Resources
Running a Club/Society
The control of the running of Clubs and Societies rests with the Cranfield Students’ Association. There are several procedures, which have developed as a direct result of the last Education Act, that a Club or Society wishing to operate under the CSA umbrella must follow. All these proceadures are designed to ensure that your Club or Society runs smoothly and to the maximum benefit of its members.
Firstly, there are a few basic rules that all Clubs and Societies wishing to be ratified by the CSA, and hence receive funding, must follow:
- Every Club or Society must have at least 10 paid-up full-time student members. Every Club or Society must run for the benefit of its student members.
- Membership MUST be open to ALL full members of the CSA.
- No two Clubs or Societies can have the same aims and function (e.g. there can’t be 2 Parachute Clubs).
- The aims of a Club or Society must not be against CSA policy.
- All Clubs and Societies must operate within a constitution that has been approved by the CSA. All Clubs and Societies must run in line with Schedule 15 of the CSA Bye-Laws. (attached)
- It is mandatory for Clubs and Societies that take part in hazardous activities to have a Code of Practice and to keep a detailed log of all on and off-campus activities.
Starting a new club or society
A student can start a new Club/Society. The best time to set up a new society is early in the academic year. If you want your Club/Society to be ratified (recognised) by the CSA you must provide the following:
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A Constitution (download the template below)
The constitution MUST be approved by the CSA Executive and should be read by all members of the Club or Society. The constitution should be signed by the current Club/Society President and one other current member of its Executive. Your Club and Society may already have a constitution but the signatures on these will need updating, check in the office.
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A list of at least 10 interested students.
Once these have been received, the CSA Clubs and Societies committee (on behalf of the CSA Executive Committee) will meet to decide if the aims and objectives of the proposed group are eligible and that there is sufficient interest from the student body for this Club/Society to exist.
Once this is established, then you can progress with setting up your club or society.
You will have to provide:
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A list of at least 2 elected student officers via the form below (usually President and Treasurer, although you may wish to elect more).
- A draft programme of events and intentions via the form below
Training/Meeting Times/Event Registration
Once all these things have been received your society, your Club/Society can be recognised by the CSA Executive Committee and will be eligible for funding one the 10 members have signed up and paid their membership fee via the site.
Why ratify?
The CSA ratifies clubs and societies so it can offer support, assistance and grants to groups of students. Once ratified, a Club/Society gains access to a mailbox and the support of our CSA staff. You'll be able to promote your Club/Society on the CSA regulated noticeboards, through Entropy and on the CSA website. Ratified clubs/societies get priority in bookings of the sports facilities and the CSA meeting rooms. In addition, only ratified clubs/societies will be eligible for funding and to take advantage of the first aid training course. The CSA also insures ratified sports clubs and will help with storage space for property and equipment.
Aims and Objectives
Although you might have more specific aims as a Club/Society, your broad aims should be:
- To provide as many activities for as many students as possible according to your stated aims and objectives and according to the constitution of the CSA.
- To find ways to raise enough money to support activities, in particular social events not covered by grant.
- To self-support as far as is reasonable.
- To raise the profile of the Club/Society, the CSA and the University.
- To work with the CSA and take an interest in general CSA affairs.
- To do this at reasonable cost to the Club/Society and its members and the SASC fund.
Running the Club/Society
Remember everything takes twice as long to achieve as you think it will...
Advice For Presidents
As President, your role will be to take the lead in the planning of the activities of the year, and to oversee the work to be done to achieve those goals. You are the one to take overall responsibility for the Club or Society and its equipment. The amount of work you have will depend on how active your society is and what your supporting team is like. Try and be clear about who has what responsibility - try and get members actively involved as much as possible. The more people who are prepared to help out the better. Don’t expect too many people though, commitments will get in the way at the wrong time - and that probably applies to you.
Mailbox - You will hold the key for your mailbox which is outside the CSA office. Please check your box regularly.
Advice for Secretaries
As Secretary, it's your job to tell everyone what is going on. Let us know what events are running, send us copies of any minutes etc. You will probably be in charge of keeping your members informed as well, depending on how your committee has decided to divvy up the jobs. This might mean sending letters or emails to members telling them about meetings and events.
Constitution - You will also be the lucky person who is the expert on the constitution. This means that you will have a good idea of what you shouldn’t do and point it out to the committee if they break or are about to break a rule.
Meetings - You should try and hold regular society meetings to keep your members informed and to plan for upcoming events. We suggest holding an open members / prospective members meeting once a term and holding more frequent committee meetings of the core officers and those actively involved in helping to run the society.
Make sure your secretary takes minutes of all the meetings and that these are kept and filed. (We can keep these in our files for safekeeping if you need us to). They will be useful for you and for future officers to look back on. They also make sure you have a record of who has agreed to do what and when they have agreed to do it by, just in case they forget!
Run any big decisions by your members and take their suggestions into account when planning.
AGM - You should hold an Annual General Meeting sometime in the summer term. This is a good time to elect officers for next year.
You should also try and have next years’ budget and a plan of events ready for an AGM so members can agree to them.
As officers you may wish to report on your activities over the year, with any observations which might help officers next year.
Publicity - Good publicity is vital. It's no good running fantastic events if no one knows they’re on. It's not just about producing posters to put on your department noticeboard, put them everywhere you can - publicity will attract new members from places you never dreamt of. You might just stick to posters, but you may also decide to produce a bulletin, or set up an email list.
Noticeboards - If you want to put a poster on a CSA noticeboard pop up to the office and get a stamp. This tells our staff not to rip it down when they do board checks and means your poster will stay up longer. Try and get members to take a few posters each - it will take you ages to get around all the buildings otherwise and do ask permission in other buildings.
Codes of Practice
Most sports clubs will be affiliated to a governing body, and they will be able to provide you with an up-to-date Code of Practice. The CSA strongly recommends that clubs follow these guidelines or set their own Code of Practice and submit it to the CSA Executive Committee for approval. It is also important that all members are made aware of the Code of Practice. All water sports clubs must ensure that all members can swim a minimum distance of 50m.
The Clubs and Societies Committee (CASC)
CASC is composed of the three elected representatives from the Clubs and Societies Forum plus CSA Officers. Its duties are to be responsible for the allocation of the Clubs and Societies grant, and to consider and advise The Executive Committee of the CSA and Association Council on all matters relating to sports, clubs and societies. The committee will meet as necessary primarily to allocate the Clubs and Societies grant but also to discuss any other relevant matters relating to the Clubs and Societies of the CSA. The committee has the power to co-opt extra members as it sees necessary.
Clubs and Societies Forums
All clubs and societies MUST send at least two representatives to the clubs and societies forum. One of the purposes of the forum is to elect three representatives onto CASC. The vote will be taken by a show of hands with all clubs and societies having a maximum of two votes. No one person may vote more than once nor as a representative of more than one club. Attendance of Clubs and Societies Forums is mandatory for all clubs & societies requesting funding.
This meeting also provides an opportunity to discuss problems and ask questions.
