1 De Montfort Students Union Society Committee Handover Guide 2015/16
2 DSU Societies Committee Handover Pack Contents What you need to know? pg 3-15 What is a handover? pg. 3 Society Medals pg. 4-6 Elections pg. 7-10 Holding an Annual General Meeting pg.11 DSU Society Committee Positions pg.12-14 DSU Societies Panel 16/17 - pg. 15 Handover Documents -pg.16-32 DSU Society Registration Form 16/17 -pg.17-23. Society Portfolio - pg.24 Society Asset Inventory - pg.25 Handover Report Template - pg.26-27 AGM Minute Template - pg.28 Election Results Template - pg. 29 Development Plan - pg.30-31 Budget Template - pg.32
3 This pack is your comprehensive guide to running a DSU Society handover. What is a Handover? A handover is a period of time when your society is passed over from one year s committee to the next year s committee. One of the best ways to look at doing this is to ask yourselves what you were told about running your society and what you wish you had known. This should also include passing over any documents that you have available, including financial information, room bookings process, how to bid for DSU Society Development Fund and any other specifics that need to be known regarding your group. It is your responsibility to ensure that your successors are given the best possible start. There is no set format for how you run your handover we ll leave that up to you however as a Students Union we need to see evidence of what has happened and development plans. This year we are requesting evidence of handovers taking place so we can work with you to ensure that handovers are ran as smoothly as possible and that next years committee have the best start possible. Remember the more you pass on and the better next year s committee will do and the more we know the more we will be able to help.
4 Society Medals As part of the handover process we will be reviewing all society documentation and awarding bronze, silver or gold medals on your pages on the De Montfort Students Union website. To achieve a medal the following must be completed with evidence submitted either via electronic documents or through the De Montfort Students Union Website. Full guidance is provided in this pack on what is needed Please mark the completed box as and when you have done what is required Bronze Medal To achieve a bronze medal all of the following must be completed: What needs to be done? How to Evidence? Completed? Hold an election for new committee members. Ran a full handover for your members. Completed the committee details form for 2016-17 Completed a Society Portfolio for 2015-16. Hold an Annual General Meeting Submit voting record of elections or use the Students Union Website Submit a mini report of what was included in the handover Completed the committee details form for 2016-17 Submitted the portfolio to the Societies Office Minutes submitted to the Volunteer & Societies Office. Silver Medal To achieve a silver medal all of the bronze criteria must be achieved in addition to the following: What needs to be done? How to Evidence? Completed? Set up a shared society email accounts and social media accounts. Inform the societies office of them on your main handover document
5 Organise on activity with the outgoing and incoming committee. All committee members for 2016/17 to have attended a Summer Training Session to be held in May. Have an up to date page on the DSU website that includes: 1. A logo 2. Current Committee Members names 3. Information About Your Society 4. Images of Past Events 5. Details of any future plans Include evidence of the activity (including photographs if possible) in the Society Portfolio and the Handover Report Booked in via the De Montfort Students Union Website. Inform the Volunteer & Societies office via email when you have completed it including a screenshot. Please do this when you submit your handover pack. Gold Medal To achieve a gold medal the following all of the evidence for the bronze and silver will need to be submitted including the following criteria: What needs to be done? How to Evidence? Completed? Completed a Society Development plan for 2016/17 Complete a budget for the academic year 2016/17 Submit the plan using the provided template. Submit a budget using the template provided. Three of the following must also be completed (if you have completed more please evidence it!) What needs to be done? How to Evidence? Completed? Ran at least two activities (including socials) with other societies or sports clubs at DSU or groups from other Students Unions Booked in a development meeting with your relevant coordinator Include evidence of these activities in your society portfolio Fill in the Doodle Poll booking form.
