Policy document ‘Communicate, connect, enjoy’
2015-2016
Policy Document 2015-2016 Economic Faculty association Rotterdam Content Introduction 1. Connect 1.1 Address a wider variety of students 1.2 Improve cooperation between EFR and ESE 1.3 Increase involvement EFR Alumni 1.4 Increase EFR involvement towards Rotterdam 2 Communicate 2.1 Increase comprehensibility regarding our events towards students 2.2 Become a more transparent association 2.3 Optimize being a Committee Member 2.4 Digitalization 2.5 Post event communication 3 Enjoy 3.1 Optimize image of the Board 3.2 Improve working environment of the Board
2 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 8 8 8 9
1
Policy Document 2015-2016 Economic Faculty association Rotterdam
Introduction ‘Connect, communicate, enjoy’: the silver lining throughout the policy of the EFR, year 2015-2016. Starting this year with 8 different people and 8 different perspectives, we opened the discussion about the policy of the EFR. Some of these 8 had already been in close contact with the EFR for multiple years, while others experienced the EFR more distant. This accounted for a mixed group of people and ensured that the input of each individual was unique and predominantly focused on different areas within the EFR. Getting into debate, it soon appeared that most of the ideas were not in conflict and suited goals that are in line with each other. To connect, communicate and enjoy turned out to be our main aim and covers all of our aspirations. It is therefore that this policy document is divided within these three themes covering all points of action necessary to reach our goals. Every theme covers multiple sub goals, sorted on priority, and the points of action that have to be taken. Some of these points of action will concern a project for which we can only build the fundaments within this year. These points are marked with ‘long term’. This does not imply that other points of action have no long term effect, but since we are able to make a difference this year already, they won’t get the long term mark.
2
Policy Document 2015-2016 Economic Faculty association Rotterdam
1 Connect 1.1 Address a wider variety of students The EFR tries to represent all economic orientated students, therefore one should strive to address this complete group of students. Experience shows that the EFR is not able to reach certain groups enough yet. To address a wider variety of students we want to: 1.1.1 Make the Charity Committee a yearly committee since experience shows this targets international students, a group that we reach less well than Dutch students. The Vice-President will be responsible for the recruitment of this committee in September and supervises this committee all year long. 1.1.2 Take cooperation with other (study) associations into account for certain events when the cooperation creates opportunities that we cannot create. For example, organising a party together with ESN Rotterdam in order to reach more international students. The whole Board should be aware of this matter throughout the year, and the supervisors specifically. 1.1.3 Target international students by setting up separate After Exam Drinks and City Trips for each group during this year. The Project Manager Career is responsible for the international events, Project Manager General for the events that focus on Dutch economic students. 1.1.4 Link ECTS to our events: this should be interesting for all students. The Project Manager Career sets up a Research Project in the second block and the Vice-President and Commercial Officer organise a Skills Week in November that also offers 1 ECTS. 1.2 Improve cooperation between EFR and ESE The EFR is funded by the ESE in both theoretical and monetary terms, therefore it is very important to keep a warm relationship with them. There are several opportunities in working together. The ESE can be a valuable asset in reaching out to those students that we struggle to contact. Also, contact with professors can be very helpful when it comes to EFR events that offer an ECTS or that need a speaker. One other important reason to improve this relationship now is because the convent might be reevaluated by the EFR in the near future. To be able to create more freedom for the EFR, a good relationship is necessary. We want to improve the cooperation by: 1.2.1 Co-organise the IBEB and START weekends. The EFR will be in charge of the organisational side, but the ESE could take a leading role in reaching out to the first year students. The ESE has the opportunity to communicate the importance of these weekends in a serious manner. The President takes the first step in September by contacting the ESE and after approval the Project Manager General and Project Manager Career will take over this contact. 1.2.2 Using the name ‘ESE’ more often in events that target upcoming and first year students. The EFR After Exam Drink could be the ESE/EFR After Exam Drink for example. This enhances the relationship with the ESE and adds a certain significance of the EFR towards first year students at the same time. The Marketing Officer has the responsibility throughout the year to check this. 3
Policy Document 2015-2016 Economic Faculty association Rotterdam
