Only just saw this thread but it is quite interesting.
The student part of ULSA (LUUCaS) is currently doing quite well, but i don't think it is directly because of the ULSA/LUUCaS structure. Having the support of an older club is a lifeline when a student club is struggling, as LUUCaS (then LUUSS) was a few years ago, but for a student club to grow and thrive it really needs to be student lead.
Here are a few considerations that has helped us gain and retain new members and might be helpful to others:
- Approaching anyone and everyone to covert them to caving, remembering it only takes one bad year and the subsequent year will be that bit harder.
- Freshers lack friends, so offer them a bunch of mates and they'll stick about.
- Get as many girls as possible to front the freshers fair stall (even if they're not really cavers), as girls help attract other girls as well as guys, whereas few people will join a group that appears to be just guys.
- Be passionate about caving and only talk about the best aspects until you've got freshers hooked.
- Make it as cheap as possible to go caving then people will go more often.
- Suss out early who is going to be useful and bring them on to be the next years committee
- Encourage a fresher cohort to share a house before their friends from halls get them. This ensures a core group of people for the following year and provides a party venue.
- Get freshers out on exped at the end of their 1st year and they'll be more keen and more useful for the rest of their time at uni.
- Don't have the same president two years in a row, otherwise the club becomes dependant on them. Spread the experience across many members of the club. This also adds a sense of competition, with subsequent years wanting to better what came before.
- Allow the student committee to make changes, consistency can too easily turn to complacency.
- Do things other than caving, as you would with any bunch of mates, but don't forget the clubs core focus.
- But most importantly enjoy yourselves, caving's about having fun.
These is just what we've learnt works in Leeds. I'm sure there's many more considerations people could add, and a few here which might not be appropriate to every student club.
CatM what was YUCPC thoughts on the matter? Any chance you could make it public so as to help others?