Teesside University SU Societies Handbook 2016

TUSU SOCIETY

COMMITTEE HANDBOOK

Your guide to running a successful society at

Teesside University Students’ Union!

October 2016

SOCIETY HANDBOOK – October 2015. 2

CONTENTS

Page

IMPORTANT PEOPLE, PLACES, AND CONTACTS 3

SU Activities Team 3

Students’ Union (SU) Reception 3

Vice-President Activities 4

Athletic Union (AU) Chair 4

Societies Federation (Soc Fed) Chair 4

Sport & Well-being Department 5

COMMITTEE RESPONSIBILITIES 6

COMPULSORY DUTIES OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS 9

Students' Union Annual General Meeting (AGM) 9

Athletic Union 9

Societies Federation 9 FINANCES 10

Deposits/Grant/Capital Kit/Tour 10 CLUB/SOCIETY ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS 11

COMMITTEE INDUCTIONS 11

DEVELOPMENT PLANS 11

GRANT/KIT ALLOCATION 11

HOW TO ACCESS YOUR CLUB/SOCIETY FINANCES 12

Ordering goods for your club/society 12

Claiming money back from your club/society accounts 12

VAT 12

TRANSPORT 13

Self-drive Vehicles 13

Minibuses 13

Taxis and Coaches (with drivers) 13

MIDAS MINIBUS DRIVER ASSESSMENT 14

PUBLICISING YOUR CLUB/SOCIETY 14 HEALTH & SAFETY 15

Risk Assessment 15

APPENDIX 1. Goods Order Form 16 2. Expenses Request Form 17 3. Trip Application Form 19 4. Self-Drive Vehicle (Minibus, Car, etc.) Booking Form 23 5. Passenger List 24 6. Coach Booking Form 25 7. Risk Assessment 26


IMPORTANT PEOPLE, PLACES, AND CONTACTS

SU WELCOME DESK/ ACTIVITIES CENTRE

What is it? The SU Activities Team is the central point for all clubs, societies and volunteer groups. Offering training, support and guidance on all areas of student activities, it should be your first port of call with any queries or difficulties you encounter along the way.

What does it do? The SU Activities Team helps to co-ordinate clubs, societies, volunteering and RAG. It organises travel for sport/trips, orders items for clubs/societies (e.g. kit, equipment), holds information relating to finances, deals with all BUCS sport issues and helps with any other queries.

Where is it? The team is located on the 1st floor of the Students’ Union building, you can ask for us by reporting to the SU Welcome Desk.

DON’T BE SCARED TO ASK FOR HELP IF YOU NEED IT!

CONTACT DETAILS

Tel: (01642) 342234 Email: [email protected]

Stephen Goodall (Activities Development Co-ordinator)


Chris Walton (Activities Manager)


Martin Hawley (Club Development Coordinator)


Peter Russell-Wilson (Enterprise and Employability Coordinator)


WELCOME DESK

The Welcome Desk handles any matters relating to cash. All monies (cash or cheques) relating to your club/society MUST BE paid into the Welcome Desk BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 9AM – 4 PM MON – FRI. It also:

deals with membership payments, and issues membership cards.

controls the booking of SU facilities (meeting rooms, The Hub and Room 2)

gives you information about any student activity organised by the SU (or points you in the direction of someone who can!)

keeps a record of all financial transactions and sign-ups for activities, but MAKE SURE YOU GET A RECEIPT FOR ANY MONEY HANDED IN!!!

The Welcome Desk is situated on the first floor of the Union building

CONTACT DETAILS

Tel: (01642) 342234 Fax: (01642) 342241 Email: [email protected]

OPENING HOURS

MONDAY: 9AM – 5PM

TUESDAY: 9AM – 5PM

WEDNESDAY: 9AM – 7PM (term 1 + 2 only, 5pm term 3)

THURSDAY: 9AM – 5PM

FRIDAY: 9AM – 5PM

SATURDAY / SUNDAY: CLOSED


VICE-PRESIDENT ACTIVITIES

Who are they & what do they do? The SAO is a Trustee of the SU who is in charge of overseeing Clubs, Societies, RAG, and Volunteering. They oversee grant club/society development, help set up new clubs/societies and help to run Athletic Union (AU) and Societies Federation (Soc Fed) smoothly.

