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Key Information Booklet

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Key Information

Key Information Bookletimperialcollegeunion.org/training

ContentsContents 2

Introduction 3

Imperial College Union 4

Student Activities Centre (SAC) 5

Health & Safety 6

Room Bookings 8

Organising Activities & Advertising 10

Version 1.1 - 18 October 2010


imperialcollegeunion.org/training

Introduction

If you’re looking at this booklet then you’ve probably been elected to be a Club, Society or Project officer. Congratulations. This is a really great opportunity to give something back to your peers and the University and hopefully you’ll have an enjoyable and rewarding time doing it.

Before going any further, there are a couple of important points to remember:

• You and your fellow volunteers are the most important part of the Union and the work you do is greatly valued by the Union and the College.

• You are also ambassadors for the Union and College, so make sure you are well behaved at events and on the internet.

• You aren’t the only users of the Union’s resources and we have to ensure there are enough to go around. This is particularly applicable with room bookings.

There are lots of people here to help, so if you are unsure of anything please ask before you act!

The Purpose of this Booklet

As an officer of the Union, you’ll have access to many of the support services that we have to offer in order to help you carry out your role. In this booklet we’ll be showing you what these services are, how to use them and who are useful points of contact.

Before you’re given full access to these facilities you’re required to take a short validation quiz, which can be completed online at imperialcollegeunion.org/validation

For some positions there are additional training sessions and requirements. Information about these can be found online at imperialcollegeunion.org/training


Imperial College Union

The Role of the Union

Imperial College Union plays host to around 300 Clubs & Societies, with over 14,500 memberships as well as a growing number of Projects which undertake charity and outreach activities both locally and internationally.

The Union is also the hub of student representation on campus when it comes to educational and welfare matters and raising concerns with College departments and staff. In order to do this, all students are automatically a member of a Faculty Union for undergraduates or the Graduates Students’ Association for postgraduates.

Who runs the Union?

There are five Sabbatical officers of the Union, including the President and four Deputy Presidents who are students elected annually to look after the Union. The Union is also supported by a team of permanent staff.

Union Commerce

The Union also oversees the running of two bars and a night club, all of which can be found in the Union Building in Beit Quad, as well as a newsagent and a shop both located on the Sherfield walkway.

Overall, the Union has an annual turnover of over £3 million. Our website: imperialcollegeunion.org is also the most visited Students’ Union website in the country.



Student Activities Centre (SAC)

What is the SAC and where is it?

The Student Activities Centre is the hub of Club, Society & Project administrative activities. It is located on the mezzanine level of the second floor of Beit Quadrangle (2M). It is run by the Membership Services Manager and several part-time student staff, most of whom are heavily involved in Clubs, Societies or Projects.

What is the SAC for?

The Student Activities Centre team can assist with any queries about the day-to-day running of Clubs, Societies & Projects. Services provided in the Student Activities Centre include:

Club, Society & Project Administration

• Free computing, scanning and printing facilities for Club, Society & Project use.

• Free telephone and fax services.• A pigeonhole for each Club, Society &

Project (this is where all Club, Society & Project mail is delivered).

• Document laminating.• Handing in claim forms (in management

group pigeonholes).• Handing in income and membership

forms (at the desk).• Free post facilities.

Access to Union Facilities• Coach & minibus bookings.• Minibus theory tests.• Room bookings.• Meeting space.• Updating key lists.

Advice, Information & Miscellaneous• Finance information, forms and reports.• Club, Society & Project documentation

and records.• Free First Aid kits.

SAC Contact Details & Opening Hours

Email: [email protected]: 020 7594 8066 (int x48066)Fax: 020 7594 8123imperialcollegeunion.org/student-activities-centre/

Opening Hours:

Monday to Friday, 10am-6pm.Open during holidays except during College Closure.


Health & Safety

Health and Safety is an important consideration for every officer. Everyone has a responsibility for the safety of the people participating in activities.

Every year, Clubs, Societies & Projects are required to submit their annual risk assessment. This should take into consideration all of the activities of your group, whether they are your core purpose or a one off social event. If during the course of the year you and your committee decide to try something new, don’t forget to update your risk assessment accordingly.

The idea of a risk assessment isn’t to stop activities, but to ensure that you’ve thought how to minimise any existing risks, and thought through what you would do if an accident did happen and how you would manage the situation. This way, you won’t have to think on your feet in an emergency. All committee members should be familiar with the contents of your risk assessment.

This form is submitted online from your club account, but if you have any questions, please do ask.

Activities on Campus

If you are doing your activity on any campus at Imperial you are not required to fill in an activity registration. However,

if there is a problem, you can call security on 020 7589 1000 from any phone or dial 4444 from any internal handset. They can provide first aid or guide you through a situation on the phone if they aren’t able to arrive quickly enough. They can also arrange for an emergency service to come to the campus if required.

Activity Registrations

You may do your activities off campus, and for some activities it is mandatory to fill in an online activity registration. This way, if something did happen, the Union would be able to assist by knowing where you are, who is there, and what you were doing. The level of information required is relative to the activity being undertaken rather than the group



undertaking it. Detailed information about activity registration can be found online at imperialcollegeunion.org/training

What if something goes wrong?

If an accident occurs off campus there are a few simple things to remember and do:

• Do call for help. The emergency number in the United Kingdom is 999. If you have travelled abroad, remember to look up the emergency number of the country you are going to, before you leave. Give it to everyone in your group.

• When the situation is stable, report the incident to College Security on 020 7589 1000. Security is manned 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

• Do not talk to the press or admit liability for an incident. The Union should not find out about an accident from national newspapers!

