Job Description: President

The President acts as the leader of the chapter and has the following goals:

• To represent and lead the chapter
• To act as the administrator of the chapter
• To work with the other members of the Administrative Council to complete activities and projects

Specific Responsibilities

• Preside at Administrative Council and chapter meetings, lead the other elected officers and committee managers, and monitor the chapter’s projects to keep them on schedule. Obtain some knowledge of each committee’s operations.
• Give officers, directors, and committee managers support, and enable them to do their assigned functions. Make sure they have the help they need to do their jobs. Provide support, enthusiasm, and a confidential ear.
• Make sure the President Pro Tem is elected by the Administrative Council at the first Board meeting. (not sure this shouldn’t just be the Vice President)
• In addition to attending regular chapter meetings, support various chapter activities with your attendance.
• Represent the chapter to outsiders and to the rest of STC. Maintain relationships with STC leaders and projects, and ask for support as needed. Promote what the Houston Chapter is doing to STC leaders and leaders of other professional organizations.
• Try to attend the STC Summit (annual conference) in May, including the Sunday Leadership Workshop, the Awards Banquet, and other STC business sessions or social events.
• Write the president’s column for each issue of Dateline Houston, and get it to the editor before the deadline.
• Submit articles to Tieline (News and Notes) about Houston activities, or delegate to other members to do.
• Send the Society office the list of officers and Administrative Council members for the coming year. Make sure the STC office has the correct individuals for President, Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, Membership manager, and Employment manager. These names and contact information are listed in the STC Administrative Directory.
• Send the Society office the list of competitions that the chapter will sponsor for the new year.
• Work with the committee manager or director who is responsible for the Chapter Achievement Award application. Ensure that the form is submitted on time.
• Make sure all directors and committee managers have copies of last year’s Chapter Achievement form, so they know what kind of activities are expected/valued by the Society and which of those activities the Houston chapter did last year.
• Review/revise the new member welcome letter that the Membership committee sends out.
• Schedule Administrative Council meetings so that they avoid major holidays, the STC Summit (annual conference), and other STC events. Distribute to the Administrative Council and committee managers.
• Create and maintain a Calendar of Events for all chapter activities and all deadlines. Distribute to the Administrative Council and update as needed when you receive information from the Society about various events and deadlines and when committee managers submit their activity plans to the Administrative Council. Post the calendar to the chapter web site.
• Before each Administrative Council meeting, provide the Admin Council and appropriate committee managers with an agenda. Solicit feedback to the agenda, update it, and redistribute.
• With input from all of the directors, respond to requests from the Society leaders. The Society asks for quarterly chapter activity reports (Sept., Dec., June). The Society office asks for quarterly updates to the Administrative Directory. The Annual Conference Leadership Workshop managers ask for a list of members attending the workshop on Sunday.
• Distribute copies of Tieline (News and Notes) to the Administrative Council members.
• Generate a report of nonrenewing chapter members in January and February, and work with the Membership manager to contact nonrenewing chapter members.
• As needed, assist the directors and committee managers to plan and complete chapter activities:
• review and revise web site content
• schedule chapter meetings
• suggest program meeting topics and potential speakers
• suggest new or alternative meeting locations
• schedule the Competition Awards banquet or reception
• assist in finding a chapter with which to exchange entries
• schedule seminars and workshops
• suggest seminar and workshop topics and potential speakers
• create an agenda listing the order of events and announcements for each regular program meeting; distribute to Program Committee manager and other managers whose activities are included in the announcements
• assist in recognizing chapter volunteers
• assist in nominating members for Fellow, Associate Fellow, Jay Gould Award, the Distinguished Chapter Service Award, and the STC Houston Person of the Year
• assist in nominating members for Sigma Tau Chi
• Give all volunteers appreciation for their work.
• Help the treasurer close the chapter financial records for the year: (In June)
• update budgeted and actual expenses
• appoint an independent auditor to review and approve the chapter’s financial records after the accounting close (June 30th)
• document any outstanding financial issues for the incoming President and Administrative Council
• Help the treasurer file chapter IRS financial reports with the Society Treasurer in a timely manner, so that the chapter can receive the membership dues rebate in a timely manner.
• Change the vendor billing, bank account signatories, Postal Service bulk rate permit, and post office box signatories to reflect the new President, Vice President, and Treasurer.
• With input from all of the Admin Council members and committee managers and volunteers, update the committee and officer job descriptions. Changes will come from committee managers and officers feedback as they learn about their duties and perform activities and from Board meeting votes that change current policy and practices. Pass on to your successor.
• Review chapter activities and sunset inactive areas and committees to focus on delivering the most value to members with the available resources.
• Complete an end-of-year report (with input from all of the Admin Council) that includes an updated list of vendors, list of chapter software, and other chapter information that the incoming President will need to know. Pass on to your successor.

General Responsibilities

• Acknowledge team for their work.
• Coach team on resolving issues.
• Give the Volunteer Name Collector information about your committees’ volunteers for recognition, Society awards and nominations, and for future chapter officer candidates. If you can, assist in the write-up of recognition articles and award/nomination forms.
• Prepare a budget of expenses and income.
• Provide monthly activity updates to the Admin Council.
• Serve team by eliminating barriers to productivity.

Resources Needed

• Ability to spend about 6 hours a week on chapter work throughout the year, sometimes during business hours.
• Ability to hold 10 telephone calls a week during business hours, often more; some calls are long distance.
• Ability to attend most of the chapter functions for general membership and to periodically attend SIG, Share-the-Knowledge, and Seminar meetings and workshops.
• Company support.
• Committee managers and members as needed.
• Computer system to store chapter data.
• Access to fax machine and/or email.

Meeting Availability

• Most of the chapter functions for general membership
• Periodically attend SIG, Share-the-Knowledge, and Seminar meetings and workshops
• All Admin Council meetings

Deliverables

Receivables