MCR General Election 2020
Dear Clare,
We are pleased to announce the MCR General Election will be held from the 5th of May 2020 until the 8th of May 2020. The new MCR committee will then begin taking over during an extended handover period due to the current Covid-19 pandemic.
According to our constitution, the following executive and non-executive positions are available. Please note that all executive positions have to be nominated and seconded by MCR members by the 29th April. Send your nomination to mcr-president@clare.cam.ac.uk. All Executive Committee candidates are kindly asked to submit a manifesto no later than 2nd of May. Contested non-executive candidates will also need to submit manifestos. Note there is no requirement to fill non-executive positions.
You can run for an executive position and one or more non-executive positions (but only one executive position).
If you do have any questions with regards to any of the positions, please feel free to contact current committee members (click on the position title for email). Additionally, if you have any questions about the election process, contact mcr-secretary@clare.cam.ac.uk.
- 29th April: Nominations Close
- 30th April: Candidates nominations confirmed
- 2nd May: Manifestos Due
- 5th May: Voting begins
- 8th May: Voting closes
Executives:
- President
- Vice-President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Bar Managers (x2)
- Social Secretary (x2)
Non-executives:
- Welfare Officer (x3)
- BME Officer
- Accommodation Officer
- Computing Officer
- Clareity President
- Green Officer
- Mature Student Officer
- Quartermaster
- Admiral of the Punts
- Exchanges Officer
- Sports Officer
- Library Officer
We wish all candidates the best of luck!
Description of Roles in the MCR committee
Executive Committee Positions
The main role of the President is to represent the students. This is achieved through overseeing the MCR Committee and being the main liaison between College and its students.
The President leads the MCR Committee activities, including: overseeing college events; chairing committee meetings and open meetings; upholding the constitution; and aiding the work of committee members. The President is also expected to have a presence within the MCR community such that they can effectively relay feedback from the students of Clare to the committee and to College.
The President works closely with the Master, Senior Tutor, Bursar, Graduate Tutors, Dean and other College staff to promote the interests of the MCR. This includes attending regular College meetings. The President attends Governing Body meetings once a term, which assembles the entire Clare Fellowship; fortnightly Council meetings to discuss the main issues in college; regular liaison meetings with the Senior Tutor, Bursar and UCS President to share concerns and ideas about the happenings in Clare; and occasional working lunches with the Master and Graduate Tutors. Additionally, the President will sit on some College committees and working groups, dependent on the happenings in Clare at the time. Focuses for this year’s President have been: boosting the MCR finances, renovating the MCR, establishing the UPAY booking system, representing the MCR on issues such as the real living wage and flying of the pride flag, and finally working with senior tutor and college nurse on colleges response to Covid-19 and graduates welfare during these difficult times.
The role of President comes with a lot of freedom on the direction of Clare MCR, and you can shape your year as you see fit. The position allows a lot of personal growth and will equip you with valuable leadership, time management and people management skills. Focuses over the past year intended to strengthen inclusivity, efficiency and transparency on both and internal MCR committee level and an external MCR community level. We all know the value of our incredible MCR community and the MCR space in Old Court and the President is responsible for protecting this.
The vice-president is responsible for supporting the president and representing Clare MCR during CUSU and Graduate Union (now one combined SU!) meetings. The first responsibility entails that you attend Governing Body together with the president and representatives of the UCS. You will also attend meetings with the Master, Bursar and Senior Tutor, and work together with the president on various topics. The second responsibility is to attend Graduate Union and CUSU meetings as the MCR is an official member of both bodies. Meetings are normally held once or twice a term, and can be useful platforms to discuss issues with other colleges or to get information from others but also to inform the GU, importantly this year CUSU and GU have fused and the Vice President has been instrumental in giving Clare a voice in what the new SU looks like. Often, the vice president also takes up small jobs within the committee like organizing events, special dinners and MCR stash.
Despite technically being different positions, the secretary and computing officer role has sufficient overlap that it is effectively a single role. The main duties of this position are to minute the Committee/General meetings; send out the weekly MCR bulletin; website/email admin; and administrate MCR membership.
The computing officer also sits on the college computing committee. Sufficient proficiency with computing is required and knowledge of web hosting might be useful to aid with the switchover of the MCR website. Most of the specifics can be learnt during the handover period.
