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To reach
Membership Services, National Officers, RTs or any other staff
members at AMSA's National Office, call |
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In large chapters,
a treasurer often coordinates fundraising. In a small chapter,
the President may be responsible for these duties. |
Transitioning
| Making Chapter Elections Work | Ensuring a Smooth Transition |
MAKING CHAPTER ELECTIONS WORK
INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER ELECTIONS
Before you can transition, you need to elect new chapter officers! As February and March come closer, you're probably thinking ahead to AMSA's National Convention, encouraging first-year students to attend, and thinking about transitioning your responsibilities to a new set of chapter officers.
Your chapter's official Constitution and Bylaws or Chapter Charter probably specifies a mechanism for electing new officers; but if not, here are some ideas to help your chapter get the most out of elections and to start the new year off on the right foot. When deciding when to hold your elections, be sure to keep in mind the impact that National Convention will have on attendees. By holding elections prior to the convention, your new chapter officers can attend this event and be activated and inspired to do great things for your local chapter next year. On the other hand, you can encourage active members who have leadership potential or who have expressed interest in being a future chapter officer to attend the National Convention.
IDEAS FOR CHAPTER LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE
The Chapter Management Section of the Chapter Officers Conference Handbook offers two ways to organize your AMSA chapter officers. Many chapters combine these two structures and either can be successful. The task is to figure out which one works best for your chapter and to make that everyone understands the structure and their role within your leadership.
OFFICER BASED CHAPTER - the elected officers are usually a president, vice president, treasurer and secretary. Specific groups or committees of members are formed as needed to address specific projects. This structure can be very effective if enthusiastic individuals with excellent delegation skills are in leadership positions or if the chapter is very large and reaching a group decision would be difficult.
COMMITTEE BASED CHAPTER - the leadership consists of a group of students who make consensus decisions as a whole, often with the help of a designated chairperson or facilitator. This structure allows responsibility to shift from one person to another, an important feature when working with busy medical students. It is especially effective in struggling or new chapters in which each AMSA member can take part in chapter management.
GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF CHAPTER OFFICERS
The following list of responsibilities pertains to all local chapter officers and can be found in the PPP, AMSA's official policy.
- Coordinate the annual membership drive for your chapter.
- Facilitate activity within your chapter.
- Coordinate programs and activities at the chapter level.
- Communicate with your chapter members through chapter meetings to discuss and review issues of concern to medical students.
- Communicate your chapter's activity to your regional trustees and national office.
- Provide feedback to your regional trustees and national officers about the concerns of your chapter's members relating to AMSA policy, programs, and activities.
- Be an active member of AMSA in good standing.
JOB DESCRIPTIONS FOR CHAPTER OFFICERS
Every AMSA chapter has a different niche and different needs. Your chapter structure will reflect the specific needs, activity and size of your medical school; but AMSA does encourage chapters to elect a President, a Legislative representative and Action Committee Representatives. All other officers are at the discretion of your chapter; however you may want to elect a recruitment coordinator, a chapter treasurer, and an official delegate for AMSA's House of Delegates.
PRESIDENT - the buck stops with your chapter president. While it is great to have many students involved in leading your chapter, one person- the President- needs to be accountable for the many responsibilities involved in leading a student organization. Many chapters elect to have two co-Presidents, but they are careful to split up tasks so that each individual is responsible for explicitly different jobs.
TREASURER - we suggest that your chapter President and Treasurer be jointly responsible for your chapter's finances. The Treasurer can be responsible for creating a budget for the year: developing a strategic plan to accomplish your fundraising goals; managing your chapter's money, check writing, and expense approving; and for raising and distributing funds for regional and national conference attendance.
RECRUITMENT COORDINATOR - this person will be a very visible part of your fall and winter recruitment drives, so choose an extrovert- someone who revels in the spotlight but who will also pitch in to get the job done. The coordinator may organize events such as a picnic/barbeque, a big sibling/little sibling activity, or a survival seminar as part of recruitment efforts. After you select your coordinator, relay his/her name to your regional trustee and Membership Services by calling 1-800-767-2266. AMSA will provide all of the needed supplies for your recruitment drive.
LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVE - the Leg Rep is your chapter's primary contact with AMSA's Legislative Affairs Director and with legislative activities of the Health Policy Action Committee. This officer can distribute information from the National Office about current legislation affecting medical students; serve as the key link for communicating local and state legislative issues affecting medical students to AMSA's National Office; and facilitate local chapter member involvement in legislative issues.
ACTION COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVES - AMSA has six action committees (AC's): Advocacy, Community and Public Health, Global Health Action, Health Policy, Humanistic Medicine, and Medical Education. The AC representative serves as an intermediary between their respective AC and the local chapter, and distributes information concerning activities and projects on issues related to each AC. This person should subscribe to the AC list serves and post interesting news on your organizational bulletin board or common areas at your school; promote AMSA opportunities to chapter members; attend programs coordinated by the AC's at the National Convention; and coordinate local projects on AC issues. For example, AMSA's Health Policy Action Committee has held several regional Political leadership Institutes this year. A Health Policy AC Liaison could coordinate regional PLI attendance by students from your medical school.
If you elect AC liaisons before the national convention, you can assign these individuals to attend the meeting times and programming coordinated by each AC to familiarize themselves with their respective committee. If you elect AC liaisons after the national convention, encourage those attending convention to find an AC they're interested in, attend the programming, and volunteer to become the AC liaison for the next year.
