Joining a society at university is one of the best decisions you can make. It is here you will meet people with similar interests, take part in something exciting, and make friends for life. A great opportunity you should make the most of at university is taking on a role on the committee of a society. But what actually is a society committee? Essentially, the committee is a group of people responsible for the running of a society.
Each society committee will look different. However most will have the same core roles which are listed and explained below.
President
This is somewhat self-explanatory, but the president of a society is the person in charge. This role can be pretty full-on as there is actually a lot more to running a society than you may think (paperwork is going to become your worst enemy) and there are a whole bunch of processes you have to follow to ensure your society is being run properly.
For more information on what it’s like being a society president as well as juggling a degree, check out Chelsie’s article here. She details her experience running her university’s newspaper, which she describes as helping her gain ‘invaluable experience,’ but also explains that taking on the role of president is ‘a big commitment.’
While all societies will have a president, this may not be the exact title. For example, in a sports society the president may be called the ‘captain,’ whilst in a newspaper they are called ‘Editor in Chief,’ and in a radio station they are referred to as the ‘station manager.’
Treasurer
A treasurer is the person on committee in charge of managing the money. Every university will do things differently, but usually societies can apply for grants and funding from your guild of students which is something the treasurer will organise and keep track of. Some societies will have hundreds of members so the treasurer’s role is to make sure the membership funds, grants, and any extra money is kept track of and well looked after.
The treasurer will also be in charge of filling out budget forms for the society for various events, and helping to price tickets for socials.
Secretary
The secretary is usually in charge of the general organisation and paperwork involved with running a society. They will take minutes (notes) of each meeting to ensure that everything is recorded properly and will sometimes be in charge of the money if a society does not have a treasurer.
Social Secretary
As a social secretary, I can confirm that this role is so much fun, but does actually contain a lot more paperwork and background work than you may realise. The role usually involves managing your society’s social media accounts such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and planning social events throughout the year. It’s important to hold a variety of events throughout the year, as often people who don’t drink or like to party can feel left out of societies- as social secretary it is your job to make sure this doesn’t happen!
Being social secretary can also be a chance for you to get experience planning large scale events, advertising your society, and getting familiar with paperwork such as risk assessments you may need to know how to do in jobs later on in life.
Maybe this is personal bias, but social secretaries definitely have the most fun!
Welfare Officer
Some societies will also have a welfare officer whose role is to ensure the wellbeing of all society members.