6 To have done a volunteering activity with your society. To have participated in fundraising. To have got involved (this academic year or next) in mentoring as a society or through MyUniPal To have held an official Societies Varsity Event To have ran an off campus trip (including tournaments and #DMUGlobal) or held an activity on campus for groups from other Universities/ Students Unions To have had a guest speaker come on to campus. To have ran a campaign or big event either targeted for your members or alongside your members To have obtained external sponsorship Include any images and details you have in your society portfolio. To include the details of your fundraising and any charity s it is for in your society portfolio. Hold a meeting with the Peer Mentoring Coordinator To have informed the societies office and been included on the official calendar. To include evidence in your society portfolio. T include in society portfolio - please include the speakers name and what they spoke about. To include evidence in your society portfolio including outputs A fully completed sponsorship contract has been signed off by De Montfort Students Union.
7 Elections In order for your society to still exist next year you will need to elect a new committee to run it if not your society will be closed down. This is of course the last thing either us or you want to happen. This year we would like all society committee elections to have taken place by Friday 15 th April at the latest. Election Rules All committees must hold an election for all committee positions for next year, this can be done in one of three ways: o Using the DSU Website o Holding it at an Annual general meeting o Or via Prayer if you wish to do this please speak to a member of the Volunteer & Societies Team first. Committee members cannot be appointed via an application or interview. Only full members of the society are able to vote or run in the elections these members must be fully paid and students during the duration of their term on the committee. All elections must take place on the Students Union Website or at an Annual General Meeting more information on running an Annual general Meeting is available in this pack. The election must be ran by a committee member who is not rerunning if the election is not being ran on the Students Union website then there should be two non rerunning committee members responsible for counting the votes to ensure a fair process. A copy of the voting record must be submitted to the Volunteer & Societies Office electronically. (there is a template for this further on in the document) Election Tips Candidates should be encouraged to submit a manifesto (usually written and including a picture of themselves) that details why they want to be elected and what they want to achieve. Candidates should have a campaign period and a set of rules alongside them. It is up to you to decide on your society s election rules which can include where you can and can t campaign and a budget for all candidates.
8 The easiest way to run an election is online as it allows candidates to submit their manifestos on the website and ensures that only paid members are able to vote it also does the vote count for you! If you decide to give your candidates a budget this needs to be equal for all candidates and should come from your society's self funding accounts. Candidates must keep receipts of expenses and these are to be claimed back in the usual way. Advertise that the election is happening in advance sending out information about each role and how to nominate for the role. All elections must have R.O.N (Re-Open Nominations) as a candidate. This means that if members do not wish to vote for a particular candidate they can choose to re-open the nominations to allow a more suitable candidate to stand. All elections must use the Alternative Voting System. This means that in order to win a candidate must score more than half of the votes in the quota. We've included a how to on running an alternative vote: Candidates are able to rank their choices in order of preference. First choice votes are counted first. If the quota is met the candidate is elected. So if 130 votes are cast the quota is 66. If not the last placed candidate is eliminated and their second choices are then added to the individual they voted for's total. If quota is met a winner is declared. If not last the last placed candidate is eliminated and you repeat the above until one candidate has reached quota. Running an election online! (the best way to do it) The easiest way to run an election is to do so online. This year we have made it possible so that anyone who is the Chairperson of the society is able to set up an election. When running an election online it will allow you to run an election for a longer period than if it is just done in a meeting and can also conduct the count for you. It also ensures that it is far harder for any of your members to make accusations of any corruption as there is solid evidence of votes being counted. How to set up the election! This is done by selecting the elections admin tab when the Chair is logged into the DSU website. You will then need to select your own account from the dropdown list.
9 Then follow through the screens to set up the election. You will need to add overall information and then add information for each post up for election. The website guides you through what you need to do in order to get this election to go live. A full tutorial video can be found on the DSU Website in the committee resources section. *Please note if the Chairperson is rerunning then the member of the committee responsible for running the election must speak to the Volunteer & Societies Office to get permission to set up the election. Running an election at an AGM If you choose to run an election at your AGM you will need to: Appoint a nonvoting member to run the election (this is usually the outgoing Chairperson) Run a nomination period before the AGM where you send out information on how to nominate yourselves for election. Allow the candidates to give a speech about why they should be elected. Conduct a vote usually on nomination slips and done via secret ballot. Announce the Results at the meeting. Running an Election via Prayer If you do choose to run an election via prayer then you will need to ensure that it is communicated in advance to all of your members. The meeting which you do this will need to be known to everyone in advance. If you do choose to run your election this way please ensure that you speak to the Volunteer & Societies Team beforehand. Informing the Students Union of your Election Results After your election has taken place you will need to inform the Volunteer & Societies Staff of the results. If you have conducted an election online please email us and we will be able to access your election results that way.
