Section is a basic and most important organizational unit in the structures of associations ESN Poland and ESN International. From actions on the section level depends actions on national and international level. That’s why, it is so important to lay emphasis on the continuous development of the section and to endeavour to create a new ones and also to support already existing sections.
1. To begin any business you need people. To create a section there need to be a group of people who want to create a team willing to work for foreigns student and to execute guidelines contained in the Articles of Association. Very often these are the people who just came back from the international exchange and doesn’t want to part with the ‘Erasmus’ atmosphere. :)
2. It is really important to establish cooperation with International Programmes Office. From them we are getting informations about the incoming Erasmus students and Polish ones returning from the exchanges who are ideal candidates for the member of a section. IPO is, in most cases, the source from which section obtain money for its activities. Also, it should be a support in organizing any event designated for foreign or polish student, even by giving sponsorship or mediating in conversations with the authorities of the university. Taking up a cooperation with IPO, it’s worth to determine the rules of your cooperation at the very beginning. ESN is the student organisation and IPO is a part of the administration at the University.
3. Beginning of the activity. At the very beginning, before you start working for ESN and Erasmus students, it is very important to get to know yourself very well. If you integrate your future members of the section with each other and you work out clear rules about your cooperation it will allow you to avoid many conflicts and misunderstandings in the future. It is much better to work in the group where people know each other, they can achieve their goals together, and all the problems they can solve easily and amicably. Only then you can start thinking about the goals which you want to achieve, division of labour and duties. The main task, at the beginning of activity, is implementation of the Mentor programme which is placement of the guardian for the foreign student.
4. The next step in approaching a future section to be the official section is to begin efforts to register student organization at the university and start works on the section statutes. Section statutes can’t be contrary to Articles of Association ESN Poland and to the Statutes of the University. During the work on section statutes it is worth to keep contact with the member of the Board of Human Resources ESN Poland. It will avoid many mistakes. Ready Statutes should be provided to the legal advisers at the university, which once approved, must be presented to the appropriate person (usually the Rector or Rector of Teaching) at the University with the request for approval of the new student organisation.
5. Having a Statutes and permission for the operation of the student organisation at the University, you should submit official proposal to the Vice President about adoption of the new ESN section to the Association and at the same time send the Statues and a document confirming the activity of this organization (copy). At the next Meeting of Delegates, Vice President put the agreement for creating and activity of the new ESN section to the vote of delegates. Delegates by the resolution accept (or not) the new section. New section begins activity, under the name of ESN, at the moment of the resolution’s adoption about creating a new section.
6. The next step is to complete the application form (available at www.esn.org) and to translate the section Statutes into English and to send both documents to the National Representative, who at the CNR meeting will propose the creation of the new section.