They provide support to all clubs, societies and volunteer groups through meetings, open forums (like AU & Soc Fed). They are responsible for co-ordinating the Annual Awards Dinner, Varsities, AU Tour and many campus wide campaigns.

This year the VPA is Brian Keogh

How can I get in touch? You can arrange a specific meeting with them by phone, email or via the Activities Centre.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Email: [email protected]

Tel (Office): (01642) 342245 Tel (Mobile): 07976 420806

SOCIETIES FEDERATION (SOC FED) CHAIR

The Soc Fed Chair runs the Society Federation meetings and is a port of call for any problems from Societies. Soc Fed chair also sits on the Awards Committee and has a voting place in Scrutiny Committee. They liaise with the SAO to discuss any problems affecting Societies and help the VPA with Society related projects.

This Year the Soc Fed Chair is Joe Savage. You can contact the Soc Fed Chair on [email protected]

ATHLETIC UNION (AU) CHAIR

The AU Chair runs the AU meetings and is a port of call for any problems from clubs. AU chair also sits on the Awards Committee and has a voting place on the Scrutiny Committee. They liaise with the SAO to discuss any problems affecting the AU and help the VPA with AU related projects.

This Year the AU Chair is Susie McManus. You can contact the AU Chair on [email protected]


COMMITTEE RESPONSIBILITIES

It is the responsibility of the whole committee to ensure the smooth running of your society. All committee members are required to attend induction sessions, ensure their society constitution and risk assessment is up to

date and a membership price is set.

Club/Society Committee role: Chair

Purpose of post: Overall coordination of the society

Duties and Responsibilities:

Ensuring at all times the health and safety of all members.

Ensure efficient arrangements for society events – e.g. matches, fundraisers, socials.

Liaising with the other committee and the membership to set annual objectives for the society.

Attending ALL Society Federation meetings. It is the responsibility of the Chair to ensure that their club/society is represented at all appropriate meetings if he/she is unable to attend.

Communicate with the Activities Centre and the society members regarding any matters arising from society activities.

Representing their society ensuring that their members’ act responsibly at all times.

Ensure that other committee members are carrying out their duties effectively.

Inform the SAO of any activities you are planning or participating in.

Level of Commitment:

Variable time depending on meetings. Minimum of 5 hours per week.

Benefits to you:

Enhances employability

Improves CV

Prestige and respect

Involvement in decision making

Increases confidence

Employability workshops

Personal Development

Development in the following skills:

Verbal & Written Communication Time management

Financial Management Marketing

People Management Planning

Decision making Leadership

Delegation Teamwork


Club/Society Committee role: Vice-Chair Finance

Purpose of post: Control of all financial issues


Collecting all monies from society activities and ensuring that they are paid into the Students’ Union Reception with the relevant documentation.

Ordering, via the Activities Centre any new equipment/kit that may have been allocated in the club/society grant.

Ensuring all necessary expenditure is paid in good time.

Maintaining overall control over the club finances ensuring that all activities are financially viable and that records are kept including receipts from Students’ Union Reception transactions.

Keeping a check that your Deposits account is not overdrawn!



Benefits to you:


Improves CV


Involvement in decision making





→ Verbal Communication → Time management

→ Written Communication → Planning

→Decision making → Financial management


Club/Society Committee role: Vice-Chair Communications

Purpose of post: Control marketing and administration of the society


Liaising with the AC to ensure relevant membership records.

Checking e-mails and acting upon all correspondence.

Ensure the society is marketing itself to students through various mediums.

Ensuring that clubs/societies are affiliated to all appropriate National Governing Bodies.



