LUMC from time to time has money available to subsidise training for members. This training may include
- First aid
- Food safety
- Driver training
- Activity specific skills training
Training planned so far for Semester 2 2022
- First Aid + CPR
- Top rope anchor course training
LUMC Training funding guidelines
Guidelines to assist the Club committee in transparently allocating club funded training to members. These guidelines are here to assist, and should not be a lot of work for training organisers
General Principles
- Club money should be spent transparently, fairly, and in the best interests of the club members
- Club funded training should only be provided to current club members
- Training money will only be spent if it aligns with the club purposes outlined in the club constitution.
- A financial commitment or deposit should be made by the participant to secure their spot and ensure they participate
- It may be appropriate for the members to contribute financially to a portion of their training
- Training opportunities must be advertised to all members
- A transparent process must be used to decide the most appropriate people to attend the training. There should be no opportunity for club to be seen as a place where the committee is an exclusive group and only ever spends money on a select group
- The committees may wish to set a minimum commitment required from members who have participated in club funded training – and make all candidates aware of this expectation with plenty of notice to achieve (eg has previously been 3 beginner trips in that activity within 12 months of the training) .
Deciding who should participate in club funded training
An Assessment panel (defined below) must objectively decide the most appropriate distribution for club funded training.
This decision needs to be made in a transparent manner and documented such that would not present issues for the individuals involved and maintains the confidence of the club members. For example if someone questions why a particular person received club funded training and they didn’t, it should be easy to explain and be documented transparently. If its not easy to explain, it probably indicates that the process wasn’t transparent “I funded this person because they are my friend”
Note that the assessment panel;
- Has no obligation to spend all or any of the training money if there is no suitable candidates
- The assessment panel may choose to distribute the club funded training unevenly so long as the process is transparent (eg. Fund 100% of some people’s training and 50% of others)
- Must notify all candidates in a timely manner about the outcome of their expression of interest
- In the interests of transparency the decision should be primarily based on the information the candidates provide.
- Should receive endorsement from another member of the committee to ensure a fair process has been followed if the individuals on the assessment panel are also candidates.
Minimum requirements to receive club funded training
- Current club member
- Ability to participate in the club after the training (for example not going overseas indefinitely the week after the training)
Recommended assessment criteria for selection process (ask candidates to answer these when they respond to an expression of interest email)
1. Some general info about yourself- who you are, how long have you been participating in xx, what level do you participate, and any involvement in relevant club trips
2. Why you think you would benefit from the training?
3. How will the club benefit from you participating in the training?
4. A brief outline of how you may have previously shown other requirements for running club trips- such as your organisational abilities, understanding and following the clubs risk management plan during trips, awareness of issues in the outdoors and of activity specific requirements
What the assessment panel should be looking for in the answers from candidates
Criteria 1
This is really just background information. This will assist the assessment panel if they are not familiar with the individuals. The question about previous involvement in relevant club trips should not prevent new members from participating in club funded training, nor should automatically mean someone who has been involved for a long time is more eligible.
Criteria 2
This is a question about personal gain, leadership, confidence etc (achieving this is a purpose of the club).
Will the candidate personally gain from attending the club funded training?
Criteria 3
This is a very important question and might be given more weighting than other questions. The candidates answer needs to address what benefit the club will have from them undertaking training– things like the candidate running more club trips, participating in more club trips, more club leaders in xx activity, increased safety on trips, or more creative things answers like more male/female/ethnic group/undergrad/staff (whatever category) role models and leaders in the club etc.
Criteria 4
This question is partly testing the validity of their answer in question 3, and partly to gauge whether it is the most appropriate time for someone to attend this particular club funded training or whether it isn’t this particular skill that is holding their involvement back.
Glossary
Assessment Panel - The person, or people who will assess expressions of interest to receive club funded. The club committee may choose be the panel or to nominate one or multiple people to undertake this role – often appropriate it is the activity convenor.
Club funded training – Training run or organized by the club where club resources (time or money) is utilized.
