MARY O'DONNELL PRESIDENT MANIFESTO 2021/22
ABOUT ME A chairde, Thank you for taking the time to read my manifesto. My name is Mary O'Donnell and I want to be your Societies President for 2021/22. I am currently in my second year on the Societies Executive, working as VicePresident, Events and Education Officer this year and as Secretary and Alumni Officer last year. I believe the insight I have gained from these two years working on the Executive have given me the necessary skills and passion to be a worthy President of UCC Societies, and I would love to be given the opportunity to do so, should you consider voting for me. I first got involved in UCC Societies through the Irish Traditional Music Society during my first year of college, and since then I’ve gone on to work as Secretary, Chairperson and Vice-Finance of UCC TradSoc, producing over 70 concerts, 3 festivals, 2 foreign trips (and a lot of good times) in UCC within my 3 years on the committee. My work within UCC TradSoc and the Societies Executive are actually what inspired me to pursue my current MA in Arts Management and Creative Producing, and I feel that the Presidential role would benefit greatly from the skills that I have gained from my MA in relation to organisational management, strategies for leadership, policy development, digital marketing, publishing and so on. On a less serious note, UCC Societies have been one of the most incredible aspects of my college experience. The work that all of you guys do has kept me motivated throughout this year, and I would be so incredibly honoured to be able to assist and facilitate that work if elected as your Societies President for 2021/22. Is mise le meas,
Mary O'Donnell
EXPERIENCE UCC SOCIETIES EXECUTIVE I have been a member of the Societies Executive for 2 years, working as Vice-President, Events & Education Officer for 2020/21 and as Secretary & Alumni Officer for 2019/20. 2020/21: Vice-President: Deputised for Adam throughout the year when required: handling meetings with University groups, Zoom setups, chairing Executive meetings and acting as point-of-contact for urgent scenarios. Events: Ran Events Trainings, as well as assisted in management of various events run by the Societies Executive. Education: Organised a workshop alongside Maeve (Trainings Officer) and Career Services to help students leverage their Societies experience through CVs and online profiles. SEFS Rep: Worked with chairpeople and committee members to run voting at EGMs and AGMs, as well as assisting committees with different issues or enquiries when needed. 2019/20: Secretary: Responsible for organising meetings, room bookings, agendas, minutes, and much more for both the Executive and the Guild (at Senate). Alumni Officer: Responsible for organising our inaugural Alumni Event, held in January as part of Socs Week 2. C&S Ball: Elected as secretary for the Clubs & Societies Ball committee, and helped organise buses, music acts and sound engineers for the event. Political & Activism Rep: Worked with chairpeople and committee members to run EGMs and AGMs, navigate issues within committees, and assist committees with budget queries or issues.
EXPERIENCE UCC TRADSOC I was involved in the running of over 70 concerts, 3 festivals, 3 trips and several sessions during my 3 years on the TradSoc committee. 2017/18: Secretary: Handled room bookings, agendas, minutes etc. Assisted in running of concerts, festival, sessions etc. 2018/19: Chairperson: Oversaw the running of all activities, including concert series, sessions, trips and festival. Coordinated a trip to the Embassy of Ireland in Vietnam for St. Patrick's Day 2019, as well as our performance at Electric Picnic 2018. 2019/20: Vice-Finance Officer: Assisted Chair and Finance Officer with payments & transfers, budget and funding requests. Co-ordinated a trip to the Embassy of Ireland in Mozambique for St. Patrick's Day 2020 (which was cancelled :( because covid). Assisted in running of all concerts, festival, sessions and performances.
FINANCE REMODELLING THE SCHEDULE OF ALLOWANCES I am proposing a remodelling of the Schedule of Allowances to meet the needs Societies have now, rather than old needs. The Schedule of Allowances is no longer fit-for-purpose in the way we operate today. This has been proven by the circumstances we currently find ourselves in. If elected, I would like to review the temporary adjustments made by Adam to the Schedule of Allowances this year to accommodate for Speaker Fees in the place of travel fees. Speakers deserve to be paid for their time and the value they bring to our events and societies, so I believe that getting rid of travel fees and replacing them with a standard speaker fee is more suitable, and will result in less hassle when looking for receipts for travel fees from speakers afterwards (which often delays speakers getting paid). Currently Societies are only allowed to purchase new banners every 3 years, with no exceptions made in scenarios where banners have been lost or damaged. I'd like to update this to allow reviews on a case-by-case basis so that Societies will be able to request funding should their banner need to be replaced earlier than the 3-year mark.
EVENTS & FUNDRAISING EVENTS & FUNDRAISING Next year, I would like to see the Events portfolio focus more specifically on fundraising for R&G charities, alongside the Students' Union and the Clubs Executive. Last year, I proposed that the Entertainments portfolio be changed to Events, allowing the officer to assist other members of the Executive with the event management aspects of their portfolios. When it comes to running Societies Executive events, I think the focus should be on welfare and social events for committee members, and opportunities for Societies to collaborate for fundraising events for R&G and Freshers etc. One of the events I proposed last year was 'The Great Societies Bake Off', and I would love to see it come to life next year when we can operate in person. ‘The Great Societies Bake Off’: Societies would complete various challenges such as speed cake-decorating and blind taste tests etc, competing to raise money for different charities during R&G Week. I'd also like to streamline events planning for Societies and remove a lot of the burden from committees by introducing Risk Assessment templates (for in-person events) and removing unnecessary tasks societies are currently required to complete. Hold C&S Ball 2021 as soon as is physically possible (hopefully during Semester 1) to recognise the achievements of Societies committees over the last two years. Bring back Societies Week with the opportunity to run more Socs Samplers and allow first and second years to meet Societies.
