DEAKIN
COMMERCE SOCIETY
2019 - First Year Representative
The Deakin Commerce Society (DCS) is the premier commerce related student society and is also one of the largest academic societies on the Deakin Burwood Campus. The society provides academic and social events during student's university careers, aiming to create opportunities for its members which would not otherwise be possible. I joined the DCS as a First Year Representative in April 2019 after attending the DCS First Year Camp in March of that year, as I wanted to be part of a society that created fun and inclusive events for students whilst also personally contributing further to one half of my double degree. I was so excited to be part of a society that had provided me with such a great start to University life, and keenly participated in the responsibilities of my role. This included attending and actively participating in Committee meetings, advertising on campus and online for DCS social and academic events, and attending these events where I assisted with various tasks. At the end of 2019 I applied and obtained a role as a Director of Accounting at the DCS Annual General Meeting (AGM).
2020 - Director of Accounting
As a Director of Accounting in 2020 I worked with the other members of the Accounting Division (Head of Accounting and two other Directors) to facilitate division specific events. Although we started the year with many exciting and innovative plans, these were quickly disrupted by Covid-19 lockdowns. We changed direction, moving to online events including seminars and panels. My main task during my time as a Director of Accounting was to organise and run the annual Women in Business (WIB) event, which was my first foray into leadership on the DCS. In previous years WIB had run as a breakfast and panel, but the constraints of lockdown forced me to reimagine the format of the event. I contacted and engaged 4 panellists working within the accounting field and conducted a workshop to allow for active audience participation. This event style also encouraged students to connect and network with the panellists, creating industry connections to help them in their future careers. I found that I enjoyed the organisational aspects of the workshop and wanted a role with more responsibility, so I decided to apply for the role of Secretary at the AGM in 2020 which I successfully obtained.
2021 - Secretary
As Secretary in 2021 I was responsible for organising committee meetings and events alongside the rest of the Executive (President, Vice-President and Treasurer) and Heads of the societies Divisions (Accounting, Economics & Finance, Events, HR & Careers, Marketing, and Sponsorship). My role also meant that I was directly responsible for various administrative tasks including creating agendas and taking minutes at each meeting, organising and responding to messages on the societies email and social media accounts, creating and monitoring group chats for the Committee, Executive and Divisions, and recording apologies and attendance at meetings and events.
As with the previous year we were largely unable to hold in-person events (due to Covid-19 restrictions), however, this allowed us to focus on providing quality academic events for Deakin students. I personally found during the previous year that some events were not as successful as they should have been in regards to student attendance or guest engagement due to a lack of planning. Therefore, at the beginning of my tenure, I created ‘Event Plan’ templates and distributed them to the Committee, along with an expected timeline for event proposals. ie. If a Division wanted to hold an academic event in March, then the Event Plan should be submitted to the Executive at least two months earlier (by the start of January, in this example) to ensure enough time to secure guest speakers, confirm a date and time that did not interfere with other Committee events, etc. As this new system was my initiative, I was responsible for collecting the Event Plans from the divisions before they were presented to the rest of the Executive for approval. Initially I found this difficult as Committee members were demotivated by the idea of having to complete the document, instead of just being able to plan an event without being held accountable by the Executive. After realising what the issue was, I scheduled individual meetings with the Head of each Division to discuss their ideas for the year, and to ensure they understood how to complete the Event Plan. I found these meetings to be highly successful, and the opportunity to mentor other students on the new system was mutually beneficial; I consistently received Event Plans throughout the year in a timely manner and Committee members were comfortable speaking to me about their events and ideas.
Another task I undertook, and the accomplishment that I am most proud of from my time as Secretary, was the editing and updating of the DCS Code of Conduct. This document clarified the societies mission, values and principles, but lacked policies regarding resignation of Committee members, internal and external conflict procedures, handover procedures, etc. I spent several months speaking with society members about what inclusions they wanted to see in the Code of Conduct, and then added sections accordingly. This document was and is constantly used by the Committee, and I am hopeful it will provide assistance to future Committees as well. All of my experiences during my time as the Secretary of the DCS helped me to develop my inclusive leadership style as I fostered my communication and listening skills, and actively created improvements based on feedback I received.
