General Manager of both MUSA and MAWSA exits roles

General Manager of MUSA and MAWSA, Craig Black, has left both positions almost simultaneously. 

Craig was the Interim General Manager for MAWSA since the start of 2021, but has been working as the General Manager of MUSA for seven years. He said, “I’d like to give my sincere thanks to those students for allowing MUSA and myself to be involved. I have been very touched by all the appreciation I have received during and since my tenure at MUSA.”  

MUSA President Fatima Imran says Craig took voluntary redundancy in his position as MUSA General Manager because of a potential restructure within the organisation if a proposed merger of student associations under the Massey University Student Association Federation were to go ahead. Craig told Massive, “The role of General Manager for MUSA ceased to exist due to redundancy.”  

“When looking into how this new Service-Level Agreement could look, there was potential that the general manager role might not exist,” Fatima said. She notes that while the proposal was not ready to be taken to students yet, she felt responsible for informing employees who may be affected. “I told Craig there was a potential this proposal might go through. To avoid any restructure or the potential of a restructure, he said he would love to take a voluntary redundancy,” she said. 

She said that he has done great work for MUSA and she hopes for the best for him after working for seven years in the role. Fatima is now Acting General Manager alongside maintaining the role of President. She notes that she does not know when or if there will be a replacement MUSA General Manager assigned until the executives discuss further. 

According to MAWSA president Tessa Guest, Craig’s departure from his MAWSA role was mutually agreed upon and unrelated to the MUSA decision. “We’ve come to a place where our local team is running well on the ground, and we no longer need the oversight our Interim General Manager was been providing. Now, our Team Leader Julian is well equipped to lead our staff, and we are grateful for the guidance Craig provided in this process,” Tessa said.