1.2.3 Setting up more events that offer one ECTS. This is a great opportunity to work together and think about what students need. The Project Manager Career sets up a Research Project in the second block and the Vice-President and Commercial Officer organise a Skills Week in November that also offers 1 ECTS. 1.2.4 Improve the relationships with professors at the ESE. Maintaining a close relationship has multiple advantages. First, it helps the EFR to be more aware of the expertise that the ESE has to offer. Next to this, the EFR can approach these professors more easily and (probably) more successfully to ask them to cooperate in EFR events. The Vice-President is responsible for creating a plan of action and building the fundaments this year on which these relationships can grow in the future. Other Board members will step in if this appears to be necessary. Long term. 1.2.5 Giving the ESE the opportunity to post their vacancies on the Erasmus Recruitment Platform. This is something we can offer easily and the ESE will appreciate. The Commercial Officer gets into contact with the ESE before 2016, and the Project Manager Career will take over the responsibility for vacancies of the ESE after that. 1.3 Increase involvement EFR Alumni EFR Alumni could be a valuable asset. Maintaining a close relationship with alumni has a wide range of advantages. Alumni have a lot of experience to offer. This experience makes for interesting speakers and can be very helpful to the board, long term strategy of our events and staying up to date. We should not let this valuable experience and knowledge go to waste. We want to increase involvement of EFR Alumni by: 1.3.1 Updating our information systems so we can easily access all correct contact details. This has two advantages. First, the EFR knows what expertise she has at hand which can be very beneficial for different events and trainings. The second advantage is that the EFR alumni have an opportunity to stay more committed to the EFR and its network. The board assistant can check yearly whether all contact details are correct. When there is no board assistant, the Vice-President is responsible to update this or create a system of shared responsibility in the first months of the academic year. 1.3.2 Letting the Alumni Board write an extensive document about their policy in accordance with the Board and the Supervisory Board. This should include a plan for the upcoming years about how we can increase involvement of the EFR Alumni. The Vice-President ensures that the Alumni Board actually does this. 1.4 Increase EFR involvement towards Rotterdam Although the EFR is already more present within the city thanks to the focus on MKB Rotterdam and the Charity Committee, there is still room for improvement. For students it is an enriching experience to be able to give something back to the city. Also, if the EFR cooperates more with the businesses and municipality in Rotterdam, there are some great commercial opportunities in the future. We want to increase our involvement by:
4
Policy Document 2015-2016 Economic Faculty association Rotterdam 1.4.1 Expanding the Career Fair and focus Erasmus Recruitment Platform more on small and mediumsized enterprises in Rotterdam. This is a great opportunity to get into contact with businesses within the city. The Career Fair and its focus on small and medium-sized enterprises is the responsibility of the Commercial Officer. The Commercial Officer is also responsible for the small and medium-sized enterprises on the Erasmus Recruitment Platform and the cooperation with the municipality that comes along with it. 1.4.2 Giving the Charity Committee at least two events that focus on the city of Rotterdam. This way, we create an opportunity for students to give something back to Rotterdam. The Vice-President creates an agenda for the Charity Committee that takes this into account. 2 Communicate 2.1 Increase comprehensibility regarding our events towards students Taking a constant growth of events (organised both by the EFR and other associations) into account, it is crucial that our events have a unique selling point and are marketed distinctly. Students should be able to have an overview of all the different events and know whether a certain event is interesting for them or not. In addition, it is important that students associate EFR events with the EFR, so all of our events help to add value to our brand name. To improve clarity concerning our events we want to: 2.1.1 Make a database for EFR activities and communicate this by email and Facebook. Besides these marketing channels, the calendar should be integrated on the new website that we will start working on in 2016 (long term). This database should also reflect the target group of each event clearly. This will make it easy for a student to know whether an event is relevant for them or not. Furthermore, this helps in preventing students to be overloaded by the supply of events. The Marketing Officer is responsible for this. 2.1.2 Investigate whether all of our events have a unique selling point and define this if applicable. This defined unique selling point should be marketed well in order to make it clear for students what each event has to offer them specifically and how it adds value. When different events of one committee have the same goal, this should also be marketed in one specific way (e.g. the Orientation Cycle). If we conclude that a certain event has no unique selling point, we have to take into consideration whether this event can be reformed or has to end. The President will be held responsible for this and will start evaluating all events in November in discussion with the supervisors. 2.1.3 Do not use extended deadlines for EFR activities. Using extended deadlines regularly causes your deadlines to lose their credibility. Besides that, motivated students are likely to apply before the first deadline. The Marketing Officer is responsible for this. 2.1.4 Use one corporate design for all of our marketing. All of our flyers, posters, advertisements, etc., should have a characteristic design. Using one corporate design ensures all of our events to be linked to the EFR immediately. The Marketing Officer is responsible to have an overview of the corporate design before 2016 or he should start setting up guidelines in case there is no overview to be found. 2.1.5 Use more lecture talks to promote our events. Lecture talks are a great and relatively easy way to communicate the unique selling points of our events in a very personal and enthusiastic manner.
