NUI Galway

Societies Leadership Programme

Personal Development & Learning for Committee Members & Accreditation with Gaisce & ALIVE, all within a global context.

Ríona Hughes

9/1/2014

Societies and NUI Galway’s Desired graduate Attributes

Third level institutions are asking the question, what type of graduate do we want to produce? What are the attributes that will distinguish the alumni from our institution? The answer to these questions will inform the institute strategies.

After the expected desire to ensure the graduates have understood and become competent in their chosen academic field and are able to pursue a successful career there is a desire to produce graduates who are responsible, ethical global citizens.

NUI Galway is currently asking itself this question and is committed to the following:

Societies’ contribution to learning employability and responsible citizenship:

NUI Galway is currently creating its Societies provide holistic learning opportunities which create fully engaged rounded citizen. Societies by their nature also provide very real and meaningful opportunities to their members to fully engage with the university, thereby availing of the academic opportunities and achieving academic excellence.

Societies enhance the student experience, aid retention, support learning, create communities, challenge ideas, open minds, raise awareness, provide real tangible educational opportunities and foster friendships. Societies through their partnership with external organisations and communities afford their members an opportunity to volunteer, travel, engage, experientially learn and understand the power of one, the importance of challenging negative behaviours and stereotyping and an awareness and understanding of global issues.

Societies also provide their members and in particular their committee members with important transferrable skills much sought by employers. Such Skills include teamwork, leadership, event management, communication, Problem solving, reaching targets and goals. In the GradIreland Graduate Salary and Recruitment Trends Survey 2013 the graduate recruiters identified the following areas in which Irish graduates may have a skills ‘shortfall’

Communications (written and oral 45.2%Managing their own learning 27%Problem Solving 27%Confidence 23%Independent 22%Motivation 18%Team Working 12%Diligence 8%

What Society Committee members have said they learn

We collated the data provided by participants in the ALIVE certificate in 2014 and deduced the following:

507 answered the following question:‘Describe some of the key things that you have learned from your volunteering experience. These may be specific or more general. For example, you may have learned how to lead a group, set goals, or plant trees’.Team skills 307 60.55%Communication 246 48.52%

Interpersonal 207 40.83%Time Keeping 188 37.08%

Presentation Skills 187 36.88%

Teaching 187 36.88%

Working with children 168 33.14%

Leadership 134 26.43%Organisational Skills 132 26.04%Acting 124 24.46%

Financial Management 109 21.50%

Event organisation, 108 21.30%

Open-mindedness, understanding & appreciating difference 100 19.72%Friendship 86 16.96%

Innovation. 75 14.79%

Honing Existing Skills 68 13.41%

Setting goals 63 12.43%

Commitment 62 12.23%

Self-motivation 58 11.44%

Problem solving 57 11.24%

Empathy/ desire to help others 52 10.26%

Public Speaking 50 9.86%

Charing Skills 49 9.66%

IT Skills 48 9.47%

Fundraising 42 8.28%

Creativity 27 5.33%

How the leadership programme Works:

This programme is open to all society committee members for this year.

Setting your Goals (step 1)Receiving Recognition and accreditation (step 2)Reflecting (step 3)

Step One: Hold a committee meeting

identify any outstanding training needs, additional sessions will be organised based on your feedback.

All who attended training fill in the training feedback survey. Create your society mission statement (see appendix 1) What are your goals and objectives for the year (appendix 2) Each of you committee members identify one or more learning outcomes they hope

to achieve this year. Fill in your on line form in your control panel to register your participation. (appendix

3)

Use this opportunity to also

Up-date your constitution as appropriate (appendix 4) Prepare and submit your budget

Step 2: Would your committee members like a Gaisce (Presidents) Award and/or an ALIVE Cert

Identify which of the 4 Gaisce Challenges your society already fulfils Register individually for Gaisce and decide as an individual how you will achieve the 4

challenges (appendix 5) And or Start your personal ALIVE portfolio (appendix 6)

Would your society like to win one of the Bank of Ireland bursaries for an event you are organising?

