How to be a Secretary - PDF document

How to be a Secretary How to be a S
How to be a Secretary How to be a Secretary Congratulations, this is a role of responsibility and trust, but make sure you enjoy your time in this position. Being on a society committee is exciting and rewarding, but can be tough. It takes time, commitment, dedication, and above all, an enjoyment in what you’re doing. The Secretary is the backbone of the organisation of any society and ensures that things run smoothly. Emails need to be written, rooms need to be booked, documents are filled out and above all you need to communicate what’s going on to your members so they stay interested and stay involved. This document covers:  The main responsibilities of a society Secretary  Skills you will develop during your time in the position Main responsibilities 1. Attend Society Officer Training and Society AGM 2. Taking care of society admin 3. Arrange meetings and book rooms or venues 4. Creating an agenda and keeping minutes of meetings as necessary 5. Communicate regularly with your members 6. Maintain up to date membership records 7. Be aware of key dates for your society throughout the year 8. Collect post weekly from your pigeon hole in the Activities Centre 9. Read society emails 10. Publicise your society 11. Organise AGM (Annual General Meeting) 1. Attend Society Officer Training and Society AGM At the start of the academic year the President, Secretary and Treasurer must attend compulsory Society Officer Training held by the Activities Officer. This training will give you important information that you will need to know to run a successful society and will allow you to get to know members of staff that will be able to help you throughout the year. Along with the training they must also attend the annual societies AGM where the Societies Exec will be elected. The training and AGM is compulsory and if you do not attend you will not be able to apply for grant. 2. Taking care of society admin Documents These forms make sure that your society will be covered under the Students’ Union regulations, that we have your details if anyone n

eeds them and have information if any st
eeds them and have information if any students are interested. We also need to know if there will be any health and safety risks when students join your society. All templates of the documents can be found online at www.nusu.co.uk under Society Documents. Six essential forms: Society Constitution This document will set out the aims and objectives of your society, and outline how it differs from pre-existing societies. You can also choose the membership fee and what officer roles you wish to have on your society’s committee – you must have a President, Secretary and Treasurer, but the rest is up to you! Society Officer Contact Details This provides the Students’ Union with the contacts details of the all Society Officers and who to contact in any instance. Health and Safety Policy Receipt This document is signed by two committee members to say that you have read and understood the NUSU Activities Safety Policy. Health and Safety Policy In order to help ensure the safety of your future members we ask each Society to produce a health and safety policy. This highlights what the safety arrangements will be for all of your activities. There is no template for this document however the NUSU Activities Safety Policy contains a section on how to write a Health and Safety Policy (If your society is relatively low risk, use the contents page of the NUSU Safety Policy as a guide, and your own safety policy doesn’t need to be more than 2 sides of A4). Risk Assessment Each Society needs to complete a detailed risk assessment to show they have given some consideration to what hazards are involved in their activities, and how these will be controlled. The NUSU Activities Safety Policy contains a section on how to write a Risk Assessment. Please speak with the Student Activities Manager Mark Bennett if you are still unsure of anything regarding Safety Policy’s or Risk Assessments he works in the Activities Centre 1st Floor NUSU or email him at activitiesmanager.union@ncl.ac.uk. Bribery and Fraud Pro-forma This form is for you to acknowledge that you have read and understood the agr

eement we have with the university regar
eement we have with the university regarding bar and club sponsorship. Once these are all completed, signed, and printed, hand them in at the Activities Centre and we will put your Society up online so that people can start joining. Trip forms for Society Outings For each trip that your Society organises a trips form must be completed by the President or Secretary one week (within the UK) or one month (outside the UK) in advance of the departure date. This will authorise the society to go ahead with the trip. Whether it is going to Beamish for the day, the Northumberland countryside for the weekend or a trip abroad to Amsterdam, a trips form must be filled in. If you read the health and safety policy there is more information regarding time scales. You do not need to print this document out, just go to the bottom of page 26. Only society members can attend trips for insurance purposes – please ensure all students are members! **If a trip form is not available, email an itinerary and list of attendees to Mark at activitiesmanager.union@ncl.ac.uk Any health and safety queries should be direct to Mark Bennett in the Activities Centre, activitiesmanager.union@ncl.ac.uk. Transport Please refer to the “Guidance for the Safe Use of Vehicles” and “Transport Information” documents that are available on the website. This covers how to register, take a minibus test, what happens in the event of an accident, minibus speeds among anything else you might need information on. To take a minibus test, you must have been driving for at least two years and be over 21 years old. To book a driver assessment, contact Viv Miller (aft.union@newcastle.ac.uk) at least four weeks in advance of when you would like to be assessed and bring both parts of your driving license to the Activities Centre, where you will fill out an insurance form. Minibus tests will be based on a first come first serve basis. 3. Arrange meetings and book rooms or venues The Union has a range of spaces available for societies to use free of charge. This includes 5 committee rooms, 2 larger multipurpose spaces, marketing sta