Benefits to you:


Improves CV


Involvement in effective management of the club/Society





Verbal & Written Communication Time management

Marketing and Communications experience

Planning

Interpersonal skills Problem solving

Administrative skills Teamwork

If you need further training following your club/society induction regarding you role please contact the Activities Coordinator or the Club Development Coordinator


COMPULSORY DUTIES OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS

OFFICIAL MEETINGS

Students' Union Annual General Meeting (AGM)

The Annual General meeting is held at the beginning of each academic year. This meeting receives and approves the annual budget for the forthcoming year and ratifies the previous year’s accounts, approves the appointment of the Students’ Union’s external auditors and discusses Members Business Motions. It gives you the opportunity to raise any concerns or issues you may have.

The Annual General Meeting for the academic year 2014/15 is on Tuesday 11th November at 5pm in the Hub. One member from your club or society must attend the AGM, with a reward for the club and society who gets the most members to attend.

Societies Federation (societies only) – THURSDAYS, monthly*

22nd October

12th November

21st January

18th February

10th March

21st April

12th May

*(Occasionally may fall on other days)

It is the chairs responsibility to ensure at least one of your society must attend every Soc Fed meeting.

It is vital that all societies are represented at Soc Fed in order for them to have a voice in the matters that are discussed at the meeting. These meetings are your opportunity to air your views about the Students’ Union's provision for its activities. These meetings are necessary, so you must attend.

If you cannot attend, apologies must be submitted to the Vice-President Activities or SU Activities in writing or via email ASAP, but at the latest 1 hour before the meeting. The Society shall be fined £50 for non-attendance

of SocFed without apologies. Failure to attend two SocFed meetings will automatically trigger an Emergency General Meeting (within five (5) university working days) at which a new Committee will be elected

A full list of the procedures can be found at SU Activities.


FINANCES

All society monies are controlled centrally through the Activities Centre. Any incoming or outgoing funds must also be processed through the Activities Centre.

You are strictly forbidden to hold an external bank account for your society.

There are 3 main accounts you could deal with;

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL YOUR SOCIETY BE ALLOWED TO BE OVERSPENDING IN ANY OF YOUR ACCOUNTS!

1. Deposits Account

All monies raised by your society are paid into your Deposit Account. This includes online membership sales and any fundraising money you raise. Monies you raise through fundraising must be paid at the Welcome Desk within 24 hours. The Welcome Desk will issue you with a receipt that MUST be kept for proof of deposit.

This account can be used to fund club/society activities and will mainly be used for the general running costs.

2. Grant Account

Any money allocated to your society from the Students' Union through the grant process will be available from this account. Grant money is allocated to you based on the activities you have identified through your club/society development plan.

3. Tour Account

The Students' Union can set up a specific account for your society to use in the same way as a savings account. The Tour Account allows you to 'save' for one specific event such as a tour, society holiday or expedition. This account is not automatically given and the SAO MUST approve such events. This money always belongs to the individual members and not to the society. If the event does not take place within the academic year the money will be reimbursed. Society officers must keep details of who has paid money into this and how much; they must also liaise with SU Reception regarding this.


SOCIETY ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS

Society Annual General Meetings (AGM's) have to be undertaken by every existing club and society in the third term of the academic year. This is to elect the committee for the next academic year. There must be 10 members or potential members of the society at the AGM. New clubs and societies can hold a AGM’s whenever they are established but then must hold an AGM in the third term also.

Also at society AGM’s their income and expenditure must be approved. You can get these documents from the Activities Centre. You must advertise the meeting to all members and give them 5 University working days notice in advance.

If you cannot get 10 members to attend an AGM you can try 2 more times a term. You can only attempt to get 10 members to an AGM 3 times a term. If this cannot be achieved the society must wait until the next term at arrange an AGM.

COMMITTEE INDUCTIONS

It is a requirement of the Students’ Union that all committee members undertake a committee induction. The inductions ensure that you as committee members understand roles, responsbilities, policies and procedures to successfully run you society. It also ensures that the students who are joining your society are getting the best quality of services from joining your group, from a team of trained committee members. All three of your committee members must attend.

