So in particular it has come to light that there is some feeling within the Students' Association that societies shouldn't be allowed to make membership free. At present 2 societies do this, the Film Society and the Games Development Society.
First lets take a look at the reasons why it might be appropriate to disallow societies from providing free membership, from a purely financial point of view, forcing societies to make money increases their financial sustainability and in turn our own but as I write this we are applying for increased funding from the University with a view to increasing our campaigning budget and this is looking at a University that continuously turns over surpluses. So sustainability is not a grave issue on our agenda as trustees.
So how does the current situation work: societies are funded in a variety of ways - they receive a grant from the Students' Association each year, can raise membership fees and several societies with high running costs will raise money through other events throughout the year.
Each Society is also governed by it's Constitution a document detailing how it operates, this includes how much it charges in membership fees and the fact that the Students' Association Executive Committee as Trustees have the ultimate say in how the society is run. This document is then approved by the Exec (where appropriate) and it as that point the society becomes official.
So if a society wants to make membership free they must write it in their constitution which will be reviewed by the Executive Committee, who will ensure it is appropriate for the society and they won't end up spending more than they have. They will be monitored (like every society) as long as they operate and if the situation changes the Executive Committee can compel them to start charging.
All in all not a particularly easy procedure just now, so why the outright ban? Clearly we're missing something in the actual practicality of it, so lets look at our 2 free societies, the Film Society, which I run myself - doesn't charge membership because it works off of a completely separate payment model, you pay for entry to a film - this has shown to consistently bring in much greater profits than membership would and is the cause of significant fundraising activity within the Students' Association, of course, it remains to be seen how the books balance out at the end of the year but in our 2nd month of running we're over £100 up on our position at the start of the year and have already made a £30 donation to charity, covering all of the money we would have made in membership dues.
The Games Development Society on the other hand does operate truly, freely but the activity they engage in, is to sit in a University Computing Lab and work on games projects together to gain experience and expand their portfolios which is... well a free activity. In fact to the best of my knowledge the outgoings of Games Dev Society last year was £15 for catering - against their £150 grant.
So really, it comes down to what you believe the purpose of societies is - if you think, like me, that societies exist so that students can meet people with the same interests and do something they enjoy, then the status quo is great - if the activity is too expensive then the society will raise money for it, if not they can do what they love for free, no fuss. On the other hand if you believe that Societies should be financially independent social clubs with a committee that works to make sure it's members can enjoy the benefits of a Students' Association Society without getting anything from the Students' Association... well then I guess you think societies should charge membership fees.
But I'll leave you with this from the Unversity of Abertay Dundee Students' Associations Constitution:
"The purposes of the Association shall be: ...
- the organisation of recreational activities for students who have need of them by reason of financial hardship or other disadvantage."
G'night folks!
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