Committee Roles

Handbook

For Committee Handover

May 2011
“The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society,
in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of
liberty, equality and community
and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.”

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Contents
1. Working Model Page 3
2. Society Assets and Responsibilities Page 4-5
3. Role of President Page 6
4. Role of Treasurer Page 7
5. Role of Campaigns Officers Page 8
6. Role of Secretary Page 9
7. Role of Events Officer Page 10

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 1. Working Model
President

Events Secretary Treasurer Campaigns

Officer Officers x2

As shown on the following page, some of these positions are very Interlinked
I.e. the Campaigns Officers and Events Officer will all have to be in regular
discussion with the Secretary to communicate with the student populus.

Additional members may be co-opted as General Executive Members, they

can be afforded responsibilities by the President.

The new Ward Representative structure of the local Party will continue to see a Student Repre-
sentative on the Greater Reading Liberal Democrat Executive.

They will lead a literature team comprising of the Secretary and Campaigns Officers.

At the time of writing there is no word as to whether Student Literature will be funded
through this proposed local Party model or through our RUSU accounts.
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2. Society Assets and Responsibilities
Assets
Readingliberalyouth.com (Blog):
Secretary
RU LibDem Facebook:
Secretary
Reading Liberal Youth Facebook:
Secretary
Mailing Lists
Secretary
Society Materials:
President; Campaigns Officers

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2. Society Assets and Responsibilities
Responsibilities
Manage Resource Locker in ‘The Lounge’ President; Campaigns Officers

Maintaining Interactive Media (FB and Blogs). Secretary

General messaging through RULD FB.
Arranging Social Events (also inc. RUSU Events such as Events Officer
Societies Ball)
Advertising Social Events (for Video Screen see RUSU Events Officer
Communications - c.whitburn@reading.ac.uk)
Designing Posters Campaigns or Events Officer

Photocopying in RUSU: Campaigns or Events Officer

Flyering/Postering of Events on Campus
Advertising Campaigns Campaigns Officers

Conference Bookings; Messages; Hotels; and Conference Secretary

Travel.
Taking Minutes at Meetings Secretary

Liasing with RUSU on Campaign Weeks; Voter Registration ... President; Campaigns Officers

Liasing with Local Party on Campaigns President (as Student Representative on

Local Party)
Room Booking for Events Events Officer

Dealing with outside speaker events Events Officer; President

Looking after accounts; dealing with claims (presented by Treasurer

President)

Keeping track of mailing list and petitions lists Secretary

Local Press and Student Media President; Campaigns Officers

Societies Convention Meetings and setting Society President (unless difficulty with meeting
meetings (twice a term) time and day)

In an ‘Absence of Leave’ Assigned by meeting unless President,

role taken over by most experienced,
willing, active member

Designing; getting Student FOCUS to Print; distribution (exc. President; Campaigns Officers:
Direct mailings, dealt with by President) Secretary
Local; Euro; or General Election Campaign Time Campaigns Officers

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3. Role of President
As President you are the figurehead of RU Lib Dem’s, expected to
be visible to the student population and be speaking to them
through student; local; and our own literature. Appeal to your
strengths here, if you are good at speaking then you may want to
consider debates or RU:On appearances. .
Ensure that Society members and newcomers feel comforta-
ble and welcomed as part of the group.
Oversee the workings of your executive and deal with any
problems that may arise in their role.
Liase with the Students Union; the local Party; the UCU; the
University and other third parties to scrutinise; support;
and co-operate where necessary.

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4. Role of Treasurer
The Treasurer is responsible for maintaining the finances of our
accounts through RUSU (or the local party) and will therefore
work closely with the President where decisions require us to use
monies in our accounts.
Check reserve and grant account to maintain a healthy
balance on a regular basis (every month), and advise when
we need to be spending our money (at the end of an aca-
demic year); and when we need to stop spending.
Present a financial report at final AGM meeting to handover
to the next Treasurer.
Deal with all claims presented by President; or for
Conferences; Travel; Room Bookings etc. from relevant of-
ficers.

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5. Role of Campaigns Officer
Campaigns Officer requires you to lead at least 2 large cam-
paigns to success a year to maintain our position as a force on
Campus. 2 local, 1 national is the tried and tested formula.

Campaigns are decided at monthly Action Forums by members.

Progress should be reported on all student FOCUS leaflets of
current campaigns through a traffic light systems.

Pick a viable target that can be acted upon (local) and

triumph the result.
It’s essential that you discuss with both RUSU (before the
start of the academic year) and the local party on campaign
ideas.
Vary campaign strategy; bring the campaign to students for
a better result. Use stalls sparingly.
Tie campaigns to RUSU-run ‘weeks’ if possible, ensures
greater visibility.
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6. Role of Secretary
The Secretary is responsible for minutes of meetings; the
updates of websites, Facebook accounts and blogs; and the
records of Society members and petition lists.

In turn they will be an active part of the FOCUS team and publici-
ty for the Society as they are responsible for most of the commu-
nication to the Student Populus along with the President.

They will be responsible for pursuing the key themes and

messages of the society.

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7. Role of Events Officer
The Events Officer controls all room booking and event planning
for the society including visits from guest speakers and social
planning.

They are responsible for promoting any events the society holds,
as opposed to campaigns although these may inter-relate at
times.

Tie events to RUSU-run ‘weeks’ if possible, ensures greater visi-

bility.

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