Hi, name is Tara and I'm the secretary for COSDU 2015.
Being a part of COSDU has been the highlight of my university life and joining the committee was the most rewarding. The friendships you make, the fellowship you receive and the opportunity to be in this wonderful ministry is a blessing. COSDU is the only catholic society on campus to date and that COSDU has been around for almost 30 years I feel speaks for itself. For me being called to this position has a very different story than most. When the former secretary, Cecilia had to step down form her position I was asked to fill the position. It was very unexpected and sudden and it also being the last year in my degree made the timing very hard to manage. But after much discerning the decision was simple, when God calls -you don't say no. Because HE knows you're ready even before YOU do. So I said yes, and here I am! It has been an amazing journey and a privilege to work on the schematics of COSDU and I loved every moment. But as the leadership of the 2014-2015 committee comes to an end it is time for COSDUans to step up. So this is a shout-out to all who are interested in carrying on the baton and leading the next generation of COSDUans.
I'd like to start by saying that being the secretary isn't as daunting and scary as it sounds. The technical bits I agree sounds like a lot of work but that's only because you use fancy terms to define it. So to encourage everyone interested in the this role I am going to simplify it the best I can.
Being the secretary for me has been like a black shirt in a theatre production. You have a defined set of activities you have to accomplish but really it goes above and beyond. The bulk of your job will be administrative work but I believe your main task is to support the committee. To remind everyone of upcoming events, due dates for grants and important documents and just help out whenever possible. So here is a breakdown of the main responsibilities you will have to do, in no particular order.
- Making announcement slides and presenting them each week at sessions. This is where you get to compile the upcoming weeks events and present them to COSDU. If it seems scary to present in front of people and you don't want this role simply because of it, think again. I'm sure your committee will be flexible about it and work with you. In addition you'll be "presenting" to a bunch of your close friends so it really isn't that bad. Making announcement will include working with the sessions coordinator and other committee members on upcoming event that COSDU would like to publicize.
- You will be in charge of the membership list and the COSDU constitution making sure it is up to date and is reflective of COSDU's changing needs respectively. Also getting everyone to sign the attendance sheets when required is part and parcel of the job.
- You will need to attend training sessions that are held by UMSU, like secretary training and AGM training. These will really help you in the managing of day to day activities of COSDU.
- You will need to liaise with UMSU and UMSUint (Previously called MUOSS) regarding grants, events, and general affiliation. Honestly Liaise is just a fancy word to say you are the person that needs to make sure we get the paperwork and what not done and done right. You're like the J.A.R.V.I.S to COSDU and the rest of university.
- You will take meeting minutes at each committee meeting. The template and writing style is quite straight forward so it very simple. The only catch is that you must pay attention at all times AND will need to be able to determine the important points from the multitude of chatter that may happen :) . Other than that things like needing to be a fast and accurate typist didn't stop me from getting the job done.
- You will be in charge of the COSDU email account. It will be your responsibility to reply to emails and filter out the unnecessary ones and and informing the committee about said emails, especially the important ones eg. UMSU. Simply it will be your job to maintain the email account.
- It will be mostly your responsibility to maintain the Google drive account. Uploading and organising document according to week and event is important.
Finally I would like to say that COSDU committee is not like a regular comm. we are like a family, and family has got your back. Ask any of the current comm. members and they will tell you that everything was made so much easier because we did it as a team and helped each other out. So if being integrated into COSDU's running or wanting to help out more is your calling, consider this position. Discern about it and May the Lord guild you! God Bless!
