Forming a society...

Notorious

Howdy folks.

I'm currently in the process of applying to form a society. So far things aren't looking too good - for some reason, the powers that be in UCD don't want this society to be formed and have turned down the first application. I'm going to be re-applying in an attempt to conform to certain gripes that this UCD board had with us.

I'm wondering if anyone else had trouble forming a society? Does re-applying work, or is it just a futile attempt; have the board already decided that this society won't be represented on campus?

ChocolateSauce

They have to think the society could work, and they have to think that you are capable. That's mainly it tbh.

What year are you in? And what's the purpose of the society? I tried to set one up in first year, but they thought it was too narrow a topic, and that I wasn't the person for the job. I went back two and a half years later and they accepted the society, so one rejection isn't the death of your idea. All that changed was the name, and I had become a better negotiator!
Do keep in mind they get like a dozen applications every year and new societies often fail, so they're understandably sceptical!

Notorious

ChocolateSauce wrote: »

what's the purpose of the society?

This may sound odd, but I don't want to name the society or say what it is about. The group it would be addressing issues of education in an area where students would 'traditionally' be heavily involved in. Though for some reason the board (especially some SU members), were strongly against such a group forming and seemed to have made their decision about us before we had attended the board meeting to discuss our application.

I'm a final year student. The people that I'm working with to create the group would be experienced and well capable of running it. To be honest most of us hadn't even considered that the board would block our application, especially the negativity we received from the SU.

It's good to know that follow on applications are still considered though.

Do keep in mind they get like a dozen applications every year and new societies often fail, so they're understandably sceptical!

It's only word of mouth, but I've heard they turn down over a third of the applications!

Go-Go-Gadget

Well, your not going to tell us what the proposed society is but UCD doesn't allow any societies that overlap with current societies and as stated above looks like it will work. You say the group of people with you are capable, but is this a society more than them would join?

I wouldn't be surprised with UCD declining a third of the proposals because a third of the proposals do not conform with the guidlines set out by the college. Like last year I heard of a few first years thinking it was a great idea trying to set up a computer games society. (We have GameSoc) I also saw someone trying to set up an AnimeSoc, this was also rejected as Sci-fi soc provide for Anime fans in the college.

With the cuts in expenditure in UCD the board will of course be less likely to give money to people setting up new societies.

Mardy Bum

With the current state of affairs in the budget cuts which clubs and societies have suffered there is very little chance of a new society being funded unless it is something which will have a lot of members.

Notorious

Mardy Bum wrote: »

With the current state of affairs in the budget cuts which clubs and societies have suffered there is very little chance of a new society being funded unless it is something which will have a lot of members.

That's a fair point. From what I know not all societies get funding from UCD (I think it depends on the amount of members you have), and it's something we don't particularly require. I just think it's strange that UCD are very pro-active in rejecting societies, especially those that wouldn't be considered to be dangerous to the reputation of the college.

Zuffer

Notorious wrote: »

I just think it's strange that UCD are very pro-active in rejecting societies, especially those that wouldn't be considered to be dangerous to the reputation of the college.

I think you're thinking about this from the wrong point of view. The burden of proof is with you to demonstrate that your proposed society would be a good addition to UCD. Obviously a society shouldn't be damaging to college. But it should go further than that, it should add to college life.

I can't speak with authority about UCD, but years ago I was part of the Trinity Central Societies Committee. I know nothing about you or your proposed society, but if I was judging your application, I've already found two things that make me suspicious:
1. You're unwilling to state here what the aims of your society are;
2. You've mentioned, without reference to any comment by any other poster, that in your view your society "wouldn't be considered to be dangerous to the reputation of the college".

The fact that you have even raised the possibility in point 2 suggests to me that it is conceivable that someone else could take an opposite view, that your proposed group's activities could be viewed negatively. Combined with your reticence, that screams 'controversial' to me.

Now, 'controversial' does not necessarily mean 'bad'. Take the Humanist society for example. Controversial, yes. Adding to UCD, undoubtedly yes. Nevertheless, it took a couple of goes before that society got off the ground.

Why don't you post up your proposal up here for the internet jury? Not everyone will like it, but if it is worthwhile you should get some supporters.

Fad

Zuffer wrote: »

I've already found two things that make me suspicious:
1. You're unwilling to state here what the aims of your society are;

This, if you expect someone to offer an opinion about it, at least state who or what you represent.

Gaeldor68

Go-Go-Gadget wrote: »

Like last year I heard of a few first years thinking it was a great idea trying to set up a computer games society. (We have GameSoc)

Although let's be honest here there is a hugh difference between computer games and LARPing, poker or Wii games. I personally would love a computer games soc but wouldn't go near GameSoc because it really is a completely different thing, although I wouldn't really expect most people who don't really care or a bit older to understand.

SmashingPilot

Maybe its just such a good idea for a society he's afraid somebody might steal if he divulges any information on it.....He's already told you far too much. :rolleyes:

Mardy Bum

SmashingPilot wrote: »

Maybe its just such a good idea for a society he's afraid somebody might steal if he divulges any information on it.....He's already told you far too much. :rolleyes:

Well if the college have already rejected it what would be the point in stealing it? Speak up OP if you want opinions!

Notorious

Zuffer wrote: »

Why don't you post up your proposal up here for the internet jury? Not everyone will like it, but if it is worthwhile you should get some supporters.

To be honest, I'd prefer not to name the society. I wouldn't want this thread to turn into another reason that UCD can reject us. They already used every reason that they could. I can say that the group wouldn't be aligned with any political party and it would deal with certain current issues worldwide. /hint

The main point of this thread wasn't necessarily to discuss whether you all thought that this was a legitimate group (tbh, that really isn't a question), but more to see if reapplications do work and if anyone else has come across similar resistance from the UCD hierarchy.

The fact that you have even raised the possibility in point 2 suggests to me that it is conceivable that someone else could take an opposite view, that your proposed group's activities could be viewed negatively. Combined with your reticence, that screams 'controversial' to me.

Good observation. The reason I mentioned that such a group wouldn't be bad for the colleges reputation was because that was implied by the UCD board. It was also implied that we may be aligned with certain political parties, which the board felt didn't need to be represented on campus. The irony here was the fact that pretty much the whole SU (and a lot of that board) do represent a political party.

SmashingPilot wrote:

he's afraid somebody might steal if he divulges any information on it

Also, this. I may have to resort to finding and terminating you all!

Einstein?

The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.

ChocolateSauce

Notorious wrote: »

It's only word of mouth, but I've heard they turn down over a third of the applications!

The meeting at which they approved the Humanists there were I think 12 applications, and only one or two were accepted, so it's higher than a third!

With the cuts in expenditure in UCD the board will of course be less likely to give money to people setting up new societies.

It isn't about the money; that the societies board is cash-strapped is a myth they're perfectly happy to leave in place. I discovered this at a meeting last month where they were practically throwing money at the sports societies in the form of capital grants. They gave some societies over 20,000 euro (dished out something like 80,000 if memory serves me correctly); it's all about how much they think you need, not how much they have.