Dr Carol Ireland has been the Secretary and a Director of the Australian Rangeland Society since 2008.  As anyone who has had any dealings with the Society over this period knows, Carol has done a wonderful job in keeping the Council and the Society running smoothly and efficiently.  She is a ‘rangeland treasure’!

However, her term as Secretary and as a Director will come to an end at the AGM in 2017.  She has given the current Council plenty of warning that she will be leaving and hence plenty of time to seek/ entice/ encourage a replacement.  Further, a new Secretary will be able to spend a good deal of time with Carol in a handover phase before she leaves in May 2017.

If you interested in making a valuable contribution both to the Society specifically and rangeland matters more generally, why not put in an expression of interest to take over that role in May 2017?

One must not pretend – there is a fair bit of work involved in managing the business of a Council whose members invariably live in at least four different states/ territories and sometimes in isolated locations.  The duties include:

• The routine roles of a Secretary – arranging agendas and taking minutes at the bi-monthly meetings of the Council – which are held via teleconference
• Acting as the ‘front line’ person for correspondence (email, phone, mail) between the public, ARS members and Council;
• Supporting all Councillors in their role(s), act as liaison between individual Council members, sub-committees and Council as a whole – in short a fair bit of’ cat-mustering’; and
• As a Director, keeping an eye on and approving expenditure and governance and signatory on the Society’s bank accounts

Carol suggests that the time spent on Council matters is approximately 2-3 hours/week.  However, during the week of a bi-monthly Council Meeting (held during the Biennial Conference), the time spent would be about 1-2 days depending on the meeting.  It is all voluntary – there is no payment provided for the services. Initially the term of appointment is four years but you can sign on for another four if you really love the job!

If you can see yourself in this important role, what will you get out of it?  Quite a lot, as follows:

1. A great network of who-is-who in the rangelands across Australia and internationally;
2. A lot of knowledge of what is happening in rangeland Australia;
3. A central role in guiding the activities of the ARS;
4. Valuable experience in the governance of an active not-for-profit organisation; and finally
5. Lots of new friends all over Australia (see point 1), and the chance to make some long-lasting and wonderful friendships with your fellow Councillors – and a fabulous bunch they are too!

Interested?  Curious?  Keen to learn more?  Please contact Carol on phone 0400 309 207 and/ or e-mail cireland@irmpl.com.au .