The Treasurer attends College’s Finance Committee, representing the MCR Community and negotiating rent and buttery increases. They are responsible for operating the MCR’s finances on a day to day basis, approving expenditure on MCR activities and events, in accordance with MCR Committee policy, paying for expenses incurred, for example, MCR Bar invoices and reimbursing individual Members for approved expenditure incurred. To this effect, the MCR has its own bank account independent of College, into which College transfers MCR Member’s subscription fees.
The treasurer is responsible for maintaining adequate financial records, producing accounts for the year and a budget for approval by MCR Members at the Annual BGM. Of note is that College will foot certain expenses of the MCR, particularly to do with the ‘fabric’ of the room.
As Treasurer, you enjoy a thorough understanding of the MCR’s activities and how much they cost, and you can make a significant impact on ensuring events are cost effective, i.e. that Members get the most for their money. You also enjoy a great insight into College’s finances and financial oversight activities. It’s fabulous knowing that you, along with your fellow MCR Committee Members, are at the heart of making great events and moments happen for your fellow MCR Members, ultimately enabling people to meet one another and make new friends!
We are privileged that college let us have our own bar, with no input from them, and your most important responsibility as one of the two bar managers is to ensure that this privilege continues. The bar managers shape the experience of the bar for the whole MCR, deciding what we stock and how much we charge for it, as well as working with the social secretaries for themed nights.
Weekly duties include checking and ordering stock, sorting the money, organising formal pre-drinks on Friday and ensuring the MCR is tidy the next day. You don’t have to be in the MCR every day but you will likely need to be doing something at least once during the week and once at weekends.
Running the bar is quite a bit of work but a lot more fun. It is genuinely satisfying when the bar is buzzing on a Friday night and I’d recommend the position to anyone. Feel free to ask any questions if you’re thinking about running.
The MCR has two social secretaries who work together to plan and create social events in Clare. The role involves liaising with college staff and catering to enable us to put on themed formals and bops. There is a lot of creative licence and as we are not funded by college, the MCR can hold lots of different events, they just need to be planned!
In terms of commitment, this role is one of the most important on the committee and particularly for events like fresher’s week, requires careful planning. Hand in hand with this, it is also one of the most rewarding and much of the work can be done out of office hours. The role is perfect for people who want to have fun and put on great parties…the kind that make Clare the best MCR community in Cambridge!
Non-Executive Committee Positions
Welfare Officer (Female, Male, LGBT+)
The role of the welfare officers is to ensure the MCR is an inclusive and welcoming environment. They look after the well-being of MCR students, providing the first point of contact for people struggling or just wanting a confidential chat. It is therefore important for the welfare officers to be visible and identifiable in the community. They work closely with the college nurse and sit in the broader Welfare committee meeting every term. Besides these broad specifications, the role is extremely flexible. It is up to the people in office to interpret it as they feel it is best for the MCR. The welfare officers coordinate recurring events such as yoga and can also organise a range of other activities (movie/board game nights). Bridgemas or other themed events are also a recurring feature of the welfare calendar. Helping the MCR committee in general is also a normal thing. The LGBT+ Welfare officer in addition runs LGBT+ specific events such as intra/intercollege meet and greet evenings, cinema nights and a trip to London Pride.
The main goal of the BME Officer is to ensure racial equality for all students in the MCR and encourage ethnic minority students to fully engage with our college community. The BME officer will contribute to improving race relations, fostering and developing cultural diversity, promoting integration without assimilation, and work to have effective representation so that minority students can experience college life to its fullest without the slightest fear or reservation. BME Officer main activities will include providing pastoral support, organising special events for BME students, and representing the needs of BME members of Clare within college.
The Accommodation Officer’s primary role is to act as the MCR representative on the Accommodation and Estates Committees, and to raise the issues regarding College accommodation at these committees. This year is an important year, with the redevelopment of St. Regis being completed and the continuing work on Old Court, the MCR Accommodation Officer will play a key role in ensuring members’ views are taken into consideration during these works. You can also, should you wish, fight the good fight with regard to rental costs, and with the Cut the Rent campaign gathering momentum in other colleges, there is a lot of potential to work closely with the MCR treasurer and secure lasting change. Best of all, you get to work alongside the lovely building and accommodation managers. The only real requirements are to attend the meetings, and to have at least some degree of interest in buildings. You will get to look at a LOT of architectural drawings, and learn a lot about the running of the college, so if that’s your bag, it’s the role for you!