We want students to have the highest quality of service from clubs and societies and ensure that they are getting value for their membership fee. We don’t want them joining clubs and societies being run by students, who in essence, don’t have the knowledge to provide a quality service. Therefore we won’t make your club or society available for students to join up until the committee have undertaken an induction. The induction meeting will cover aspects included in this handbook and give you the opportunity to ask any questions.

You must complete your committee induction within 10 working term days from your AGM. From your induction being completed, you have 15 working term days to get 10 members. If this is not complete then the AGM and Induction process will have to start again.

DEVELOPMENT PLANS

Your development plan is an essential part of running your society. It gives the Students' Union an idea of what you want to achieve for your club/society over the academic year and how it can help you meet you goals through staff and financial support. It also gives the committee that succeeds you an idea of how the society has developed over the preceeding years.

You are required to complete a development plan (Appendix 8) as part of your induction process. You will not be able to receive any grant funding form the Students’ Union without a development plan. Your development plan must indicate how much funding you will need to receive so you can meet your objectives.

GRANT/KIT ALLOCATION

Your development plan gives the Students’ Union a great idea of how much investment you need to reach your goals. The Union has money available for your society to support your aims and objectives in your development plan. The money also ensures you have kit and equipment you need.

Once you have undertaken your AGM and submitted your development plan in term 3, the staff in the Activities Centre, working with the Student Activities Officer will prepare a budget for clubs and societies, ready to be used for the start of the next academic year. The budget for clubs will be approved by the final Athletic Union meeting of the year. The budget for societies will be approved by the final Societies Federation of the year.

In December, during the academic year, development plans will be assessed along with society spends. The staff in the Activities Centre will revise the budgets for clubs and societies again and the present them for approval at their respective democratic body.

A nominal fund of £50 will be set aside for any new club or society that starts in-between these two processes.

Please note all items purchased with money from grant allocation processes will remain the property of Teesside University Students’ Union. Personal items cannot be bought through this process.


HOW TO ACCESS YOUR SOCIETY FINANCES

You can receive a printout of your accounts from the Activities Team.

Ordering goods for your society

ALL GOODS AND EQUIPMENT FOR YOUR SOCIETY MUST BE ORDERED THROUGH THE ACTIVITES TEAM USING AN OFFICIAL GOODS ORDER FORM (see Appendix 3)!

Any invoices received without the goods order number will not be paid. The person liable for payment of such invoices will be the individual who ordered them, i.e. the society officer

When ordering goods for your activities you must initially speak to your coordinator. Wherever possible the team will ensure that payment of goods can be made on invoice. Procedure for ordering goods is as follows:

1. Decide what goods are needed for your activities

2. Check with the Activities Team or Student Activities Officer to ensure suitability

3. Ask the Activities Team to ensure funds are available. If no money, no order!

4. Complete TUSU goods order form and appropriate suppliers order form

5. Submit TUSU order form to Activities Team who will officiate the order

6. Goods will be delivered to the Activities Team

7. Invoice will sent to and paid through the Activities Team

The items purchased must be delivered to the SU Welcome Desk and stored within the University's Sports and Wellbeing Department or the Students' Union. All equipment is logged onto an inventory in SU Activities.

Claiming money back from your society accounts

In certain circumstances, it is necessary to claim money back from your society. In order to do this, you need to fill in an Expenses Request form (see Appendix 4) from the Welcome Desk. You MUST have:

A fully completed expenses request form, including bank name, 8 digit account number (NOT the 16 digit number on the front of your debit card) and 6 digit sort code.

Receipts/evidence for the transaction attached to the form,

Signatures of 2 committee members. If the payment is to be made payable to one of the club/society officers, the other two officers must sign it.

All Expenses Request forms must be given in by 12pm each Tuesday to go into your bank account that week. If the request is authorised, the money should appear in your account by the following Friday afternoon. The Students' Union reserves the right to question expenses requests to ensure that they are made within the interest of the club.


