COMMUNITY

What has interested you to start your Club/Society? Are you trying to bring together students interested in astrology, Save the Tasmanian Devil or set up a Korfball Club? The first thing you need to decide is what the aim of your club/society is and what you are looking to do.

To start a Club/Society, you need to have a least 4 other people (5 including you) who want to become a member of the Club/Society (these must be currently enrolled UTAS students). These might be your friends, people from your course or from your accommodation.

We would recommend having at least 10 current UTAS students as this will then allow you to also apply for funding grants from the TUSA for events and activities. Make a record of the people who wish to become members by recording their name, student ID number or if they are associate (none UTAS students) and email address in this document so the TUSA can see you have people ready to become members.

You can use our template to do this click here.

Each Club/Society is run by an executive:

• President
• Secretary
• Treasurer

These roles are in place for the academic year and there to lead and guide the Club/Society. In the first instance when setting up a new Club/Society you can pick who will take these roles.

As a group decide who will do each role, you can talk this through with the TUSA for help on understanding what each role does. You can also choose to have additional positions e.g. Vice President, Activities Officer, Education Officer if you think they would be helpful to run your Club/Society. Once you have chosen who will fill these positions use the club affiliation form on Qpay to submit the information to the TUSA Clubs & Societies team.

At the end of the academic year they will become internally elected at your AGM.

The Clubs and Societies Officer (Ingrid) is a member of staff who works for the TUSA who is there to help grow and develop all Clubs and Societies.

She will review your constitution (the next step), answer any questions you might have about committee roles and help you along the process of becoming an official TUSA Club/Society. Email Clubs@TUSA.utas.edu.au and arrange a time to meet with the Clubs and Society Officer in person or via Zoom and make a list of all the questions you might have.

In order to become an official TUSA Club/Society you need to write a constitution. The constitution is the document which outlines your aims and objectives and governs the Club/Society. Once this is drafted, we would advise sending it back to Ingrid so she can look over it and offer any advice if needed before it goes for approval.

Once it is finalised your Executive need to hold a meeting to approve/adopt your new constitution and record the names of your new executive (you can use the TUSA minute template to help with this).

Submit the final version of the constitution, membership list and a copy of your minutes to Ingrid and it will then go to the TUSA Executive Committee for approval.

Hold your Inaugural General Meeting (IGM) to elect your office bearers, adopt your constitution and note who will be signatories on your bank account. Check out the Meeting Flow Chart.

Register for QPay then lodge your affiliation paperwork (Constitution, Affiliation/Re-affiliation Committee Information form, Inaugural General Meeting minutes and Membership List) through QPay. Information to help you get started on QPay can be found here along with upcoming training sessions.

Register with QPay.

Every Club/Society must have an Australian Business Number (ABN). This is so the TUSA can make any payments to your Club/Society. Specific instructions on how to register/apply can be found here

Remember that you need to list the TUSA Clubs and Societies Officer as the authorised contact person. The Executive member who fills out the application must give their details as the Office Bearer of a Club/Society.

Your Club/Society will need to set up a Commonwealth Bank account in the name of your Club or Society. This is where all your money will go from membership fees and any money you save/receive as a Club/Society.

• Collect an authority to operate a business account (A153) form from the Commonwealth Bank (Uni Branch).
• The Clubs and Societies Officer (SSO) is required to write a letter to support the setup and also sign the A153 form.
• You will be required to have at least two executive members as signatories on the bank account including your President and Treasurer
• Once you have filled in their details and signed the A153 and bank letter all signatories will need to go to the bank together and show their ID.
• Your account must also have the Clubs and Societies Officer listed as an authorised person to open the bank account on the A153 bank form. This is required so that if your Club or Society is disaffiliated, the TUSA can close the account. This is because, as an affiliated Club or Society the money in your Club or Society’s account belongs to the TUSA.
• Remember to use the TUSA postal address:

Hobart based; TUSA Club/Society name, Tasmanian University Student Association Inc. P.O. Box 5055, University of Tasmania, LPO SANDY BAY TAS 7005

Launceston/Cradle Coast/Rozelle based; TUSA Club/Society name, Tasmanian University Student Association Inc. Locked Bag 1333 LAUNCESTON TAS 7250

Bank statements must not be sent to private addresses. This causes problems when the executive members handover. All Clubs and Societies have pigeon holes near the elevators in the TUSA Building in Sandy Bay, and upstairs in the TUSA Building in Newnham, which you can collect from at any time during business hours.

Your Club or Society will be exempt from monthly bank account keeping fees with the university branch of the Commonwealth Bank, once you’ve handed in the appropriate letter from the Clubs and Societies Officer.

If you need help with setting up your Club or Society, contact the Clubs and Societies Officer.

Your Club/Society is approved and everything is set up you are ready to go! This is a super exciting time and we know it can also be a little scary and daunting.

The TUSA is here to help you so if you have any concerns reach out to your Clubs and Societies Officer or Student Experience President (North/South).

Email Address – Are you going to have a generic email address for your Club/Society? e.g. savethedevilTUSA@gmail.com . Having an email specific for the Club/Society can be very useful as it doesn’t clog your on UTAS account and increases your professionalism. You can easily set one up with multiple providers, we would recommend a google account so you can use the Google Drive for file sharing and saving committee documents etc.

* TIP – Make sure you make a note of the email and use a password you can share with your committee

Create a Logo – If you are great with design or have a friend who is, it’s good to have a logo for your Club/Society. There are also lots of sites you can use online to help with the process including Canva. Make sure you adhere to the UTAS brand guidelines when you’re creating.  If you need any advice or want to check your logo please email Clubs and Societies Officer Ingrid.Lagerewskij@utas.edu.au

Set Up Your Social Media Accounts – Social media is a great way to make people aware your Club/Society exists and also to help you communicate with your members. Will you use Facebook, Instagram and Twitter? Which are the best options for you?

Facebook offer the ‘Facebook Blueprint’ which guides you through everything you could ever want to know across the Facebook suite (Facebook, messenger, Instagram) and you can become an expert.

*TIP – Remember your social accounts reflect on your club/society and you, so be smart and consistent with what and how you post

Signing Up Members – You need to make sure you have a way to keep a membership list. We have a handy membership list template to help you.

*TIP – Keeping your membership list up to date is important, so make sure you stay on top of it. You will be required to provide it to the TUSA for insurance purposes

Arrange Your First Event – Time to plan your first meeting or welcome event to make people aware your Club/Society now exists. This could be a sausage sizzle on campus, a guest lecturer, a pizza party whatever fits with what your club/society is about.

*TIP – Give yourself time to plan your first activity/event/meeting. You want it to be great and it’s the first impression your new members will have of your Club/Society. We know you’re excited but don’t rush into it too quickly. See our guide on running an event for everything you need to consider.

If you have any questions or need some help please reach out to the Clubs and Societies Officer (Ingrid)

62262854

Clubs@TUSA.utas.edu.au