Generally, clubs are given a lot of freedom concerning the process by which they select new officers. The following are some guidelines that need to be adhered to:
The following are important dates for officer elections:
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Your Club’s selection procedures in writing must be turned into your PA via email and copy Ben Warren by 5pm on February 12, 2016. This should be specific and include the following:
- How you are announcing your process to interested students.
- Dates of announcements, application process, interviews, selection of new officers, etc.
- A copy of your application attached to the email.
- Your club may begin the application process as soon as PA approval has been given.
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The names of all students applying for an officer position in your club are due to Ben via email by 5pm on February 21, 2016.
- This should be in an excel spreadsheet format with the following fields: Last name, First name, Club Name.
- I use this list to verify their eligibility to run for office and will let you know if certain names are ineligible.
- February 29 - March 10 will be considered the Interview Stage in which you may set up Interviews with the prospective execs who applied to your Club. Your club will then have Spring Break to deliberate and create 1st, 2nd, & 3rd choices for each of your positions.
- The window for selecting new officers is March 21 through March 27, 2016. No one can be selected before and no one can be selected after this window. On March 20th, 11:59 PM, clubs can begin sending offers to the prospective execs via email or facebook. The student who has received the offer will have until 5pm on March 21st to respond via a Google Form which will be given to the current execs. After receiving a Decline from the prospective exec, the club may send out new offers at 11:59 PM of the same day. The responses will then be due by 5pm the next day. Your club will cycle through this process until all your positions are filled.
- Once a student accepts their 2016-2017 exec position, it is final and they may not swap positions. However, if the student decides to step down, they may do so in the week of March 21-27.
- The confirmed New Officer lists should be submitted to Ben by 12pm on March 28, 2016.
Conducting Selections
Many of the clubs follow specific guidelines as laid out in their constitutions regarding the selection of new officers. The specific format of the selection process may vary from club to club depending on the club’s size, needs, and purpose. However, the following guidelines must be held to in order to ensure a fair and equitable process for all interested candidates:
- The selection process must be predetermined by the club’s executive board and approved by the Program Advisor (see Conducting Elections worksheet). The selection process, once determined, may not change once the process begins.
- Each club should make a reasonable attempt to announce the details of their selection process to potentially interested students. It is not acceptable to only give this information to those who the current officers want to have as next year’s officers.
GPA/Point Requirements
In order to be eligible for an office, first year student candidates must be on 2nd semester privileges (at least a 3.10 GPA and 30 or fewer points). In order to retain the office after their junior year, all officers must be eligible for 3rd semester privileges following the spring semester of their junior year. Elected officers will not be able to make up grades during the summer for the sake of retaining his/her officer position.
Applying for and Holding More than One Position
Club officer positions can be time-consuming and involve significant responsibility. For this reason, no student can hold more than one club officer position. However, you may apply for more than one officer positions. If in the event you are selected for more than one of these positions, you must choose one and give up the other(s).
Transition of Power
In order to ensure proper training of new officers and a smooth transition of power, the outgoing executive board is required to continue with their duties in a joint fashion with the new executive board until April 10, 2016. The following steps should be taken to aid in the training of the newly elected officers:
- The old board should come up with some way of celebrating the new board.
- The two boards will meet during the weekly executive meetings.
- Each outgoing officer is required to set up a 30 minute meeting with his/her corresponding officer on the new executive board to discuss job duties, expectations, and how-to skills.
- The two boards are required to put on one program together for the purpose of training the newly elected officers. The outgoing officers should walk the new officers through each step of the process – reserving rooms and equipment, filling out necessary paperwork, purchasing, planning, and evaluation.
The newly elected club officers will be required to attend a New Leader training session. More details will follow on this event.