EDUCATION & TRAININGS EDUCATION & CAREER DEVELOPMENT Last year, I proposed the introduction of an Education Officer to the Societies Executive to assist students in making the most of their Societies experience for education and career development.
This year I worked alongside Maeve (Trainings Officer) and UCC Career Services to run a workshop for Societies committee members on 'Leveraging your Societies experience for CVs and online profiles'. Going forward, I would like to expand this to a workshop series that would focus on a range of education and career development opportunities for members of societies that aren't affiliated with a specific school or department in UCC. This officer could also liaise with Career Services and build opportunities for societies to run workshops and events targeted specifically towards their members and audiences. In short, this portfolio is very much in its early stages, but has a lot of potential for expansion if the interest exists amongst societies members.
TRAININGS & WORKSHOPS Trainings is a portfolio that has moved from strength-to-strength due to the work done by Adam last year and Maeve this year. I want to introduce full committee trainings, which would involve your Guild representative attending the first meeting of your new committee, to train them in on the running of basic elements of the society and its positions as well as answering any questions they might have. This would introduce the entire committee to their Guild rep, give committee members more acknowledgement from the Societies Executive, but also make them more aware of their responsibilities. Create a more online-friendly workshop-style trainings system for online trainings where possible.
WELFARE & ACCESSIBILITY WELFARE The introduction and implementation of events like Socs and Scones has been hugely beneficial to committee members and also to the Executive in allowing us to meet committees and check in. This is an event I would see continued next year, and hopefully returning to satellite campuses when we return to in-person. The results from all welfare surveys from the last few years have shown that burn out is a prevalent issue for students involved in Societies committees. If I elected, I promise to maintain a compassionate and empathetic approach to the President role. It's important to understand that everyone working within UCC Societies is studying as well as possibly working outside of that, and showing compassion to those students when it comes to deadlines and mistakes is vital where possible in order to enable students to achieve their full potential within UCC Societies. Introduction of conflict resolution training for committees, as well as provision of training for chairpeople to best support their committees in an online environment. *TW: Work consent training and bystander intervention training into Chairperson training, creating clear lines of communication within UCC Societies for dealing with and prevention of harassment, abuse and SA at all UCC events.
ACCESSIBILITY Online events have been more accessible in some ways, and less so in others. I want to continue the provision of online events by purchasing equipment for Societies that would enable high-quality and accessible streaming of events, even when we return to in-person events. Going forward, I'd like to introduce accessibility assessments for Societies events that would enable us to check how accessible our events really are, incorporating everything from our PR and social media accessibility, to physically attending events.
ENGAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT Working online has made it more difficult to communicate and collaborate with other bodies within the University. In particular, I would like to work on relations with the Students' Union to promote Societies events and to involve more societies in campaigns and events run by the SU.
SUSTAINABILITY & GREEN CAMPUS One of the roles of the Societies President is to sit on the Green Campus committee and represent the views and needs of UCC Societies. This is a role I would be more than happy to fill if elected. I would like to work with the incoming Environmental Officer on the Students' Union to develop a better system for waste disposal for Societies, when we return to in-person events.
INTERVARSITY DEVELOPMENT I would like to help UCC Societies to collaborate with clubs & societies from other colleges via the development of stronger intervarsity links through the BICS network. This would help societies to create links with other colleges and create opportunities for intervarsity collaborations, trips and events.
SUMMARY IDEAS & GOALS Finance: Remodel the Schedule of Allowances. Keep temporary changes made for speaker fees to create less obstacles for committee members. Events & Fundraising: More large-scale fundraising events in collaboration with Clubs & UCC SU. Streamlining of event planning requirements for committee members to lessen the burden & workload. Education & Trainings: Expand on Education portfolio to work alongside Trainings & Careers Services to help committee members use experiences for education and career development. Full committee trainings to introduce rep to all committee members and provide further training. Welfare & Accessibility: Continuation of Socs & Scones. Provide film & streaming equipment for Societies to make all events accessible online. Provide accessibility assessments for Societies events. Provide conflict resolution training & online support training to help chairpeople with committee leadership. Include consent & bystander intervention training in CPT. Community Engagement & Development: Better engagement with UCCSU to involve and recognise Societies work for R&G, Freshers, etc. Sustainability & Green Campus: Introduce a Societies-specific plan for waste disposal & recycling services for return to in-person events. Compassionate and empathetic approach to dealing with students and understanding their workload within and outside of college.
MARY O'DONNELL Thank you for taking the time to read my manifesto. I would be incredibly honoured to receive your nomination and vote for President for the Societies Executive next year. If you have any questions about my experience or my ideas for next year, you can email me at maryodonnell@umail.ucc.ie, or just message me on Instagram/Facebook etc.
Míle buíochas!