10 If you do it via AGM then you will need to complete the voting record template as part of your minutes and submit these to the Students Union. All new committee members are required to complete the committee registration form. This needs to be done as soon as possible after the election has taken place.
11 Annual General Meeting Guide An Annual General Meeting is the main meeting of a society throughout the year. When running an Annual General Meeting this needs to be advertised to all members ideally with a weeks' notice. Your Secretary will be required to take minutes at the meeting which will need to be submitted via email to the Volunteer & Societies Office. During an AGM the following needs to be covered: Introduction to the AGM Take an attendance record Apologies from those who could not attend Chairperson s Report o This can take any form, it could be a speech or it could be a written document it s up to you. o This report usually covers an overview of the year for the society o Include any details on memberships sold Treasurers Report o This should cover the current amount that is in the account o Where money has been spent and where it has been generated o Details of any external sponsorships o Any major transactions o Printouts of your accounts should also be made available for members to see. Elections to be held (if they are not being done online) Announce Election Results Any Other Business Close The Meeting
12 Committee Positions & Responsibility Positions 1-4 are mandatory. If you do not have these your society will not be able to continue to exist or be allowed to start up. Other positions listed are optional and is up to you as a committee if you decide to have these positions Read below to see what we see the main roles of the Committee members as.. 1. Chairperson Is the main point of contact for the society to the Students Union, the University and any external bodies. Leads on building the Society s strategic direction Supports the other members of the committee with their responsibilities Chairs committee meetings Delegates tasks to committee members Ensure the DSU Byelaws and any other policies are being followed particularly the Societies Code of Conduct Responsible for the behaviour of all society members 2. Secretary Responsible for managing lists of all members and the email accounts/lists Take minutes from all committee meetings and the Society Annual General Meeting Be Responsible for Room Bookings Organise transport to events Keep the information on the DSU Website up to date. Run the Social Media Accounts The secretary is also responsible for arranging minibus drivers where appropriate. Please talk with the Volunteer & Societies Office if you are keen on becoming a driver for your society. Remember you must be over 21, have two years driving experience and a clean driving licence. 3. Treasurer Complete the society budget and ensure it is adhered to. Ensure that members pay their fees on the DSU Website. Be responsible for logging all ingoing and outgoing payments. Ensure that committee members or society members get their reimbursements from the society s self funding account
13 Be responsible for seeking external sponsorship. To be done with a committee member who is responsible for the area where the sponsorship goes 4. Safety Officer Attend any Health and Safety Training that is offered Attend the First Aid Training and be the trained first Aider on all events Ensure that all Risk Assessments and Health and Safety procedures are followed Ensure all activities are carried out in a safe manner Complete any Health and Safety Paperwork as required from the DSU Website 5. Social Secretary Organise socials for members these should be varied and cater to the needs of your members Ensure that socials are carried out in a planned and safe manner with the Safety Officer Arrange any sponsorships from social venues that you visit regularly (using the DSU Contract) with the Treasurer Lead on planning any trips ensuring that records are kept. 6. Marketing/Publicity Officer Be responsible for producing marketing materials Be responsible for the upkeep of the Society s DSU Website Page Be responsible for running the social media Be responsible for promoting any events/campaigns of the society to members and potential members 7. Events/Campaigns Officer Lead on running any large scale events/ campaigns the society is running Be responsible for recruiting a team of members to help run events/campaigns. Lead on communicating with any external company involved in the event/campaigns Lead on any fundraising or volunteering initiatives.
