Strategic Plan 2026–2029
Where the Society of Arts and Letters is going in its first three years, and how we will know.
Dated Monday, September 28
Where We Are
SAL began as a handful of students who wanted the campus to read, write and make things together. In one year it has become four programmes, a brand and a following. What it lacks is structure.
[founding date]
The Society is founded
Shaheen Farjo starts the Society of Arts and Letters at AUIB.
February 2026
The journal brief
A first brief, guidelines and rubric for a campus literary journal.
Spring 2026
The Typewriter Tour
A typewriter travels the campus and collects six-word stories, with permission to publish. It proves the campus will write when invited.
September 2026
Three programmes proposed
Second Chapter, a charity book drive for Natrok Athar; Waraq (working title), a bilingual journal; Side Quest (working title), a campus video series. Each with a full operating package.
October 13, 2026
Charter Day
The Constitution is ratified and the Society gets the structure to carry all of this.
The gap this plan closes
We have more ideas than people, more programmes than procedures, and a founder who will one day graduate. This plan, and the documents around it, turn a successful group of friends into an institution.
Who We Are
MISSION
To cultivate a culture of literature and creative expression across AUIB.
VISION
A campus where every student has a place to read, write, perform and make, and a Society whose work outlasts the people who start it.
MOTTO
والقرطاسُ والقلم
The paper and the pen
VALUES
1 · Open door
Free, for every student, in every college, in both languages.
2 · Craft
We take the work seriously, even when it is fun.
3 · Two languages, one page
Arabic and English on equal footing.
4 · Care
Consent before cameras, safety before spectacle.
5 · Every dinar visible
Money is counted twice and reported.
6 · Built to last
Written down, handed on, archived.
Instagram @auibsal Telegram The Common Room
Four Pillars
The pillars come from the Society’s founding overview. Every programme must serve at least one; the Council asks which, every time it greenlights one.
Connecting students
Bring people from every college into one room, and one publication. We measure: Share of members from outside the humanities; joint events with other clubs
Fostering creativity
Turn private drafts into finished work, with deadlines, editors and stages. We measure: Submissions to Waraq; pieces performed at Scratch Night; workshop attendance
Celebrating culture
Arabic and English side by side; Iraqi writing next to world writing. We measure: Share of Arabic content; translations published; Majlis guests
Building a community
A society people stay in for four years and come back to after. We measure: Two-semester retention; volunteer hours; alumni at Charter Night
Which programme serves which pillar
| PROGRAMME | CONNECTING | CREATIVITY | CULTURE | COMMUNITY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waraq | ● | ● | ● | |
| Side Quest | ● | ● | ● | |
| Second Chapter | ● | ● | ● | |
| Typewriter Tour | ● | ● | ● | |
| The Majlis | ● | ● | ● | |
| Open Pages | ● | ● | ||
| Scratch Night | ● | ● | ● | |
| Book Circle | ● | ● | ● |
Learning from the Old Societies
The best campus literary societies have lasted two centuries. We borrowed what made them last, and left behind what made them exclusive.
| SINCE | SOCIETY | WHAT THEY DO | WHAT SAL TAKES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1795 | Dialectic & Philanthropic Societies UNC, USA Philolexian Society | Among the oldest student societies in the US. Its members built a library of over 10,000 volumes that seeded the university library, and chose a motto that still stands. Weekly Thursday meetings of debate and literature, | A motto; the SAL book-swap shelf; the archive left to the Library on dissolution Motion Night; Bad Poetry |
| 1802 | Columbia, USA University Philosophical | the magazine Surgam, and the famous Joyce Kilmer Memorial Bad Poetry Contest. New members earn their place by taking part. Paper readings and debates every Thursday; an | Night; voting rights earned by taking part A small elected Council; SAL |
| 1848 | Society, “the Phil” Trinity College Dublin Footlights | elected council of nine officers; medals for the best paper and speaker, and honorary patronage for distinguished guests. Informal “smokers” where anyone can try new | Prizes; Honorary Members Scratch Night and the theatre |
| 1883 | Cambridge, UK The Elizabethan Club | sketches before an audience, and a path from there to full productions. Founded for students and faculty to talk about | ladder The Majlis, with tea, where |
| 1911 | Yale, USA Al-Rabita al-Qalamiyya, | literature over tea, served every afternoon of term, beside a vault of rare books. Gibran, Naimy and their circle met in salons and set | faculty come as readers Bilingual by design; translation |
| 1920 | the Pen League New York The Harvard Advocate | out to renew Arabic literature, writing across two languages. Boards by craft (art, fiction, poetry, features, design, | as a craft; the salon Departments by craft; the |
| Today | Harvard, USA Al-Mutanabbi Street and | business, tech) and a “comp” through which newcomers join. A city whose book market and Abbasid-era translators | three-week Apprenticeship Our motto; the name Waraq; |
| Always | the House of Wisdom Baghdad | are the oldest literary society we can claim. | the Mutanabbi Walk |
What we did not borrow: invitation-only membership, secret initiations, and fees. SAL is open, free and public, and our traditions (six words on the typewriter, the Ribbon) are ones anyone can join.
