Information for the 2010 President's Academy went out last week. We are very excited to announce the new structure of this year's conference. There will be three training tracks available; one for incoming President's, one for (iServe) members, and one for any other collegiate member who would like to attend. There has been some discussion about the October 19th registration deadline for the President's so we're taking to the staff blog to explain why this decision was made.
For the first time there is now a full time staff member dedicated to educational programming and conferences. This means that the Fraternity will become significantly more organized and conferences will be planned at least one to two years ahead of time. This means there will be more opportunities to increase attendance because of advanced planning and more time to market each conference. We will begin this new trend with President’s Academy. In addition, President’s attend this event because of a grant from the Foundation. It is our hope to provide the opportunity for the President from each of our colonies and chapters to attend at no cost to the local chapter. By booking flights well in advance of the holiday, we keep transportation costs down which allows us the chance to invite more Presidents’s to attend at no cost. In addition, those flights are all booked by the staff which takes weeks of comparing costs, booking, and communicating those flights to the attending member.
The Holidays are a very difficult time for us to reach chapter members, as they are preparing for and taking exams in addition to traveling home for winter break. Many of our members leave campus before Thanksgiving and do not return until after the New Year. Keeping a registration deadline before November allows us to recruit members to attend, have ample time to book transportation, and the opportunity to send all major information about the conference to attendees before they leave campus for the Holiday. This helps us ensure that all communications are received before members become more difficult to reach over the winter break.
We would like all of our chapters and colonies to begin electing their President earlier in the fall term which allows for a more successful transition. The President of the United States is elected in November and takes office in February. The time after his election is spent preparing for his term in office by shadowing the current President to create a smoother transition. This is what we would like to see from our own chapters. The President should be elected in October, spend time transitioning and shadowing the outgoing officer, and then beginning his term in January when members return to school.
I hope this helps you understand why the deadline is earlier this year and will continue to be in October in the coming years. If you have any additional questions about President’s Academy Registration, please let me know at anita@phikaps.org.
To learn more about President's Academy, visit the event page.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Interesting... Why can't chapters send a delegate if the current president has already attended and they are not set to elect for some time? Why should a chapter have to move their election to this month with no notice? What harm is there is sending the delegate? This may have been more palletable if it was announced at Convention. Why weren't chapters asked for their input? What does the UGAC think of this?
ReplyDeleteAs you all know the deadline for the President's Academy had been moved to October 19th. This early deadline has come as a shock to the Missourii Mu Chapter just as it has to many of your own Chapters. This earlier deadline has caused us to make changes. We normally hold our major officer elections towards the end of November as many of your Chapters do, but have moved them up to next week so we can meet this deadline for registration. The main reason we moved our elections forward is to meet this deadline. After discussion of this change we believe it will work out for the better in the long run. While discussing this, we decided it would allow for more transition time between officers instead of new officers coming into office at the end of the semester and being thrown directly into everything. We are hoping this will allow for a smoother transition and turnover between officers. And although we have moved our elections forward our officers will still take office at the same time they would in the past.
ReplyDeleteKevin Hakenewerth
UGAC Vice Chairman
Missouri Mu Chapter
Missouri S&T
Forcing Chapters to move elections seems inappropriate. It really shouldn't matter who the chapter sends as it's delegate, sometimes the president has already attended as stated above. Perhaps it's appropriate to instill leadership in a future presidental candidate. This seems silly, arbitrary and unneccessary.
ReplyDeleteBrothers,
ReplyDeleteI think we can all agree the timing of the announcement for the 2010 President's Academy was too late. As leaders we face unforeseen challenges. The best of all leaders learn to adapt in the face of adversity and, if necessary, compromise to ensure they achieve a favorable solution.
What we are being asked to do is to select a president-elect, not a new president. Only chapters with presidential terms starting in January will be affected by the proposition. Every president will finish his normal term and the president-elect will not take office until January. Think of it as the same system the United States uses. We elect our president in November and he takes office on January 20th. The president-elect has no power and the current president retains all his rights.
There are a couple reasons we should accept the proposal. The first is that we will know who to register for the convention. Registration includes a plane ticket, hotel room, food, and other amenities incurred over the president's stay. Secondly electing a president-elect ensures a longer transition period between the current president and his successor. Remember you will not be eleciting a new executive board. The new executive board should and can be elected at the same time you would normally elect them.
In light of recenet discussion on the topic, the Undergraduate Adviosry Council (UGAC) has made it one of our priorities to better communications between chapter presidents and the Fraternity. In order for us to do this we need chapters to be accountable for providing us with updated and accurate rosters. Please keep in mind that the national office is small and only a handful of people work there. They are most often on the road visiting chapters and do not have the time to do everything for us. We must be self-reliant and do our part to ensure we are communicating effectively. Presidents should also share communication from the office and the Fraternity to their chapters. Please check your emails, Facebooks, and the http://phikaps.org website regularly. Communication is a two way street and we have to do our share of the work.
Thank you for your feedback on the topic. If you have any other questions feel free to contact your UGAC representative.
Take care,
T. Max Jasper
University of San Diego | Class of 2011
Chair | UGAC | Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity
VP Finance | Phi Kappa Theta | CA Phi Delta
tmaxjasper@msn.com