Student Groups Guide by Harriet Airey

Student Group Guide 2012-13

www.ucsu.me

Contents Creating Your Own Student Group pg 04

Student Group Insurance & Membership Fees pg 08

Forming a Committee pg 04

Trips pg 08

Roles & Responsibilities Pg 05

Transport pg 08

Student Group Fair Factsheet pg 06

Health & Safety pg 09

Fundraising & Sponsorship pg 06

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Creating Your Own Student Group All you need is an idea and like minded people who want to be involved in your group, then follow these 4 simple steps and you’ll be up and running in no time at all… 1. Get Forms Pop into your local Students’ Union office to collect the forms or download them online from www.ucsu.me 2. Get Affiliated Forms are approved for affiliation to the Students’ Union and this creates your Bank account, which the Student Group Support & Development Facilitator and Finance Officer hold. 3. Elect Members Hold a meeting to elect members for specific positions including President/Chairperson/ Captain, Vice President/Vice Chair/Vice Captain, Treasurer, Secretary and Health & Safety Officer and decide the aims of your group. A constitution is also absolutely necessary as it outlines the procedures the officers should follow. 4. Good to go! Start meeting regularly, fundraising for trips, equipment etc, holding socials, updating your group’s info page/facebook group on the UCSU website.

Forming a Committee The structure of your committee will depend largely on what you want, as different Student Groups structure their committees in different ways. It is necessary for each Student Group to elect a minimum of 5 officers, those being:

• President/Chair/Captain • Vice President/Vice Chair/ Vice Captain • Secretary • Treasurer • Safety Officer The provision of other posts is optional although it can be useful to elect other officers, such as a social secretary etc...

Student Group Guide 2012-13 www.ucsu.me

Roles & Responsibilities President/Chair/Captain

Safety Officer

• To convene and chair committee meetings. • To be key contact for Student Group. • To ensure aims and objectives are being achieved. • To uphold the constitution at all times.

• To ensure the Health and Safety policy of UCSU is followed. • To ensure risk assessments and any relevant paperwork is completed. • To ensure the first aid kits are always kept full and up to date where necessary. • To be responsible for ensuring that the contact details of a trained First-Aider are available at all activities and socials that the club/society are involved in, in the absence of a trained First-Aider.

Vice President/Vice Chair/Vice Captain • To assist President/Chair and Captain with their duties and to represent the Student Group in meetings and events in their absence. Secretary • To maintain membership records. • To ensure a copy of membership records is held within UCSU. • To produce agenda documents and maintain written documentation of all committee meetings. • To maintain a current copy of the Student Group constitution. • To maintain a current list of all the equipment for the Student Group. Treasurer • To manage the Student Group account. • To ensure the Student Group does not go overdrawn on their account. • To collect all membership fees, subs or any other monies; sponsorship and fundraising and pay this into the Student Group account as soon as possible. • To organise payments of goods or services that the Student Group has received. • Liaise with the Student Group Support & Development Facilitator on a regular basis to monitor the account and ensure that everything balances. (Each Student Group will be required to have designated elected Officer signatories who have responsibility for the Student Group account).

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Student Group Fair Factsheet You are representing your Student Group. It is your opportunity to promote what you do and what you stand for in order to recruit new members from the new intake of students. Just remember you want them to join as much as they want to be involved! Produce a fact sheet to hand out to the new students telling them about your Student Group, telling them what you do, when you meet, play or train. Let them know what your core values are, which competitions you get involved in, how much it costs to join the Student Group and the benefits (give them your facebook or other group contact then they can come back to you at a later date if they don’t wish to make a decision straight away). Decorate your stall, making it exciting, eyecatching and relevant. Plan your first meeting. It will be good if you can let your potential Student Group members know when this is going to be (you could include this on your fact sheet).

Have a membership list at hand so you will be able to sign up new members on the day. On this form is a column where initial joining fees collected can be documented. Any cheques must be made payable to ‘Cumbria SU’. You decide on the joining fee appropriate for your Student Group. A Student Group Information Record Form must be completed by all Student Group members. Insurance may be required for students wishing to join/participate in a Student Group and a Summary of Cover form must be given out to everyone as it is a legal requirement. If Insurance is required, for the 2012/13 academic year it will be £2 per person. Any person under the age of 18 must have parental consent to join a Student Group. Make sure to check their age and give the participant the appropriate Parental Consent Form which needs signing otherwise you are breaching the insurance legislation and the participant will not be covered.