The Programme Portfolio
STANDING PROGRAMMES · EACH WITH A CHAIR AND A HANDBOOK
Waraq
The bilingual journal (working title). Two issues a year, read blind, launched in public. Issue 1: February 24, 2027.
Side Quest
The campus video series (working title). Six episodes a semester; pilot premiere November 19, 2026.
Second Chapter
The charity book drive and fair, every fall. Edition 1: November 1–11, 2026, for Natrok Athar.
Typewriter Tour
The Society Typewriter on tour every spring, collecting six-word stories for the archive and Waraq.
REGULAR PROGRAMMES · RUN BY THE DEPARTMENTS
The Majlis
Monthly salon with tea: a guest, three readings, open conversation. Faculty welcome as readers.
Open Pages
Writing workshops, twice a semester, with editors on hand.
Book Circle
One book a month, alternating Arabic and English.
Scratch Night
Try a scene, poem or sketch in front of friends. The first step on the theatre ladder.
Motion Night
“This house would burn the classics.” A literary debate, once a term.
Bad Poetry Night
The worst poem at AUIB wins. Low stakes, high laughter, many new members.
Gallery Wall
A rotating wall of student art and photography.
The Mutanabbi Walk
A Friday visit to al-Mutanabbi Street, with Student Life approval and a safety plan.
ANNUAL MOMENTS
Charter Night
Every October: the anniversary, the Founders’ Roll, new members type their six words.
SAL Prizes
From Year 2: prizes for writing in Arabic and English, awarded at the AGM.
The AGM and the Ribbon
Every April: reports, results and the handover.
Term Card
Each semester’s programme on one printed card, in the Oxford tradition.
A Year in the Society
The 2026–27 academic year. Exam weeks are kept clear once the University calendar is confirmed.
| STREAM | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC | JAN | FEB | MAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governance | Opening GA | Charter Day · Open Call Call opens | Deadline | Semester report Selection | Spring Open Call Editing | Launch Feb | APR MAY Elections Elections · Handover Committee AGM · Ribbon Issue 2 call |
| Waraq | Oct 18 Pilot shoot | Nov 26 Premiere | Reels | Season 1 | 24 Episodes | Episodes Finale | |
| Side Quest | Drive prep | Nov 19 Drive · Fair | Impact | prep | |||
| Second Chapter | report | Tour Pages to | |||||
| Typewriter Tour | Open Pages | First Majlis | Majlis · Book | Majlis | archive Majlis · Majlis | ||
| Letters | Circle | Scratch | Motion Night Bad Poetry | ||||
| Stage & Arts | Welcome | Charter | Spring | Night | Night SAL Prizes | ||
| Community | evening | Night | Welcome | (Yr 2) |
The rhythm
Council every two weeks. One Majlis a month. One big programme moment a month. Nothing big in exam weeks.
The Term Card
Each semester’s dates are fixed by week 3 and printed on one card, so members can plan around us.
The summer
A half-day planning retreat for the new Council in the first week of term: budget, calendar, work plans.
Three Years
Foundation, growth, institution. Each year’s goals are reviewed at the AGM and rolled forward.
Year 1 · 2026–27
- Constitution ratified; recognised by Student Life
- Council of 8 seated; first Open Call
- All four standing programmes deliver: Second Chapter Ed. 1, Side Quest pilot, Waraq Issue 1, Typewriter Tour
- Monthly Majlis from December
- First elections and a clean handover
- 60 registered members, 25 voting
Year 2 · 2027–28
- All 10 Council seats filled by students who joined after founding
- Waraq Issues 2 and 3; Side Quest Season 1 in full
- First one-act festival; Motion Night; Bad Poetry Night
- SAL Prizes launched
- Alumni Circle and the first reunion at Charter Night
- 120 members, 45 voting; 5 active club partners
Year 3 · 2028–29 · Institution
- A full theatre production
- An inter-university student letters day with other Baghdad universities
- A Waraq issue fund that pays for the next issue in advance
- Handbooks reviewed and reissued by a Council that never met the founder
- 200 members, 70 voting
- SAL named in AUIB welcome materials as a campus tradition
The one test that matters
In October 2029, will Charter Night be run by people who never met the founder, with more members than the year before and a programme nobody on the founding team imagined? If yes, the plan worked.
