It has been decided that the role of Welfare Secretary will be a separate and new one, no longer reserved for the Vice President’s duties. In this role, there are two primary responsibilities.

As an academic society, the first role is especially important for us compared to non-academic societies. This is to inform the rest of the committee about the potentially contentious nature, or risks of, speakers or academic events so that the President can include this in a risk assessment and in communications with the Guild. This is especially important regarding sensitive geopolitical developments and social subjects. A potential scenario may include suggesting that the Committee warn members of potentially distressing content in an academic event (such as violence or distressing experiences being retold). A suitable attribute, therefore, is that you are empathetic. That is to say, you are considerate of people’s demographic and social identities, as well as their emotional reactions to certain topics, and that you are kind and respectful.

A second duty takes a social approach, that is, listening to and responding to welfare concerns and raising them with the President and Vice President. This could include managing internal conflict between members if a member or audience member felt uncomfortable at an academic or social event. For that reason, regular communication with the two social secretaries would be appropriate before, after, and where possible during social events. This duty primarily includes listening to the welfare concerns of individual members and raising them with the president or vice president. Three example scenarios include internal conflict between members, the contentious nature of a speaker event, or if a member felt uncomfortable at a social event. This may sound daunting, but assistance would be there under such (rare) circumstances.

An additional, smaller role may also include helping the academic officers improve and maintain the mental and physical health and well being of members in an academic context (especially around exam season, when stress levels may be particularly high).

Above all, you must be friendly, approachable, talkative enough, and proactive in addressing members' welfare concerns.