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Handbook > The Purpose of a College Student Society
This may seem rather an odd point with which to start a guide such as this but it is an important point which, in the excitement of running for election, people often forget. A student society in College is a body that been recognised by the College - usually through the CSC - as a legitimate expression of student interest within the College. It is not simply a group of friends in College that hang around together doing what they like to pass the time of day. A society persists in time so that when the current committee has long gone from College the society can still exist. What makes each society different, and something unique in and of itself, is the fact that it has a constitution which determines what it does and to a degree how it is to do it. The objects of the constitution determine what societal activity consists in. Thus the Chess Club exists to promote the playing of chess among its members: if the officers of the Chess Club were to stop promoting chess-playing and started playing ten-pin bowling instead then they would be behaving unconstitutionally and the society's members would be entitled to remove them from office. Similarly if the officers were to simply concentrate on organising parties or club nights for the members and failed to pay attention to chess they would be failing the constitution. Admittedly many College societies do have a "social" element built into their constitutions, and this is understandable, but the societal elements must take precedence and whilst organising meetings and speakers and so forth may not be as glamorous as organising parties it is precisely for these former elements that the society ultimately exists.
Given therefore that each society has a Constitution which lays down its rules of operation officers are beholden to familiarise themselves with it and the society's objects. If you cannot lay your hands on a copy, please call into CSC - we will have one in the office. Alternatively, email Lucy or Emma and they will send you a copy electronically. The constitution should be able to answer all your questions about holding meetings, duties of committee, elections, etc. It will also contain details about how to amend the constitution. It should be noted that the CSC must ratify any constitutional changes before the amended constitution can be adopted.
Finally there is one thing to keep in mind that might help you in carrying out your responsibilities as officers. Society officers are often heard to loosely talk of "my" or "our" society and to a degree that is understandable, but such talk often allows officers to think of the society as their property and thus that they may dispose of it and its assets as they please: nothing could further than the truth. Officers are stewards of the society, their duty lies in fostering the society for those who come after them whilst serving the needs of those currently in the society: it is necessary to balance these two duties. By all means say "mine", but think and act "theirs".
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