Setting Up a Club or Society

Before you run off recruiting new members, consider the following points as they may be reasons not to start up a club, and you don't want to fail at the first hurdle:

1. Does a club/society exist that already does what I plan to do?The Student Union can’t have more than one club or society that has the same objects. This is our policy to prevent certain clubs/societies being forced out of existence because another similar club/society has recruited their members.
2. Are the aims of my club/society compatible with Union Policy? We ask you to make sure that the aims of your club/society do not conflict with Union Policy.
3. Are you able to recruit 20 members who are happy to pay your subscription fee to join? We require you to have at least 20 members so that we do not end up putting resources into a project that does not benefit many students. To get members you can get a stall at Socmart, get a stall in the Hive or just spread the word. Check out the publicity section for more help
4. With these three conditions satisfied, you can set about writing your constitution. Don’t worry, most of it is already written for you, we merely require you to fill in the name of your club/society, and it’s objects, and to accept the rest of the conditions therein (a copy of a constitution can be obtained from the Finance Office). Your constitution must then be submitted to the Societies Officer, who will take it to Union Council for ratification. A simple majority on Union Council can ratify a club/society, and then you officially exist! If you want to change any parts of your existing constitution Union Council must also ratify these.

Come and see the Societies Officer Nick Kent or Finance Officer Eddie Shields who can help with finding out any of the above, or try to answer any questions you may have about setting up a club or society.

Membership

OK, so your Constitution exists you've got the members, and you’ve completed the paperwork. You can get on with running your club/society. There are just one or two more things we expect from you beyond the forms and stuff:

1) Equal Opportunities.

You’ll find this is a buzzword in most businesses, and has been in Student Unions for many years now. The Union of UEA Students asks that all club and society officials run their events in a way that is non-discriminatory. Every student must have an equal opportunity to participate in all Union activities, and although this seems obvious, it’s sometimes hard to be inclusive of everyone when we are all so different.

It’s not always easy to know if you are excluding people or even how you might be excluding them. You can include or exclude people by the way you communicate with them, meetings, social events, publicity, recruitment, and less tangibly, by the culture of your club or society.

Steps you could make to be more inclusive could include:

• Using a range of ways to communicate to your members eg. e-mail, notice-boards, newsletters, posters etc. Also communicating frequently and well before events.
• Having some social events which don’t include drinking alcohol.
• Have a members meeting on Wednesday afternoons when students shouldn’t have classes, and students who are parents and have only day care for their children can go.
• Cut out using words like ‘gay’ in a derogatory way when chatting to members.
• Publicise in all areas, including the less well known residences such as Mary Chapman Court in the city as well.

By thinking along these lines, you’re helping to make UEA the diverse community it is, and also fulfilling your part of the deal with the Union.

2) Members rights.

When you sign the constitution acceptance form, you agree to play by the rules therein. Read it if you’re unsure about your members rights.

If any member disagrees with the way a committee is running a club/society, then they can present a petition signed by at least a quarter of the club members to the committee. The petition must request a club meeting, which must be held within five days. If at least half the members present and voting at a club meeting vote for a motion of resignation then all or any of the committee members shall resign.

It sounds harsh, but it very rarely happens. However, it’s important that the committee agree to these terms. For more information on this, contact the Societies Officer: (su.societies@uea.ac.uk)

3) Who can be a member?

Any student registered at the UEA and part of the students Union may become a member of any club/society as long as they are prepared to pay the subscription fee for that club/society. The committee has no power to refuse a member. If a member is being disruptive then the Societies Officer Nick Kent or Finance Officer Eddie Shields can help.

However, non-UEA students may not become club/society members unless:

• They become an ASSOCIATE MEMBER. This is an annual membership open to any person with a particular ability or resource that is particularly useful to your club/society. Associate memberships cost £3.50 and must be approved by Union Council. To find out more about associate membership, contact the Societies Officer Nick Kent or Finance Officer Eddie Shields. Or:
• They become a LIFE MEMBER. Life members are ex-UEA students who have paid the life-membership fee. Proof is required that they are an ex-UEA student. Life membership costs £10, but honorary life memberships can be granted at the discretion of Union Council.

Getting Started Forms and Stuff

So now that your club/society exists, how do you get it up and running? People taking over from a club/society must read this bit, as well as new clubs/societies who have had their constitution passed.

Clubs and Societies need to complete the following requirements each year in order to be registered for that year:

1) Members.

Every club or society must have at least 30 members. Club/Society officials must collect the member’s name, school, year, UEA registration number, and also a minimum subscription fee of £3 if a society and £5 if a sports club. This money remains in the club/society’s account for their own expenses, and therefore clubs and societies may choose to charge more than £3 if they wish. Members should be given a signed membership card when they join. To procure blank membership cards, ask the Finance Officer.

NOTE: Some clubs/societies find it difficult finding 30 members to begin with. The main way most recruit is through Socmart/Sportsmart. These are held at the beginning of each semester in the LCR and the Sportspark, where clubs and societies are invited to set up stalls. You can also recruit members at any time in the year with a stall in the Hive or the Square, or with a good publicity campaign. For more information on how to recruit, contact the Clubs and Societies Officers.

2) Membership lists.

An up to date copy of every club and societies membership list must be handed in to the Finance Office. Here we check that the number of members matches the amount of money paid in to your account, and we also check that your committee are all paid up members. Make sure you keep a copy of the membership lists for yourselves too.*

3) Committee.

A committee of at least three members must run every club or society. Of which there must be one President, one Treasurer and one Secretary. These three are responsible to the Union for all club/society expenditure. Other committee posts may be chosen relative to your objects. For example, a sports club may have a fixtures secretary, whereas some societies may benefit more from a webmaster. All of your committee must be elected by your society. Elections do not have to be formal and may be as simple as a show of hands. However, we do ask that meetings where elections are to take place be publicised as such at least five days in advance. A meeting shall only be quorate if 1/4 of the membership attends. Election shall be by simple majority voting. More details of these procedures can be found in your constitution.

4) Committee lists.

Subsequent to the committee elections, which ideally will be held every March, the committee must hand in a completed and signed copy of the committee list to the Finance Officer*.

5) Constitution Acceptance Form & Disclaimers.

We also ask that every committee accepts the club/society constitution (whether or not they wrote it). To read an existing constitution, contact the Clubs and Societies Officer.

Like any organisation, we expect you to take responsibility for your own actions, but the Student Union ultimately is responsible for the actions of its subsidiary groups. Therefore, by way of precaution, we ask every club and society to sign a Print Disclaimer and a Finance Disclaimer. These then put the responsibility on the committee of the club or society for any defamatory or illegal printing they do, and any costs they incur that are not authorised by the Union. We generally do not ever have any problems however it doesn’t harm to be careful, and we will not activate your society without the signed disclaimers*.

*Blank forms can be collected from the finance officer