Officer Duties

Table of Contents

President

The President is the leader of the Chapter and the manager of the Chapter affairs. As a leader he/she is to motivate subordinates so that they may perform their respective duties with diligence, initiative, and responsibility. As a manager, he/she must delegate to each subordinate the authority of his/her respective position and ensure that he/she accepts and performs the responsibilities of that position so as to enhance progress.

The President shall:

  1. Preside at each Chapter meeting.
  2. Schedule and preside at Executive Board meetings.
  3. In conjunction with the Treasurer and Faculty advisor, prepare a draft budget annually.
  4. Carefully staff the organization's committees by appointing responsible chairpersons.
  5. Make all decisions of the Chapter affairs that do not require voting by the Board or Chapter members.
  6. Call all special meetings including joint meetings of officers and committee chairpersons.
  7. Assure that all university registration requirements for student groups are met.
  8. Maintain a close contact with the Faculty Advisor (communicate at least weekly).
  9. Represent the Student Chapter on the affairs of the Association
  10. Have signature authority on all accounts.
  11. Conduct an election of officers and Board members for the following year.

Suggestions for effective leadership:

  1. Prepare an agenda for each meeting (both Chapter and Board).
  2. Designate responsible individuals for action items.
  3. Follow-up action items after meetings to see if designated individuals are accomplishing tasks. Offer assistance if the designated individual is having difficulty. Reprimands and accusations for failure to get things done doesn't produce long term effectiveness. Since most students have little experience in leadership roles they may overestimate their capacity to get things done or underestimate the amount of time it takes. Since academic performance is the first priority for every student, allowance should be made for slippage in the planning of schedules and provision for backup should always be in the back of the President's mind.
  4. The President should not assign herself/himself more than minimal responsibilities for action items. The President is to oversee many action items and deal with unforeseen requests for action and/or assistance - this will be a considerable effort without the addition of major work efforts.

Vice President

The Vice President shall perform the duties of the President in the absence of that officer and/or at the incapability or request to perform those duties delegated.

The Vice President shall:

  1. Arrange for meeting speakers.
  2. Coordinate meeting arrangements (see Meeting Room and Publicity Committees).
  3. Introduce speakers at meetings.
  4. Act as liaison with Activities Committee.
  5. Maintain liaison with Chapter/Section Liaison Member(s).

Suggestions for effective leadership:

  1. Once meeting topics are selected, immediately begin to make contact with potential speakers. Assume that potential speakers need 4 to 8 weeks notice to schedule your meeting. Once the speakers have made a verbal commitment, send them a letter confirming the date, time, place and topic. Provide directions for those unfamiliar with your campus and/or meeting place. Arrange to personally meet the speaker at the building entrance and escort them to the meeting room. After the meeting, make sure that a thank you letter is sent.
  2. Maintain a file of correspondence and a log of actions for use by the Historian and future Vice Presidents.
  3. At the beginning of the academic year send a schedule of meeting dates to the Liaison Member. One week prior to scheduled events, provide the Liaison Member with the details of the event (topic, time, place).
  4. Make room reservations for meetings early in the academic year for the whole calendar year.

Secretery

The Secretary is responsible for recording the activities of the Chapter and for official correspondence of the Chapter.

The Secretary shall:

  1. Be responsible for recording the proceedings of Chapter and Board meetings and distributing draft copies of these minutes at the following meeting for approval for members.
  2. Be responsible for all Chapter correspondence with other parties.
  3. Maintain a file (both hard copy and disk) of incoming and out going correspondence for the current and past year. Older correspondence is to be turned over to the Historian for preservation as warranted.

