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

herffjonesmsp@gmail.com