Increasing contact numbers

Here at St Andrews we have been working quite hard to increase the number of UCU Contacts that we have across the university.

It's been hard going sometimes and we still have a few gaps - though I'm pleased to say that we have managed to fill quite a few spaces!

1. I contact all new members on a monthly basis to welcome them to the branch.
2. I get everyone who attends a General Meeting to sign a sheet giving their name and dept. There is also a 'tick me' column where they can opt to be contacted about taking a more active role in the local branch. If they tick it, I follow up with a personal email referring to the meeting they've just been at and giving them an idea of what sorts of things they could help with. As far as possible, I try to target the 'vacancies' to the person in question!
3. I send weekly or fortnightly updates to local members - sometimes I include a bit about looking for new Contacts - not every week though, or they'll stop reading it!
4. We think that calling them UCU Contacts is better than Dep Reps as many of them don't want to be 'reps'.

Susan Melvin
St Andrews University UCU