1 x €10002 x €7503 X €5003 X €300

Details in (appendix 7)

Step 3: Reflection

Society committee:At the end of the year hold a final meeting before you AGM, reflect on your year, on what goals and objectives you achieved, what you are most proud of and what the major challenges were.

Complete the on line leadership programme form,

Complete your society end of year reports and hold an AGM to elect a new committee.

Individual Committee members:Individuals complete your section of the on line leadership programmeTake the short surveyComplete your Gaisce Challenges and or ALIVE portfolio.

Note this is a pilot programme and all of your input is needed to make sure we make this as robust, meaningful and relevant programme to support you and society, feel free to e-mail socsofficer’socs.nuigalway.ie with any feedback at any time during the year.

Appendix 1

Mission Statement (Why you exist) as distinct from your Vision statement (Goals/ Desired end state)

A one-sentence statement describing the reason your society exists Easily explained and understood by others Be clear and simple (most aren’t) Avoid elaborate language & buzz words Not confused with your goals/ vision statement

Appendix 2

Goals:

Setting your goals, always think SMART,

SMART goals = Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time-phased

If you are a new committee set some short term easily achievable goals to see how you work as a team, always keep lines of communication open, listen to each other, do not be afraid of disagreement or differences of opinion, work through these differences to reach consensus, this is the natural tension of change and growth. Be honest, have integrity, listen, do what you say you will do, do not take on more than you can manage. You all have the potential to make great team members and leaders; here are some of the skills you may need to develop:

Teams:

A team is a group of people who have:

Good communication

Different backgrounds, skills & abilities

A shared sense of mission

Clearly identified goals

Successful teams need:

Common goals High targets Leadership Interaction / involvement of all members Maintenance of individual’s self-esteem Open communication Decision-making power

Remember: no one person is central. Everyone’s role is of equal importance……but not necessarily of equal precedence at a given time.

Leadership:

To help teams feel empowered, leaders should: Provide inspiration & motivation Have trust in their fellow committee members

Commit themselves fully to the job (without taking on other committee members’ responsibilities)

The Top 10 Leadership Qualities

Leadership can be defined as one's ability to get others to willingly follow. Every organization needs leaders at every level. Leaders can be found and nurtured if you look for the following character traits. A leader with vision has a clear, vivid picture of where to go, as well as a firm grasp on what success looks like and how to achieve it. But it’s not enough to have a vision; leaders must also share it and act upon it.

A leader must be able to communicate his or her vision in terms that cause followers to buy into it. He or she must communicate clearly and passionately, as passion is contagious.

A good leader must have the discipline to work toward his or her vision single-mindedly, as well as to direct his or her actions and those of the team toward the goal. Action is the mark of a leader. A leader does not suffer “analysis paralysis” but is always doing something in pursuit of the vision, inspiring others to do the same.

Integrity is the integration of outward actions and inner values. A person of integrity is the same on the outside and on the inside. Such an individual can be trusted because he or she never veers from inner values, even when it might be expeditious to do so. A leader must have the trust of followers and therefore must display integrity.

Honest dealings, predictable reactions, well-controlled emotions, and an absence of tantrums and harsh outbursts are all signs of integrity. A leader who is centered in integrity will be more approachable by followers.

Dedication means spending whatever time or energy is necessary to accomplish the task at hand. A leader inspires dedication by example, doing whatever it takes to complete the next step toward the vision. By setting an excellent example, leaders can show followers that there are no nine-to-five jobs on the team, only opportunities to achieve something great.

Magnanimity means giving credit where it is due. A magnanimous leader ensures that credit for successes is spread as widely as possible throughout the group. Conversely, a good leader takes personal responsibility for failures. This sort of reverse magnanimity helps other people feel good about themselves and draws the team closer together. To spread the fame and take the blame is a hallmark of effective leadership.

