WUSC LOCAL COMMITTEES BEST PRACTICE GUIDEassets.wusc.ca/Website/Resources/LocalCommittees/best_practices… · Redesign your committee kiosk so that it is not over-crowded and catches

WUSC LOCAL COMMITTEES BEST PRACTICE GUIDE 2013-2014 EDITION

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1- YOUR BEST LOCAL COMMITTEE................................................3 a. Recruitment b. Sustaining your Local Committee

2- CAMPAIGNS AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.................................6 a. Bike for AIDS b. Shine a Light c. Uniterra Symposia Series d. Ethical Purchasing e. Fundraising f. Student Refugee Program Referendum

3- THE STUDENT REFUGEE (SRP) PROGRAM..............................12 a. SRP Awareness b. SRP Sustainability

4- MEDIA.............................................................................................16

5- MANAGING COMMITTEE FINANCES.........................................17

6- OTHER RESOURCES.....................................................................18

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1- YOUR BEST LOCAL COMMITTEE YET a) Recruitment Recruiting new members is key to ensuring the continuity and sustainability of all local committees, but we often approach it as a task independent from the activities and events that local committees plan throughout the year. In reality, events and activities are great ways to target and engage new recruits. Here are a few other good tips:

1. Hold small-scale ‘flash’ events such as: Condoms by Donation for Bike for AIDS, Fair Trade Train etc. to attract attention to your committee on campus

2. Chalk your campus with a few statistics about your favourite campaign and the location and time of your next meeting

3. Give away fair trade coffee or hot chocolate with your next meeting time and location

4. Have a sign-up sheet available at all of your events and meetings so that anyone who is interested can be added to your mailing list.

5. Use the freebies WUSC gives you! Hand out stickers and pins in public spaces.

6. Advertise international opportunities with SWB and the International Seminar at all of your booths and activities. Emphasize that WUSC wants to recruit local committee members to take part in these opportunities.

7. Set up an information booth at your campus society fair, but be sure to connect with the people who stop by. Get to know them and try to connect them personally with WUSC.

8. Have concrete opportunities available for people to become actively involved in your committee. Advertise open positions and encourage new members to take on the planning of new events or activities.

9. Have a couple of group photographs of your committee on hand to use for publicity!

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b) Sustaining your Local Committee General Tips:

Establish relationships with other committees in your city or a nearby city. This allows you to share ideas and learn from one another.

Find ways to bring the committee together for team building activities. Here’s how UVIC builds strong social ties while keeping an active lifestyle:

o Hiking and skiing adventures o Weekly WUSC soccer games o Annual WUSC fun-run fundraiser event

Take advantage of training opportunities: o Try to ensure that all your committee

members have the opportunity to attend the Leadership Meeting, Regional Meeting and International Forum training sessions offered each year.

o Try and ensure that as many committee members as possible can attend a meeting when WUSC staff visits your campus.

Increase your visibility:

Use Facebook! Link your committee page to the WUSC Campus Connections page and update it regularly.

Advertise WUSC International Opportunities using the posters WUSC Ottawa sends you

Hold elections at a strategic time of the year to engage new members and ensure that they have adequate training for their new roles and responsibilities

Develop a committee website and update it regularly. Link this website to the Student Union, Campus Clubs and International Office pages.

Don’t underestimate the power of word of mouth. Don’t be shy about sharing your enthusiasm about your committee projects with your friends, acquaintances, and classmates.

Redesign your committee kiosk so that it is not over-crowded and catches the eye. Always have a sign-up

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sheet available so that you can add people to your mailing list. Check our Resource Page for the Kiosk 101 document for tips on creating your most effective table.

Develop a recruitment video like Acadia and Mount Allison have done!

HOLD EVENTS! We can’t emphasize enough the importance of organizing and holding activities to continue to inspire and mobilize your veteran and new committee members. Use each of your activities to promote your committee and to express your interest in recruiting new members.

Don’t compete with other like-minded clubs on campus, partner with them! By establishing relationships where you help others out, when your committee is really busy, you can draw upon your partners to support your WUSC work!

Create structure within your Local Committee:

Hold weekly meetings! Use this time for administrative items as well as workshops, educating members about the SRP, event planning and bonding as a Local Committee.

Identify clear positions in the committee to balance workload and accountability among members o Each position has particular responsibilities, but

members delegate work amongst themselves and help each other fulfill individuals’ roles and to ensure that sponsored students receive the best support possible.

o Positions within your committee could include Club Coordinator, General Coordinator, Finance Coordinators, Academic Coordinators, Tutoring Coordinator, Health Coordinator, Social Coordinator and External Support Coordinator.

o A description of each role should be available in writing to ensure accountability among members.