5
Policy Document 2015-2016 Economic Faculty association Rotterdam The Marketing Officer should promote lecture talks towards the supervisors, the Marketing Team and ‘marketing officers’ of the committees. 2.2 Become a more transparent association An association’s goal is to serve its members. Therefore, members of the EFR should have more access to our financial and policy documents. This also increases understanding of the members concerning our strategy, policies and events. We want to become more transparent by: 2.2.1 Informing future and possible Board Members better about the costs of a board year. The Treasurer is responsible for creating an extensive overview of the costs before May. The Board Members are all responsible to communicate this to possible successors. 2.2.2 Communicating our (long-term) policy more openly. This increases the understanding of members in regards to the choices Board members make. The IT Officer & Secretary must create a page on the website in December about our policy. The Vice-President will write a policy document that aims to increase understanding of our members. 2.2.3 Giving committees a better insight at their budget. They are allowed to know the exact budget for each event and are obligated to always take an x% unforeseen costs into account. The Treasurer and supervisor will agree upon this exact x. All supervisors are responsible for this at the beginning of the academic year and the Treasurer must check whether this actually happens. 2.3 Optimize being a Committee Member As a Committee Member you have the opportunity to learn a wide variety of skills. The EFR wants to optimize this process to the fullest. Also, if the association is able to live up to (and beyond) the expectations of its Committee Members, the Committee Members will be more motivated to work for the EFR in return. In order to optimize being a Committee Member we want to: 2.3.1 Clear communication about the distribution of tasks within the Board and between committees. Committee Members must know who to contact for what and have a template at hand for contacting the supporting committees (Marketing Team, External Affairs, Commercial Team) and the Treasurer. The supervisors of the supporting committees and the Treasurer are responsible for creating such templates. Communication about task distribution is mainly done by the supervisors and it will be discussed in the Committee Members Leaflet that each Committee Member receives at the beginning of the year. 2.3.2 Emphasise the importance of a good transmission between chairmen and committees in general. The supervisors should stimulate contact between old and new chairmen and committees so no knowledge and experience will be lost. This is especially important at the beginning of the academic year, but should be stimulated all year long. 2.3.3 Organise more (small) Committee Member activities. Ask the High Five (thus Project Manager General) to brainstorm in October about activities that are low cost, such as a FIFA tournament and Friday afternoon drinks.
6
Policy Document 2015-2016 Economic Faculty association Rotterdam 2.3.4 Invest in the relationship with the Erasmus Recruitment Days committee and the Business Week committee. Have lunch together regularly and make sure they feel appreciated throughout the whole year. The Board has to be positive towards them and show their interest in each person individually. The 52nd Board also has the responsibility to actively start recruiting the Business Week committee from January onwards. The Vice-President will supervise this. 2.3.5 Keep track of the learning goals of Committee Members. The supervisor gives the chairman of the committee the task to keep track of these goals and evaluate these after half a year. The supervisor is responsible for the learning goals of the chairman. The Vice-President will also research possibilities to renew the Committee Members Training Centre and have a plan set-up before the end of the academic year. Long term. 2.3.6 Organise a chairman-specific training afternoon. It is important that the chairmen can discuss their experiences and receive feedback from each other and the President. The Vice-President is responsible for the organisation of this training in November. 2.4 Digitalization More and more students that start their bachelor are used to doing almost everything online. It is important for the EFR to take this into account and to act upon this development. The ‘online student’ demands new marketing strategies and demands different products from the EFR. The new online book sale is a good example of such a product. In order to respond accurately to digitalization we want to: 2.4.1 The Marketing Officer (plus subgroup?) must develop new marketing strategies that take the digitalization (e.g. abolishment of flyers) into account. Long term. 2.4.2 Consider offering more online courses/workshops/trainings. This is the best way to keep in touch with the ‘online student’ that might not come to campus anymore. The Marketing Officer is responsible for this. Long term. 2.5 Post event communication Communication about our events should not only occur in advance. By looking back at your events there is a lot to learn and it can also serve important promotional purposes. 2.5.1 Increase feedback. Increasing feedback serves two purposes. The EFR can learn a lot from feedback and you give students the idea that their opinion matters. The Marketing Officer has to develop a strategy to increase feedback since evaluation forms are not popular. 2.5.2. Post event promotion. By using more throwback pictures and possibly an after movie that show the atmosphere at a certain EFR event, will make it that event even more memorable. It is also a great way to promote your event towards those students that did not attend. The Marketing Officer should create a strategy in the beginning of the academic year and stimulate post event promotion throughout the whole year.
