Chal Jan14
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Transcript of Chal Jan14
This newsletter is a joint effort between Herff Jones and Leadership Logistics © 2014
VOL 17 #6
A HERFF JONES BELIEVE IN YOU RESOURCE FOR STUDENT LEADERS
REDEFINING THE VICE PRESIDENCY
The role of the vice president in
many organizations is not very
well defined. Everyone knows the
vice president is supposed to fill
in for the president when needed,
but what is there to do the rest of
the time? For students who serve
as vice president, the challenge
becomes redefining their role to
give it meaning and substance
apart from filling in for the
president.
JOB DESCRIPTION
The first thing a student elected to
the vice presidency should do—
after celebrating the victory—is
check the organization’s bylaws
to discover the defined duties of
the job. If the only thing listed is
“assumes the president’s duties
if necessary,” the vice president’s
first job should be to work on
revising the bylaws to more clearly
define the role. Additional duties
of the office of vice president often
include:
• Works closely with the president,
advising and assisting on all
organization issues and activities
• Coordinates the work of the
committees and typically chairs a
major committee
• Works with the president and
treasurer in budget and calendar
preparation
• Helps the president prepare the
meeting agenda
• Works behind the scenes to help
iron out conflicts between people
• Serves as chairman of the
elections committee, and, as such,
supervises all elections related to
the organization
• Attends all activities of the
organization
• Assumes other responsibilities as
assigned by the president.
WORKING WITH THE PRESIDENT
Several duties of the vice president
include working alongside the
president so the vice president
stays informed and up to speed on
all issues. Rather than considering
this a passive role, the vice
president should take an active
part in determining what will
be on the agenda for meetings,
helping establish the calendar, and
planning the budget. The best vice
presidents serve as an executive
assistant or partner with the
president.
WORKING WITH COMMITTEES
A major responsibility of the vice
president is to check on the status
of each committee’s work and
ask questions to help guide the
work. Frequent check-ins with
committee chairs to keep tabs on
the committee’s work will head off
problems before they develop.
The V.P. should go beyond the quick
“how’s it going?” and ask detailed
questions that are specific to the
project: “Have you found a DJ yet?”
“Who’s designing the tickets?”
“What kind of food is planned?”
The committee chair’s ability—or
lack of ability—to answer these
types of questions will give a good
indication of how well the project
is progressing.
If things aren’t getting done or the
chair appears to be struggling, find
out why and what can be done to
facilitate things. Saying something
like “I’m concerned that the
decorations will not be here in time
if we order them from the catalog,”
opens an opportunity to discuss
all the options available and helps
the committee chair think through
what needs to be done. The V.P.
should be careful not to take over
the project though—helping the
committee chair accomplish what
needs to be done will help that
person develop leadership skills
and will keep the vice president
from becoming overwhelmed with
everyone else’s work.
When the committee’s work
is finished, as the officer most
familiar with its work the vice
president should take the lead in
giving credit where it is due. Note
challenges overcome and praise
generously.
CHAIRING ELECTIONS COMMITTEE
Another major responsibility of
the vice president is to oversee
the elections process. Rather than
simply doing what’s always been
done, it’s a good idea for the vice
president to look at the procedures
with an objective eye to determine
if there is room for improvement.
Discuss the possible improvements
with the president and adviser
and make any changes well before
election season.
When elections roll around, the
V.P. should ensure the elections are
well publicized so all interested
candidates will hear about them
and have the opportunity to run
for office. Putting a few messages
on the morning announcements
is generally not enough to ensure
quality candidates. Consider other
methods of getting the word out
and encouraging students to run
for office—e.g., give every current
member of your organization two
applications with the instruction
to hand them out to two students
who they think would be good
officers; create a video PSA and
have members send a link to it
to all their friends; offer a profile
image for members to use on social
media that highlights the dates of
the elections; and so forth.
OTHER DUTIES AS ASSIGNED
The “assumes other responsibilities
as assigned by the president” part
of the job description is where
the vice president has the most
potential to add substance to the
position. These responsibilities can
vary from year to year, depending
on issues the organization is facing
or special projects that crop up.
Some items that might fall into this
category include:
• Serve as liaison to state and
national organizations. This could
involve ensuring that dues are
paid, awards are applied for, and
items of interest from newsletters
and other communications are
shared with members.
• Focus on teambuilding within
the membership. This could
involve planning social events
for members to get to know one
another, conducting icebreakers
or boundary breakers at meetings,
and remembering birthdays.
• Keep up with social media
postings. If there isn’t a specific
position for this, the V.P. would
be a good person to post items
about upcoming events and build
awareness of the group’s activities.
DEALING WITH A NEGATIVE
PRESIDENT
What happens if you’re a vice
president whose president isn’t
interested in working with the vice
president or is the kind of person
who wants to do everything him-
or herself? You should initiate a
conversation with the president
to let him or her know you aren’t
trying to usurp any authority or
steal the limelight. Make it clear
you have the best interests of the
organization at heart and just want
to help achieve the organization’s
goals.
If that doesn’t gain any traction,
try talking to the organization’s
adult adviser to see if some specific
tasks could be assigned to the vice
president. Once the adviser realizes
you are sincere in wanting to do
more than wait to fill in for the
president, he or she will likely be
willing to help you make it a more
substantive position.
Jon Speich
Graduation S ecialist
Representing Herff Jones
www.mygradshop.com