Leaders with humility recognize that they are no better or worse than other members of the team. A humble leader is not self-effacing but rather tries to elevate everyone. Leaders with humility also understand that their status does not make them a god. Mahatma Gandhi is a role model for Indian leaders, and he pursued a “follower-centric” leadership role.

Openness means being able to listen to new ideas, even if they do not conform to the usual way of thinking. Good leaders are able to suspend judgment while listening to others’ ideas, as well as accept new ways of doing things that someone else thought of. Openness builds mutual respect and trust between leaders and followers, and it also keeps the team well supplied with new ideas that can further its vision.

Creativity is the ability to think differently, to get outside of the box that constrains solutions. Creativity gives leaders the ability to see things that others have not seen and thus lead followers in new directions. The most important question that a leader can ask is, “What if … ?” Possibly the worst thing a leader can say is, “I know this is a dumb question ... ”

Fairness means dealing with others consistently and justly. A leader must check all the facts and hear everyone out before passing judgment. He or she must avoid leaping to conclusions based on incomplete evidence. When people feel they that are being treated fairly, they reward a leader with loyalty and dedication.

Assertiveness is not the same as aggressiveness. Rather, it is the ability to clearly state what one expects so that there will be no misunderstandings. A leader must be assertive to get the desired results. Along with assertiveness comes the responsibility to clearly understand what followers expect from their leader.

Many leaders have difficulty striking the right amount of assertiveness, according to a study in the February 2007 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by the APA (American Psychological Association). It seems that being under assertive or overassertive may be the most common weakness among aspiring leaders.

A sense of humor is vital to relieve tension and boredom, as well as todefuse hostility . Effective leaders know how to use humor to energize followers. Humor is a form of power that provides some control over the work environment. And simply put, humor fosters good camaraderie.

Intrinsic traits such as intelligence, good looks, height and so on are not necessary to become a leader. Anyone can cultivate the proper leadership traits.

(By David Hakala on March 19, 2008)

Appendix 3

Go to the feature in your dashboard, ideally your auditor should fill in the boxes, this can be done at your committee meeting or use a word document and copy and paste in from that. The individual members answers could also be done at the meeting (they are all answered in one box starting with the committee members name and committee position) We are working on a way to integrate this into yourspace and to ultimately create a personal portfolio of reach person.

At the start of the year:

Committee:1. What is your Society Mission Statement?

2. What are your Societies Aims, Objectives and Goals for the Year. This should be decided by your committee as a whole.

Individual Committee members: 3a. Name & committee position 3b. Your personal Goal: A few sentences on what they hope to achieve and learn from

your involvement in the society this year. 3c. Are you participating in Gaisce to get a president’s award, if yes bronze, silver, gold? 3d. Are you going to apply an ALIVE Cert?

At the End of the year

Committee 4a. How did your society do this year, 4b. did you achieve any of your aims, goals and objectives. 4c. What would you regard as your greatest success. 4d. What would you regard as your greatest challenge

Individual Committee Members5a. Name & committee position 5b. What did you learn as part of the committee5c Fill in a short survey

Appendix 4

Rules for adopting the new constitution template

1. All new societies and provisional societies would adopt the new template in September 2014.

2. All societies who have updated or made a request to update their constitution in the last

2 years will move to the new template by end of semester one..

3. All societies who do not have a constitution or are working from the existing template will move to the new template by end of semester one.

4. The working group will then work with societies with other constitutions with a view to all societies adopting the format of the new template, by May 2015. There is scope for additional articles and variation in the detail but the layout should be the same. These will be dealt with on a case by case basis; all standing orders will also need to be looked at. All societies will be required to have their constitutions in their file vault with a link on their profile page. Societies will be requested to ensure this is the case in September 2014, this will facilitate the working group ascertaining into which categories the societies fall.

The Constitution template is available on the www.socs.nuigalway.ie in the Creating A New Society Feature and in your dashboard.

