What is a committee?

A committee is a group of people who take on the responsibility of managing an organization and/or one of its structures. 

Every committee is responsible for making sure that the organization sticks to its aims and objectives as outlined in the UAMA bylaws; to consider and make recommendations of policy to the Board. 

UAMA has nine (9) Standing Committees as outlined in its bylaws.

1. Board of Directors
2. Executive Committee
3. Educational Committee
4. Financial Committee
5. Professional Committee
6. Sheikhs Committee
7. Social and Cultural Committee
8. Women’s Committee
9. Youth Committee

Programs:

UAMA Programs are born out of Committees. For any program to be approved by UAMA, it must go through a designated committee. The committee bringing forth the program must write and send a program proposal (using a UAMA Proposal Template) to the UAMA Secretary for presentation and review at the Executive Committee level. If approved by the Executive Committee, the program proposal is sent to the Board of Directors for final review and approval or denial.

Being on any committee involves:

• Having a shared sense of purpose (following aims & objectives)
• Providing direction and leadership
• Taking collective responsibility
• Being accountable to members, funders, service users, and the wider community

Being a committee member - can add lots of additional skills and experience to your CV, as well areas including:

• Project management
• Budgeting/Financial management
• Fundraising
• Negotiation
• Communication
• Organizing events
• Community engagement
• Advocacy and networking

What makes a good committee?

Many of us know of examples of committees that don't work and UAMA has seen it all. These are committees where meetings drag on and no actions are agreed, committee members do not take part in discussion or are discouraged from doing so, and so on. To work well, we need to rely on the following:

• We need to understand our responsibilities and role
• Have the right mixture of skills, abilities and experience
• Commit to the role and the aims and objectives of the Educational Committee
• Have a sense of purpose which translates into leadership
• An understand the boundaries between overall direction and the Executive & Board Committees

What makes you a good committee member?

 A good committee member:

• Commits to preparing for and attending meetings
• Has a good understanding of the organization, what it does and how it does it
• Is not afraid to ask questions
• Agrees to stick to the majority decision
• Supports fellow committee members
• Acts as an advocate for the organization

Roles within a committee

The Committee will employ the following roles which come with specific responsibilities:

• Chair, Treasurer, Secretary

Main duties of the Chair

The Chairperson of committee has three main elements of responsibilities:

• Assisting with the direction of the committee
• Planning and running meetings
• Acting as spokesperson/link between the committee and the Executive Committee

Main duties of the Treasurer

The Treasurer also has three main areas of responsibility:

• Keeping an overview of the finances of the committee
• Reporting into committee meetings
• Making sure the committee has/follows the right financial policies and procedures

Main duties of the Secretary

The Secretary's main responsibilities are:

• Supporting the administration of the committee
• Facilitating and supporting committee meetings

And Finally

This committee is formed with the aim of making something happen in our communities; we should have a clear sense of purpose. However, as our committee develops and more people become involved, we should not forget to take a step back every now and again and check whether or not we are meeting the requirements we listed.