2022 - President
Having worked in the Executive during 2021 I felt confident in my leadership abilities and thus applied for the role of President at the 2021 AGM. I was honoured to be voted into the position by the general members of the DCS (including Committee members), and was excited to move the society into the post-pandemic landscape in 2022. This included setting the strategic plan for the year to ensure that the DCS was able to represent and support student needs, and provide the most relevant academic and social events.
I had difficulty at the beginning of my tenure due to the high expectations I had on myself and the rest of the Committee. I struggled to empower others to take their responsibilities seriously, and many thought that I was too organised – I asked for Event Plans before the conclusion of 2021 for all events to be run in 2022, and organised and chaired Committee meetings to discuss these. It was an adjustment period for me as I tried to balance my commitment to the DCS with the commitment of the rest of the Committee (particularly as all roles on the DCS are volunteer positions, and many of the Committee members were new). My awareness of others developed during this time, and I found that open communication helped everyone to understand their roles, as well as why I was aiming to achieve the goals I had set for the society (more time to schedule advertising for events, stronger attendance and engagement at events, etc) . This approach enabled the DCS to run in-person academic events for the first time since 2019 including the Accounting Divisions ‘Women in Business’ and other seminar events, Marketing panels, HR & Careers workshops, FinConomics editorials and panels (Economics & Finance), and the Annual Networking Evening (Sponsorship).
DCS social events were also a success, such as the First Ice-Breaker Night (95 student attendees), First Year Camp (120 student attendees), and the Annual Deakin Ball (360 student attendees). Although we ran sold-out and profitable events (often for the first time in DCS history) I worked beyond the point of exhaustion trying to push the society to what I knew it could be whilst maintaining my studies, part-time jobs, and social life. It was a steep learning curve, but a valuable life lesson, that there were times I had to step back and take care of myself before I was able to take care of the DCS. Another important lesson I learnt was how to manage conflict within the society. For example, the Events Division found a beautiful venue for the DCS to use for the Annual Deakin Ball, but it was unfortunately impractical due to budget constraints. As no one on the Committee had any personal experience planning and running a Ball, there was a lot of disagreement over whether this large (and expensive) venue would be suitable. Ultimately, I had to make the unpopular decision that we wouldn’t be able to use the venue, and instead found a slightly smaller and much more affordable location. Balancing the emotions of the Events Division who had found the original venue whilst explaining the reasons for my decision required a lot of time and effort, but these conversations were worth it to restore a cohesive working environment. I knew I had made the right decision for the society, and was proud to run a fun (and profitable) event with positive feedback from students about the difference the event had made to their social and University lives.
My role as President also meant that I represented the society to various external stakeholders, including sponsors, the Faculty of Business and Law and the Deakin University Student Association (DUSA). Navigating interactions with these groups allowed me to develop on a professional level as I refined my negotiation skills, enhanced my ability to build professional relationships and deepened my understanding of other's perspectives within the business landscape. I also had to balance the interests of stakeholders whilst ensuring that I represented students and allocated funding to appropriate events. Catering to students of so many different ages and degrees was challenging, but the feedback I received from both Committee members and students, and the opportunity to positively impact the Deakin community, including Deakin University and Deakin College students, made all of my hard work worthwhile.
Conclusion
During my time on the Deakin Commerce Society I grew immeasurably as an individual and as a leader. It was difficult saying goodbye to an official working role within the DCS at the 2022 AGM, but I knew that I had served the DCS to the best of my abilities and was excited to pursue new opportunities. I am currently the Immediate Past President of the DCS, a role where I act in an advisory capacity for the Executive and Head of Sponsorship and as a support system for all other Committee members. It’s very fulfilling to be able to give back and mentor other students on their leadership journeys, and pass on what I learnt during my time on the DCS.
