Specialist Group Convenors’ Conference 2014

4th December 2014

University College London, Chandler House

Welcome & Introduction

Professor Matthew Flinders Chair, Political Studies Association

Financial, Administrative and Membership Update for Specialist Groups

Helena DjurkovicProfessor Paul CarmichaelJames Ludley

Specialist Group Funding

Helena Djurkovic4th December 2014

Recent Changes to Funding Formula

Maximum Entitlement

2013: At discretion of PSA trustee responsible for specialist groups

2014: £300 + £10 per PSA member

% PSA2015: £200 + £7.50 per PSA member <50%

£200 + £10 per PSA member 51-70%£200 + £17.50 per PSA member 71-90%£200 + £25 per PSA member >90%

Change in Membership of Specialist Groups 2013-2014

Average Annual Funding Per Specialist Group Member 2012-13

2013 20140

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

Total Specialist Group Membership and Numbers of PSA Members*

Total number of membersTotal number of PSA members

* Only for groups reporting figures in both 2013 and 2014; total SG membership in 2014 = 5,052

Change in Membership of Specialist Group 2013-2014

2013 20140%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

% of Total Specialist Group Members that Belong to PSA

Non-membersPSA members

Change in Entitlement 2014-2015

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

Maximum Core Funding Entitlement per Group

Entitlement 2014Entitlement 2015

£

Change in Entitlement 2014-2015

Up 25% or more

Up 11-25%

Up 1-10%

No changeDown 1-10%

Down 11-25%

Down 25% or more

0

10

20

Impact of Change in Entitlement for In-dividual Groups

Change in PSA Members 2013-2014

Up 25% or more

Up 11-25%

Up 1-10%

No changeDown 1-10%

Down 11-25%

Down 25% or more

0

5

10

Change in Proportion of PSA Members in Individual Groups

Growth in Total Membership 2013-2014

Up 25% or more

Up 11-25%

Up 1-10%

No changeDown 1-10%

Down 11-25%

Down 25% or more

0

10

20

Change in Total Number of Members in Individual Groups

17

7 2

Summary of Changes in Group Profiles

15

Number of Members

% PSA Members

Increase

Increase

Decrease

Decrease

Specialist Group Handbook

Changes to the “Specialist Activities Funding Competition”

Pushing the Boundaries Funding Competition for 2015

A new annual Pushing The Boundaries Funding Competition offers groups the opportunity to bid for additional funding of up to £2,000 for special events and activities beyond their regular programme of activity.

Entries are judged according to their: Originality Specialist nature How detailed and well costed they

are Wider appeal and potential for PSA

recruitment

Key Dates For SGs

2014

Tuesday 9th Dec – PSA will write to all SGs (via e-mail) regarding End of Year Reports and financial arrangements for 2015.

 2015

Monday 19th Jan - APPLICATION DEADLINE for Core Funding and Pushing The Boundaries Competition. All End of Year Reports to be sent directly to PSA HQ. 

Friday 30th Jan - Applications to be ratified formally by the PSA Executive along with award amounts.

2nd February - Letter to the SGs with their award details both for Core Funding and other funding streams (if applicable).

Best Practice 1: Reinvigorating a Specialist Group’s activities

Dr Cristina Leston-Bandeira and Dr Louise Thompson Co-Convenors Parliaments and Legislatures Specialist Group

Membership

From 73 Members (Feb)…. To 167 (Dec)

• Dissemination through other SGs and relevant audiences/groups

• Using PSA newsletter/communication tools

• Social media

Communication

E-Newsletter to members every 3 weeks

Funding

Utilising inactive funding strategically

Mid-term funding review

Partnering up with others

Events and Activity

Parliament WeekParliament WeekRe-launch of Group

Future Events and Activity

Three panels,PSA conference

Sponsored Reception, PSA

conference

Essay competition

Dialogue with Parliament

Data

Strategy

Working as a team

Dividing tasks (treasurer / communications)

Working closely with the PSA

Forging partnerships

THANK YOU

E: C.C.Leston-Bandeira@hull.ac.uk, Tw: @estrangeiradaE: Louise.Thompson@surrey.ac.uk , Tw: @LouiseVThompson

#ParliamentsPSA

Online Communications

Jamie RalphCommunications OfficerJames Ludley Programme Development Officer

Updates to the Specialist Group pages on PSA website

Specialist Group’s Officers

Other Website Guides/ Developments?

Improving communications through social media / online forums

Twitter – the most popular social media tool for keeping in touch with SG members.

AND - #ParliamentsPSA

Tweets, Retweets & Hashtags

PSA are happy to assist SGs with setting up a Twitter account.

We can help you get your account off the ground and assist you in getting your first few “followers”.

@PolStudiesAssoc, the official PSA account has 4,350 followers.

At this conference in 2012, we had 1,250 followers.

Twitter Tips

When deciding on a Twitter username – remember to use PSA in your handle. eg @PSAFrPol (French Politics) or @PSACPM (Corruption and Political Misconduct)

If tweeting about an event that you are running, always create a “hashtag” as tweets can then be organised and are easier to access. Make sure your hashtag is unique and doesn’t refer to another unrelated event.

Less is more – abbreviate your username and hashtags as tweets are limited to 140 characters.

Engagement

Tweets with images and hashtags always perform better than tweets without.

Consider tagging (“cc” on Twitter) the PSA account @PolStudiesAssoc on your tweets if you want to alert us to your activities.

What to tweet? What would be interest to your members. Think news, call for papers, articles, conferences, events, opportunities.

PSA Specialist Group List

https://twitter.com/PolStudiesAssoc/lists/psa-specialist-groups

https://twitter.com/PolStudiesAssoc/lists/psa-specialist-groups

“Social Storytelling”

A user-friendly, interactive and fun way of reporting on an event using social media and web content.

Collate and present ‘what happened’ using tweets, images, webpages, text… anything!

https://storify.com/PolStudiesAssoc/

Jamie Ralphjamie.ralph@psa.ac.uk

Best Practice 2: “Scotland Deliberates” – an online discussion

Dr Alfred Moore, Co-Convenor Participatory & Deliberative Democracy Specialist Group

“Scotland Deliberates”

Best Practice 3: Other examples from other Groups – what else is working well?

Discussion from the floor..

What Happens Next?

James LudleyProgramme Development Officer

What Happens Next?

End of Year Reports – Excel “Specialist Group of The Year” 2015 Events – PSA support Postgraduate Recruitment PSA Annual Conference: A. “Meet the Convenors”B. Specialist Group Directory