14 8. Welfare Officer Run any mentoring schemes for first year members in coordination with DSU s Peer Mentoring Coordinator Attend any relevant training sessions on welfare as offered by the Students Union Be responsible for reporting any health concerns you have (physical or mental) of members to De Montfort Students Union Work with the Vice president Welfare and Community on any relevant campaigns they are running 9. Sports Secretary Be responsible for organising any society sports activities. Be responsible for entering teams into DSU s Intramural League. Organise any sporting events against other societies/sports clubs. Encourage participation in sporting activity of members. Attend First Aid Training ran by De Montfort Student Union
15 DSU Societies Panel Information Sheet What is it? The Societies Panel is a group of students who will meet once a fortnight in term time with the Vice President Student Activities. They will make decisions such as: Approving new societies Approving Development Fund bids Closing a society down if they re not playing along with the rules! Why should I get involved? The Societies Panel will be a great way to get further involved in your Students Union whilst studying at DMU. Being on the committee of a society is great, but if you re looking for more involvement in decision making at the Students Union then consider getting involved! How do I get involved? Look out for information via email on this. The Panel are elected in so if you wanted to get involved you would have to stand in an election, this is all handled online and you ll simply have to put a manifesto together explaining why people should vote for you. Everyone involved in societies will be able to vote in the election. If you get voted into one of the places then you ll be inducted into the role in time for the new year! Any Questions? More information will be with you soon via email, but if you do have any questions in the mean time don t hesitate to get in touch 1.30 in your Students Union, 0116 257 6304 or at societies@dmu.ac.uk.
16 Handover Document and Templates The following pages are all documents that you will need to fill in electronically and returned to us by Friday 17th June at the latest. The Committee Details Form should be filled in, printed off, signed and returned to us as soon as your elections have been conducted.
17 SOCIETY Committee Details Form 2016/17 PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU FILL ANYTHING IN. (PLEASE FILL IN, PRINT, SIGN AND RETURN TO VOLUNTEERING AND SOCIETIES OFFICE 1.30) SOCIETY NAME: (Please complete in block capitals) Society membership fee to be charged ( 2 minimum, 10 maximum) SOCIETY AIMS Please include the general aims as to why your society exists. This should be your general aim and what you are working towards.......... PLEASE READ CAREFULLY DUTIES YOUR DUTIES: Annual Societies are part of and funded by the Students Union, each Society must ensure that two society members attend every Annual General Meeting (AGM). Unless prior written apologies are given, failure to attend will result in: 1) A 25.00 fine for failing to attend a first meeting 2) The freezing of the Society budget if a Society fails to attend two meetings in a row 3) The complete closure of the Society and the reallocation of any remaining budget if a third successive meeting is missed These meetings will have a register to sign and you will need to show a Society membership card and current university student card. All of these meetings are advertised in the Students Union with plenty of notice, so there should be no excuse for non-attendance.
18 THE COMMITTEE Declaration (All Committee Members must fill in their details and sign.) As a Society Official I am aware of my obligations to my fellow Society members.: I will/have read and understand, agree to abide by and enforce the rules of the Code of Conduct and Bye-Law 7: Clubs and Society Regulations which I hold. Committee members will be held responsible for the actions of members Please note the email address you provide may be used in DSU publicity e.g. website - we recommend setting up a society email account to avoid this. CHAIRPERSON Name... P Number... Course... Year of study... 2016/17 Term Address (if known):...... Telephone... E-Mail: (Please enter in block capitals below) Signature... Date... SECRETARY
19 Name... P Number... Course... Year of study... 2016/17 Term Address (if known):...... Telephone... E-Mail: (Please enter in block capitals below) Signature... Date... TREASURER Name... P Number... Course... Year of study... 2015/16 Term Address (if known):......
20 Telephone... E-Mail: (Please enter in block capitals below) Signature... Date... SAFETY OFFICER Name... DMU ID No... Course... Year of study... 2015/16 Term Address (if known):...... Telephone... E-Mail: (Please enter in block capitals below) Signature... Date... COMMITTEE ROLE: Name... DMU ID No...