NATIONAL PRIMARY CARE WEEK COORDINATOR - AMSA encourages all our chapters to celebrate National Primary Care Week (NPCW). You need at least one student coordinator to organize the week's events and to serve as a contact for the AMSA National office. Have your coordinator sign up online as soon as possible! Because NPCW is an interdisciplinary effort, students from all health profession disciplines (nursing, public health, social work, physician assistant, dentistry, etc.) are eligible to become local coordinators. We encourage coordinators representing each of the health professions to work together to create NPCW at the local level. As a local NPCW coordinator you will have the opportunity to:
- Meet leaders in primary care and invite them to speak during NPCW;
- Work with health professional students and your local Area Health Education Center to plan the week's events;
- Involve your local elected officials and the media in your NPCW activities; and
- Organize a week's worth of events to further your classmates' understanding of primary care.
OFFICIAL DELEGATE- each year at National Convention, the House of Delegates (HOD), the official legislative body through which AMSA creates national policy, meets to discuss current resolutions to the organization's Constitution and Bylaws or to the PPP (Preamble, Purpose and Principles). The official delegate from each medical chapter is the policy maker for that chapter: he or she votes on the policies that define what AMSA is and what it stands for. Your chapter is represented in the HOD on the basis of membership- one delegate is authorized for every 200 members or fraction thereof. The Official Delegate can be responsible for discussing resolutions and candidates for national office with your chapter members before the National Convention, and for facilitating discussions about AMSA's policy so that your chapter can make informed decisions on each resolution. This person is then responsible for voting in the HOD based on the chapter's collective decision/opinion. Delegates need not be experienced in parliamentary procedure to take part in the House of Delegates.
ENSURING A SMOOTH TRANSITION
A smooth transition from the outgoing officers to their successors is the key to a successful year. It is the responsibility of the outgoing officer to make plans to transition with incoming chapter officers. The best time to transition is soon after elections, while the old officers are ready to pass on their wisdom and you are excited about getting started. Timing is crucial, especially if old or new officers are taking Step 1 in June! Here are the basic requirements for transitioning:
- Set up a time to meet with all outgoing and incoming chapter officers. Ask incoming officers to bring any questions they may have about running a chapter, and ask outgoing officers to bring any important materials to pass on.
- Contact Membership Services at 1-800-767-2266 and notify AMSA of the mailing address, phone number, and e-mail of each new chapter officer, or fill out the online form.
- Discuss fundraising with new chapter officers and develop a budget together.
- Discuss details of this year's projects and make recommendations for next year.
- Develop a timeline highlighting local, regional and national events.
Identify new chapter officers to your national contacts
If you are the old or new chapter President, you are a major link in the information chain for your chapter. Contact Membership Services at 1-800-767-2266 and notify AMSA of the mailing address, phone number, and working e-mail address (especially if you are moving over the summer!) of each new chapter officer, or fill out the online form.
Next, contact your regional trustee (RT) or associate trustee (AT) (for medical chapters), premedical trustee (PT) or premedical associate trustee (PAT) (for premedical chapters), or international trustee (IT) or associate international trustee (AIT) (for international chapters) and notify them of the new leadership. It is vitally important that you complete this step so that our trustees can contact the new chapter officers and invite them to the Chapter Officer's Conference in July.
New chapter Presidents should call your trustee ASAP and let them know you are taking over. Trustees communicate with Chapter Presidents every month or so. If you need their help and you haven't heard from yours recently, call them! Trustees have a budget for long distance calls to chapter officers, so don't hesitate to ask them to call you back. We can't stress enough the importance of getting accustomed to staying in touch with your trustee.
Contact your Dean's office
Ask your predecessor about the level of support the Dean's Office has provided to AMSA in the past so that you will have reasonable expectations. While some Deans provide thousands of dollars for conferences, others provide minimal support. It is rare to find a Dean who is not supportive of student organizations in some way. Make an appointment with the Dean or other customary contact person to introduce yourself and outline your goals. Ask your Dean how he/she envisions AMSA's role as at your school? How does that perception differ from your own? With your contact person, discuss details: copying, phone costs, mailing, supplies and direct funding. A friend in the Dean's office can save your chapter time and money down the road.
Explore your fundraising options
Develop a draft budget for the upcoming year with the associated costs for each planned project or event. This budget will guide your fundraising efforts. Ask your predecessor which fundraisers were most successful and which were labor intensive. With the outgoing officers, create/obtain a database of potential contributors, including the Dean's office, clinical departments, medical supply companies, local doctors and local merchants. Record the outcomes of your interactions with each contributor, noting particular times of year when funds become available, guidelines for giving and reasons for giving or not giving. Your budget should be used to demonstrate to contributors what your chapter does with its money. Fundraising is covered in great detail at the COC in July, and a very complete guide to fundraising is available online.
Discuss chapter projects
Record the who's, what's, when's, where's, why's and how's of all of last year's projects. Ask your membership whether or not the projects are worth continuing. Perhaps they have ideas for new or improved projects! Identify possible coordinators to continue your projects and allow them to transition with outgoing coordinators. Let them know that you are a resource for help as well.
Finally, develop a chapter timeline with local, regional and national events
This timeline should be a collaboration between the incoming and the outgoing officers. A schedule of the major happenings in your chapter's year coordinated with the big National events is always a useful tool.