA Committee member serving this role.

– Nominations filled incorrectly or containing missing information or deemed ineligible due to guidelines will be disregarded and as such, will not be part of the election process. You may re-submit another form with correctly filled information.

We highly encourage all students to consider getting involved with the ADSA; it provides you will invaluable experiences, a sense of community and is a highly rewarding experience. However, it is a significant commitment; and requires dedication and enthusiasm. We encourage any students who are interested in running for a portfolio to contact the incumbent executive or general committee member – they will be able to outline the commitment involved and skills required.

Please do not hesitate to contact Cindy Zhou (ADSA Vice President) for further information at [email protected]

PRESIDENT
• Exercises the executive powers of the association in the absence of general or committee meetings
• Chairs all meetings
• Ensures all dental schools are represented by the association and advocates on behalf of students where required
• Manages relationships with external individuals and organisations, represents the consensus view of all Australian dental and oral health students
• Oversees all activities and events being planned and run by the association
• Ensures that the roles and objectives of the committee are fulfilled

VICE-PRESIDENT
• Assists the President in managing the association
• Have dealings with Australasian Council of Dental Schools (ACODS), Australian Dental Association Federal (ADA Inc.),
Recent Graduate Committee (RGC), New Zealand Dental Student Association (NZDSA), Australian Medical Student
Association (AMSA)
• Oversees certain projects and events of the association
• Promote student advocacy
• Develops policy of the ADSA with consultation with members and the executive
• Communicate with ADSA executives, ADSA’s committee, ADSA representatives, all national dental
school presidents
• Attends stakeholder meetings in the Presidents absence

SECRETARY
• Manages ongoing correspondence between Executive and organises the annual general meeting at each convention, including preparing agendas and taking minutes
• Organizing meetings between the various ADSA committee and teams, including preparing agendas and taking minutes
• Ensuring that deadlines are being met and tasks are happening in a timely fashion
• Keeping communication open with committee members
• Answering queries from current, past and potential members
• Remaining in communication with various organisations about information that are pertinent to ADSA
• This year, the role also entailed: Monitoring the new membership registration and card system AND Improve communications with International Dental student bodies such as IADS

TREASURER
• Manages and records association finances, including filing all receipts and invoices from ADSA expenses
• Liaises with executive and committee members with regards to planned activities and financial needs
• Ensures a balanced financial position at the end of each term
• Presents a financial report whenever required by the association
• Creates and submits the annual ADSA business activity statement
• Oversees finances of the ADSA Convention

PAST PRESIDENT (automatically filled by the outgoing president)
• Advises other executive and committee members where necessary
• Organises the election of executive members