2017 Student Association Club Awards

The Student Association (SAUNDA) Clubs Awards recognises the contributions of individuals or clubs to our Notre Dame student community in 2017.

Recipients of each award was announced at SAUNDA's Annual Notre Dame Ball held at The Westin Hotel, Sydney, on 15 September 2017.

Unsung Hero Award - Jacques Pacifique, Events Director, Notre Dame Sydney Nursing Society

Jacques has a strong and continuous presence within the Nursing Society Committee and Nursing School. He is diligent and hardworking by taking initiative and putting extra effort beyond his role, which has greatly furthered the development of the Nursing Society. At the beginning of his term, he acquainted himself with all Student Association, Student Services and University policies and processes. In doing so, he has guided other student leaders in navigating this process. His dedication and service to the School of Nursing shows his capacity as a student leader. Finally, he has been credited as contributing towards the society's effective engagement with the School of Nursing and the marked increase in student involvement and event attendance in the School.

Community Service Award - Global Health at Notre Dame Sydney (Global Hands)

Headed by Global Hands Chair, Adele Evans, the club has tirelessly contributed to efforts to making events around the Darlinghurst site more green and environmentally friendly. Initiatives this year included, 'Donate a Plate' - where students would donate a reusable plate from home to the Medicine Society for events and prevent waste of non-reusable materials, encouragement of students to use keep cups, and the promotion of healthier foods at events. Through their advocacy on a local and national level, Global hands has been alerting medical students to refugee issues including donating non-perishable items to refugee camps, badges highlighting a month of awareness and panel talk. Further Global Hands, through their Code Green representative, was pivotal in helping to facilitate a divestment of the Medicine Society's financials away from fossil fuel investors and into a bank that promotes green and community level investing. The Student Association recognises these and many more contributions of Global Hands to the Notre Dame student community and the wider outside community. 

Collaboration Award- Social Committee, Medical Association of Notre Dame University Sydney (MANDUS)

The Social Committee of MANDUS has strived to create a warm environment and collaborate with Student Clubs and other organisations. They have collaborated throughout this year with the Rural Health Club (ROUNDS), the Nursing Society, the Surgical Society (SANDUS) and with the School of Medicine to ensure staff were invited to events and that they continued to follow university policies. They have managed to foster a continuing relationship with the MedCamp camp site that the 2018 MedCamp has been impressively booked already. Further, the Student Association was impressed to hear that for MANDUS' annual MedBall, the social committee acquired over $1000 to provide sponsored MedBall tickets to students of disadvantaged backgrounds who might not necessarily be able to afford it. As such, boosting what the Student Association sees as 'unity in community'.

Outstanding Administration Award - Aurel Menzon, President, Notre Dame Sydney Nursing Society

As President of the newly re-established Nursing Society, Aurel has demonstrated himself to be a creative leader dedicated to promoting a supportive committee and successful Nursing Society. He has aimed to further develop the Nursing Society be creating a foundation built on strong relationships with the School of Nursing staff, university departments, external organisations and other societies. Through regular communication and meetings with administration staff, academic staff and Nursing Dean, the Nursing Society has become more integrated with the School of Nursing and has increased staff involved in activities.

Outstanding Club Marketing & Engagement Award - Kate Mazey and Jeremy Saad, MANDUS Publication Representatives

Jointly awarded to MANDUS' Publication Representatives, Kate Mazey and Jeremy Saad, the Student Association has been impressed by the quality and standard of the Club's marketing and engagement with their members. The club aimed to increase student engagement across all its social media platforms and across the University. On Facebook, student have been engaged through medical issues, current affairs, strategies to cope with stress and highlighting student achievements.Impressively, over ten thousand people view their Facebook page, increased reach in the last 3 months by 375% and now over 1300 likes. Additionally, MANDUS has expanded its reach to the community and larger Notre Dame community through Instagram. Further, Kate and Jeremy have done amazing work on MANDUS' magazine, Kyphosis, which was a huge success and distributed around the Darlinghurst site. 

Best Up & Coming Club Award - Wellbeing Society, MANDUS Affiliate

The Wellbeing Society has implemented many initiatives, including Yoga on campus (Semester 1 and 2), mentoring sessions by  2nd Year Students to 1st Year Students on study and handling stressor of medicine and the #WellbeingWednesdayUNDS project. As such, there has been a dramatic change to the University culture in Medicine at the Darlinghurst site of the Sydney Campus. Impressively, the #WellbeingWednesdayUNDS project has become national amongst other Medical Schools in Australia. Nikita, the head of the Wellbeing Society, has been instrumental in this club's success by being a personal mentor to Medicine Students in time of stress, anxiety and difficult person circumstances and by introducing many of these initiatives with the Wellbeing Society.

Best Club Event Award - Paediatric Association of Notre Dame Australia (PANDA)

PANDA's Teddy Bear Hospital Program in 2017 consisted of five school, including SCEGGS Darlinghurst, St Joseph's Primary School Glebe, Paddington Primary School, Bronte Primary School and Wagga Wagga High School. The event involved teams of 10-12 medical students teaching children about important lessons in medicine and health, including nutrition, basic anatomy, how to react in an emergency, inspiring kids about a career in health as well as not being afraid of the Doctor. Academically, the event provided an extra-curricular experience above and beyond current student learning by engaging students in an innovative and interactive initiative that engages them with and learn about a younger paediatric population.The Student Association is impressed by this initiative as it embraces the core values of the University in improving community relations both in the Sydney and rural areas.

Best Club Award - Medical Association of Notre Dame University Sydney (MANDUS)

The Medicine Association of Notre Dame University Sydney (MANDUS) in 2017 under the administration of it's President, Thomas O'Donnell, has excelled in proactively fostering community and enriching the student experience. MANDUS has focused heavily on increasing Notre Dame's pastoral care approach to learning. The Student Association recognises the dedication, leadership and passion to service that MANDUS has exemplified this year and their initiatives included:

• Basic Clinical Sciences Intensive course for first year students;
• Distribution of MANDUS enrolment packs to incoming students to create a warm and welcoming culture;
• MANDUS reaching its highest number of membership uptake among fist-year students by signing up 118 of 120 students;
• Increasing MANDUS' sponsorship budget to allow fro new initiative to be implemented, such as sending students to conferences like the AMSA National Leadership Seminar in Canberra;
• MANDUS was influential in the re-accrediation of the Medical School's Medicine Course through the Australian Medical Council by writing a student report, conducting surveys on student life, organising interviews and liaising withe the Medicine School through this process; and 
• MANDUS developing a stronger partnership with their Clinical School counterparts across NSW and Victoria.