Commotie

Information about a board year at Commotie

What exactly does it mean to do a board year? And how much time will it cost you to be a part of the board? On this page you can discover what a board year at Commotie looks like! The current board, study advisor of CIS Marloes Bergmans and Professor of CIS Tom Koole will tell you all you need to know about doing a board year. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the current board via board@svcommotie.nl.

How to apply?

Applications open on the 18th of March. You can apply by sending your CV and motivation letter to internalaffairs@svcommotie.nl. Don't forget to mention and explain your function preferences! The application deadline is the 20th of May. 

Do you prefer a personal chat with one of the board members? You can contact us by sending us an email or texting us. 

In general

Being the board means you are the beating heart of the association: you are responsible for everything within the association. You have to take responsibility towards others outside of the association and you are one of the contact persons for external parties. One of your responsibilities as the board is to offer a variety of activities to your members. This also means that you have to be present at every activity. Besides, you implement your policy throughout the year. In your candidate period you write a policy plan together with your candidate board members and once this is accepted you will be the new board and you can start carrying out your new ideas. 

You carry out a lot of tasks that aren't always visible for your members. Examples are meetings with other parties and activities with other associations or boards in Groningen or anywhere else in The Netherlands. During your board year you meet a lot of different and new people and your social network will expand a lot! Besides, you gain a lot of practical experience during your board year, which can be very useful for your future. You learn, for example, to plan and organize events and to collaborate with a lot of different people. A board year is the perfect opportunity to develop yourself personally and professionally!

As you can probably tell, or already knew, being in the board will cost you some time. But, don't worry! You are able to study besides your board tasks, because a board year at Commotie is only part time. You can compare it to a part time job and this means you won't spend all of your time on Commotie. Depending on your function and if you want some study delay or not, you can keep following your courses. It is up to you how many courses you want to follow per block during your board year, and you can also decide for yourself when you will work on your board tasks. This makes it very flexible and gives you time and space for other things such as studying, work, sports or social activities. And, last but not least, you'll get a refund from the University for your board year. So, besides developing yourself and gaining experience, you'll also earn some money!

Learn more about each function below!

Chairman, Sonia Balaban

As Chairman of Commotie, you are the face of the association and therefore you have a number of leading duties that must be fulfilled throughout the year. This includes managing and leading the board and the association, giving presentations during events, meeting with internal and external parties, having the signatory authority of the association when approving partnerships or sponsor deals, filling applications for grants and subsidies on behalf of the association, writing half year and end of year reports.

As the head of the board, you are in charge of making sure that the operations and tasks of the rest of the board are going as planned. This is checked during weekly board meetings for which you are in charge of writing an agenda and also leading. During these meetings, you are also updated on the general operations of the association and provide your input on what actions can be taken.

As previously mentioned, the chair is the face of the association, and this is reflected in these types of duties. Firstly, you will be giving presentations. This includes presentations during the introduction period for first year students, as well as during General Member Assemblies (GMA)  and other activities during the year. Secondly, you will be meeting with internal parties, such as members or committees, or you will meet with external parties, such as brother and sister associations, as well as staff from the university.

There are also a number of administrative tasks that must be completed during your year as chair. Firstly, The association will have the opportunity to partner up with potential sponsors throughout the year. These partnerships are agreed upon through a contract. As the chair, you are in charge of having the final say on the contracts and the final approval by signing those contracts on behalf of the association. Secondly, the chair is in charge of writing half year and yearly reports which will be presented during the GMAs. Lastly, Commotie

has the opportunity to receive money through grants and subsidies from the university. Throughout the year, it will be your duty to fill in the applications for these subsidies, which include: Sustainability Grants, the Internationalisation and Inclusivity subsidy, the Faculty fund, among others.

With this position, I gained insights into leadership, relationship building, and problem-solving while meeting amazing people and having fun! If you’d like to hear more about the chairman position, contact me anytime! We can also go grab a cup of coffee and talk some more about this board position!

If you would like to know more about this position, feel free to contact me at chairman@svcommotie.nl and I would be happy to meet up for coffee and answer any questions! 

Sincerely,

Sonia

Secretary, Ilse Posthumus

As the Secretary of Commotie, you have the responsibility of managing both internal and external communication. This includes updating the board's email and responding to all incoming correspondences. Internal communication involves keeping in touch with members through newsletters and direct mailings. You are in charge of creating two types of newsletters: a monthly one for all members and quarterly newsletters for the alumni association, Columni. You can use Mailchimp to design these newsletters and make them look professional. Direct mailings include sending emails about upcoming activities and other important information to members.

External communication mainly involves interacting with people and organizations outside of Commotie. This also includes keeping the website up-to-date, inviting, and easy to navigate. You are responsible for updating the website with every activity, uploading photos of events, publishing the keyboard every month, and more. You will work with the other board members to improve the website and make it more attractive to visitors.