TRANSPORT

One of the key areas of support that SU Activities offers to Societies is organising transport. They can arrange many forms of transport for your club or society including self-drive vehicles, taxis and various sized coaches (with a driver). Various forms must be completed for this service to ensure the safety of your members and the smooth running of your activities. If your trip/activity involves an overnight stay you MUST complete a Trip Application Form (see Appendix 5). Please remember that only Society members are permitted on Society activities. WE NEED AT LEAST 48 HOURS NOTICE TO BOOK SELF-DRIVE VEHICLES. WE NEED AT LEAST 72 HOURS TO BOOK COACHES. Even then, we cannot guarantee that transports providers will have the transport you need so please give us as much notice as you can.

Self-drive Vehicles

Own cars

It may be necessary to use member’s cars for your activities. Should your members be using their own vehicles they must complete a “private vehicle registration form” available from the Welcome Desk. They must also notify their insurers of the activity.

Hired in vehicles (i.e., cars, people carriers, minibuses)

SU Activities can hire in vehicles to be driven by your members for your club and society activities. These can be various sized cars (5, 7, 9 or 12 seaters) and 15/17-seater minibuses. “Self-drive vehicle booking Forms” can be collected from the Welcome Desk. Clubs must have drivers who fulfil the following criteria:

Be over 21 years of age

Have held a full UK driving license for more than 2 years

Have no points on their license

Minibus drivers must have passed the Minibus Driver Assessment (see below)

Before the journey the committee* must:

Have completed a “Self-drive vehicle booking form” (see Appendix 6)

The driver must produce their driving license (both parts for new licenses) before the journey. Copies are not acceptable)

Complete a car/minibus checklist before the journey

Complete a passenger list giving details of all members who are going in the vehicle (see Appendix 7)

*For journeys exceeding 120 miles 2 drivers are needed

Minibuses

Each year the Students’ Union hires in 2 x 17-seater minibuses (one with a roof rack) for use by Societies. These will be referred to as TUSU minibuses. These minibuses can be booked up to 2 weeks in advance using the “Self-drive vehicle booking form”. Demand for these minibuses is high and because of this, additional minibuses can also be hired in. The above criteria apply to all minibuses and in addition to this drivers must have passed the Minibus Driver Assessment.

Taxis and Coaches (with drivers)

SU Activities can hire transport for clubs in various sizes from 4-seater taxis to 52-seater coaches. These can be booked using a “Coach Booking Form.” (see Appendix 8) The costs of these coaches are dependent on the size and destination and are given as a return cost. Passenger Lists must also be completed for these vehicles. Cancellation charges will also apply to these vehicles

It is the drivers and committee members’ responsibility to ensure their members behave correctly whilst on coaches. They must be aware that they are representing the University at all times.


MIDAS MINIBUS DRIVER ASSESSMENT

Only society officers can book their members onto the MIDAS Minibus Driver Assessment as the full cost of this training (which is approx £70 per person) must be covered by the club/society the member will be driving for. If a student wishes to volunteer to make themselves available to drive for a number of clubs/societies they must pay for the assessment themselves and then once they have driven for other clubs/societies they will be reimbursed.

Only students who have passed the MIDAS minibus driver assessment can drive minibuses.

This is run by a qualified driving instructor and consists of a 3 hour theory session and 1 hour's practical. Once these 2 sessions are passed, students can drive TUSU minibuses.

Drivers who have undertaken Teesside University Students' Union's driving assessments are entitled to drive the minibuses. Drivers must re-register with the each year and provide their current driving licence.

How to use Vehicles

Self-drive vehicles will be parked in Park Side East Halls of Residence Car Park. The keys and forms should be collected from the Welcome Desk on weekdays 9-5 or the Security office in the Learning Resource Centre outside these times, this is a 24 hour office.

Vehicles are provided with a full tank of fuel and must be returned full. Failure to do this or complete relevant forms will result in your club being fined and banned from using these vehicles for a period of time. It is the Drivers responsibility to ensure the forms are correctly completed and submitted before the journey.

Cancellation charges will be imposed if notice is not given of a changed or cancelled activity.

