CognAC's committees - all you need to know!

Mon, 20 Sep 2021

written by Arne Wittgen

This blog post/FAQ contains the most important information and usual questions regarding committee membership for CognAC! If you are interested in joining a committee or just want to learn more about our committees, this is the place to find that information. If you want to check out the slides from the Committee Market presentation, you can find those on the PaparaC cloud!

What is a committee?

Usually, a committee is a group of about 8-12 people working on different things within CognAC – be those organizing activities, working on our website, taking pictures and more. Every committee has to fill three functions: Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. The chair is responsible for leading the committee, making sure that meetings are held and activities planned on time. The secretary is mainly responsible for taking minutes (notes) during the meetings, such that the committee members can look up what was discussed. The treasurer is responsible for the budget of a committee, reporting on how much was spent on an activity and making sure that not more is spent than what is available. Who takes on which role is discussed by the committees themselves.

I want to find out more about a committee, where can I find more information?

Firstly, the slides from our last committee market, which contain a short overview and a few impressions for every committee (which you can find here). Also, you can ask a committee member about it or just come by the board room and ask the board!

I want to join a committee – how do I do it?

Very easy: Just send a mail with a short motivation to me (intern@svcognac.nl) containing “committee application” in the subject line or drop by the board room while I (the Chief of Internal affairs) am there!

Is there a deadline for signing up?

Generally, there is no deadline for signing up for any committee, but applications are handled on a “first come, first served” basis. The only exception are the first two weeks after a committee market – i.e., all applications received until the 29th of September 2021 are handled with equal priority.

Are there any restrictions to joining committees?

Generally: No. The only exceptions are the committees that are formed during our GMMs (namely, the BAC and AUC), the 1C, which is exclusively for first-year students to get a feel for how a committee works, and the Lustrum committee, which is only formed every 5 years to celebrate the birthday of CognAC. Also, there is no limit to the number of committees you can be in at any given time.

I want to join a committee, but it does not have open spots according to the website!

If this is the case you can still try to mail me (intern@svcognac.nl), I will then take a look on whether this committee can still use an extra member. If this isn’t the case, I will make sure you are on the committee notification list. What this means is that I will notify you once there is a spot open in the committee. You will still have to apply via the regular way once I notify you though, to make sure everyone has a fair chance on joining the committee

And what if I want to leave a committee?

You are a member of a committee until you let me know otherwise. This also counts for the summer break, if you don’t let me or my successor know that you want to leave, we will assume you also want to stay in the committee in the new academic year. This however does not mean we force you to stay! You can just leave at any time in the year by sending an email to me in which you state your name and the committee you are leaving. Important: you do not have to share a reason for leaving if you do not want to, just stating that you want to leave is totally fine! If you however do want to share a reason, know that it will stay between the two of us. I will not share any confidential information without your permission, not even with my successor.

If there is still something you'd like to know regarding committees or have a question that isn’t answered here, always feel free to send an email to intern@svcognac.nl or drop by the board room!