I believe that Compsoc has dwindled in its effectiveness in the past year due to being too bogged down in overly-bureaucratic democracy with people unwilling to make decisions and take responsibility. If elected to be senior officer, I will not shy away from doing this and remaining accountable to the membership for my decisions. It's important in such a position to strike a balance between allowing everyone to have their say in a fair guiding process for the society while still being willing to solve disputes in a way that favours the society as a whole.
The position of senior officer, as with any committee position in any society, should be a position of serving the society. It is not my intention to rule with an iron fist, rather to use the powers associated with the position to make sure everyone has a fair say and ultimately, decisions are made and things get done.
I am a second year Computer Science student with plenty of experience in Unix and Linux systems, on which we rely heavily, and I run a small but successful webhosting business, requiring plenty of knowledge in administration of such systems.
I have these skills, and others, available to assist other officers in their tasks helping the society, but it is my main intention with the officers to empower every one of them to complete tasks in different areas suited to their individual desires and abilities. The officer team should be just that, a well-structured and coordinated team, thus far I feel this has not been the case but, the society approving, I hope to make sure that everyone can take responsibility for different areas of managing the society.
Perhaps the main service we run at the moment is KentIRC, it is a hugely important service that should not be neglected but also it should not be a drain on all the resources (technical and human) that we have at our disposal. It is my intention that Compsoc in the following year build a reputation for up to date Linux and Windows applications and services, varied and interesting social events (including, but not limited to, LAN parties) and also as a society not populated entirely by “Linux geeks” and other social outcasts. In order to allow more resources free for these initiatives, it is vital that #cs become a self-running unit with ops elected by the officer team, so that a (reduced) team of opers can keep the IRC network running while other officers can focus on other areas.
In short, my intentions for the society are as follows: * Weekly social events. * LAN gaming. * Reliable and up to date software (Windows and Linux) available on compsoc1. * All officers encouraged to take responsibilities in certain areas, taking ownership of them in order that they feel further encouraged to keep them running smoothly and make improvements. * #cs becomes self-managed by an op team.
As I mentioned before, I would be in a position to serve the society and would be very grateful for the chance to do so. I promise to remain accountable to all members in every decision made, every important decision will include an update to the members email list and/or an update to the wiki. I will also remain on IRC, as I believe it is one of our most valuable methods of communication.
I have a drive and a passion to see Compsoc become so much more in the coming academic year, let's not let our society become dry, monotonous and uneventful as it is in danger of doing so.