Being on a committee is one of the most rewarding roles you can do at university. It can feel like a part-time job sometimes, but when you run a successful social or talk to people at the freshers fair who have the same enthusiasm as you do about your society, it is indescribable. Over my three years at Exeter, I’ve been elected for five different committee roles ranging from Social Secretary to President, which hopefully makes me a little bit qualified to talk about this. Each society is different and will have different committee roles but here is what a committee will usually look like.
President
Starting off strong with the president, which is the role with the highest level of responsibility. You are the face of the society and will be the person responsible for overseeing the committee. I’m the President of two societies this year; Sexpression and Uni Boob Team. One things I learnt very quickly is that the size of your society significantly impacts how much time you the society will need to run. This can be anything from how many socials will need planning each term to organizing a date/time for your committee to meet.
It is your job to make sure that everything your society offers runs smoothly. This role needs good delegation and time management skills so that you don’t get overwhelmed by how much energy it takes to run a society (and trust me it does!). You will need to get to know your committee so that you can play to their strengths and work out how best to motivate them in their roles. You will also need to know the ins and outs of the Guild and how their policies work.
Vice-President
The Vice-President’s job is essentially being the right hand to the President. When I was Vice-President of Sexpression last year, my role was pretty simple, I had to make sure that our President was keeping on top of all of their jobs and where the President is unable to fulfil roles, it was my job to take on the responsibility.
Treasurer
As treasurer you are you are responsible for all things money! You will have lots of little roles within the society which make up an important part of the committee. It is one of the three mandatory roles needed to run a society. Don’t worry if you’ve never done any of this before; the Guild’s knowledge organiser has everything you need to know about treasuring!
One of the main responsibilities is managing the society’s bank accounts. This means that you will need to make sure that you have enough money to budget for all the events your society runs, whether that’s a social at a venue that requires a booking fee or enough money to book the sports facilities if the society needs them. Another of your biggest roles will be expenses – making sure that if people pay for things out of pocket that they get their money back. This will be run through the Expense 365 app (more information in this link) where members can request money from the society account. You will also be responsible for making sure that everyone in your society has purchased a membership, even the committee. You could also be responsible for finding funding and sponsorship where your society needs it, for example from the Alumni Annual Fund.
Social Secretary
Social Sec is one of the most entertaining roles you can have in a committee. When I was social secretary for Uni Boob Team, it was my first ever committee position and it was so fun. The main job of a social sec is to be in charge of planning and organising all of the socials that your society run. This includes coming up with safe and enjoyable ideas, contacting venues, and everyone’s favourite – risk assessing. Although risk assessing can be very tedious, it is so important in making sure everyone is safe at your events. Luckily, with the guilds new system risk assessing is also a lot easier and is just a form you fill out. Another role you could have as social secretary is being the sober committee member at your events, but this will depend on your society specifically.
General Secretary
Whilst not the most exciting of roles, general secretaries are the backbone of a society. They are there to make sure everything runs smoothly behind the scenes. The main responsibilities of a general secretary are usually the same as a secretary in the workplace. They will take minutes for any meetings held eg. committee meetings and meetings with external parties and the guild. General secretaries are usually responsible for responding to any messages sent to the society inboxes and for communicating information to the society’s members. They are usually also responsible for keeping an up-to-date inventory of everything owned by the society. Finally, they can be responsible for booking university or guild rooms, but this might also be delegated to the social secretary.
Publicity secretary
If you are looking for a career in marketing or social media management then this really is the role for you! I have been in charge of both Sexpression and Uni Boob Team‘s socials for over two years now, which has allowed me to curate a themed Instagram based off the colours of our society. However, if you are looking for the perfect way to make an aesthetic Instagram then look no further than our very own page which is absolutely gorgeous (thanks to Meg!).
You will be in charge of running the societies social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok or even Twitter. This means creating posts for your feed and reposting relevant content. If societies don’t elect a publicity sec, this responsibility falls to the either the social sec, (vice) president or even the general sec. One of the best advice I can give any new publicity secs who are a bit daunted by the idea of having to design them, then use a website called Canva. It is free software where you can make social media posts and stories from templates, so all you need to do is edit it to match what you would like to post. Another responsibility you may have is answering the messages which come into the society DM’s but if you ever get stuck then someone else will always be able to help you answer them.
Welfare Secretary
Welfare secretary is a relatively new role in societies, but it is still really important. It is your job to make sure that all of your members feel included and well supported within the society. This means that you have to be a friendly face to all members of the society so they have a port of call for any wellbeing issues and general questions about the society. Another job you will have is to work alongside the publicity and social sec’s to make sure that all social media posts are disability friendly i.e. in a dyslexic friendly font/colour, include alt text and the language used is inclusive and sensitive
representatives
If you’re looking for a role on committee which has less responsibility than the other roles then maybe you would be suited for a representative position. These are positions which are there so that societies are inclusive of minority students and it is your job to hold them accountable for this. For example by making sure that the socials are disability friendly or that the Instagram posts are accessible. You are also there as a friendly face for members who are from your elected position to talk to and so they feel seen within the society.
Some examples of representatives include: Queer and LGBTQIA+, BAME, Disability, Postgrad, Mature students, women students and any other minority needed representation.