Suggestions for effective leadership:

  1. Review the past year's correspondence immediately after taking office to see the format for letters and find "form" letters used in the past. This will save you time in creating new material.
  2. Type all correspondence and minutes. Use Chapter letterhead stationery for correspondence.
  3. Use the meeting agenda as an outline for taking minutes. Note action items and individuals that are responsible for taking lead role. Set aside time immediately after meetings to draft minutes. They are easier to write when the meeting and notes you have taken are fresh.
  4. Prepare correspondence within one week after meetings. Particular attention should be given to "thank you" letters.
  5. Backup all files on multiple disks and store a spare set with the faculty advisor for safe keeping.
  6. Obtain letterhead stationery well in advance (or learn to create a logo on the computer and save it for future Secretaries).
  7. Remember neatness, organization, spelling and grammar count. Your correspondence is THE image outsiders will see of the Chapter. Proof read your work - don't count on the spell checker - remember "here" and "hear" will both spell check correctly. Similarly, the records you leave (or fail to leave) reflect directly on you as succeeding officers look in the files.

Treasurer

The Treasurer shall keep a complete and up-to-date account of Chapter moneys. Standard accounting and bookkeeping practices should be followed in maintaining these accounts.

The Treasurer shall:

  1. In conjunction with the President and Faculty Advisor, prepare a draft budget for the Chapter activities.
  2. Act as controller of accounts to assure that activities are within budget allocations.
  3. Report to the Board at each Executive Committee meeting. The report should include all expenditures and receipts since the last report, the balance of the Chapter checking account, the cash on hand, outstanding bills, and status of budget activities.
  4. Announce the current balance of Chapter accounts at each regular Chapter business meeting.
  5. Have possession of the Chapter checkbook.
  6. Have the authority to sign all checks as approved by the President and/or Faculty Advisor.
  7. Maintain a complete file containing all bills and receipts.
  8. Collect cash/checks.
  9. Reimburse any Chapter member who presents a receipt for any authorized purchase by the Chapter.
  10. Have signature authority on all accounts.

Suggestions for effective leadership:

  1. Obtain signature cards for Chapter accounts immediately after taking office. Since both the old and new treasurer may be required to present themselves at the financial institution, this should be a VERY high priority item on the change of administrations.
  2. Set up separate bookkeeping accounts for each budgeted activity and use this to control the flow of cash.
  3. Reconcile the checking account upon receipt of the bank statement each month and resolve any discrepancies immediately.
  4. Pay all bills immediately after receiving them.
  5. Prepare a detailed list of membership money received. It is a good idea to photocopy all membership checks in the case of mishandling in the processing.
  6. Maintain a careful record of donations and other incoming funds. Don't just make a deposit that says "deposit." Identify the donors and/or the explicit items in the fund raiser, e.g. Tee shirt sales, golf outing, etc.
  7. In the preparation of a draft budget (which can also serve as accounting control items) the following items are offered for consideration:
    • Income Expenditures Donations Activities - (field trips, fund raising)
    • Fund raising - (itemize by event)
    • National duesLocal duesNewsletter - (materials, photocopying)
    • National duesPhotography - (film, developing)
    • Program - (refreshments)
    • Publicity - (material)
    • Supplies - (postage, paper, reproduction)

The budget should , of course, take into account existing balances.

Historian

The Historian is the custodian of the Chapter records. The Historian shall:

  1. Maintain a complete up-to-date file of Chapter records concerning every activity that goes on. These records include membership lists, meeting minutes for all major and minor meetings, attendance records of each regular Chapter meeting, complete reports on each activity or project including names of participants, date, functions performed, etc., copies of correspondence, copies of Chapter publications, and other equally important records.
  2. Obtaining all other records from the respective officers or committee chairperson.
  3. Maintain a photographic record as appropriate.
  4. Prepare the Student Chapter Report to be filed with A&WMA headquarters for evaluation in the Student Chapter Award competition (See description given in Appendix A).

Suggestions for being an effective Historian:

  1. Attend all meetings and obtain records as they are created.
  2. Pay particular attention to gathering information to document the activities noted in the Student Chapter Award Criteria. Obtain photographs and news clippings that document events.
  3. Create a well organized filing system to maintain records.
  4. Maintain a scrap book of photos and clippings.