nds and the Venue. All bookings are d
nds and the Venue. All bookings are done through Reception, either by popping by the Union or emailing reception.union@ncl.ac.uk. Bookings can be made up to a month in advance and cannot be done in block bookings. There is an online facility to allow you to view the availability of each room, go to https://nusu.roombookingsystem.co.uk/default and click on ‘View Availability’. This should help you and save time when you are booking. There isn’t an online booking system, though, so please don’t get the two confused. If you wish to use other spaces across campus, outside of the Union, you have to go through the University Estates Service http://www.ncl.ac.uk/estates/ **If you are inviting any external speaker to an event, you must compete the External Speaker Policy found here http://www.jotformpro.com/form/30762092332953 before your booking can be approved. Venue The booking of the Venue must go through our Events team who are based in Venue. The Venue can be booked further than a month in advance and can be used for rehearsals, classes, fundraisers, shows etc. You can have sound and lighting, use of the stage, the bar can be open, the room can be partitioned…just make sure you’re clear about exactly how you want to use the space! Contact Dawn Hathaway at events.union@ncl.ac.uk, 0191 239 3946 about Venue hire. 4. Creating an agenda and keeping minutes of meetings as necessary Creating an agenda involves drawing together items which need discussing. Ask committee members if they have anything to add and also email the agenda round before the committee meeting, to make sure all members can prepare for the meeting ahead. Simple format will include: Apologies and attendance Approve last meetings’ minutes Matters arising (numbered list) Any other business Date of next meeting/social Taking minutes involves typing up a short summary of what was discussed in the meeting and including the action points which were decided, and who needs to carry them out. You need to email the minutes out to other committee members, preferably within 3 days of the

committee meeting. In the email with t
committee meeting. In the email with the minutes attached, pop the list of actions for committee members into the email itself, committee are more likely to read these. 5. Communicate regularly with your members As Secretary you’re in charge of managing the society email inbox to ensure that everyone who has emailed you is replied to! You may pass on enquiries to other committee members – but always make sure that these are followed up. It is also important that you communicate all your events and Union information with your members. A regular society newsletter or update each week could be an easy way of giving your members all the information they need in a concise way - don't bombard your members with too many emails and they are more likely to read them! **Always use up-to-date membership records when sending your society emails, so everyone who has paid knows what they can get involved in. 6. Maintain up to date membership records Every student/staff member that takes part in your society’s activities must be a paid member online, for insurance reasons. The President and Secretary can both access the up-date membership records online by clicking on the padlock sign when you are logged in. 7. Be aware of key dates for your society throughout the year Knowing key dates will help you and your members keep organised. It will allow you to co-ordinate all aspects of your society and will allow you to work around any dates in the Union calendar. 8. Collect post weekly from your pigeon hole in the Activities Centre Pigeon holes with a cardboard folder for each society are located in the Activities Centre. Check it regularly! 9. Read society emails If the Activities Officer has emailed you make sure you read the email thoroughly, passing on information to relevant committee and members 10. Publicise your society If your society does not have a Publicity/Media Officer, you may need to take charge of the publicity! Here are the ways you can promote your society: Website/Social Media: Especially new students look to the website to see what they can

get involved with, so make sure your N
get involved with, so make sure your NUSU webpage is kept up-to-date. Also on the Societies webpage we have ‘Societies Events’ and ‘Societies News’ tabs where you can shout out about upcoming events or some of the great things your society has done! Use Facebook, Twitter and other social media to get your Society known and out there, too. Posters: You’re free to put posters up in University buildings (i.e. the library or lecture buildings) as long as they are on notice boards and have been signed by an appropriate staff member. Also try going to events that would have students you think would be interested in joining your society and promote face to face. Digital Screens: the Union is able to promote your society or specific events on our digital screens across the building. Simply send your artwork to Dean, our Digital Marketing Coordinator at dmc.union@newcastle.ac.uk NUSU Marketing Spaces: The Union allows clubs and societies to book at 3 different locations to host stalls for publicity, sales or fundraising. These are in the marketing cube by reception, outside Subway, or in front of the building. These spaces can be booked via our main reception at reception.union@ncl.ac.uk The Courier, Newcastle University’s student newspaper, is a great way to reach roughly 12,000 students every week. Every week there will be an updated list of which new societies have been formed, and you can submit articles about events etc. There is a weekly deadline of Wednesday at 5pm for announcements in next Monday’s paper. Email the Editor, Victoria Armstrong at editor.union@ncl.ac.uk. 11. Organise AGM (Annual General Meeting) Organising and publicising your AGM for term 3:  Must be publicised to all members to give them a chance to stand with at least 2 weeks notice.  Booked in an accessible room.  Constitution reviewed in advance  Ballot papers produced and returning officer invited **see how to run your society’s AGM for all the details! If you have any questions contact the Activities Officer: activities.union@ncl.ac.uk 0191 239