[Bups-l] BUPS AGM – Info for BUPS chair candidates

[Edward Grefenstette]

Dear members of the British Undergraduate Philosophy Society,

As you may know, the BUPS mailing lists, the website, the school and  
twelve projects and all our conferences are all made possible thanks  
to not only the readers and delegates, but also thanks to an  
organisational committee which handles the everyday running of BUPS.  
The members of this committee are volunteers, who are nominated to  
their positions by the chair of the society. As you may also know,  
the British Undergraduate Philosophy Society advertises itself as a  
non-profit organisation, run for and by undergraduate students. This  
implies that BUPS aims to serve the academic interests of its  
members, and therefore the best way to ensure this, we feel, is to  
allow its members to choose who runs the society during an annual AGM.

Traditionally, the AGM was held during our annual conference, the  
BUPC, in September. However, in order to give time for a smooth  
passing of the torch, and to give the opportunity for the new chair  
to organise a big conference with the full assistance of the previous  
chair, we have decided to hold this term's chair elections – and all  
future chair elections (provided future chairs do not wish to change  
this policy) – during the summer conference. This means that this  
terms chair election will be held at the end of our Oxford day  
conference, on the 23rd of June 2007.

Physical presence is required in order to vote or run for the  
position of chair. The conference registration fee is only £8, which  
we do not feel is particularly prohibitive with regards to allowing  
people to come and vote. However, if you have particularly strong  
feelings about voting but do not wish to attend the conference in  
full (ie. just attend the AGM), please contact us at info at bups.org  
and we will try and find a suitable solution.

Any eligible member of BUPS may run for the position of society  
chair, where "eligible member" is defined as any person who is signed  
up on BUPS-L (or intends to), has some interest in philosophy, and  
will not be signed up for a postgraduate course starting (or  
continuing) on the 2007-2008 academic session. So literally, any  
person interested in the societies activities, who is not or has not  
been a postgraduate or a professional philosopher, can run (although  
currently being on an undergraduate course probably makes more  
sense). All candidates must be nominated by a third party during the  
AGM, and their nomination must be seconded by another party. Fairly  
simple stuff...

The chair-elect will receive full control of the society accounts on  
the day, and a package containing internal details regarding the  
running of the society. The previous chair and volunteer members of  
the outgoing committee will assist the new chair and his or her  
appointed committee in the organisation of the BUPC, as well as  
getting a handle on running BUPS. It should be worth mentioning that  
the current committee contains several young officers in their 1st or  
2nd years, who have expressed interest in continuing their activities  
next year, should the new chair accept their inclusion in the new  
committee. For further details, please us at contact chair at bups.org  
and we will be happy to answer any questions.

The above sums up the official bit of my announcement. I would now  
like to make a few points about the job for those still reading, and  
somewhat interested in the position.

I would first of all like to stress how wonderful a role it is.  
Naturally, it is a hard one which required rigour, self-control and  
organisation, as well a certainty regarding one's commitment to the  
society and its activities. But far from being mere constraints,  
these features are also what make chairing a large society  
worthwhile. The skills I believe I have developed over the past year,  
in interacting with the community, with other organisations and  
individuals, and finally with my own committee are the kind of skills  
which will certainly come in handy both in further academic work, or  
in future professional activities. These are skills such as knowing  
how to plan an event, allocate tasks, think of new ways of  
communicating information; skills like talking in public, persuading  
institutions to consider hosting our conferences at a student  
friendly price, or getting eminent academics to come give fantastic  
talks during our events; skills, in short, that I certainly did not  
possess when I began my chairmanship in September. In addition to  
this, chairing BUPS has also given me the opportunity to meet some  
rather amazing people, both undergraduates and beyond, from across  
the UK (and beyond as well), and make some friends I certainly would  
not have made had I stayed in Sheffield during my whole undergraduate  
'career'. So while the responsibility involved may be the source of  
pressure from time to time, it has certainly affected my academic or  
personal life in a positive way, and I would happily recommend such a  
job to anyone who feels up for the task.

Finally, as mentioned earlier, I would like to reassure prospective  
candidates that they would not be going into the dark alone. Not only  
are there committee members from this year's committee, people with  
dedication and experience, who are willing to continue next year  
should the new chair accept them on his or her committee, but the new  
chair will receive the support and guidance (if called for) of  
myself, and of previous committee members and chairs, many of whom  
have continued their studies in some of the UKs top universities and  
are reliable (and friendly) people to turn to in time of need. So if  
you are interested, and have had time to think about making a big  
commitment of the sort, please do not hesitate to get in touch by  
emailing me at chair at bups.org

Sincerely Yours,

Edward Grefenstette
Chair, BUPS