Measures
Targets are estimates for a new society and will be reset each April against real numbers. The KPI tab in the Operations Tracker fills in the actuals.
| MEASURE | YEAR 1 | YEAR 2 | YEAR 3 | OWNER |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered members | 60 | 120 | 200 | Membership |
| Voting (active) members | 25 | 45 | 70 | Membership |
| Two-semester retention | 50% | 60% | 65% | Membership |
| Council seats filled | 10 / 10 + deputies | President | ||
| Events held per semester | 6 | 10 | 14 | Programmes |
| Average Majlis attendance | 15 | 25 | 35 | Letters |
| Waraq submissions per issue | 80 | 100 | 120 | Waraq EIC |
| Arabic share of Waraq pages | 25% | 35% | 40% | Waraq EIC |
| Side Quest episodes released | 1 (pilot) | 6 | 12 | Media |
| Second Chapter raised (IQD) | 1.5M | 2M | 2.5M | Partnerships |
| Volunteer hours logged | 600 | 1,200 | 2,000 | Membership |
| Club partners with an MoU | 3 | 5 | 8 | Partnerships |
| Ledger matches receipts at Audit | 100% | 100% | 100% | Treasurer |
| Minutes sent within 72 h | 90% | 95% | 95% | General Secretary |
| Second Chapter targets follow its proposal (1.5M IQD illustrative). Waraq targets follow its plan of record (80+ submissions, 25% Arabic pages). |
Resources
A modest core budget for the Society itself. The standing programmes carry their own budgets, set out in their proposals.
Core budget, Year 1 (estimate, IQD)
| LINE | BASIS | IQD |
|---|---|---|
| Majlis: tea, printing, guest thank-you gifts | 8 × 320,000 40,000 | |
| Open Pages workshops: materials | 4 × 60,000 15,000 | |
| Welcome evenings | 2 × 150,000 75,000 | |
| Charter Night | 1 250,000 | |
| AGM, elections and the Ribbon | 1 100,000 | |
| Print: term cards, membership cards, certificates | 200,000 | |
| Typewriter: ribbons, paper, servicing | 50,000 | |
| Contingency (10%) | 113,000 | |
| Total core | 1,243,000 | |
| Estimates, not quotes. The Treasurer replaces them with real prices in the Tracker before the budget is adopted. |
Programme budgets (from their plans)
| Waraq Issue 1 | ~2,500,000 |
| Side Quest pilot | ~200,000 running |
| Second Chapter | costs only; proceeds go to the charity |
| Typewriter Tour | to be planned |
Where money comes from
- Student Life support for recognised societies (to be requested)
- Waraq copy sales into the Issue fund
- Partners and sponsors under the Partnerships Policy, from Year 2
- In-kind: rooms, printing, faculty time
Never membership fees
People are the real budget
Year 1 needs about 18 people in Society roles plus the programme teams, roughly 60 hours of volunteer time a week in term. The Open Call, the Apprenticeship and recognition are how we pay for it.
Risks
The risks to the Society itself. Each programme keeps its own risk register.
| RISK | LEVEL | WHAT WE DO ABOUT IT |
|---|---|---|
| The founder graduates and energy leaves with them | High | Elections in April 2027; a Founding Advisor year; handover dossiers; Year 2 Council fully post-founding |
| Too many programmes for too few people | High | Staffing by stage; the smallest working Society; the Council says no to new programmes until seats are filled |
| A few people do everything and burn out | Medium | Two roles at most; honest hours; step-back always allowed; deputies named |
| Approvals arrive late and events slip | Medium | The General Secretary as single contact; lead times in the Playbook; Plan B dates in each programme |
| Content upsets someone on a sensitive subject | Medium | Expression & Content Policy; editorial independence with clear limits; Faculty Advisor and Advisory Board |
| Money is lost or questioned | Low | Two-person cash rule; receipts in 48 h; semester Audit; charity money kept separate |
| Membership stays within one college or language | Medium | Outreach through partner clubs; Arabic and English in everything; Bad Poetry Night as a low-barrier door |
Keeping the Plan Alive
A plan that is read once is a brochure. This one is reviewed on a fixed rhythm.
| WHEN | WHAT | WHO |
|---|---|---|
| Every Council meeting | Programme updates against the Term Card | Directors, chairs |
| End of each semester | Semester report (F-25) with the measures; one page to Student Life | President, General Secretary |
| April, at the AGM | Annual Report; next year’s targets proposed | President |
| First week of fall term | Planning retreat: budget, calendar, work plans, targets adopted | New Council |
| Spring 2029 | A new three-year plan, written by members who were not founders | Council |
Decisions for the founding team before Charter Day: the motto; the Arabic name; the founding date to record in the Constitution; the three founding officers; the Faculty Advisor; and whether the Stage & Arts and Partnerships seats stay combined for Year 1.