University Societies - The Student Room
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University Societies

TSR Wiki > University > University Social Life > University Societies


There are a large number of societies at many universities. Some are just social societies (and have strange names as a result), whilst others centre around certain groups, activities or pursuits (such as debating and photography).

Sports tend to form their own societies as well, depending on the university. They tend to have the same structure as societies, but have notable differences

Contents

Joining a Society

All societies tend to request a membership fee. This can vary depending on the cost of running the society and the social activities.

Most universities run some kind of event to allow societies to advertise to freshers. These events are usually made with societies having a table each, whilst members are on hand to discuss the benefits of joining their society.

Sports Clubs tend to have roughly the same procedure, although many will have a higher joining fees as they pay for facilities such as sports fields and the all important insurance in case something nasty happens.

Many societies also run a social event of some kind to show what kind of events they run, which is free for all to attend. Many follow the pattern of freshers week and run a pub crawl. After this event, you are then asked to pay the membership fee, either in person or online to continue to benefit from the activities and services offered.

This membership usually lasts a year, although in some rare cases it lasts for your degree or you get a reduced membership fee for the next year.

If you want to create a society, you need to ask at your union what the policy is?

Elected Positions

The number of elected positions depends on the society and the requirements placed on the society by its students union. They are called the committee of the society

Most societies will have a President, Secretary and Treasurer. Many others have will have other positions. Common ones include Social Secretary, Publicity (PR), Development Officer, Open Position (these are usually reserved for people who closely missed out on a position in the election or have held positions before and can provide help and advice), etc. There are plenty of other postitions that are specific to the society.

All committee members are expected to not bring their society into disrepute or bankrupt it. There are many stiff penalties that can occur, if this happens.

The election for society positions usually takes place at the societies AGM held around April or May every year and lasts the year.

Strange Names and Societies

  • Underwater Basket Weaving Society - Drinking Society
  • 20 Minute Society - On receiving a text, members must try to reach a certain place with something within 20 minutes. For example, something red in the centre of town.
  • Soc Soc - Sociology Society

Strange Society Names

TSR Wiki Pages on Societies at university

If your university is not listed below, it is likely that the information is on the main page for the university.

See Also

Push offer a table of which universities have common societies found at many universities. Click here to see it - it is a PDF.

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