Fundraising & Sponsorship Fundraising from events and activities is vital to support your Student Group. Fundraising events need to be carefully planned out and organised and can be a great way to have fun and recruit new members. (e.g. raffles, BBQ’s and parties) If you are fundraising for a charitable cause, you need to make contact with the R.A.G. Student Group so that all monies raised are directed towards your intended charity, and are in line with Students’ Union Policy. For sponsorship, any agreements have to be in writing and need to be checked with a member of the Students’ Union staff prior to signing. You need to be aware that any ‘sponsorship’ money you raise will be liable for VAT deductions. UCSU has a website where all Student Groups contacts are displayed. Here your facebook/contact details 6

are listed where you can tell people about what you do, what you stand for and how to contact you There is also a Students’ Union member of staff (Research & Communications Facilitator) who may be able to help you promote what you are doing and celebrate your achievements. There are also pots of money from funders which you may have access to, it is worth encouraging your Treasurer and/or Secretary to spend a little time researching these on the internet and familiarise themselves with their requirements and whether they would consider funding your Student Group. Speak to your Student Group Support & Development Facilitator if you have any queries with regards to fundraising, sponsorship, or donations.

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Student Group Insurance & Membership Fees The Student Group budget does not have provision to support all of its participants in full. In view of this, the cost of the Student Group Insurance has been set for 2012/13 at ÂŁ2 per person. This amount is payable by all student Group members who require insurance for an activity. Please check with the Student Group Support & Development Facilitator if you have any queries regarding whether your Student Group needs Insurance.

There is now no minimum membership charge although it is down to the individual Student Group to decide how much they charge as a contribution to their own Student Group Account. It is also important for Student Groups to collect Subs on a regular basis and to organise fundraisers to raise their profile and generate funds.

Trips

Transport

Holding a trip for your Student Group is a responsible job which has to be done correctly, but can be a great way to have fun and will also encourage your members to stay involved.

If private cars are to be used for a trip, a UCSU private car usage form must be completed. These are available from UCSU and must be completed by all drivers to demonstrate that their vehicles are road worthy and Insured.

The forms are available from your Student Group Support & Development Facilitator in UCSU. They will explain the criteria, the details, the relevant Risk Assessments and how to complete these correctly and the rules about taking participants, including FE students, with you.

In addition, Individuals who wish to compete in BUCS Individual events will have to pay an additional ÂŁ10 per person.

Student Group Guide 2012-13

Health & Safety It is necessary for all students to be aware of the Health and Safety policy of the Union, not only for legal reasons but also to safeguard yourselves as participants, other University of Cumbria students and also members of the general public. Whilst the Union recognises that injury to people and damage to property occurs randomly, it is extremely important that risks are thoroughly anticipated and appropriate action has been taken to reduce the likelihood of them occurring. The majority of accidents can be avoided with adequate attention to risk which is why we ask for Risk Assessments to be completed to address the potential risk, the likelihood of them occurring and the level of the risk involved. Risk Assessments must be carried out for every activity/event, anywhere, and must coincide with the relevant site/venue arrangements and assessments i.e. your Student Group’s emergency procedure for exiting a building in the event of a fire, must not clash with that of the venue. Generic assessments are acceptable, however a new form must be completed for each new venue where that type of activity/event is held, and for each new type of activity/event, even at if it’s at the same venue. Affiliated Student Group Risk Assessment completing, review and reporting structure: • Student Group Safety Officer • Chairperson/ Captain • Student Group Support & Development Facilitator • Department Manager • Health & Safety Committee • Executive Committee • Trustee Board If your Student Group does not consider the possible hazards and an incident does occur, the Chairperson for that Student Group, and the Students’ Union may become liable for any damages.

adequate measures to avoid any incident or accident from occurring. Hazards – Anything that has the potential to cause damage, loss or harm. Risk - The likelihood of a hazard causing damage, loss or harm. Control Measures – Practical Steps to eliminate or control risk. Risk Assessments are not difficult, they are simply a documentation of common sense. They are essential and it is simply not acceptable to think about the potential risks/hazards without expressly documenting it in a Risk Assessment form and acting to resolve/mitigate those identified risks. For further details on how to write Risk Assessments or where to acquire the relevant forms or information please contact your Student Group Support & Development Facilitator or visit www.ucsu.me Important Information on Initiations UCSU will not condone any form of bullying, harassment or pressure, direct or subtle, being applied to encourage any student to do something they are not comfortable doing. Any students being found to be pressurising another student or students to do so will be disciplined under the member discipline rules of the Union and a complaint will be made to the University where bullying and harassment policies can invoke serious sanctions including ultimate disqualification from the University altogether. UCSU will not tolerate such behaviour and the Student Group may face financial sanctions from the Union as well as individual sanctions on those involved. This applies regardless of the location of social activities – not just on UCSU premises.

For Risk Assessments you must IDENTIFY the risk then MANAGE the risk by putting in

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Allan Stavert T: 01524 590819 (Internal Ex 2730) E: allan.stavert@cumbria.ac.uk

Kati Brown T: 01228 616164 E: kati.brown@cumbria.ac.uk

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