Establish subcommittees. Each subcommittee is responsible for a particular project. Here are some tips for the subcommittee method:

o 3-4 people per subcommittee is generally a good number. o Encourage each subcommittee to hold one awareness activity/fundraiser per semester. o Schedule meetings so that subcommittees and the general WUSC committee meet on

alternate weeks. Have the couple of subcommittee meetings at the same time and place as the

general WUSC meetings. This way, if subcommittee members are shy or lacking leadership, they will still meet up. After one or two meetings, however, the members should warm up to each other and feel comfortable enough to start arranging an alternate time/location.

o Having at least one experienced WUSC member on each subcommittee is helpful as they can provide guidance and take on a leadership role if necessary.

o Make sure your subcommittees know where to access the resources for their campaign.

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Develop an SRP Guide, which includes all of your important contacts, best practices, “to do lists,” and month-by-month instructions that are specific to your committee. Have hard copies of the guide available for sign-out in your committee office and available on-line in Google Docs.

2- CAMPAIGNS AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

a) Bike for AIDS The local committee at Nova Scotia Community College’s Waterfront Campus held a Bike-a-Palooza in February, which brought together students from three faculties and targeted different wings of the campus simultaneously. Graphic design students donated original artwork designed around a bicycle theme, which were sold in a silent auction at lunch hour. A bake sale was also held in an adjacent wing and stationary bikes were available for curious passerby’s to try out. This inaugural event was very successful and the committee raised more than $500!

The Vancouver Island University (VIU) WUSC committee held a 10-hour bike-a-thon in a central outdoor location on campus in November. Free hot drinks were given out to passers-by who were interested in learning about the Bike for AIDS project, and to volunteers willing to take a shift of riding. The committee gave out prizes such as gift certificates to local restaurants and free bike tune-ups in a draw that was held for anyone who took a shift of riding. The prizes were well deserved – participants faced incredible weather. The winds started at 40km in the morning, and

the sideways rain never ceased. Riders even had to hang on to the tent above them so that it didn't blow away!

BIKE FOR AIDS KEY DATES

September 22 – World Car-Free Day

Last Week of Nov. – AIDS Awareness Week December 1 – World AIDS Day February 14 – Valentines’ Day

LOOKING FOR OTHER ACTIVITY IDEAS?

Samosa Sale

Bike-a-thon

Trike for AIDS obstacle course

Wax for AIDS

Band AIDS concert

Bike for AIDS Candy-grams

Condom valentines

Condoms by Donation in partnership with the Women’s Centre on campus

A Spin for AIDS class

Partner with a Bike Centre on- or off-campus

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b) Shine A Light The University of British Columbia’s Local Committee held a Shine

A Light Yoga class for International Women’s Day. With hundreds of tea-

lights to illuminate their practice, the yoga class raised awareness about

the barriers to education faced by girls in refugee camps who are unable

to go to school due to cultural or religious constraints, or a simple lack of

supplies.

Saint Mary’s University has raised more than $900 this year for Shine a Light through two DJ night events. The committee has well-established connections with local clubs and campus bar as these nights have become regular fundraisers for the committee. The first event was held on campus and the second event was held at a club in town in order to target a new audience.

Shine a Light Key Dates:

January 31 – WUSC Refugee Awareness Day

March 8 – International Women’s Day April 4 – Refugee Rights Day

LOOKING FOR OTHER ACTIVITY IDEAS?

Dinner in the Dark Fundraiser

Organize a flashlight mob or a ‘black out’ in a public space

Donate SRP budget surplus to Shine a Light

Use strands of Christmas lights as a fundraiser – for each dollar donated, committee members will screw in a light bulb

Decorate and sell light bulbs as Christmas tree ornaments

All night study-a-thon by lamplight

Engage with local high schools to organize a concert, talent show or dance where the lighting comes from the audience

Choreograph a Shine a Light dance number

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c) Uniterra Symposium Series Tap into local research, experts, WUSC Alumni and resources – and take advantage of what is already going on in your community!