You should submit an accident report form to the Student Activities Centre with 48 hours of your return.

Accident Reporting

In the event that an accident has occurred, it’s very important to report it. You do not get into trouble if you report

an accident, but the aim is to prevent similar accidents from happening in the future.

In order to do this you should fill in an accident report form. You can download these from the website imperialcollegeunion.org/forms, or ask for one in the Student Activities Centre. There are accident report forms in the folders found in all minibuses.

Accident reporting is in line with College policy, which fulfills the College’s legal obligations in this area, so it is import that you comply with this procedure.


Room Bookings

For many activities you may want to use a room on campus. Depending on where you would like to book, there may be different processes in place. The Union building has many rooms of different sizes for student use which are booked through the Student Activities Centre.

There are some rooms on the South Kensington campus that are managed by the College’s Conference Office rather than the Union. These rooms include the Great Hall, Queen’s Tower Rooms, the Seminar & Learning Centre and the Senior Common Room. The use of these rooms incurs a charge. If you wish to book these spaces then you should attend the College Events Training session.

Many rooms on the South Kensington and Charing Cross campuses can be booked for Imperial College Union groups at no cost, also through the Student Activities Centre. This is made

possible through an agreement with the departments, as they are not obliged to let students use their spaces for non-academic purposes.

Imperial is fortunate enough to have many sports facilities, which can be booked for long and short term use by contacting the Sports Partnership Administrator, Alissa Ayling – email: [email protected].

There are a couple of spaces that ICSMSU look after on the Charing Cross campus. To enquire about using these, contact [email protected]

Booking spaces via SAC

For all spaces in the Union building, and most College rooms, room bookings should be done online at imperialcollegeunion.org/roombooking



To book a room you must be a registered committee member of a Club, Society or Project, and have successfully completed the Key Information validation quiz.

Room bookings can be made up to one term in advance and open on the Monday of the final week of the preceding term. This includes holiday periods. Room booking requests can only be made as late as two weeks in advance of the date you would like to book, because of the amount of time it takes to process the requests through the College’s systems.

Once logged in, it is necessary to select from the list what room you would prefer and when. You are also required to supply the purpose of the booking and the number of people expected to attend. Once you have provided this information, if your desired room is not available, the Union’s staff are able to assist you in finding another suitable room on campus.

Having filled in and submitted your request, always await confirmation on your room booking before using the room. If you are enquiring about the status of a room booking, remember to quote your reference number. The confirmation process may take up to three weeks, so it’s best to book well in advance.

Only request to book as many slots as you need. There are many groups

seeking to use space. Similarly, if you have booked a room and you subsequently find that you will not need to use it, please cancel your booking by replying to your confirmation email and quoting your reference number. Please note that you cannot make room bookings in your department’s building through the student office.

Room Ettiquette

Having received confirmation of your room booking, there are a couple of points to remember regarding etiquette. Otherwise your club may be fined or even banned from using certain spaces. • Always leave the room tidy. If it is not

tidy when you arrive, contact the Building Manager to resolve the issue if it is during the working day, or take pictures and send them to the Deputy President (Clubs & Societies) if it is out of hours. Try to send any emails at the beginning of your booking so that it is clear that your group didn’t cause the problem.

• If you do not report that the room is unsatisfactory then you may receive the blame from the subsequent users. A list of penalties can be found online, but range from fines to being banned from buildings or room booking at all.

• Remember: What you do can affect every group’s use of a room.


Organising Activities & Advertising

Organising regular Events & Activities is something that all Clubs, Societies & Projects should be doing regularly for their members. When going about planning your event or activity, identify what its aim or objective is. Is it a social event? Or to raise club funds? It is important that everyone has this in mind for the subsequent planning stages.

Funding Events & Activities

How is your group going to pay for this activity? It may be the case that you have been allocated Union Grant to support this, otherwise you may need to seek sponsorship or recoup the cost from ticket sales. Regardless of what method you use, if it is not your regular day-to-day activity then the Treasurer of your group should fill in an event budget.

External Guests

If you have invited a guest or speaker to your event, you’ll have to provide details of who they are when you submit your room booking, so that College Security know who is meant to be on campus. More information about approval of speakers can be found online at imperialcollegeunion.org/training

Alcohol & Licencing Issues

You should never provide alcohol from external vendors at an event as it contravenes the Union & College’s Liquor Licence. If you would like to provide alcohol, this should be arranged through the Union Functions Manager. For events with 100 attendees or more, you’ll need to book stewards, again through the



There is more to advertising than posters though. You can afford to be really creative in this aspect, such as customising clothing or items related to your club activity. Also don’t forget the power of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Union Functions Manager. Stewards should be booked no later than 2 weeks in advance, and you will have to pay for them so don’t forget to account for them in your event budget!

Even things like performance rights must be taken into account; so it is important to read the small print, even for things like showing DVDs. It may be the case that you’ll have to pay for the use of copyright material. More information about running events can be found on online at imperialcollegeunion.org/training

Publicity

Good publicity is said to be worth about 70% of a successful event, so it shouldn’t be underestimated. Posters are a popular choice and can be very effective. If you would like to use posters please make sure you first read the poster rules which can be found online at imperialcollegeunion.org/training

The College and Union have teamed up to harness the benefits of electronic advertising. If your group has got some photos or videos you would like to share, then you can upload photos to Flickr or videos to YouTube. Tagging these with “IMP150” may result in your group being featured in Union or College publications.

Imperial College UnionBeit QuadranglePrince Consort RoadLondon SW7 2BB

Tel: 020 7594 8060Fax: 020 7594 8065Email: [email protected]