As the Secretary, you are also responsible for taking minutes during all board meetings, including weekly board meetings, Central Committee Assemblies, Chairmen Assemblies, Advisory Council meetings, and General Members Assemblies. Additionally, you will manage member administration and assist members whenever they need help.

When I first started, I was also new in the association. But Commotie has made me feel more than welcome! Joining the board was definitely one of the best decisions I’ve made. I have grown so much as a person, both personally and professionally. I have made lots of new friends and connections in the work field. The thing I like most about being the secretary, is that I make the monthly newsletter. 

If you have any questions or just want to talk a bit more about my function, don’t hesitate to contact me! I'd be happy to have a chat with you!

If you are interested in the position or have any questions, feel free to contact me at secretary@svcommotie.nl.

Love, Ilse

Treasurer, Sonia Balaban and Julius Koops

As the treasurer of Commotie, it is your job to manage the association’s finances and keep track of all transactions. At the beginning of the year a financial policy plan is made and your main task is to make sure everyone sticks to it throughout the whole year to ensure the association’s financial well-being.

In the beginning of the year, it’s good to contact the treasurer of each committee to make sure they are aware of how much money they can use, advise them on how to use it, and establish a good communication channel for whatever questions they may have in the future. This constant communication should go on throughout the whole year. When planning activities, budgeting is very important to make sure that the activity will be as cheap as possible for members, but also won’t result in losses for the association. It’s your task to supervise and be aware of committee’s budget.

On a weekly basis, it’s good to do some bookkeeping to keep track of the money coming in and going out. Basically what this entails is that every transaction is written down and put in a binder alongside the receipts or invoices. This way, you have an explanation of why this money was spent or received and a proof of it. Every now and then, you are also supposed to send invoices, either to companies who are sponsoring the association or to associations you collaborate with.

At the end of every month you have to do the debt collection. To do this, you go through every activity that happened in that month, check which were paid, and who attended it. Again, you send everyone invoices and do the debt collection through IBANC. Very often, and for various reasons, the money collected will bounce back. In this case, discretion, respect and sensibility are very important. You should reach out to the member whose money bounced and kindly ask them to pay the association somehow. 

It’s part of your task to not make members feel uncomfortable or ashamed, but it’s also important to be stern and go after people who haven’t paid what they own. Their lack of payment is unfair to other members and can cost a lot to the association.

The role is highly independent, allowing a lot of flexibility and supporting skills in financial management and attention to detail. If you’d like to learn more about this position, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Sonia or me! We are more than happy to answer any questions. 

If you have any further question, you can reach me at treasurer@svcommotie.nl!

Cheers, Julius

Internal Affairs, Sonia Balaban and Ilse Posthumus

As the Commissioner of Internal Affairs, it is your responsibility to keep up to date with all the committees of Commotie. You keep track of their progress by keeping in close contact with all the committee chairmen as well as reading the minutes from each committee's meetings. You are the representative of all the committees together and report information back to the board during the weekly board meetings. 

The position is not only responsible for communicating well with committees but also Commotie members. It requires a lot of time communicating with many people since you are the main contact person for all of Commotie’s members. This communication normally takes place either through email, text, or attending meetings. At the beginning of the year, you are responsible for the committee market and overall you help acquire more members to fulfill committees. If there are low committee members, you need to be able to not be afraid and reach out to many people to join committees as well as events throughout the year. 

During the year there are many events needed to be planned by committees and sometimes it is necessary for you to join committee meetings to come to a better understanding of their progress as well as make sure they fulfill their tasks. There may be times when you would need to join a committee’s meeting due to an urgent matter or they need some extra support in organizing their activity. During the year it is also essential for you to have a good overview of when things need to be done and that you can be strict with committees about their deadlines. You need to be able to lead them in the right direction and be prepared for any unforeseen obstacles. One committee that relies heavily upon your communication is the designer team which designs the posters for the activities. It is your responsibility to communicate all the information needed from committees in a timely manner so the designers have enough time to design a poster for that specific event. 

Throughout the year, there are two Chairman Assemblies organized by the Commissioner of Internal Affairs. These meetings are scheduled with all of the committee chairmen. You are responsible for making the agenda (including points of discussion) that is sent the night before and to guild the meeting. During these meetings, you discuss important changes that are important for active members to know and start a discussion about potential improvements or feedback. These meetings help with understanding how the chairman are leading their committees and looking into improvements or advice overall. 

