Committee Positions & Update Discussion

Stuff that isn't involving getting wet here (nights out, fundraising etc)
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StephenWatkins
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The following description of the committee position was written by Eoin Keyes a (good) few years ago. This years AGM will be 7pm on Monday February 10th 2020. If anyone is considering taking on a position what's below should be a good help, following that talking to those on the committee now will give you a really good insight into what's involved.

Captain
Current: Stephen Watkins. He (or she!) who is the boss of everything! It is the captain's job to ensure that the club runs smoothly and benefits all of its members as much as possible. They will delegate as much as possible to the other committee members to minimise the workload on themselves and retain an overall view of the work that is being done by everyone. They must work with the other committee members to ensure that everyone is getting on ok and make sure that everyone is putting in an effort. They must also liaise with the SU. To take on the job of captain is a big commitment which takes up a lot of time but is extremely rewarding and looks great on a CV when you're finished college. Ideal for someone who is responsible and committed, with excellent organisational and people skills and a thorough knowledge of how the club works and functions as a part of the larger student's union.

Secretary
Current: Thomas Nash. The captains right hand man (or woman!) The secretary takes the minutes at the committee meetings, follows up on other committee members action items to ensure that they are being done and generally helps the captain to run the show. Suits someone who is extremely organised and has good communication skills.

Treasurer
Current: Lauren Kavanagh. Ms Moneybags! It is the treasurer's job to oversee the spending of the clubs annual budget allocation. They must ensure that the money goes to where it has been set in the budget and that it is used to it's maximum potential. The treasurer must ensure that all bills are paid as promptly as possible, in order to maintain a good reputation with retailers and accommodation owners. The treasurer is also responsible for the annual budget submission. This is one of the most important jobs in the club because if it's done badly then we'll get less money the next year (or none, if it's fŭcked up really badly!). This job suits someone who is responsible, organised and has a head for figures and book-keeping.

Safety, Training and Development Officer
Current: Peter Walsh. The name says it all. First and foremost it is their job to ensure that all the clubs activities are run in as safe a manner as possible, by making sure that the proper ratios of beginners to competent paddlers are maintained and looking over all trips with a safety-critical eye. It's the STD's job to organise all training courses and assessments run by the club, constantly push people to improve their personal paddling as much as possible through level 2, 3 and 4 skills training and assessments. They should also organise REC (Rescue and Emergency Care), RSR (River Safety and Rescue) and instructor courses as neccessary to ensure that all of the club's trips have plenty of people well trained in river rescue and first aid. Would suit someone with good organisational skills. Familiarity with the Irish Canoe Union's awards structure is also be beneficial.

Disciplines
Current: Eoin Morgan. Promotes diversity within the club. The various disciplines of kayaking include whitewater, freestyle, surf, slalom, marathon, sprint, polo and sea kayaking. It is the disciplines officer's job to encourage people to broaden their vision and try something new, and get people out of paddling Castleconnell every weekend! In order to do this knowledge and some experience of the various disciplines is useful!

Polo
Current: Vacant. It is the polo officers job to promote competitive polo in the club. They are the team manager and they must organise training and entry to competitions during the year. Their no.1 responsibility is to ensure that we've got a kick-ass team to enter into varsities! This job would suit someone with a keen interest in polo and/or experience or interest in managing/coaching competitive team sports.

Trips
Current: Laura Molloy. Organises the various trips the club goes on during the year, usually Lahinch, Wicklow, Sligo and varsities. Also has overall responsibility for the organising of international trips like Wales and the Alps but the rest of the committee help out with those since there is so much to do. Would suit someone with good organisational and people skills.

Equipment Officer
Current: Darragh Lehane. Responsible for the upkeep of ULKC's stock of gear. Also organises the purchasing of new gear when necessary. Repair skills such as plastic welding, composite repairs, basic mechanics and electronics are useful but you don't need them since you can always organise for someone else to do the actual repairs. So all it really takes is a bit of organisation so that all the small jobs that come up get done promptly.

