New Society Applications and the Activities Committee
What is the Activities Committee?
The activities committee is a group of students elected by heads of clubs and societies to consider proposals for new societies and for the activities committee budget.
Who sits on the Activities Committee?
The activities committee is chaired by myself, the Activities and Development officer, the Society coordinator sits in the meetings but has no vote. It is then made up of 6 other club and society members.
1 Media Society member
AU President
2 Society Members
2 AU members
When do we meet?
The Activities Committee meets every 2 weeks and we need a minimum of 4 voting members attending in order to cast any votes.
This term we will be meeting on weeks 2,4,6, 8 and 10.
However because we have a minimum attendance number in order to vote, if someone is ill or cannot make it, the meeting may have to be rescheduled.
Submitting a new society application
All applications can be submitted here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xv613l01m1pwsj8/648%20AUEventsCalendar.zip
The only requirement is 20 students, including 3 committee members. You just need their email addresses and LSE ID numbers.
BEFORE YOU SUBMIT
While there isn't a definite criteria for what can and cannot be a society, there are a number of recommendations, it is really important you read them!
1) Is your society like any other society?
If the answer is yes be prepared to justify why your society is different. Remember not all of us share your knowledge, make sure you put it in an easy to understand format.
If there are similar societies, explain the benefits of your new society. Also consider speaking to the similar societies before applying, you never know you might be able to develop an existing society to include the area that you're particularly interested in. If that's not an option you can definitely get some great advice on running a society.
2) Is your new society potentially controversial?
If there is any potential controversy, again be prepared to explain your safeguards and why the benefits of your new society would outweigh any potential negatives.
At LSE we are known for getting ourselves into trouble. The Students Union wants to support you and facilitate discussion, but we also want to see you have considered any potential issues and are addressing them in your application.
3) Explain how your society relates to LSE
This is especially relevant if you are setting up a society affiliated with a company, publication or charity. While we may have heard of the charity or have read their mission statement we want to know what you plan to do to engage LSE students.
4) Will you be financially sustainable?
If you plan to hold a huge number of events, conferences and debates, think about how you will finance these. A good conference can cost as much as £30,000. You're unlikely to cover the costs with ticket sales so have a think about potential sponsors, fund raising events and even the activities committee budget.
5) What will your society do?
This sounds like a stupid question but seriously think about it. When you're at Freshers Fair surrounded by some well established societies with all sorts of promotional material surrounding their stall, what are you going to do to get sign ups? Are you helping students build their CVs? Are you bringing like-minded people together to enjoy cultural exchanges, food or entertainment? Whatever you're doing have a plan, if your application doesn't have a clear plan it's less likely to be approved.
After the committee
If your application is successful you will hear back from Iain Pullar, the Societies Development Coordinator, the email will include information about your next steps.
If you're unsuccessful you will get an email from me, Activities and Development Officer, explaining why you were unsuccessful and some feedback about your application. Remember you can always apply more than once.
If you have any questions email: [email protected]
