After looking at your Bylaws or searching the web, you may have noticed that the role of Vice President isn’t well defined. Other than “Assisting the President”, the VP doesn’t seem to have any other concrete tasks or duties.
Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that the role is insignificant, in fact, it can be a very influential role due to its flexibility. While the president is busy being the figurehead of the organization, you, the Vice President, can accomplish big (and little) things behind the scenes that fit your skills and interests.
But it doesn’t hurt to have a little structure. That’s why I’ve broken up the role of Vice President into four smaller roles and two optional roles. While these roles will provide you with some direction, it’s up to you on how you roll with them! (…pun intended)
Substitute President
We all know the infamous role of the Vice President is to fill in for the President if the President is absent or unable to serve. People get sick, have family emergencies, deal with car troubles, or get abducted by aliens (okay, maybe not that last one) and Presidents are no exception to the mishaps of life.
Filling in for the president doesn’t mean being a substitute like the ones from your high school days. Filling in doesn’t mean you’re just filler… You should be acquainted with the proper procedures for conducting meetings, preparing agendas, and checking minutes. In addition to the technical skills, you should be comfortable with speaking in front of your peers and being the impartial conductor of the group’s decision-making.
Above all, as Vice President, you should be in line with the President’s initiatives.
President’s Assistant
As VP, the president and you must be in sync as partners. Both roles share similar responsibilities and duties, and in a way, your role will serve as an extension of the President.
Student Organizations have several moving parts happening at the same time. Your group may be planning the mid-semester meeting while preparing for the kick-off meeting and within that same week, your advisor needs a representative to attend a university-wide event. As Vice President, you can attend events or speak on behalf of the organization with as much authority as the President, thus breaking up the presidential tasks in a more manageable way.
Here are some other ideas of things you can tackle as the VP:
- Help plan the agenda for Board meetings, giving particular attention to plans and actions of a particular group of Committees.
- Learn the general duties of all Club officers and Committees in order to substitute as may be required.
- Act as a sounding board for the President, listen to ideas and plans and advise when possible.
- Accept any special assignment presented by the President.
Head of Committees
One of the largest duties of the Vice President, and the one that takes up the most time, is typically overseeing committees. Depending on your bylaws, it’s the VP’s job to assign the Committee Chairmen, who’s the person that runs the committee, and to guide and manage those chairmen to help them do their jobs more effectively.
Depending on the committee, Committee Chairmen make great candidates for future officers, so keep this in mind when selecting new Chairmen!
Your organization may have many committees. These committees may be assembled for recruitment, event planning, marketing, technology, and more.
Usually, committees are made up of members taking on authority for the first time. These members may be passionate and ready to prove their worth to the group, but most of the time they still need coaching and direction.
As VP, it will be your job in assisting the committees in their success. This includes training the committees to function in the proper manner as recorded in the bylaws. You will also be responsible for managing the Committee Chairs by making sure they’re well prepared for their committee meetings and holding them accountable for specific goals and deadlines. It’s fair to say that you should be an expert on the matters of committees – How they should run, how they should communicate, how they should write reports, etc.
Some committee chairs may need more direction than others, and when this is the case, you should be available for one-on-one counseling sessions when they’re needed.
Don’t know much about committees? Start here. ( coming soon )
We won’t go into deep detail here about what managing the committees looks like, but essentially the VP should try to attend as many committee meetings as is reasonably possible, so she can help provide guidance and clarity on the committee’s goals to help keep them on track, as well as make sure they have the resources they need to succeed. Without appropriate guidance from the VP, a committee can easily end up being a waste of time, especially if they weren’t given good direction to start with.
At each Executive Council meeting, the VP should be able to speak on the activities of each of the committees. It’s his job to keep the Executive Council apprised of their activities, so all officers are on the same page. We’ve documented some easy ways to keep yourself organized with your committees here. (coming soon )
The Expert
The fact is, organizations flow better when their officers are knowledgeable. Your Treasurer was probably elected because they were either a financial guru or are passionate about learning the role. The same could be said for the Secretary’s skills and role in recording information and communicating with the organization.
As Vice President you are one of the top leaders of your group and people will look to you for answers. Since your role is so flexible, look for the gaps in your organization.
A weak point in a lot of student organizations is knowing how to handle problems as they arise. Having a strong grasp of the inner-working and history of your organization will resolve a lot of issues that your group encounters.
First and foremost, become familiar with your organization’s bylaws and constitution. These documents are (typically) carefully crafted to define the governance of your institution, literally stating the laws officers and members must abide by.
Why do these laws matter? These laws should address things like how to conduct elections, what to do when an officer “surprise” quits, how to define membership, how to make money for your organization, and much more. Basically, all those questions you’ve never thought to ask but will encounter sooner than later.
Being a Bylaws expert, allows you to take situations in the moment. And when you do get those inevitable questions of “What should we do?” from your fellow officers, you will gain their respect by having all the answers.
Besides Bylaws, other knowledge areas you might like to become familiar with are:
- Parliamentary Procedure
- You will be able to run meetings effectively and efficiently.
- Organization History
- Find out what worked and didn’t work for past officers! History is about learning from other people’s mistakes.
- Motivate members and officers with the origin story of the organization!
- Why is your organization a part of a regional or national chapter or why are they not?
- How the organization raises money
- Of course dues, but is your institution charging enough or charging too much?
- What school entities will give your organization money? Most of the time, it’s the University’s Student Government Association but you might be able to collect funds from your individual college.
- How does your organization conduct fundraising?
- Is your organization allowed to acquire sponsors? Do they already have regular sponsors?
I’m not saying that you need to be an expert on everything pertaining to your organization, but having some knowledge can help your group accomplish big goals!
Assisting Treasurer and President with Finances
Another duty of a Vice President is a financial one. While the President and the Treasurer work hand-in-hand to accomplish the financial goals of the organization, the Vice President should be just as involved! In many student organizations, only four people usually have access to the organization’s funds, the President, Vice President, Treasurer, and a trusted Advisor. At one time, I was part of a Fraternity, and we used paper checks that required two signatures, to help ensure responsible purchases were being made. Limiting the number of people authorized to use the organization’s funds is critical.
Optional: President’s Successor
In some organizations, in the event that the President is removed from his position or resigns, the Vice President normally transitions over to become the President. (When this happens, an ad hoc election will need to take place for electing a new VP.)
Of course, you should read over your Bylaws to determine if the Vice President is indeed the successor to the President.
Optional: President-Elect
On that same note, some organizations view the Vice President also as their President-Elect. A President-Elect refers to a president that has been elected but has not yet been installed. The reason some organizations do this is to provide the elected president proper training before entering the role of grand leadership. Training usually consists of the President-Elect shadowing the President while they perform their duties.
Just because you’re President-Elect, doesn’t mean you will automatically succeed in the role of president. An organization can choose to go a different direction with its leadership, so view the role of Vice President as a trial period. Prove to your organization that you have what it takes to be presidential material.
If your organization doesn’t view the Vice President as their President-Elect, but you would like to become president when the role becomes available, you can use the knowledge and experience you gained as Vice President as a selling point during elections.
After all, as Vice President, you have a lot of things going for you! You work closest to the current president, you interact the most with your fellow officers and committee members, and you are typically the resident expert on certain matters pertaining to bylaws, organizational structure, organizational history, parliamentary procedure, and(or) committees.
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