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Chairperson

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The Chairperson of a group is the leader, who oversees all of the group’s activity and direction. Throughout the academic year this person will need to provide support, guidance and strategic direction to the other committee members and the wider activity group’s membership. It’s important that the Chairperson ensures that all committee members know they are equal and valued members of the committee. This role can be quite challenging but is incredibly rewarding. The post holder will need a very special set of skills in order to help the group thrive. A strong understanding of the group is always helpful, or in the case of a new group a clear direction of what the group should be working towards will be needed.

Personal skills required

  • Communication
    You will need to have a good regular communication with your committee members, your wider membership and the Students’ Union. 
  • Commitment
    No one expects you to know everything on day one, but you will need to be able to commit a reasonable amount of time over the year as the leader of your activity group.
  • Motivating
    A good leader will be able to motivate others within the group to take part in activities and want to become regular members. It will be important to be consistent, fair, approachable and friendly. 
  • Organisation
    To keep a group going it will require proactivity, there are deadlines to be met and timeframes for booking rooms and trips.
  • Delegation
    You are not alone in your group, no doubt you will have many fantastic and eager people around you to contribute to your groups success, make sure you are getting the most from their support and helping them develop too. 

Key Responsibilities

  1. Calling Meetings – but your secretary does the agenda and minutes
  2. Chairing Meetings – make sure everything is covered and no-one dominates
  3. Delegating Tasks – you shouldn’t do everything yourself!
  4. Understanding the Broader Picture – keep the aims of the group in mind at all times
  5. Being a Spokesperson or Figurehead – represent your group whenever you can
  6. Maintaining Committee Enthusiasm – if you’re not passionate, no-one else will be
  7. Complete the Group’s Development Plan – setting out the aims and objectives for the academic year
  8. Meet with Student Activities Staff – be the main point of liaison with the Union and Activities team, meeting twice a year to detail development plans