21 Course... Year of study... 2015/16 Term Address (if known):...... Telephone... E-Mail: (Please enter in block capitals below) Signature... Date... COMMITTEE ROLE: Name... DMU ID No... Course... Year of study... 2015/16 Term Address (if known):...... Telephone... E-Mail: (Please enter in block capitals below)
22 Signature... Date... COMMITTEE ROLE: Name... DMU ID No... Course... Year of study... 2015/16 Term Address (if known):...... Telephone... E-Mail: (Please enter in block capitals below) Signature... Date... (OUTGOING CHAIR) NAME... SIGNATURE... DATE... Shared Society email account: (Please enter in block capitals below)
23 Twitter Handle: Facebook Page (include the URL after the /): Instagram name: OFFICE USE ONLY DATE RECEIVED APPROVED CONTACT SHEET BUDGET CODE WEBSITE EMAIL
24 Society Portfolio Each year we ask every single society to complete a portfolio. We request these for various reasons; so that we know what you have achieved during the year, so that we can let the University know what you have achieved and so that we can let those running societies next year know the kind of things we look for them to achieve. Portfolios can be in any format you wish: Word Document PDF PowerPoint Presentation Video Podcast Photo Album Blog Book Magazine Folders We request that these are sent to us as part of your handover documents, so no later than 27 st May 2016 please! Please refer to the Societies Medal Criteria to ensure that you have included everything that you need to in your portfolio. They can be emailed to us at societies@dmu.ac.uk as part of your handover pack.
25 Society Asset Inventory Each year we want to make sure that the new committee for your society have everything that they need, if you have any equipment for the society purchased through society funds then these must be handed over. We have store cupboards within DSU for them to be stored over the summer ready for the new committee to access in September. If you own any inventory (including things you do not store with DSU) a copy of this form must be submitted to the Societies Office. This form will need to completed electronically and submitted via email alongside your other documents. Item Quantity When Purchased Handed in to DSU
26 Handover Report Please detail what you have covered in your handover report as bullet points. This will need to be submitted as part of the Society Medals Scheme. This report can be done as continuous prose or as a list please provide detail. This report will need to cover information for the overall society including but not limited to: How your election was ran (include numbers who took part) When the handover took place Things you covered in the handover period Details of any documents you handed over A report of the handover event you ran as the incoming and outgoing committee (if done) Committee Handover
27 In addition to your Committee Handover overall we would like you to detail the handover for each position. These don t need to be as long but should be filled in by the outgoing member of the committee for each area. Chairperson Treasurer Secretary Safety Officer Committee Role: Committee Role: Committee Role: Committee Role:
28 AGM Minute Template Please use the following minute template for when you are running your Annual General Meeting - this can also be used for committee meetings if you adapt it Chair: Secretary: (include the names of all others) In Attendance 1. Apologies (The Chair states who apologies have been received from if they are unable to attend) 2. Matter's Arsing (If you have minutes from a previous AGM or other minutes then members need to vote these as correct) ( if applicable place the initials of members responsible for actions and dates to be completed by in this column) 3. Declarations of Interest (if a member present has a specific interest in a particular item they will need to declare it here. The group will then need to decide if any action is taken) 4. Chairperson's Report (The Chair will need to deliver their report. Include minutes of what was discussed and any questions asked) 5. Treasurer's Report (The Treasurer will need to deliver their report. Include minutes of what was discussed and any questions asked) 6. Elections and/or Results of Elections (include details on the elections - who stood, speeches - if done at the AGM, and overall voter turnout and results.) 7. Any Other Business (Include details of anything else discussed)
29 Name Elections Results Template If you have not conducted your election online then you will need to submit a full breakdown of voting which is to be done here using this template. Use the following template to enter election results. You will need one table per role. We Recommend copying and pasting it as many times as you need. Use ours as an example - please ensure you remove our data on your own results. Role: Chair Person Voter Turnout - 100 Quota: 51 Round 1 Votes Elected/ Excluded Round 2 Votes Elected/ Excluded Round 3 Votes Elected/ Excluded Superman 19 19 19 Excluded Round 4 Votes Elected/ Excluded Batman 22 23 23 26 Excluded Wonder Woman Round 5 Votes Elected/ Excluded 20 22 31 39 56 Elected Deadpool 25 25 26 32 41 Excluded CatWoman 10 10 Excluded R.O.N (Re-Open Nominations) 4 Excluded As you can see in this instance Deadpool was the most popular candidate on first preferences, but did not meet the quota -therefore he could not have been declared the winner of the election. This resulted in R.O.N being eliminated first. R.O.N's second preferences were added boosting the totals of Batman and Wonder Woman In Round 2 quota was not met CatWoman was eliminated. Her second preferences were added on to the totals of round 3 of voting. Wonder Woman took the lead but quota had not been met eliminating Superman. In round 4 of voting Wonder Woman picked up a of Superman's second preferences but it was not enough to reach quota. After Batman was eliminated wonder Woman had enough second choice voted from Batman to reach quota and be elected. We will need to see this information for all of your elected positions. The easiest way to conduct elections to avoid filling this in is to run your elections on the DSU Website and then submit the record from there - it will all be done for you If you have any questions on voting or how to fill this in then please contact the Volunteer & Societies Team.