PUBLICISING YOUR CLUB/SOCIETY

There are many ways to publicise your club/society around the union. Go and see the AC or SAO if you have any queries. The best ways to publicise your club are as follows:

Social Media – The majority of clubs and societies use Facebook (and/or other social networking sites) to promote and to communicate to their club and society members. Please make sure that the AC have a link to the site so that they can be informed of activities and please bear in mind that any content should be not considered offensive to anyone who may wish to look at it.

Stalls – Book a stall in the SU free of charge anytime during term time and get those students who may have missed you during Freshers’ Week. All stall bookings to be made at SU Reception.

Sub TV - You can put a slide up on SubTV. Just keep it to key details! It must be easy to read as it will only be up for a few seconds! A SubTV request form can be collected from your coordinator to be handed in with the slide in digital format.

The Students’ Union also has a number of media outlets where your club or society can publicise events, meetings, fixtures and results and even scores as and when they happen.

CLICK - The University of Teesside Radio Network is the radio station for the voice of Teesside students. On Wednesday’s when your team is out beating Sunderland, Newcastle and York, text us the goals/points as and when they happen. Ring the studio at half-time to get on the air and tell everyone how the match is going for the new Sports Wednesdays show.

For more Information on CLICK and TUSUTV contact the Activities Coordinator or Club Development Coordinator


HEALTH AND SAFETY

This is a very brief outline of the main areas that you will need to be aware of, and some useful numbers for if it goes badly!

Responsibilities

As committee members you are in a chain of responsibility for the health and safety of you, your members and any members of the public being affected by, or in the vicinity of your actions and activities.

Duty of Care

This is about the provision of a safe place to operate in, safe equipment and safe systems of operating. This extends also to ensuring that all members are provided with adequate supervision, instruction and training for your chosen activities.

Risk Assessments (see Appendix 9)

These are required by law, and must be completed in compliance with the Students’ Union format and be completed to the satisfaction of the Student Activities Safety Committee (SAC). These are to be reviewed annually, being signed and dated by each committee member. Without them you are unable to operate.

Risk Assessments are important as they outline to people who want to participate what the potential dangers and hazards are while taking part. In todays "where's there's a blame there's a claim culture" the last thing you need is your club or society being sued. Using a Risk Assessment stop this from happening!

To fill in a risk assessment sheet, you need to think about what risks your club or societies members face every time you undertake an activity. Use the table below to help you to identify your risk level:

You then think about what you can do to make an accident less likely to happen and evaluate the risk level again, with a lower risk level because of the "control measures" you have put into place to make the accident less likely. If you do this for everything you can think of that your club or society does, you have your risk assessment.

On/Off Duty definition

This means that as Committee members you are responsible for the safety of your members only at certain times. Other times they are responsible for themselves.

The times you are responsible for are whenever your members are involved in the Club/Societies activities outlined in the Risk Assessment, when using equipment owned by the Students Union, provided to assist you in your activity, and when travelling to and from a venue. You are also responsible for members whenever they are at an event organised and advertised on any Club/Society format. e.g. texts, emails, notices etc.

Plan of Action for when it goes wrong

Ensure the groups / individuals / publics’ immediate safety.

Assess / Administer First aid as required.

Contact the Emergency Services as appropriate and the University Security Control Room on (01642) 342086 / 245977 with relevant information.


Secure long term safety of all concerned and liaises with the necessary authorities as and when required.

Dealing with the press

DO NOT talk to any Media, refer all enquiries through Students’ Union General Manager.

First Aid Provision

There should be at least one member of any trip who is first Aid trained and assessed. Additional support may be available from Sports therapy students, in certain sports.

Emergency Contact Info

Activities Centre Manager (01642) 384460

Student Activities Officer 07976 420 806

Sport & Well-being (01642) 342267

Security Control Room (01642) 342086 / 245977


APPENDIX

Appendix 1 – Goods Order Form


Appendix 2 – Expenses Request Form


Appendix 3 – Trip Application Form


Appendix 4 – Self Drive Vehicle Booking Form


Appendix 5 – Passenger List


Appendix 6 – Coach Booking Form


Appendix 7 – Risk Assessment

Teesside University SU Societies Handbook 2016

Documents

Transcript of Teesside University SU Societies Handbook 2016