Annual General Meeting
This is a very important meeting that everyone in the club should attend, it's your chance to have your say in the running of the club and even be a part of it. There will be a review of the year so far before the new committee is elected, they will take over at the end of May.
The committee has 13 posts, all of which are up for grabs, see below for more details about each role. It's a fantastic chance to be involved in the club and looks great on your CV! Please chat to us if you're interested in being on the committee, whether you have a strong idea about what you want to do or just fancy helping out but are unsure in what capacity, we'll point you in the right direction. Please note that you must be a fully matriculated University of Edinburgh student to be on the committee and to vote (sorry, these are SU rules).
==President==
The President has the overall responsibility for running the club and making sure everything runs smoothly and on time throughout the year. This includes arranging and chairing committee meetings, delegating responsibilities and tasks, delegating the Meet Organising for each trip, solving problems and debates, liasing with the Sports Union and other organisations, keeping an eye on everyone else's job and deadlines and pestering people who aren't getting things done.
The President is the first point of contact for both new and existing members and the other organisations we deal with so has to project a welcoming but professional image of the club. You should also have a good level of knowledge about safety and issues surrounding hillwalking in Britain - so up-to-date ML training or wide experience would be a good thing to have. Normally the President has to have been on the committee the year before but this is not always the case.
The job of President is as difficult as you (or other people) make it. You get to try out new ideas and meet lots of people in the club and in the Sports Union. When things go wrong it pays to have your head screwed on and you may have to commit some time to solving problems, but when things go well you take most of the credit!! Another bonus is you are the first to get invited to all sorts of posh Sports Union functions. It can also be quite a boost to your CV.
==Secretary==
The Secretary is in charge of the club's administration. This includes maintaining the club's membership database and signing up new members; taking and circulating minutes from committee meetings; liaising with the Sports Union (including picking up the post and forwarding emails to the committee/club); liaising with the MCofS and forwarding them members' details and fees every month; responsible for club awards - and all other sorts of random paperwork nobody else ever sees but has to get done!
The Secretary is involved with all the big decisions - and despite the paperwork, which is constant, there is a lot of satisfaction in welcoming new members to the club and ensuring things run smoothly!
==Treasurer==
The Treasurer is in charge of the club's budget, claiming our Sports Union funding, signing cheques to pay for trip expenses, keeping the accounts in order and filing receipts, sending semesterly accounts to the Sports Union, and paying in money from membership and trips. The club's annual turnover is about £30,000 which is a lot of money to go through one person's hands!
The job can be quite committing and stressful at times because there are so many big payments to keep track of - and if the rest of the committee are sloppy you might end up having to chase lots of people for money - but it's very satisfying and a great experience and you have a lot of influence in the club.
==Vice-President==
The Vice-President's main role is to support the President in the running of the club and to offer advice and a second opinion on all the big decisions. Your workload obviously depends on the ability of the President and how much he/she chooses to delegate. Expect to be involved with organising things at the beginning of the year, helping the President making decisions and doing various other tasks as they arise. The Vice-President may be given some specific areas to supervise.
Because the Vice-President has a strong advisory role, it is almost essential for them to have been on the committee in the previous year so they have experience of how things have worked in the past.
==Meets Secretary==
The Meets Sec is in charge of advance bookings for all our trips - that means booking hostel accommodation and minibus (or coach) transport. Bookings are usually made well in advance and sometimes you may have to wait for bookings to open, after that you have to keep the committee informed about the status of bookings, make any required changes and tell the treasurer when payment is due.
This is a very important position with a lot of influence in the running of the club but with quite a small workload most of which is completed early on in the year. You get to suggest trip destinations and end up with a surprisingly good knowledge of Scottish hostels! There is a bit of pressure to not muck up the bookings. Your responsibility for each trip ends with initial bookings as about 2 weeks before the trip, all the details are passed on to the Meet Organisers for the trip.
==Publicity Officer & Yearbook Editor==
The Publicity Officer sorts out club leaflets and posters for our various events, as well as publicising EUHWC more widely across the university, and co-ordinating our stall at the Sports Fair. You also have the enviable job of producing the club's Yearbook, so you are the first to hear about all the gossip and goings on that need to be recorded in our history!
The job is quite busy in advance of and through Freshers' Week, and there is another recruitment drive in the New Year, and the Yearbook is produced over or after Easter, but apart from these times there is very little work to be done for most of the year.
==Training Secretary==
Most of the job of the Training Sec is arranging our Navigation and Winter Skills weekend courses at Firbush Point. You work with the Firbush Office at the CSE, advertise the courses and sign people up to them. The job also includes arranging safety talks and discounted winter skills courses with the MCofS and if there is demand, arranging first aid or more advanced training courses towards the Mountain Leader Award. The job also includes the title of Safety Officer for the Sports Union, this involves signing a form and working with the committee to keep the Safety Policy (http://euhwc.fasach.com/about/safety-policy) up to date, as well as being the club representative on the Firbush Council (this is a formality more than anything).
The job is quite busy at a couple of points in the year but you will know these well in advance. It's very satisfying to arrange the whole course yourself, from the initial enquiries right through to certificates. You will also learn a lot about safety on the hill and it's worthwhile reserving yourself a space on the courses!
==Social Secretary (2 posts)==
The social secretaries are the life and soul of the club. They organise EUHWC's many social events throughout the year, including ceilidhs, pub crawls and meals out, as well as our regular Tuesday night pub meets. You are the people who make sure all the new members have a good time and get involved socially with the club so it helps to be friendly and enthusiastic - apart from that, it's as simple as arranging all sorts of nights out every couple of weeks – and persuading people to go!
==Gear Secretary==
The Gear Sec looks after the club's gear (ice axes, crampons, group shelters, maps etc). You need to make sure that gear is returned by individuals who borrow it for their own trips and chase things that get taken home after club trips, as we can't afford to replace lost gear.
It can be a bit of a pain trying to chase people who forget to return stuff, especially when nobody knows who they are - and people will dump loads of gear on you when you meet at the pub. However, you are one of the few people who always has a key to the gear room so if you want to borrow gear yourself it's really easy and convenient. Whether you decide to go along to each trip to sign out gear or whether you trust the Meet Organisers to borrow a key and do it themselves is up to you - sometimes the gear room ends up in a mess!
==Webmaster==
The webmaster looks after the club's website, keeps it tidy, operational and up to date. You also look after the club's mailing lists which mainly involves telling people to follow instructions. If you have experience of working with websites then fantastic, if not then we'll get you up to speed. It's a great job which gives you a real chance to promote the club and get people involved, especially nowadays. You'll also get to look after the Facebook group.
==Member without Portfolio aka 'Random Bod' (2 posts)==
By definition this role is unspecific. Apart from your share of Meet Organising, you'll do random jobs that the rest of the committee need help with - but only what fits in with you. Usually the club clothing order is your responsibility. It's a variable role which could give you the chance to try a bit of everything and you have a vote on the committee, but without taking too much of your time.