PRO
Current: David Leahy. Responsible for the image of the club that is received by non-members. This image is enhanced by regular, well-written posts and articles in An Focal and on the club website and by posters which are created to promote trips. Also organises regular club nights out; very important! This is an often overlooked position that can have a huge impact on everyone's experience in the club; the more people hang out together the better they'll get to know each other and then everyone will have a better time on the river. People who know each other well will also be in a better position to work as a team for rescues and other situations that can occur on the water. There's no real formula to be followed as there is with trips so use your imagination and see what you can come up with to give everyone the best time possible! It's the perfect position for someone who's enthusiastic, has got good literary and organisational skills and likes acting on their own initiative.

Fresher's Rep
Current: Ella McDermott. The voice of the first years! Whatever first years want, be it level 2 assessments, more nights out or whatever, badger the rest of the committee and make it happen! Not much is needed besides enthusiasm. Lots of enthusiasm!

Web Admin
Current: Eoin Watkins. Maintains the club website and Facebook page. Some knowledge of web design and website maintenance is obviously required.

Spare Person
Current: Eoin Hayes. The spare person is the previous captain, who is retained to have a hands-off, advisory input into the running of the club.

Additionally, the Quippy and STD have assistants. (Andrew Moran and Eoghan O'Duffy respectively)

We are looking for input from all members (especially those that have experience on the committee both past and present) for changes that could be made to the committee layout. This may be merging, changing, removing or adding new positions. Please discuss this below or email us at [email protected].
For a good time call 087 248 7302
Or email [email protected] outside business hours
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Connie Collins
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No input on the general positions. Other people that are more familiar with the committee can probably weigh in on that.

I do think though that the structure is too restrictive. For example, there was no Polo officer elected this year which I think is technically a breach of the constitution.

I think that the important core positions should be nailed down but the other positions should be left up to a decision of the committee.

For example, one year there may be no need for an assistant equipment officer but another year you might want two.
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StephenWatkins
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I think this mostly concerns the smaller positions being too specific.

My main idea is merging the Polo officer into the Disciplines, with a specific requirement on what they should be doing every year. There aren't really any specific tasks that Disciplines has to do every year, so it's a pretty useless position imo (up to the quality of the person who takes the role). If they were responsible for organising a set number of events at least (surf day, olympics, disciplines night, outback training), and planning polo training and it would be a more functional role.

I feel like merging the the Ass. STD and Ass. Quippe into one assistant might be an idea, with more defined roles on how they can help both of the main positions (eg organising level 2s, or boathouse cleanups regularly while bigger tasks are left to the quippe and std)

Lastly would be to fill in the remaining spot or two with OGM positions who's tasks can be defined by the new committee on a yearly basis at the handover or next meeting
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rhonacrowley
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I'd agree with Stephen's points - disciplines definitely needs more structured responsibilities and could easily take polo under their wing. It might be worth having the disciplines officer work closer with the STD to develop training plans for disciplines.

With the rigidity of the current committee structure, people tend to be quite slow to volunteer for jobs that don't directly relate to their position. There can be a huge imbalance of workloads in committee positions.
Quieter roles such as Freshers Rep, Ass. STD, Ass.Quippy might be better replaced by one or two Ordinary Committee Members (OCMs). OCMs could then help out roles such as Treasurer, Trips, STD, Quippy or whoever else may be particularly busy at the time.
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TomOBrien
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Speaking as someone who declined the role of polo officer I know this may come as sounding hypocritical. Honestly when the polo position is done right, there's more to do than some other positions. Through the lack of having a designated officer for the last term and a half we've felt the decline of polo on the pitch. There's plenty to do in organizing beginner nights, ladies nights, two teams for MPL, teams for summer competitions, the internal polo league and with the advent of the ICUP's it would be a shame to see polo as another discipline on the list.

I say this also as an advocate of the other disciplines like slalom, long distance and surf. I think that the disciplines officer position need to be re-imagined like Stephen said. There's so many different slalom, long distance and surf events that happen around the country all year long. Many of these events would be more than happy to see a sprinter full of university paddlers join them. There are some roles of the disciplines officer that may be forgotten also.

I know it seems like these positions have very little to do but when done correctly they could be very busy and really give a lot to the club.
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