Université de Montreal’s symposium event not only tapped into their institution’s food security research, but also tapped into WUSC’s partnerships with CECI (Centre d’études et de cooperation international) and Farm Radio International, ensuring that its event incurred minimal costs, and that the topic of discussion and keynote speakers appealed directly to its campus audience! Dalhousie University’s Symposium Event celebrated 30 years of sponsorship on campus. The committee took advantage of the event, to learn more about development research taking place on campus, and to reconnect with committee alumni – including a former sponsored student who currently works at Immigrant Settlement and Integration Services in Halifax. What a great way to strengthen relationships on campus and in the community! Vancouver Island University hosted their symposium during International Development Week – and invited the guests who were already being brought to VIU to mark International Development Week to also be keynote speakers at its event. This meant that, in addition to the Director of the Multicultural Society of Vancouver Island, the poet in residence of Amnesty International, a representative of the World Food Program, and an expert in immigrant healthcare from Wilfrid Laurier University spoke at their symposium – at no cost for the committee! VIU also invited other local sponsoring groups and the Nanaimo African Heritage Society to their event, ensuring that their aim to inform the community about refugee issues and connect with other local sponsoring groups was met. Sault College of Applied Arts and Technology tackled the theme of “The Impacts of International Volunteering: Opportunities and Challenges” at their week-long symposia during International Development Week in early February. The first evening featured paintings of a local artist’ and a film screening highlighting the difficulties in women’s education. The LC also organized a panel discussion on the impacts of volunteering with opening words from the president of Sault College, paired with an info-fair where 8 international organizations offered information on overseas opportunities to interested volunteers. Sault College Local Committee reached out to more than 10 000 people through media, social media and presentations throughout the week!

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d) Ethical Purchasing Raising awareness on Ethical Purchasing is a great way to recruit new students, mobilize your members and fundraise for your events!

The Fair Trade Train was the creative invention that took form at the August 2011 Leadership Meeting. The human locomotive set in motion through the market chanting fair trade slogans and handing out information and stickers to passer buys. This quick spontaneous action raised awareness with its catchy tune and was revived again at the International Forum.

Vanier College held their second annual Marry Me Fair

Trade Event this Valentine’s Day. Using fair trade and organic ingredients, the committee made two wedding cakes that were given out to students in exchange for a pledge to use fair trade products. The table attracted a larger number of students – who doesn’t love free cake! Ethical Purchasing Key Dates:

October 31 – Fair Trade Halloween

November and December – Holiday Season

February 14 – Valentines’ Day

LOOKING FOR OTHER ACTIVITY IDEAS?

Weekly Fair Trade coffee tables

Shea Butter Sales with Karité Delapointe

Fair Trade Halloween

10 000 Villages sales

Fair Trade Campus movements

Fair Trade Flash-mobs

Give out free fair trade coffee or hot chocolate on a cold winter morning

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Bishop’s University – A Year of Fundraising

Raffle (September)

Community Book Sale (October)

Bake Sale (November) for Shine a Light

Solicited the faculty and staff to request donations (December)

Hot dogs sale at the on-campus bar (winter semester)

Bake Sale (February)

Community Garage Sale (May)

e) Fundraising Gala Dinner Event:

Holding a Gala Dinner is a great way to fund raise for any WUSC initiative but organizing such a large-scale event requires attention to detail and planning. Here are some tips from VIU and the University of Saskatchewan:

Make a detailed budget and stick with it.

Make a list of supplies needed and then seek donations early on.

Create a guest list including faculty, students and community members.

Broadcast local talent during the evening to reduce the cost of entertainment.

See if you can get the catering donated, or at a reduced cost. Vegetarian catering can reduce costs too!

Hold raffles or a silent auction with donated items to raise additional funds in the evening.

Other fundraising ideas:

Something-a-thon. These events are great fundraisers as participants collect pledges from donors. For those who may not be able to make a donation, they also have the chance to participate. Here are some examples:

o Trike-a-thon o Dance-a-thon o Zumba-thon o Walk-a-thon o All-night study-a-thon for Shine a Light o Bike-a-thon for Bike for AIDS

WAX for WUSC! This edgy event is catching on with campuses across Canada. As participants (voluntarily) opt to be publicly waxed!

T-shirt orders. Create designs for University t-shirts, or for t-shirts with campaign-related images, graphics, or slogans.

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f) Student Refugee Program (SRP) Referendums A Few Pointers from the University of Northern British Columbia and Mount Allison:

Know your campus – what are the best ways to get the word out?

Develop catchy posters!

Use every event you have prior to the referendum to let people know about the SRP in its current state (e.g. "Hey! Thanks for buying chocolates in support of the SRP. Have you heard about it before?”)

Get your student union on board. Let it know about your plans and address any concerns it might have as soon as possible.

Set up info booths EVERYWHERE.

NEVER just sit at tables, people are not likely to come to you for information. Be interactive. If you're campaigning by a table, stop people in the hallways: “Hi, have you heard of the SRP?” and have handouts and flyers with basic info so that if people are in a rush, they will be able to take something away to read.

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3- THE STUDENT REFUGEE PROGRAM a) SRP Awareness

General Tips:

If your sponsored students are outgoing and willing, have them speak about their experiences! o IMPORTANT: Some students are comfortable talking about their experiences and others

are not. When you ask your sponsored student to speak, make it clear that they have the option not to. Sometimes students are more comfortable sharing their experiences in conjunction with another sponsored student.

Ask WUSC Campus Engagement team if it can link you up with a present or former sponsored student who will be willing to make a presentation.

Connect with professors on campus whose background or research may be connected with refugees, immigration and get them involved in your SRP awareness campaigns.

Have a documentary night about refugees. University of Guelph

Hosting a refugee campus event helped the committee at the University of Guelph raise awareness about the reality of life in a refugee camp. The event made talking about the SRP very easy and was key in helping them pass their referendum successfully. If you want to replicate the event, here are some tips – thanks to Guelph and the University of Regina for these great ideas!

Build a mock refugee camp on campus.

Committee members and interested students challenge themselves to remain within campus boundaries for an entire week.

The “campers” talk to passers-by about refugees and the SRP.

Collect donations.

Have passers-by spin a wheel of fortune to determine whether they will receive a ration-sized portions of rice and beans, or pizza for lunch

The Committee sends a press release prior to the refugee campus event to invite students and community members.

Université de Montréal

The committee at the Université de Montréal launched a Refugee Awareness Week to kick start their year in September. They created a photo exhibition of well-known refugees and had it on display for a full week leading up to a presentation about Dadaab.

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b) SRP Sustainability

i) Building Relationships with Sponsored Students

General Tips:

Befriend your sponsored students when they first arrive so that the students feels comfortable coming to the committee when they have questions or problems.

Designated SRP contacts should be responsible for checking up on the sponsored students frequently (ex. once a week).

o Call your sponsored students and arrange to meet face to face o Ask pointed questions about their classes and

activities in order to have a clear picture of how the students are settling in.

Hold social events with your committee and your sponsored students. Here are some examples of social events that can be held throughout the year:

o Karaoke nights o Committee dinners o Pumpkin carving o Hockey games o Sightseeing o Winter activities: skating, sledding, skiing

University of Victoria

The committee at the University of Victoria tries to go the extra mile to educate its members, minimize culture shock of sponsored students, and to help them adjust to life in Canada.

The committee invites sponsored students to meetings

Sponsored students are asked to lead short Swahili lessons and to teach other committee members about their countries (if they are comfortable doing so).

The committee has moved away from potlucks after discovering that sponsored students are often unsure how to contribute to such dinners.

The local committee uses its contacts at the university to host workshops. Examples of workshops from previous years include:

o The faculty advisor speaking about Canada’s Refugee Policy and Issues

o Volunteers from Harm Reduction speaking about active listening

o The Equity and Human Rights Officer speaking to them about how to initiate “important conversations”.

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Université de Laval

The Laval committee has developed a mentorship plan for their sponsored students. Their mentor is a Ph.D. student originally from West Africa and who is familiar with Canadian culture. Why this works:

The mentor becomes a reference for sponsored students when they have questions

The mentor acts as a resource person and mediator when the committee has discussions about sensitive issues male/female relationships and the differences between Canadian culture and the sponsored student’s own culture.

The mentorship process has allowed for positive discussions about these sensitive issues, and has helped everyone to better understand each other.

Laval has also developed a discussion guide, which provides a basis for addressing various sensitive issues and they use it to begin discussion and further dialogue with questions that rise from the discussion.

ii) Building Relationships in the Community

University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI)

UPEI is a relatively small community of faculty, staff and students. Committee members are often engaged in other activities in their communities and the number of former sponsored students who remain in the community is small. The result, at UPEI, is that permanent faculty form the backbone of the student refugee support system.

The faculty advisors are the go-to people when new students have questions or problems that need addressing.

Leo looks after most of the administrative work associated with the SRP.

Lisa and her partner (also a faculty member) look after the students’ social and consumer-related needs.

o Lisa hosts occasional SRP-oriented social events (usually dinners) and invites students and members of the community who are likely to make the effort to include the newcomer student into their social worlds.

o Lisa and her family have the student over for dinner on a regular basis. Acadia University

Last year, one of Acadia’s sponsored students took part in the Human Library Event put on by the Wolfville Memorial Library and Acadia’s Vaughan Memorial Library. Participants could check out a ‘human book’ and hear an individual’s story one on one for up to 30 minutes at a time.

Acadia’s Majur Bior, titled his book More than Ten Years of One Meal a Day: Living in a refugee camp, and shared some information about his background, his story and why that was the story he chose to share.

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Majur met with his readers at specified days and times to talk about his life in a camp in Kenya. He focused particularly on challenges of pursuing education within a refugee camp and comparing it to the life of youth in Canada.

The Acadia committee has recruited a member of the Wolfville community to be its Community Liaison. As Community Liaison, Michelle Coleman:

Attends meetings and events

Helps with fundraising

Supports sponsored students in the community when needed This community connection is important in a small university town like Wolfville where the Christmas and summer holidays are marked by a considerable drop in the student population. This community connection helps to root the sponsored students in Wolfville and broadens their social circle beyond campus.

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4- MEDIA Vancouver Island University

The committee at Vancouver Island University works to build relationships with journalists in its community.

The committee marks arrival of sponsored students and any big event held throughout the year with a press release that it sends out to the Nanaimo media.

Over time, particular journalists have covered its stories on a regular basis and the committee members can now count on them to give them media exposure.

Nipissing University

The committee has established a strong relationship with the Nipissing Communications Officer.

The University Communications Officer is always informed about what the committee is doing and writes media releases for them.

o He puts the news on the university website and reaches out to the media on behalf of the local committee.

o If asked for an interview, the communications officer asks the local committee to send someone to talk with the media.

The local committee has its own communication officer who is responsible for maintaining its relationship with the university’s communications officer.

The committee’s events, including sponsored student presentations, have been featured not only in the local media, but also on CBC thanks to this partnership.

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5- MANAGING COMMITTEE FINANCES

University of Calgary

The Local Committee and the SRP at the University of Calgary are supported by Susan Judd, a staff advisor to the committee who is also the chair of the Student Refugee Board on campus. Below is the step-by-step process that the committee follows

1. In June, Susan creates a budget for all of the sponsored students. This includes the projected expenses, donations, waivers and actual costs.

2. Also in June, Susan creates a program-projected budget, which examines the viability of the SRP on campus over four years. This environmental scan allows the Local Committee at the University of Calgary to the plan for shortfalls, and, if needed, a referendum to increase the student levy.

3. Susan presents the budget to the Student Refugee Board and the Student Union Operations & Finance Committee to ensure full disclosure and transparency.

4. In September, Susan sits down with each of the sponsored students to review their budget. In this detailed overview, she explains all costs covered by the program: residence and food, tuition related expenses, books, summer accommodation, miscellaneous expenses, emergency funding and student-managed monthly spending allowance.

5. Together, Susan and the student discuss what and how the monthly spending allowance should be used. Susan then takes the sponsored student to the bank to set up an account. In addition, she gives them a tutorial on: The Canadian banking system Automatic deposit of monthly allowance Bill payment procedure Bank account set-up, automatic deposit

of monthly allowance and banking tutorial (deposits, withdrawals, interest, ATM’s, bank charges)

Finances and budgeting - the economy of dining versus cooking, sale versus full price etc.

6. The emergency funding and miscellaneous funding outlined in the budget are used to cover unexpected expenses. The emergency funding is accessed through Susan, who deals with it as follows: The sponsored student discusses with Susan when emergency/additional funding is required Susan brings the additional funding to the board for discussion The funding is processed if approved

7. In March-April, Susan meets with the sponsored student to discuss the coming year’s budget. She once again develops a budget overview for each sponsored student and the process begins again.

Other Tips

Keep your committee funds and your SRP funds separate – in a separate account!

Develop a budget based on last year’s expenses.

Seek out financial partners and in-kind donations.

Have two or more signatory on your bank accounts – this ensures transparency and allows for cheques to be written even if one of the signatories isn’t present.

Have your treasurer actively monitor the activity of your bank accounts.

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6- OTHER RESOURCES

Local Committee Resource Page: wusc.ca/en/local-committee-resources

Facebook: WUSC Campus Connections Twitter: @WorldUniService Contact WUSC’s Campus Engagement Team for further support and ideas!

[email protected]