7
Policy Document 2015-2016 Economic Faculty association Rotterdam 3 Enjoy 3.1 Optimize image of the Board The Board is the face of the EFR. How students see the association is mostly determined by the Board. Therefore it is important to optimize this image, meaning optimal for the biggest possible amount of our target group. We want to optimize this image by: 3.1.1 Creating a good balance between serious and ‘stuko’. In order to come across professional but open at the same time, this balance is very important. The President is main responsible for this. 3.1.2 Being accessible towards our Committee Members. Creating an open image starts with the relationship between the Board and its Committee Members. Show interest in the Committee Members and socialize with the whole group instead of being more focused on your fellow Board members. Although this is hard to objectify, it is important that the Board stays aware of this and help each other in pointing this out. The President has the responsibility to remind the Board Members of this throughout the year. 3.1.3 Hide irritations. Board Members should hide their irritations towards each other and towards Committee Members when there are Committee Members around. Committee Members must feel appreciated by the Board in order to create a positive and motivating atmosphere. The President should check whether all Board Members live up to this rule. 3.1.4 A clean office. A tidied office will come across more professional and organized. This is important towards our external partners. Next to this, it can help motivate Committee Members to be organized as well. The President is main responsible and should motivate Board Members and Committee Members to keep the office clean. 3.2 Improve working environment of the Board The working environment of the Board includes both our tangible working space as other factors that fund our experience. To be able to get the most out of the Board’s potential it is very important that this environment is optimal. The following points help in optimizing the working environment: 3.2.1 Delegate organizational tasks. To create more time for a Board member to focus on their own responsibilities, organizational tasks that can be done by others should be delegated as much as possible. This could improve the performance of Board Members significantly without increasing the workload. This also helps to secure time for Board Members to focus on those things that they enjoy doing and could help reaching their personal goals. A Board Assistant will be hired to do part of the organizational tasks. Next to this, committees will be obligated to have the responsibility of one Booksale day. Committees will also get the responsibility for a day of promotion for the Erasmus Recruitment Days and Business Week. The supervisors will also investigate whether there might be enough interest for a promotion team. The President will keep this in mind at all times. 3.2.2 Financial compensation. Financial compensation is very important in order to attract new Board Members and prevent stress about financials for current Board Members. Due to a changed policy regarding student grant, the financial policy of the EFR should also be reconsidered. The Treasurer is 8
Policy Document 2015-2016 Economic Faculty association Rotterdam responsible for investigating what the exact financial consequences are of the changed student grant policy. In accordance with the Supervisory Board a new policy must be formed. Long term. 3.2.3 Create 4 Board days a year. These days will start with an evaluation moment for the 52nds policy and afterwards the Board has time to relax and have fun with each other. These days are important to keep track with our goals and provide a good moment to keep bonding with each other throughout the year. The President is responsible for the organization of these days. 3.2.4 More workspace. Since the EFR keeps on growing and more people need working space (Board Assistant, more committees and more Committee Members), the working places at the EFR offices are more and more all occupied. Sometimes there is even a shortage. Also, the office is often very crowded, while some Board Members work better in a more silent environment. A subgroup will be formed that will investigate whether we can use our office space more efficiently and explore possibilities for extra working space if necessary. 3.2.5 Work in subgroups. In order to keep Board meetings as efficient as possible, subgroups will be appointed for all those subjects that are not relevant for the whole group. This will ensure that there is enough energy left for those topics that are relevant for all Board Members. The President stimulates this. 3.2.6 Clean office. Some Board Members work more optimally in a clean environment. Therefore the office should always be clean. Although the office is the responsibility of all Board Members, the President should really keep this in mind and point this out to all the Board Members.
9