30 Development Plan and Template Your Development Plan should focus on what you want to achieve. This should be broken down into your overall aims for the year and any particular areas that you want to develop. Please remember to look at the Society Medal Criteria when doing this. The more you look to include from that criteria in your development plan (fundraising, volunteering, Varsity s, Sponsorship etc.) the better your classification will be. Areas to think about including are: Plans of regular activities. Joint Activities with other groups. Running a Varsity Event. Planning a large event. Getting Involved in MyUniPal Mentoring. Entering competitions Running off campus trips Running volunteering events Getting involved in fundraising Obtaining external sponsorship Holding speaker events Everything that you include in your development plan must be for the benefit of your wider members and relate back your aim that you have given in your committee details form. All goals must be S.M.A.R.T - (Specific, Measurable, Realistic and Timebound). You should have at least 8 goals on your development plan to achieve throughout the year. These can be small or large - it's up to you. You must use our template for this. Please add rows on as you require them. Once submitted the coordinator for your area will return it to you with comments on to help you. We have included some examples on the next page to give you ideas.
31 Name of Society: Vol Soc Society Aim: To provide a social and welfare space for Volunteer and Societies Staff What? Why? How? When? Who? To have all members fully paid DSU Bylaws state that all members must be paid. Memberships fund the society's activities. Make sure people know they need to pay online. Print membership lists from the DSU Website before each event and not allow entry if someone is not a paid member. By week 4 of term 1. Chairperson and Treasurer To run a mentoring scheme for new members To attend a conference for Volunteering & Societies Staff To obtain eternal sponsorship from a weekly social venue To help new members settle into life at DMU. To encourage new members to get fully involved in the society and retain them for the next year. To give returning members a volunteering opportunity that can boost their employability. To allow staff members to network boosting their employability. To learn from other staff in the sector. To attend lectures and talks from prominent people in the sector. To ensure that there is a reserved space for VolSoc society's meet ups. To get running discount for our members when they are using the venue with at all times. Use the MyUniPal scheme offered by the Students' Union Book in tickets and transport as a society to make it cheaper. Apply for the Development Fund Work out an overall package cost that the society will subsidise. Approach Venue with DSU Sponsorship Contract. Use our business case including facts about how many members we have had, how long we have existed, lobby for how much revenue we can generate for Venue. Book in a development meeting before the end of term 3 and March -Term 2. Bookings to be made by January. Venue to be approached in term 3. Contract to be secured by September before term 1 starts. Chairperson & Welfare Officer Chairperson, Events Officer, Treasurer & Safety Officer. Social Secretary & Treasurer
32 Budget Template The Budget Template and example has been designed as an Excel Document so it will do the calculations for you we re nice like that. Please ensure that you budget to be in positive figures as an overall! The Budget does not need to be worked out to be the penny but should be a rough calculation of what you will spend throughout the year. We have included categories to make it easier for you. If you wish to include your own budgets for specific events or campaigns you run we recommend that you do so. Please remember to also include money that you are planning to bid for from the Societies Development Fund in your budget. If you have any questions about budgeting please contact the Volunteer & Societies Team on societies@dmu.ac.uk