ROLE DESCRIPTION
Title:
Society President
Department:
Student Activities
Your lead Sabbatical Mentor:
Vice President Activities
Your lead Staff Mentor:
Societies Coordinator / Coach Lane Student Engagement Manager
Who you support:
Society committee volunteers within your society. All members and
potential members of your society
Who supports you:
Societies Leadership Committee
The Student Activities team.
Welcome Desk Staff
Purpose of your Role:
You sit on your society committee and you are integral in deciding
the direction of your society during your term of office. You are
responsible for chairing committee meetings and supporting all
members in your society, as well as promoting and facilitating
Society events throughout the year.
Typical time commitment:
20-30 Hours per Month
Key additional benefits:
Eligibility for the Northumbria Volunteer Awards
Volunteer Training
National Student Awards
How you will be selected:
Committee elections take place in March every year through an
Annual General Meeting (AGM) for all society members. This will be
conducted as a meeting where you will be required stand in an
election.
Specific Duties & Responsibilities
1. To be responsible for the overall running of your society in accordance with the Societies aims
and objectives. These are outlined in the society constitution.
2. To attend and participate termly meetings with your Society Mentor and to send another
member of the committee or your apologies if you are unable to attend.
3. To coordinate discussion and decisions for the overall direction of Society matters, including
decisions on grant allocations, promotion and marketing and communication with members.
4. To act as a figure head of your society liaising with your Society Mentor on appropriate matters.
5. To be the first point of contact for all members and potential members of the society.
6. To understand the different levels of society status (active, restricted and dissolved) and to keep
your society active.
7. To ensure that all your society committee members understand their roles and have attended
the compulsory Student Activities induction session and training.
8. To resolve any disagreements within the society and inform the SU of any support which you
need to fulfil this.
9. To coordinate the committee in organising the society’s end of year celebration.
10. To set agendas and chair society committee meetings (at least one every two months)
11. To delegate tasks to the society committee and ensure that the relevant people are completing
their role to the best of their ability.
12. To drive the society forward by setting an annual programme of events and creating a year
development plan with the rest of the committee.
13. Where the opportunity arises work with similar societies in Northumbria Students’ Union and
across the UK.
14. To actively encourage good communication between NSU activities, Society Leadership
Committee, society committees and society members.
15. To ensure that the society provides a safe and secure environment during society activities.
16. To ensure that the all society events are ran in conjunction with NSU health and safety policy.
17. To attend any additional training appropriate to your society, to communicate training offered by
external organisations to the lead staff member (e.g. Societies Coordinator), and to make them
aware of any further training needs.
18. To fully understand the importance of your role within the structure of Societies, NSU and the
University and to uphold the values of Northumbria SU and Northumbria University.
19. To give other committee members two weeks’ notice if you intend to go on holiday or if you
have upcoming academic commitments which will impact on your role, and to give at least one
month’s notice if you intend to step down from your role.
Other Duties and Responsibilities (which we would expect of all NSU volunteers)
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To aspire to the highest standards of customer care at all times.
To attend appropriate and relevant training events, courses and conferences as required.
To be committed to NSU’s values of Democracy, Inclusive, Ethical, Innovation, Quality and
Partnership
To abide by the Students’ Union Constitution, policies and procedures at all times.
Key graduate attributes that you can develop through this role:
Leadership
Time Management
Organisation
Verbal and Written Communication
Initiative
Report Writing
Promotion
Presentation
Working to Deadlines
Motivation
How you will know you’ve been successful in your role:
You will see an improvement in the quantity and quality within your society, including an increase in the
numbers of members and the variety of activities.
You will be able to track this contribution to your society through minutes of meetings, photos of
delivered activities and feedback from society members.
Thanks to your involvement your society will become bigger and better! Your work will leave a lasting
legacy which will ensure that Northumbria Students can enjoy the society for years to come.
To ensure that you are fully aware of all of the benefits that you are entitled to as a key NSU volunteer,
and that you know what to do if you encounter any difficulties in your role, please refer to our
Societies Handbook: