NUI Galway Societies End of Year Report 2006-2007 Ríona Hughes Societies Officer [email protected] 091 492088 ext 2088 Website: www.socs.nuigalway.ie 0 Index Index 1 Human Rights 82 Introduction 2 International Students 84 BICS Awards 3 Italian 87 NUI Galway Society Awards 4 Juggling Society 89 Students Union Clubs and Society Awards 4 Karting Society 93 AIB Event of Excellence Awards 5 Labour Youth 94 University Societies Committee 06-07 5 Law Society 94 Society Statistics 6 Life Society 98 ALIVE 7 The Literary and Debating Society 100 Marine Society (Marsoc) 108 The Societies Secretary and Treasurer’s Reports Maths Society 109 An Cumann Craic 8 Mature Students Society 110 Animal Rights Society 9 Media Society 112 Archaeology Society 10 Medical Society 113 Art Society 12 Microbiology Society 114 The Bahá’í Society 15 Musical Society (GUMS) 116 Biotechnical Society 16 Music Society 120 Botany Society 17 Muslim Youth Society 121 Business Society 18 Orchestra 123 Chemistry Society 21 Palestine Solidarity 125 Chess Society 23 Philosophy Society 126 Chocolate 25 Photographic Society 127 Choral 26 Physics 129 Christian Students 29 Poker 130 Classics Society 31 Political Discussion Society 131 Comedy 32 Presidents Award (Gaisce) 133 Complementary Therapy 33 Psychological Society 135 Computer Society 34 Quiz Society 137 Cumann de Barra 36 Radio Society 138 Cumann Dramaíochta 39 Rotaract Society 141 Cumann Éigse & Seanchais 41 Ógra Sinn Fein 143 History (Cumann Staire) 42 Sláinte Society 145 Dansoc 48 Social Action Movement Society 146 DJ Society 50 Socialist Society 148 Dramsoc 52 Socialist Workers Society 149 Ecology Society 55 Spanish Society 151 Electronics Society 57 Suas Society 153 Engineering Society 58 Traditional Music 156 Fantasy Science Fiction 59 Voluntary Services Abroad 157 Film Society 61 Writers Society 159 FAD Society 69 Young Fine Gael 161 French Society 71 Young Progressive Democrat Society 163 Geography Society 72 Zoological Society Geology Society (Roc Soc) 73 Goal Society 78 Additional Information GIG Society 75 Múscailt 07 - Societies Officer Report 165 Goal Society 78 Society Training 171 Green Society 79 Societies Financial Analysis 172 1 Introduction Welcome to this year’s Society End of Year report. The Societies have enjoyed an exceptionally busy year with a record number of students joining on the two societies’ days. With the ongoing website developments the Societies have been empowered to better manage themselves, while from an administrative perspective, the developments have allowed for greater insight into their activities and a deeper quantifiable understanding of the vital role they play in University life. I was elected chairperson of the Board of Irish College Societies in June 2006. One of the challenges facing Society Administrators is the lack of quantifiable data on Society activities. There is no doubt that Societies contribute to the holistic education of students and enhance the social and cultural life of any campus. The advances we have made in the area of statistical data collection are second to none in the third level sector. I had the privilege of presenting papers at two conferences this year on the role of societies in third level, firstly at the Student Services conference in Athlone and also at a conference on the ‘First Year experience’ in Gothenburg, Sweden. NUI Galway also played host to the BICS National Awards in April, the event was huge success with a record number of colleges attending. When NUI Galway won three awards including winning Best Society in a large College for the second year in a row for our film Society, it was more than the icing on the cake. In this report, in tandem with the statistics, is also a detailed report on each societies’ activities, in their own words. The events lists are generated from the on-line calendar so what you are reading is the societies description of their event in advance of it occurring and the good news is that all indications are that societies had record attendances at their events this year. At the start of each report the societies also have an opportunity to reflect on their year and highlight their achievement. This year had many firsts, which made it a very busy but exciting year. We had a full training day on a Saturday in September, which proved very successful with 225 committee members attending. The new on-line systems including on-line room bookings, the ALIVE portfolio builder, the members’ management system, on-line award nominations and an integrated texting system have all worked successfully and have been embraced by the societies. This web development is on going and many new systems are currently being developed with the aim of helping the Societies to manage their day to day business while making them more accessible to the student body and also transparent and accountable. With a turnover of almost one million euro the society are big business to the University and their importance must not be underestimated. What is perhaps most satisfying