The Basics of Running a Society
For those of you that are new to the game of running a society, or for anyone who's forgotten the really crucial bits of information that you need, this is the right place to be. Here you'll find information about how to check your society emails, how to view your accounts, where to find forms to spend money for your society, and much more.

This is not so much about what to do when you're setting up a society - you can find that info on the Setting Up A New Society page.

If there's anything that's not covered here that you'd like to know, don't hesitate to contact Tom Lindsay, the Societies and Student Development Officer at ssdo@sunion.warwick.ac.uk

Here are some quick links to what you can find on this page:

1. Society Email Inbox
2. Communicating with your exec and your members
3. Society Accounts
4. Societies Federation and Memberships

Checking Your Society Inbox

Your society email inbox is the most important tool for communication for your society. Without it, you won't get to know a lot of the important information and deadlines throughout the year, or any of the contact from the SSDO or Societies Federation. Here's how to check your society inbox:

1. On any page of the Union website, click on the Union Email tab on the left hand side.



2. On the resulting page, click on the Open Union Email button.





3. You will now see a box as shown below.

Under Username enter (for example) sunion\su999, replacing 999 with the code for your society. Then enter the password for your society in the password box and press OK. If you are unsure of either of these, email the SSDO.


4. You will now be into your society inbox, which looks like this:



It's pretty much like Microsoft Outlook, and the basic functions of sending and receiving email should be reasonably self-explanatory. If you're stuck with it, then send me an email.

Communicating with your exec and members

To communicate within your society, click on the 'Message Centre' option on the right hand side of the Union website when you are logged in. From there you can choose to email all exec members or all society members by using the options after selecting 'New Mail'.



If you cannot send emails on behalf of your society, the problem is likely to be that you have not been registered as an exec member, even if you are one. In this case, send me an email, and make sure that your exec sheet is up to date!

Checking Your Society Accounts

The society accounts page is where you can find out the balance of your accounts, and look at all transactions that have gone through your accounts in the last year. Here's how to get to it:

1. Make sure that you are logged into the Union website (top right of any page). Click on the Finance Web tab on the left hand side. If this does not appear, then you are not registered as a member of a society exec, even if you are one, so you need to send me an email.



2. On the resulting page, click the link for the club and society finance web.



3. You will be met with the following page.



In the Username box you should enter your society code (this time without the sunion\ bit) and your password. Again if you're not sure of either of these, email the SSDO.

4. When you've logged in, you'll see the following page (or similar). This is your finance web.



5. Further information about your accounts, including use of this page, can be obtained from the Impact Training session 'Managing Your Money'.

Societies Federation and Memberships

Societies Federation is the body that oversees all societies, and that all societies are a part of. It exists to help, fund, train, administer and manage all societies so that they can carry out their activities. The money that students pay to join the Societies Federation goes directly towards funding societies so you are able to buy the equipment that you need, subsidise transport costs and entry fees, and help to cover any other appropriate expenditure.

Membership

Before students join societies they must join the Societies Federation.

Standard Membership is for students at the University of Warwick.
Associate Membership is for people who are not students at the University of Warwick.

The price to join the Societies Federation for 2007/8 is as follows:

1 Year Standard Membership: £8
2 Years Standard Membership: £14
3 Years Standard Membership: £22
4 Years Standard Membership: £30

1 Year Associate Membership: £16
1 Year Postgraduate Membership: £6
1 Year Erasmus Membership: £5

Societies Federation Committee

The Societies Federation is run by an elected executive committee like any other society and is here to represent society interests and help develop societies. The committee also recognises and derecognises societies, handles emergency fund applications, and organises the Society Awards Party in Term 2.

Feel free to email any of us to ask questions about Socs Fed and what we do, or what you think we should be doing! Just email Pan Ellinas, your Societies Federation Committee Chair, or Tom Lindsay, Societies and Student Development Officer.