Appendix 5Gaisce

Appendix 6

The Society ALIVE portfolio builder is on line. You can only apply on-line. The deadline is:Deadline will be announced in semester 2

Individual society members apply to the society through the 'YourSpace' link on the homepage or go to www.yourspace.nuigalway.ieSocieties approve the applications and complete the portfolio in their control panel on the socs website. Note this year all ALIVE certs are applied for online in the same way through 'yourspace' the deadline for these is March 18th. Note you need to give your society sufficient time to approve your application so do not leave it to the last minute.

How the Socs Online ALIVE System works

The Requirements for the IndividualYour society must set the requirement level of participation, ie you may decide that only committee members who contributed a minimum of hours will receive the certificate. You may decide to open it to your wider membership ie all who performed in a particular production, or the person who every week spent 3 hours putting up posters. The decision is up to the society committee.

The individual application

The society will be notified by e-mail and must approve the member in their ALIVE link in the societies control panel. The individual student must then follows the steps once there are approved, answering the 6 questions, up loading a photo and logging their hours, there is a also a blog option. Societies keep an eye on your ALIVE portfolio builder and your e-mail and approve or do not the applicants. If you are not approving a person please e-mail them and give them a reason. Do not leave a person pending approval.

What the society must do.After the individual deadline the system will gather all your individual applications, if an application was approved in error it is at this stage it can be rejected from the system however you must inform your member. The system will gather all other relevant info from your WebPages ie. events list and committee list. The society just needs to write 100 word descriptions and up load a photo of as many of your alive applicants as possible with names (this is for the ALIVE booklet). The society must then submit its portfolio by the deadline of March 20th at 1pm..

For the Society to be eligible A society must have a committee, have held at least 2 events one per semester (not including committee meetings) and have work done on their on line accounts with a view to having them balanced and submitted by March 31st.

What is ALIVE

The ALIVE (A Learning Initiative and the Volunteering Experience) programme seeks to support and harness the contribution that NUI Galway students make by volunteering.

ALIVE aims to:

Increase the personal & professional capacity of students through volunteering. Enhance partnerships between the university and the wider community through provision

of a supportive environment in which students and community can liaise. Harness and promote volunteering on & off campus through public recognition of the

commitment made by students to their communities.

ALIVE Volunteering OpportunitiesALIVE recognises all volunteering contributions that students make throughout their studies at NUI Galway. Students are free to choose their own volunteering site or the Student Volunteer Coordinator is available to help select from the myriad of opportunities open to students. Opportunities include:

Volunteer work with the community sector Peer mentorship (Student Connect Mentors) NUI Galway Clubs and Societies NUI Galway Access Programme

"What do I get from the ALIVE Programme?"In past years, the ALIVE programme has indicated that students have had the opportunity to:

enrich their personal development and employability skills; have a satisfying and fun experience; learned from community which could enhance your academic learning; build personal knowledge & skills while contributing to the capacity of community. be presented with an ALIVE Certificate from NUI Galway;

The ALIVE CertificateEach student volunteer at NUI Galway obtains a unique volunteering experience. The ALIVE Certificate is individualized to reflect this and will include all the volunteering and training undertaken by the student. The ALIVE Certificate was created under the Community Knowledge Initiative (CKI).

What is the Communtity Knowledge Initiative?In 2001, the National University of Ireland Galway developed a strategic civic engagement programme, entitled the Community Knowledge Initiative (CKI), which seeks to harness and promote partnerships with communities locally, nationally and internationally. The CKI?s overall aims are to place communities at the centre of debate and educate students for civic engagement. These endeavours are supported through an integrated programme of Student Volunteering, Service Learning, Research and Knowledge Sharing.

The ALIVE Awards CeremonyThe ALIVE Certificate is awarded at the Certificate Presentation Ceremony. The ALIVE Certificate Presentation Ceremony will be held in the second semester. The Ceremony is a formal acknowledgement of student volunteering.

Appendix 7BOI Award