The CGWG has grown into a strong, collegiate and active network over the last 6 years. Since its formation, a small (but hard-working) team has been responsible for hosting a range of vibrant, high-quality events and website resources that are attended and utilised by over 200 members in 30 different countries. It’s something we are really proud of! The CGWG is at a crunch point – we really do need a new injection of expertise in order to be able to continue all of the exciting things that the network offers. Without the support of new faces, we will have to scale back some of our activities, which we really don’t want to do!
Accordingly, we are seeking new committee members to ensure the continued stability and success of the CGWG.
The roles are all varied and manageable in conjunction with most academic positions. They also offer potential for leadership, challenging engagement and a sense of community. Frankly, we are aware that these are some of the criteria that are often needed for job-seeking/promotion/tenure applications in the academic climate and we would like to share the opportunities that these roles can offer! Can you help?
All new committee members will be fully supported by their predecessor and/or the wider committee in the handover period! The following roles are available:
Chair (3 year term)
Responsibilities
- Co-ordinating meetings of the committee and Advisory Board to develop CGWG activities (2 per year, ad hoc meetings with activity co-ordinators as needed)
- Overseeing activities in relation to events, publications and networking and delegating tasks to appropriate committee/advisory board members (approx. 1 hour (averaged) per week)
- Preparing for and chairing the AGM (4 hours, annually)
- Preparing the Annual Reporting documents for the RGS (2 hours, annually)
- Attending RGS sub-committee meetings (2-3 per year, online)
Secretary and Communications Lead (3 year term)
Responsibilities:
- Membership recruitment activities and managing member lists (e.g. adding new members to our master spreadsheet, adding emails to Jiscmail, sending a welcome email to new members/goodbye emails to leaving members) (30 minutes, monthly)
- Maintain the CGWG website and other digital communications (e.g. updating new member bios, supporting uploading of new content) (as needed)
- Produce communications to support the delivery of CGWG events (as needed, templates available)
- Preparing the membership report for the AGM (1 hour, annually)
- Taking and preparing minutes from the AGM (3 hours, annually)
Candidates for the Chair or Secretary positions must be a Fellow or Postgraduate Fellow of the RGS-IBG. Financial support for Fellowship is available for eligible candidates via the RGS-IBG. If you are interested in this committee position but would require this support, details are available here.
Early Career Representative (3 year term)
Responsibilities:
- Attend AGM and one-other dedicated Advisory Board meeting per year to offer opinions/suggestions for the development of CGWG activities, with particular focus on the position point of ECR members (4 hours per year)
- Help co-organise the Early Career Perspective Seminar Series (2 events per year) in support of existing events team.
Ordinary member (Open-ended)
Responsibilities:
- Attend AGM and one-other dedicated Advisory Board meeting per year to offer opinions/suggestions for the development of CGWG activities (4 hours per year)
- Circulate CGWG events/information via personal and professional networks (as needed)
- Offer additional support (as appropriate to experience and availability, as necessary) for tasks such as attending/chairing events; abstract selection; CGWG prize assessment; ECR programme development; support for non-academic engagement (1-2 hours per month).
We also have vacancies for our Advisory Board (Open-ended) for those who wish to be involved with the CGWG but who may not wish to take on an executive committee position.
Responsibilities:
- Attend AGM and one-other dedicated Advisory Board meeting per year to offer opinions/suggestions for the development of CGWG activities (4 hours per year)
- Circulate CGWG events/information via personal and professional networks (as needed)
- Offer additional support for the committee (as appropriate to experience and availability, as necessary) for tasks such as attending/chairing events; abstract selection; CGWG prize assessment; ECR programme development; support for non-academic engagement (1-2 hours per month).
At this stage, I’d simply welcome contact from anyone who might be interested in taking on one of these roles!
Committee positions will be elected at the CGWG Annual General Meeting, which will take place on 18th September at 13:00 (UK time). The AGM will take place online via Zoom. Registration is available via Eventbrite here.