Starting a New Society
There are five steps to forming a Worcester Students’ Union Society:
Step 1: Putting together your ideas & gaining interest
Step 2: Submit your Application & Draft Constitution
Step 3: Meet with the SU Activities Team
Step 4: Approval from SU Executive Committee
Step 5: Complete Relevant Committee Training
Only Societies who have followed these five steps will be permitted to operate as a Students’ Union Society. This is to ensure that your potential Society has a proper structure, does not contravene Students’ Union policy and has the required level of financial assistance, both from its members and from the Union.
We have four application windows across the academic year where you can submit a New Society Application. All applications are then reviewed at a set date by our Exec Committee.
Please see here the windows for 2024/25:
|
|
First Window
|
Second Window
|
Third Window
|
Fourth Window
|
|
Application Submitted
|
From 1st Sept to 31st Oct.
|
1st Nov to 31st Dec.
|
1st Jan to 31st March.
|
1st April to 30th July
|
|
Application reviewed by Exec
|
18th November 2024
|
14th January 2025
|
11th March 2025
|
TBC
|
|
Set up period
|
Nov/Dec
|
Jan/Feb
|
April/May
|
Aug/ Sept
|
Please note that only current students at the University of Worcester are permitted to establish Societies or hold committee positions within them.
The SU is here to support you through all the steps of this process. Some of your key contacts to reach out to for support when starting a society are:
Jack Lambert, Vice President Student Activities - Jack.Lambert@worc.ac.uk
Sophie Smith, Student Activities Manager - Sophie.smith2@worc.ac.uk
Liv Williams, Student Engagement Administrator - olivia.williams2@worc.ac.uk
Check a similar society doesn’t already exist: You can find a list of our active Societies here. We do not accept duplicate Societies that have aims too similar to an already existing Society.
Naming your Society: Come up with a name for your Society that reflects its aims.
Forming a committee: You will need 3 students in total to set up a Society, they will make up your committee. You will need a Chair, a Vice Chair Finance and Admin and a Vice Chair Inclusivity and Promotions, see here for more information about committee roles. You can also have additional roles like Social Secretary or RAG Rep. If you want to set up a Society but struggling to find other committee members do let us know as we will be able to help look for others that would be interested in setting up the Society.
Membership interest: It’s also important to consider that upon approval you will be expected to recruit 12 members for the society within 6 weeks from the date of approval. Make sure that this is realistic, and you do have interest from others. Please note an exception to this rule will be made for academic societies that have less that 12 students on the course or faith and culture societies that have a small demographic on campus.
Step 2: Submit your Application and Draft Constitution
Now you have gathered together your ideas, established who committee will be and checked there is interest from wider students you will need to submit a ‘New Society Application Form’ to the Students Union outlining the aims and purpose of your Society.
Within this form you will also need to submit you draft constitution. A constitution is your societies governing document, it acts like its rule book clearly stating the parameters in which the group can operate. Every student group needs to have one.
Please see here the draft constitution you will need to update and attach to the application form. You will need to update all the parts in it that are outlined in red. Please keep in mind track changes is on the document to make it clear to us what changes have been made when reviewing.
Once we have received your New Society Application Form, we will invite you in for a ‘Start-Up Meeting’. This is with the Student Activities team and VPSA so we can go over your application, discuss any financial needs of the society and raise anything that may need to be discussed before the application goes to the Executive committee. It is also your opportunity to meet the Student Activities team and the VPSA and ask any questions you have.
Once you have had your ‘Start Up Meeting’ and developed your constitution, your application will be submitted to the SU Executive Committee meeting for approval. Depending during which application Window you have submitted your application will determine the time frame it goes to Executive Committee.
New Societies wll be approved based on the principles available here.
If approved, you can then progress to the next step. Please note, the Executive Committee hold the right to ask for amendments to be made before approval or reject the application.
Please see the Approval Process for a New Society Application here.
Step 5: Complete Relevant Committee Training
Once your Society is approved you can officially start your Society! You will need to complete your online module training which can be found here and attend a committee introductory session with the SU. As part of your training we will ask you to complete a New Society Development Plan. This is to ensure you have planned what activities your New Society will be doing and ensure you recruit members.
While you work to complete your modules, we will work to set up your Society behind the scenes, setting up your mini-website and creating your memberships. We will notify you when this is complete, and you can begin promoting your Society!