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Hi,
We shall be holding the SSQRG Annual General Meeting at the RGS-IBG Conference in Edinburgh in July (we expect it will be on the evening of Wednesday 4th July).
At the AGM we shall, as ever, elect a new committee. This year we will have a couple of significant vacancies to fill and we need volunteers to step forward to ensure that the group continues to be dynamic and grow. At the AGM, both myself (Chair of SSQRG) and Kath Browne (Treasurer) are obliged to step down – having helped found the group, we have both now held officer positions for six concurrent years and the group’s constitution states that we must come off the committee now. I understand Eleanor Wilkinson is prepared to stand for re-election as the group’s Treasurer.
Could you take on one of these roles? The group has some exciting projects planned – including supporting the second European Geographies of Sexualities conference in Lisbon in 2013. This is your chance to shape the group’s future direction in new and imaginative ways. Each of these positions is available on a three-year term.
The Chair convenes the AGM and (at least) one committee meeting during the year. Coordinates the group’s activities (including sponsored sessions at the RGS-IBG conference and nominations for research group guests at the conference, as well as any additional workshops, conferences or reading weekends that the group chooses to support). They must provide an annual report to the AGM and to the RGS-IBG on the group’s activities. The RGS-IBG occasionally asks research group Chairs for input into relevant policy discussions – this is a chance to represent the interests of geographers of sexualities within the RGS-IBG, the wider geographical committee and the funding councils.
The Treasurer is responsible for the group’s bank account and submitting annual financial returns to the RGS-IBG. The Treasurer usually has oversight of membership records and involvement in grant applications to the RGS and other bodies.
In practice, over the last three years, the SSQRG’s Chair, Secretary and Treasurer have worked as a collective leadership for the group and shared responsibilities. One of these three officers represents the group at the RGS-IBG Research Groups Sub-Committee which meets in London three times a year.
As we are a relatively small research group, none of these responsibilities are that onerous. The Research & Higher Education Department at the RGS-IBG provides excellent support to research group committees and have a very useful handbook outlining relevant policies, procedures and responsibilities.
Please get in touch if you might consider standing for one of these posts – for practical reasons, it is preferable if these two leadership roles are held by UK-based academics in permanent posts (or, at least, posts that are secure for the duration of their term in office).
I look forward to hearing from some of you.
Gavin