To maximise students’ experience we are Changing the Standards

Introduction This year we have made multiple changes to the Standards. This presentation is designed to introduce these changes.

The Kickass Guarantee From this year onwards we are introducing a minimum requirement – the Kickass Guarantee.

Why Have a Kickass Guarantee? We believe if you pay £5 to join a society you should be guaranteed to take part in that activity e.g. a chess society should give members the equipment and opportunities to play chess. To reflect this we have created a ‘Kickass Guarantee’ which is a minimum standard to ensure your society delivers this to your members in return for their membership fees.

Kickass Guarantee Societies Spend at least 50% of their first term’s membership income for the benefit of their members; Hold at least two events over the course of the year; Have an active social media platform to advertise events and where members can interact; AND ……

Kickass Guarantee Societies Hold one general meeting per term (which all members can attend); Attend all Societies Guild General Meetings (or provide apologies 48 hours in advance); Submit all required Societies Guild paperwork on time; Hold online elections.

Impact on Standards All societies will need to meet the requirements of the Kickass Guarantee in order to be classed as societies. As a result, we have introduced new criteria for achieving the Societies Guild Standards Awards.

Events StandardNumber of Events GoldTwelve events – six each term SilverEight events – four each term BronzeFour events – two each term

Event Categories In order to qualify for the Standards, these events will have to fall into a number of different and specific categories : Academic/Educational Trips/Off-Campus Activities Social Activities Other

Event Categories StandardNumber of Event Categories GoldEvents from four categories SilverEvents from four categories BronzeEvents from three categories

Attendance at Events Please monitor the levels of attendance at all your events and submit: Attendance lists Pictures as evidence of numbers.

Fundraising Fundraising for your society and fundraising for charity will both count towards this total, as will funds raised through sponsorship or secured from the Essex Fund. StandardAmount Raised Gold£500 minimum Silver£250 minimum Bronze£125 minimum

Volunteering At least six members must be present at each event SU Events include Winter Fayre, Fireworks, Derby Day etc. StandardNumber of volunteering activities GoldFive – at least two SU Events SilverThree - at least two SU Events BronzeTwo - at least one SU Event

Finance & Spending To achieve the Standards you will need to meet a minimum spending requirement. This means: You will have to spend a certain percentage of your first term’s membership income, for the benefit of your members, by the end of Term Two You will no longer need to be self-funded in order to achieve Gold Standard!

Finance & Spending StandardPercentage of Term One Membership Income Spent Gold100% Silver90% Bronze80% *Remember, you have TWO terms to spend the membership income from Term One. You do NOT have to spend all income from Term One in Term One! *

Executive Committee Meetings StandardNumber of Meetings in Year GoldTwelve – with six meetings per term SilverEight – with four meetings per term BronzeFour – with two meetings per term In addition to these, societies must host at least one General Meeting per term – this is a meeting which all members are invited to attend – one of which is your AGM. Always upload your minutes!

Collaboration Since collaboration between societies encourages the sharing of ideas and good practice, we would like the Standards to reflect this. In addition, for Gold Standard we would like to extend this to include a requirement to mentor new or struggling societies when there are opportunities to do so.

Collaboration & Mentoring StandardNumber of Collaborations Gold*At least two mentoring activities SilverTwo collaborations BronzeOne collaboration *To maintain your Gold Standard once achieved, Two collaborations are required in order to achieve gold

Engaging Non-Members As the SU aims to represent all students, we would like some of our societies’ activities to be open to non-members. This could include are social events, performances, workshops etc. StandardsNumber of Open Events GoldThree events SilverTwo events BronzeOne event

Applying for Standards SOCIETIES WILL NO LONGER *APPLY* FOR STANDARDS SOCIETIES WILL NO LONGER HAVE A STANDARDS PAGE WHICH IS SEPARATE TO THEIR WEB PAGE ALL MINUTES, PHOTOS, ATTENDANCE LISTS, REPORTS ETC. MUST BE UPLOADED TO AN ADDITIONAL PAGE FOR YOUR SOCIETY, WHICH WILL BE LINKED TO YOUR MAIN ‘LANDING’ PAGE THE SOCIETIES TEAM WILL REVIEW THESE PAGES TO MONITOR THE KICKASS GUARANTEE, AND WILL ALSO COLLATE EVIDENCE OF MEETING STANDARDS

Incentives! Each executive member of societies which achieve a Standard will be entered into an annual prize draw, with the available prizes reflecting the standard achieved. These societies will also be issued with a Freshers’ Kit for the following year which will advertise their status to future members.

Any Questions?