How to run your Club/Society AGM (Annual General Meeting)

 

What is an AGM?

Every club/society needs to hold an AGM, which stands for Annual General Meeting, every year to which all members of the club/society should be invited. The meeting should be arranged by the Chair/Secretary and should include the following:

• The minutes (recorded notes) of the previous AGM (if you have held one previously)
• A summary of the club/society’s year
• A review of current committee positions and roles
• A review of your constitution (the rules that govern how your club/society runs)
• The election of the new committee for the following academic year

 

When should the AGM be held?

You need to hold your AGM before the end of the summer semester (Friday 16^th June 2023) in order to give enough time for the current committee to hand over to the new committee.

Note: We will be running in-person and online society training for the 2023-24 committee members in late May/early June so it would be best to have your new committee elected by mid-May!)

Make sure that you:

• Choose a time, day and venue which is suitable for members and is accessible to members
• Publicise the AGM well in advance to your members and ensure they all have the agenda (an outline of the items which will be covered during the meeting)
• Let the Activities & Events Coordinator know when your AGM will be held. Natalie- nc51@soas.ac.uk. (If you have any further questions on running an AGM, also email Natalie with questions)

 

Secretary’s duties

The Secretary plays an important role in the AGM and has responsibility for the following:

• Ensuring that all members have access to an agenda
• Ensuring all members have access to the minutes of the previous AGM
• Ensure that a record is made of the names of all members attending the AGM
• Ensuring that an accurate record of the proceedings of the meeting is kept (these will be the minutes of this AGM), including the results of all votes Summary of the club/society’s year
• The Chair should give an overview of the year – highlights, successes, what went well, what didn’t etc. There might even be photos or videos to share
• The Treasurer should present the finances – how much income the club/society had over the year (from membership subscriptions, fund-raising, sponsorship etc), how much the club/society spent and on what and what the current account balance is

 

Review of current committee roles

Every club/society needs a Chair/President, Secretary, Treasurer and Welfare Officer. Some clubs/societies may choose to have a range of other committee roles, examples include Social Secretary and Vice-Chair.

This is an opportunity for you to discuss and agree with members which committee roles are needed, to make sure the set-up is right for what the club/society wants to do.

 

Review of your constitution

Every club/society must have a constitution, and this should be based on the template provided by the Students’ Union.

SOAS Model Constitution Document

If your constitution needs to be updated, now is the time to agree any changes, any amendments should be proposed by a member, seconded by a different member and their names should be recorded in the minutes (written notes of what happens in the AGM) by the Secretary.

For example, the aims and objectives of the society may have changed since the society started, so this must be discussed and put to a vote.

The changes should then be put to a vote and if the required number/percentage of members present agree (over 60% of voters must vote in favor of the change), the proposed changes can be made.

 

Election of the new committee for the following academic year

Ideally, your AGM should be run in person, as the vote must be anonymous. Each voter must write the name on a small bit of paper and give this to the current President/Chair to count and announce the results.

However, you may choose to do this online via Zoom or Teams meeting. In this case, an online form must be created before the AGM (which means people must nominate themselves before the meeting has started) and members can vote after all the speeches and questions are completed. The President must then announce the results after everyone has voted. Some platforms you could use for the vote include SurveyMonkey, Microsoft Forms or Typeform.

Only members (i.e. students who have registered their membership subscription to the club/society) may stand for election and only members may vote. Your current committee can view the society membership list on your SU webpage. If you are unsure how to do this, please see below for instructions:

How to view your society member list

 

Meeting Minutes

Minutes for the meeting must be sent to nc51@soas.ac.uk to register your new committee. When the minutes are sent, a list of all committee members, their roles and their student email addresses must be included.

If your society has any social media accounts, please also include the names of the account (such as the @ handle on Instagram) so the SU can follow you and promote your events. 

Here is an example of AGM minutes you can use as a template:

Example AGM Minutes

 

Post-AGM Actions

Your newly elected committee must attend Students’ Union training on Tuesday 6^th June & Wednesday 7th June; register via link- https://forms.office.com/e/vEiFb16UCz

 

It is recommended that your outgoing committee arranges a joint committee meeting with new committee – to be arranged via Facebook/email, to pass on handover documents/contacts etc

 

New committee must fill out the following 3 documents and submit them to the SU (su@soas.ac.uk & nc51@soas.ac.uk) before the start date for Term 1 2023-24.

 

Risk Assessment: Review your current annual risk assessment, make updates/changes

 

Society Annual Risk Assessment template here:

 

Society Annual Risk Assessment Template

 

Constitution: Review your society constitution

 

SOAS Model Constitution Document

 

Indemnity Form: Your 2023-24 committee must read and sign the following indemnity form

 

Indemnity Form