Despite technically being different positions, the secretary and computing officer role has sufficient overlap that it is effectively a single role. The main duties of this position are to minute the Committee/General meetings; send out the weekly MCR bulletin; website/email admin; and administrate MCR membership.
The computing officer also sits on the college computing committee. Sufficient proficiency with computing is required and knowledge of web hosting might be useful to aid with the switchover of the MCR website. Most of the specifics can be learnt during the handover period.
The Clareity President organises a graduate speaker series called “Clareity Matters Evenings” three times per term in the Michaelmas and Easter terms, and twice in the Lent term (the symposium replace the third event in Lent term). In addition to evening talks, the job includes organising the annual Clareity Research Symposium. This involves planning and organisation (IT, catering, speakers, abstract submissions, advertising, room bookings, etc). In general, Clareity is a larger network and group of events run by Clare members for Clare members (including the Fellows’ speaker series and CRA talks, and is affiliated with the Dilettante Society). As the Clareity President, you coordinate the entire network. You are expected to liaise with the other representatives in order to advertise your events to them and forward their messages to the MCR, as well as develop opportunities for collaborations.
As MCR Green Officer, you are responsible for environment initiatives in the MCR, but you can also make a real difference across the whole College, thanks to your position on the Environment Committee. You get to know and work closely with Fellows, College staff, the gardens team, catering managers, the Porters, and undergraduates, as part of this team.
Clare is the most environmentally friendly college in Cambridge. We have consistently ranked at the top of the University’s Green Impact competition, winning more awards than any other college or department. We were the first college to win a Platinum Award for our overall environmental performance – the highest award available. As a member of the Environment Committee, you have the opportunity to help shape the direction of the College’s environmental initiatives.
In recent years, with the support of Clare Accommodations, we rolled out a trial of composting scheme in all shared graduate school kitchens. We also ran water conservation trials in partnership with Buildings department, and set up a Greencycle space at Clare Court, where the Clare graduate community can leave and take good-quality used goods for free. Finally, this year we declared a climate emergency and have been working with college fellows to set up a carbon reduction group involving students, fellows and staff in Clare. As the Green Officer, you will be in charge of these initiatives going forward, and will have the latitude to implement your own as well!
The Mature Students’ Officer organises events for and looks at the needs of Mature Students. Mature students are defined generally as students who have taken some time out between undergraduate studies and matriculating at Cambridge. The mature students’ officer is also responsible for making sure students with families are engaged in the community.
One of the most important roles on the committee, the quartermaster is responsible for buying tea, coffee, biscuits and other consumables for the MCR and ensuring they’re topped up when they run out.
The Admiral of the punts looks after the College punts in collaboration with the JCR. Normal tasks include making sure the punts are in good conditions, managing online bookings and punts availability, and dealing with other special requests (e.g. weddings, garden parties). Punts are usually available from April to November, meaning that the Admiral is busy only in this time of the year, while still being part of the committee for the other months. Everyone loves our punts and you will feel rewarded and satisfied by helping students and fellows enjoying punting at Clare.
The Exchange Officer is responsible for organising formal dinner exchanges (“swaps”) with other colleges. Usually there are 3 swaps per term, but during busier times, like the Michaelmas term, you can organise even up to 5 swaps. Additionally, you’re involved in planning a swap with one of our sister colleges in Oxford, which historically has been a very popular and well-attended event. It’s an amazing job that not only lets you eat in a number of college halls (usually superhalls and guest nights, which are superb!), but also make friends with people from other colleges – very useful contacts. They are also a general helper for the social secs in helping them plan events for the lovely people of Clare. Probably the most fun position on the committee!
As the MCR sports officer you can encourage involvement in college sport which is a great way to keep fit, it’s social, you get to meet people in college you wouldn’t otherwise and it’s open to pretty much any standard. The sports officer liaises with sports captains to get graduates involved, and works with the UCS rep for gym inductions and refurbishments. You also help make graduates aware of college’s sports facilities such as our tennis courts and squash courts. You can even organise your own events such as tennis introductions and fun runs.
The Library Officer attends three library committee meetings per year (one each term). They are responsible for liaising with the librarians on behalf of the MCR, and for addressing any library-related concerns MCR members may have. There is scope for other projects, whether recommending book purchases, or organising visits to the Fellows’ Library etc. This is also a good ‘general committee’ position that provides the opportunity to help out with the MCR more broadly.
