Establishing your U3A
First Steps
We are happy to help you with your first steps. Please contact a Network committee member or a U3A near you for advice. The following will give you some information to help you get started.
Your
first step will be to hold a Public Meeting to gauge the interest in
your community. If you cannot arouse public interest, there is little
point in proceeding any further. Some suggested steps towards holding
your Public Meeting:
- A
good place to start is at your Regional Council, as they will often
help with publicity and a venue at little or no cost. The best venue is
one that is easily accessible both by public transport, and with
convenient car parking
- Publicity
is all-important. You must make sure that the local community is aware
of the proposed formation, and your local library, local newspaper(s),
local radio, and local television are good options for publicity. Local
businesses and community organisations may also be prepared to display
your posters to advertise the Public Meeting. Don't forget to talk
about your intentions to anybody and everybody in your community who
will listen. You just cannot have too much publicity.
Your first meeting
The Network committee will assist you to organise this meeting and can provide a speaker to explain what U3A is about. Presentations by other U3A members could demonstrate possible class activities. For the Public Meeting itself, you must organise it well so that it
will run smoothly. Things to consider are:
- Explain clearly what your aims are
- Arrange
a speaker from another U3A who can talk about the aims, objectives, and
operations of a U3A. Try to find one who is reasonably close to your
community.
- Elect a steering
committee from those who attend the meeting, and arrange for them to
start meeting regularly soon after the meeting.
- Record
names and addresses of all persons attending who show interest in
joining, and, if possible sign up as many as possible, both to capture
the moment, and to give the fledgling body some income, once the
committee has met to set a membership fee for the first year.
- Prime
objectives of the steering committee should be to organise a few
courses to start as soon as possible, and suitable venues for them, so
that the initial impetus is not lost. Your Regional Council or local
schools are the best places to start looking for venues, as both
control suitable venues that are often under utilised or unused.
Getting up and running
With
your Public Meeting behind you, and confident that you have sufficient
support for a potential viable membership, you must start making the
decisions that will shape your U3A. Involve as many people as possible
in the decision-making. The more volunteer workers you can attract from
your membership, the better placed your U3A will be for development as
they will quickly appreciate that it IS a self-help organisation, and
they will get more out of it by putting more into it.
Before
you go any further, you now need to call a General Meeting of members
so that they can democratically elect your first formal Committee. You
will need to call for nominations for executive positions:
- President,
- Vice-President,
- Secretary, and
- Treasurer
You will also need a number of general Committee members who may
agree to take on certain roles to help your U3A function.
Because
this is the first election of officers, and some people are already
running the Steering Committee, it is quite likely the newly elected
Committee will be the same as the existing Steering Committee, but it
does not have to be. The important issue is that the Committee must be
democratically elected from among the membership. Remember that you
must not only do things correctly but must be seen to be doing so.
Be meticulous in your dealings both with your members and with the
general public.
Insurance
An
issue that your Committee must address very early is one of insurance.
Our society is becoming increasingly litigious, and your U3A and its
members must be protected by insurance that, at the least, covers
public liability, directors, tutors, volunteers, and a small accident
cover for volunteers.
In the first year Insurance cover for the new U3A can be arranged at low cost from the U3A Network committee. More information is available here or contact our Treasurer.
Constitution
A
very important decision to be made now is the structure of your U3A.
Try & draft a Constitution as soon as you can so everyone knows the
Rules & By-laws, so avoiding confusion. The Office of Fair Trading has a model constitution (able to be downloaded) upon which your constitution can be built. The advantages of this is that it will be approved earlier and that your application for Incorporation should proceed more smoothly. Many U3As have already done
this, so seek help & advice from a nearby group.
Remember
that the more rules and by-laws you adopt, the greater the restrictions
you will be placing on your membership in the future.
It pays to be cautious here, and to adopt the minimum necessary to
function.
Incorporation
You
will need to decide whether or not to Incorporate your association
under the Associations Incorporation Act. This will involve payment of
a small fee but it does protect your committee members and your
organisation. More information about incorporation is available on
another page within this section.
If you decide to incorporate in 2011, The Network may have funds to assist with this procedure.
If you incorporate you will need to appoint an Honorary Auditor.
Details of how to incorporate may be obtained from the Office of
Fair Trading, whose website at http://www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au/
contains all the information you will need to apply for incorporation.