The Commissioner of Internal Affairs is also responsible for presenting the monthly Central Committee Assemblies(CCA). Before the assembly, you prepare the slides and update the committee competition. During the CCA’s, you give an update about what the board has been up to, provide information on new developments or important affairs within Commotie, and promote events organized by the board. The update of the Committee Competition updates are presented as well and you are in charge of keeping track of the points throughout the year. One way in doing so is by managing the Committee Competition Facebook group. After the board updates, all committee chairmen give updates about their committee, and what they have been up to, promote any of their events coming up, and sometimes ask for members' advice or a vote.

As Commissioner of Internal Affairs, it is important to be flexible. Some weeks are very busy whereas in others there is little to do. So with this function, it is important to plan your time wisely and look into future weeks and organize your time accordingly. In the beginning, it may be a challenge juggling all the information and who to be in contact with, but eventually, you get the hang of it. I found that keeping a to-do list and having an in-depth calendar helped keep everything organized. This function is very rewarding since you get to see all the progress and accomplishments of the committees. You feel proud when you attend all the events because you know how much work went into planning them behind the scenes. 

This function allows you to get to know all the committee members very well and you should be someone they feel comfortable talking to. It is important to have trust in the committees and to stay calm when in high-pressure situations. Not everything goes as planned and you need to be thinking about solutions rather than problems. Don’t be afraid to push the committees for progress and be strict. 

I highly recommend the function of Commissioner of Internal Affairs because it is very rewarding. You meet so many new people and build great connections throughout the year. It gives you skills in time management, public speaking, and how to manage teams. Doing a board year overall gives you many skills and experience for your future career and develops yourself on a more professional level. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any further questions. (

If you have any further question, you can reach me at internalaffairs@svcommotie.nl 

External Affairs, Julius Koops

As Commissioner of External Affairs of Commotie, you mainly stay in contact with all the external parties Commotie deals with! This means for example that you make sure the association stays in good contact with their sponsors and interested companies. During the year you visit them, talk to them and set up contracts. This includes not only the acquisition of money, but also the arrangement of discount deals for your members. You will not only do this with existing partners, but throughout the year you will also actively look for new companies that are interested in collaborating with Commotie! 

Next to big collaborations with companies, we also offer the possibility for individuals to support Commotie. This can be done by a small donation each year of 25 euro. With their donation, we can improve the quality of all of our study-related activities. By donating, they will become a member of the Club of 25. As a member, they are allowed to join all the study-related activities and they will receive a newsletter every 3 months, written by you! 

Further, as the Commissioner of External Affairs, you organize collaborations with other associations. Think for example about the Wintergala and the Alphabet Party! But not only these events need your help, also the Career Event is something you help with. The ProfesCee will stay in close contact with you while organizing this event, and as the Commissioner of External Affairs, you can help them finding speakers for this event, look for a location together with them and so on. 

As you can tell, a great opportunity to get to know a lot of people and to broaden your network during your board year! 

Another task that I take care of during the year, is our collaboration with WO4YOU. Via WO4YOU, all Commotie members can order study books with 15% discount! My task is to update and check the literature lists every block and to make sure the members have the possibility to order all the books they need for the coming block. 

What I love about my function is that I really developed my social skills even more the past year. Visiting companies can be intimidating the first time, but as you visit more and more companies you gain a lot of confidence in terms of talking to strangers and representing yourself and the association! A nice bonus is that you finally get to see many companies behind the scenes and that you get in touch with interesting and important people, which might also be helpful for your future. 

So, are you social and do you like to talk to others? Are you ready to broaden your network and work on your future and do you like to organize events? Then next year it is your time to shine and you should definitely apply to take over my position as Commissioner of External Affairs of Commotie! 

If you have any questions or if you would like to talk about doing a board year at Commotie don’t hesitate to contact me at externalaffairs@svcommotie.nl!

Marloes Bergmans, Study Advisor of CIS

A new academic year, a new board! As the board of a study association, you are not only an organizer of fun activities for the students of Communication and Information Studies, it is so much more. Commotie creates a connection between the degree progam(s) and students. As a study advisor I also regularly meet up with the board members. About the organization of information and introduction and other activities, but also to find out whether there are still issues among the students that I might be able to take action on. 

During your time as a board member you learn to independently make educated decisions and how to work in a project-based and structured manner. Organizing something from A-Z. You will also work together with a close-knit group of board members for a year. To become a board member you do not have to bring a load of board experience, even students who have not yet done much in this area can certainly apply. It is precisely governing from different backgrounds that makes it fun and informative, you do learn from each other!

A board year means an investment of energy and time. It is of course possible that less of both is left for your study program, but not necessarily. In consultation with me as a study advisor, you can see how you can combine both in the best possible way or how you can create space for your board position. Personally, I think that if you take a little longer to complete your studies because you have been in charge of Commotie for a year, you should not call it a ‘delay’. The experience of leading a mini-organization is so valuable that you will benefit from it in the future anyway.