Monash University Aikido Club

The Monash Aikido Club Committee

Every class you train in exists because someone did the admin. Our executive committee is a small group of volunteer members who keep the club running, and we are always looking for students who want to get involved.

You do not need to be graded in aikido. You do not need prior experience of being on a committee. Every role is paired with a mentor, usually a former Monash club volunteer who has held the same position and knows exactly what this club's version of the job looks like, or someone with the same role from our parent organisation, Aiki Kai Aikido Victoria Inc. 

Why bother? Because "Treasurer, incorporated association" on your CV is real life governance experience. 

What the committee actually is The club is an incorporated association registered with Consumer Affairs Victoria under the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012, and an affiliated sporting club with Monash Sport. The committee is a real governing body with duties in law. Duties that apply to every committee member under the Act: Act in good faith and in the best interests of the club Exercise care and diligence Do not misuse your position or club information for personal gain Disclose any conflict of interest Ensure the club can pay its debts From Monash Sport: Committee members who are no longer Monash students must register as a Monash affiliate before taking a position (allow several weeks for ID processing) At least one committee member must attend the LEAD Program, Monash Sport's governance training Follow Monash policies on conduct, equity and inclusion, alcohol and incident reporting Realistic time commitment: two to four hours a month for most roles, more around the AGM and O-Week. You are still expected to train. We are a small club, and we run it that way. Roles are shared, and nobody is left holding something alone.

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How you get elected

The club runs on the model rules for incorporated associations:

• Every position is declared vacant and filled at the Annual General Meeting. Committee members hold office from the end of the AGM at which they are elected until the end of the next one.
• Nominations are taken at the AGM itself. Before each position is elected, the chair calls for nominations. You can nominate yourself, or another member can nominate you with your agreement. If the nominated person is not present at the AGM, proof of their consent to be nominated must be presented for the nomination to be valid.
• If more people nominate than there are vacancies, members vote by ballot at the AGM. If nominations match vacancies, those nominated are elected unopposed. In practice this is usually how it goes, so if you want a role, put your hand up.
• There is no limit on serving consecutive years. Retiring committee members are eligible for re-election, so you can hold the same role for the length of your degree if you want to.
• Casual vacancies during the year are filled by the committee appointing a member until the next AGM, so you do not have to wait twelve months to get involved.

Any member can nominate for a role. You do not need to have been asked.

Why are we an incorporated association?

Committee Roles

President

What you do: Chair committee meetings and the AGM, speak for the club to Monash Sport, Aiki Kai Australia and Aiki Kai Aikido Victoria, and keep the committee pointed in the same direction. You are the person who notices what is not getting done and finds someone to do it.

Expectations: Attend meetings, set agendas with the Secretary, and be reachable. Lead the club's relationship with the dojo's instructors.

Well suited to: Law, business and commerce, politics and international relations, arts and social sciences, or any discipline where you already work with people and negotiate outcomes. Good preparation for management, consulting or public policy.

Secretary

What you do: The club's most legally significant role. Under the Act, the Secretary is the association's responsible person and the official point of contact with Consumer Affairs Victoria. You keep the register of members, take and file minutes, give notice of meetings, hold the club's records, and lodge the annual statement with CAV.

Expectations: Be organised and consistent. Minutes are the club's legal memory. You must be a resident of Victoria and 18 or over.

Well suited to: Law (genuine associations governance practice), arts and humanities, information management, education, and anyone with strong writing. A natural fit for students in public health, social work or policy who will one day sit on boards.

Treasurer

What you do: Look after the money. Receive and bank membership and mat fees, pay approved expenses, keep the financial records, prepare a budget, and present financial reports to the committee and the AGM.

Expectations: Accuracy and prompt banking. You will be a bank signatory. Reconcile regularly rather than in a panic in November.

Well suited to: Accounting, finance, banking, commerce, actuarial studies, economics and maths. You get a real set of books and a real audit trail, worth far more in an interview than a case study. Equally doable by a careful student from any faculty.

General Committee Member

What you do: Vote on committee decisions and take on a portfolio that suits you: social media and communications, events, equipment and uniforms, grading logistics, or new member welcome.

Expectations: Attend meetings and own your portfolio. The lowest-barrier way in, and it carries the same legal standing and duties as the executive roles.

Well suited to: Anyone. Design, media and communications students often take comms. Marketing students take recruitment. Science and engineering students frequently take equipment and logistics because they like a system that works.

Vice President (optional)

We can appoint a Vice President, but we do not always need one. In a club our size the support a VP would provide comes from the committee as a whole. If someone wants the role as a stepping stone to President, it is available.

What you do: Support the President, step in when they are unavailable, and own one or two projects such as O-Week recruitment or a grading event.

Well suited to: Any discipline. The best entry point if you want to lead the club next year.

The instructors

Our instructors are not committee members. They are appointed by Aiki Kai Aikido Victoria (AKV), not elected by the club, and they sit alongside the committee rather than above or below it.

What they do:

• Front line for enquiries. Instructors handle incoming questions to the club email, website and social media. If a prospective member gets in touch, an instructor usually answers first.
• Approvers for public relations. Anything the club puts out publicly goes past an instructor, who has a direct line to the AKV area representative. This keeps the club's public voice consistent with the wider organisation.
• Advisors on club decisions. The committee makes the decisions. Instructors bring the context: what has been tried before, what the state body expects, what will work on the mat.

What this means for you as a committee member: you are not starting from zero and you are not making judgement calls alone. The technical and organisational memory of the club sits with the instructors, and it is freely available to you. Your job is governance. Theirs is the art and the continuity.

What you get out of volunteering

• Sponsored attendance at AKV special events, free of charge, for the term you serve. At minimum this covers the Technical Training Course (TTC) weekends, which are some of the best training available in the state. Subject to approval by the Aikido Victoria Area Representative.
• Documented governance experience under Victorian associations law
• Mentoring from former committee members 
• Monash Sport's LEAD Program training
• A committee reference you can actually name a person for
• The club continuing to exist for the students after you

Interested? Talk to any of the instructors, or email aikidomonashuni@gmail.com