Being a Trustee at Discovery
What is a trustee?
A charity must have a governing body that has the responsibility for looking after, directing, and managing the charity. The student trustees for Discovery are financially and legally responsible for the charity and these are very trusted and unique roles for students. These trustees are referred to as the Board of Trustees (BoT).
The trustee board at Discovery is made up of a mix of student and staff trustees. The trustees meet up every 6 weeks for a (BoT) meeting, a range of things are discussed such as reviewing and updating policies, any safeguarding issues that arise, a summary is given from each subgroup on their current workings or plans for the next few weeks, funding decisions are made by the board, along with employment of staff including interviews and decisions being made on who get employed.
The board is split into sub-groups this year I have been part of the media and publicity subgroup for Discovery. This means that we have been kept updated on the marketing that is being done by the company, we get to see the upcoming publicity before it is published, we have had the opportunity to give our suggestions or feedback and help with the planning of the marketing for the charity. This has been a great opportunity to put my marketing degree to practical use and I have enjoyed every minute of it!
What was my role?
This year I have been the student trustee secretary, this has been a very challenging yet rewarding role. There are a range of things to do as the secretary including, scheduling in (BoT) meetings for times that work the whole board, recording and distributing minutes, assisted creating the agenda for the meeting, setting up zoom meetings and calendar invites for the Board meetings to run smoothly.
I have really enjoyed my time as secretary trustee, I have learned loads of new skills that are transferable into any administration role. I feel these skills will really assist me in my future career and have allowed me to understand how to manage a team including scheduling issues that arise.
My confidence has increased with this role I now feel positive that I have all the skills required to perform most administration jobs with ease. It has given me a range of skills that I can take forward with me and plenty of examples that I can speak about in interviews.
Are there other roles?
There are a range of trustee roles for students to get involved with which include
- President
The president student trustee is the face of Discovery. Their role includes representing Discovery and its values across the university. The president liaises with the chair and director to take lead in the planning and delivering of the board of trustee’s meetings.
This includes leading the board meetings and being a chairperson, this is a great role with great trust and responsibility and would be a highly respected role to enhance any students CV.
- Treasurer
The treasurer’s role is to manage and understand how the finances are being spent at Discovery. The role consists of creating financial reports and would be a great practical role for any students with a financial background.
It is a very high responsibility role with the finances of the charity being managed by this individual.
- Secretary
The secretary role consists of admin jobs such as minute taking, distributing the minutes to all trustees, organising board meetings, and scheduling in availability for board of trustee’s meetings.
- Non portfolio trustees
These are trustees who are still very important to the board, they do not have a specific job role, but they do still have responsibly for the governing of the charity. They are part of subgroups that make important decisions for the future of Discovery.
Why should students get involved and become a trustee?
It is a great opportunity in very trusted roles. Statistics in the U.K suggest that less than 3% of charity trustees are under 30. These are roles with importance that include liability and ensuring the smooth running of a real functioning charity, the decisions made really do impact Discovery and the future direction the charity takes. This is a great opportunity to be in that less than 3%. Stand out from the crowd and take on the challenge. The board are a lovely team, very welcoming and will ensure you have all the training you need; they are always on hand to help and will ensure your time as a trustee is enjoyable.
Natalie Jarvis – Ph.D. Business Management Student