Healthy Society Check

Is Your Society Healthy? 

Being part of societies is fun, but most of all, the running of them is impressive work! Small budgets, small student numbers, all spread over a high number of campuses; the Active Campus Plan [insert link] spells out the lay of the land when it comes to some challenges to creating societies and explains in what environment societies can easily grow. However, an record number of fourteen societies affiliated (or continued affiliation) this Academic Year! 

My goodness, fourteen?! Yes, you read that right: fourteen indeed! Well done for keeping up the good work society leaders. And thanks to the lecturers helping out too - some have been vital in the creation of a number of them.

All of them are unique. Some are run with a whole team of students, others by just a couple. Some organise small events; others meetings. and others again competitions. Some have lots of members others just a few... anyway, you get the picture.

The question that arises then: what makes a society good? Or, to put it better (given that some societies run for years but some won't make the end of the year): what makes a society healthy?  And how can you diagnose your society's health?

Handy List

Whether you’re a Society President (Chair), Secretary, or Treasurer; we all come to the point where we ask ourselves: what’s next? How can the society improve? Not to beat around the bush, below is a handy list with general areas of good practice that make a society healthy.

It's a 1 of your 5 a day, but then instead of 5 they're 7, and instead of nutrients they're tips, because it would be weird if the list did sum up nutrients. However, there is no shoe that fits all societies, and all societies are unique, so some tips may apply more than others. 

1. Longevity

Longevity is key to....uuhm.. as it pretty much says on the tin: make the society last for longer than the Academic Year. A society running for a couple of years is a sign it's pretty healthy (most of the time).

Having a good working society committee is the main ingredient whence longevity is gained. Because that proper network increases the likelihood there's a good handover of roles when outgoing committee members make room for new ones. Do this well and your society may outlive a turtle (which is 3 years nowadays thanks to ocean polution). 

2. Well Operating Committee

Pretty natural, then, that a good network of committee members is operating well. But what means well? Well (haha), every committee has these three essential roles - President (Chair), Secretary, and Treasurer - covered at all times. Also, ideally, everyone knows their role and has gained extra browny points by being website trained.

"What?!! Holy Schnitzel!" I hear you in a surprised uncontrolled burst out, "Can society leaders use handy tools on this very website to - let's say - email all their members, take tally of new members who applied through the website, and showcase their socials?" Oui mon cheri! You guest that completely right! That whole training session only takes 15min of anyones time and can be booked with this guy (total legend) who seems to know a thing or two about these things. 

3. Activities

Of course the type of activities societies run really differs per society. We've seen peer to peer support meetings; leisurely eat pizza hanging outs; sport competition participation; annual balls etc. etc.

Anyhow, societies aren't just joined as a badge of honour, so whatever sort happens, activities will make your society members happy and are a sign that a society is healthy. The golden rule is: the more frequent and the more accessible to all, the better (and healthier). 

4. Communication

Then for students to find out about these activities, communication comes in pretty handy. We're not fussed about the medium, but that tool on our website to send out emails to members does come pretty handy. The more frequent and engaging the communication, the better.

5. Effective recruitment

There's really a lot that can be said about how to recruit effectively. If a society is really spot on with recruitment, they tend to have been able to gain members over multiple courses and from different campuses; recruitment is done via various channels (e.g., via our website; posters; bake sales etc.); and if possible their recruitment syncs with college events (open days, welcome week etc). 

But to get there is not easy. Anyhow, one big tip with immediate result that we can give, however, is that some students apply via our website and when treasurers take stock of new members via our website tool (really easy to use), they instantly see how many members they have. 

6. Meeting (for Democracy Sake)

Think you just had déjà vu and are stuck in the matrix? Well, tough cookie, but if you think it is because it's just a recycled point 3. you're dead wrong. 

Because whether a society has meetings as activities or not, it's still important to have meetings where society things (activities, who does what, changes to constitution) are decided. As a matter of fact, every healthy society has a proper Annual General Gathering every year (hence the annual). 

7. Good relationship with SRUCSA

All time labour leader hero, Jimmy Hoffa, once said that in the old days everything was settled with a handshake and that nowadays you need a group of 40 lawyers. Well, good news Jimmy, that nowadays you just need a SRUCSA. 

Any issue with societies? Wanting to start one? Wanting to revive one? Email SRUCSA is Bob's yer unlce, Fanny yer aunt. Really, keep them engaged and they can update your society leader details, give you prior info about your society (if you're new to it), give website training, promote your society, communicate promoting your society to the SRUC comms team, set up links with external organisations, get your society discounts, enter you into sports competitions, support you getting funding as a society or individual.... really the sky is the limit!

Even better, just email this guy. Pop his first name in the address bar and you'll find him. 

Great, what to do next?

Score your society. Is your society performing great in an area of practice, you get a 3. If your soc do that area of practice but it needs improvement you get a score of 2. If you have no clue whether it's taking place -1 and 3 Hail Marys. 7 areas times a max. score of 3 is 21. That's the highest score you can.