about the year is that the many ‘firsts’ were not only enjoyed by Society Administration but also by the Societies themselves with the committees pushing boundaries, trying new events and teaming up together for some truly remarkable occasions. This year saw the Múscailt team up with Fleadh Imboilg, spear-headed by the History Society, for a festival which celebrated the coming of spring. This added a new popular element to the week and a fundraising element which saw €12,000 raised for charity and the turnover for the festival was doubled from the previous year to €107,000. The Foundation continued to be major supporter of the festival. Many additional societies, some unexpected, were involved in the week which transformed the campus. This year great advances were made in pursuing the societies’ strategic plan: Strategic Thrust 1 Facilities and Support Strategy. In addition to the IT development outlined above the SocsBox increased its services, and the sponsorship from the AIB also continued his year. Additional vital equipment was purchased for the societies and the new levy allowed for an increase in Society funding from the University, which has them now more in line with funding levels in other third level colleges. Strategic Thrust 2 Training Each individual Societies control panel allows them a wide range of support options, and a new support material became available in the download section on the website. In addition to the day long training 2 workshops were available through the year and one to one training was available both from me and the staff in the SocsBox. Strategic Thrust 3 Perception and Recognition This year we achieved our target, which was to insure that any student who wanted to know about societies and their events and how to get involved would have numerous opportunities to do so. There was also a concerted effort to attract those students who were not aware that they were looking for Societies both at a collective and administrative level and from the individual societies themselves. Strategic Thrust 4 Communication Strategy The new systems both in place and under development have opened up numerous avenues of communication both for society administration to the society committee members and from the Societies to their members and the wider public. As part of a wider strategy I was also responsible for the development of the BICS website which has opened up communication between the member colleges. Strong links have also been forged with numberous departments and campus groups, some example are the Jerome Hynes Memorial award for the Múscailt one-act-play which has strenghtned links with the Alimni Office and the Careers Service have engaged with the societies during training. Strategic Thrust 5 Accommodation This final strategy is the most challenging and currently, while we await developments on the plans for the proposed new Culture Centre, the artistic and performance societies in particular are struggling with very inadequate facilities. While the Buildings Office has been supportive this year the university just does not have the facilities. The extraordinary thing is despite this and against all the odds the artistic Societies are flourishing, which is probably and indication of the indomitability of the human spirit. Both our Film and Juggling Societies won best society in the last two years at national level. The dance society produced a professional Irish dance troupe in addition to running numerous classes in a wide variety of styles. The Drama Society has spawned numerous award winning theatre companies as well as producing many fine plays. The Art, Musical and Orchestra Societies have gone from strength to strength all broadening their level and variety of activities. The new Choral Society Conductor won Best Fresher at the BICS awards and the society is back on its feet after saying goodbye to their talented former conductor, Peter Mannion, who had brought the society to a very high standard at competition level. The list goes on with societies whose primary aim might not be artistic but have been inspired to try new things and explore new avenues of expression. This should not allow for complacency, the ‘anything will do’ mentality. The university must not underestimate the importance of these opportunities for its students and their holistic development. It is important that the people who make decisions on future developments are aware of what a treasure they have in the societies as ambassadors for the university as positive contributors to retention and a major attraction for potential students. This must be reflected in future developments and meaningful dialog must be engaged in to insure this golden opportunity to foster and develop our students is not squandered. Finally enjoy the report, share in the societies triumphs, highs and achievements, this report is a testament to the students of vision, dedication and imagination who brighten our campus with their enthusiasm and commitment, thanks to all of you.