Officials
Board officials
The board is the main entity responsible for the overall operation of the organization. Being a board member is sort of a post in itself, as it requires time and attention in addition to your other offices. Board members are expected to attend board meetings, which are held approximately once a month. Since Matlu is by name a cooperative organization, it is preferable to have board members from as many different member organizations as possible to insure information reaches all organizations equally. This insures that the benefit of all members is seen to. Matlu has five essential posts to which nomination always guarantees a position as a board member as well. These officials are chosen in the legally mandated annual autumn meeting along with the rest of the board. All other officials are picked in the board’s general assembly meeting at the turn of the year.
President/Chair
The president convenes and chairs board meetings and guides the operation of the organization as well as its board members. They make certain that things are rolling forward and that the board and officials are not overworked. The president makes use of their organizational knowledge, skills with delegation and time management. They uphold relations to the faculty, student union and other cooperative sources.
Vice-president/-chair
The vice-chair assists the president in running the organization and acts as their substitute as chair when the president is inhibited from attending. Traditionally the vice-chair is responsible for organizing the annual Tarto-excursion. Other times the vice-chair is a Jack-of-all-trades in the organization and helps with whatever is urgent at the time.
Treasurer
The treasurer takes care of the organization’s economy, keeps the books, prepares the financial accounts and plans the budget for next year. In practice, the treasurer ensures the organization stays on budget, doesn’t run out of money and stays on track with current fiscal matters. The treasurer doesn’t need to know everything about book-keeping from the get-go since they receive training for these things early in the year. Priority lies in taking care of matters actively and carefully.
Secretary
The primary task of the secretary is to keep the minutes of the meeting and make sure it contains all essential content for the meeting. After the meeting the secretary should spellcheck and review the minutes, and make them available for members to read. In practice, the secretary should prepare the minutes ahead of the meeting, based on the agenda provided by the president in convening the meeting, to be focused at the meeting, and to pay attention to what is going on. The office of secretary is thus mostly meeting oriented, with only a few tasks outside meetings. It is however an essential office for book-keeping and continuity purposes.
President of the Leppätalo committee
The president of the Leppätalo committee is the main body behind decisions related to the Christina Regina -cluster, also known as Matlu Klusteri. The committee consists of the presidents and Klusteri officials from all member organizations, and decides most things relating to Klusteri from reservations to punishments. The PoLC is responsible for making sure all matters relating to Klusteri are handled accordingly and on time. The most important ones of these responsibilities are: organizing training in the use of Klusteri, chairing committee meetings, keeping in touch with the student union HYY and the organizations that use Matlu Klusteri, and organizing the upkeep and maintenance of Klusteri. The best friend that the PoLC can have are the rules for the use of Klusteri, found on Matlu’s website. The best part about being committee president is the amount of respect you get from all those who use Klusteri.