Employer Advisory Board SOP

One of CSEA’s strategic objectives is to increase membership and engagement of our employer members. In order to reach this objective, it’s necessary to gather feedback and input from our existing employer members to ensure we are serving them well. In addition to asking employers to join the Board of Directors and take a leadership role on committees, the Employer Advisory Board will serve as an additional resource to gather advice and recommendations for the Executive Director and Board of Directors.  

The specific goals are to:

• Serve in an advisory capacity to the Board of Directors and Executive Director to help guide strategic decisions.  
• Ensure employers are represented in decisions made by the board, staff, and committees.  
• Help promote the association to potential employer members, either by providing first-hand knowledge about the value of membership and/or reaching out to employer colleagues as appropriate.  

Examples of the role the Advisory Board might play include:

• Share topics of interest to employers for programming that could be delivered via webinars and conferences.  
• Observe what other professional organizations are doing to engage employers, and provide CSEA with advice and best practices as a benchmarking tool.
• Review the Recruiter Benchmarking Survey and provide input into questions and format.  
• Provide input into new programs and services being considered by the board or committees.  
• Encourage other employers to join CSEA as they meet other companies during networking opportunities.

Structure/Commitment

An employer member of CSEA will be selected by the President and Executive Director to chair the Advisory Board. The chair will facilitate the meetings, as well as assist in the selection of Advisory Board members.  

Advisory Board members will be invited to participate by the Executive Director and/or Advisory Board Chair based on their commitment to the institution and importance to the association. When possible, diversity of company size, type of hire (MBA vs Specialty Masters programs) and industry will be considered. There are no specific terms for participation; members will be asked to serve until no longer available. The Advisory Board will consist of a majority of CSEA members, with a limited number of spots available for non-members to use as a recruitment tool.

The Advisory Board will meet once per quarter via conference call (approximately 90 minutes), and would also be available as a resource via email as needed. The Executive Director will manage communications in an effort to streamline the time required and coordinate feedback efforts. The agenda for the meetings will be set by the Advisory Board Chair and Executive Director and will include an update from the Board. The President and Executive Director will attend Advisory Board meetings, and the Executive Director will report back to the Board of Directors and committees as appropriate.

Leadership Roles

Executive Director

• Oversees and is a member of the Advisory Board.
• Is included in all leadership and group meetings and communications.
• Is consulted about anything the group will be bringing to the board.
• Manages board communications and meeting arrangements, including scheduling meetings.
• Along with the President, selects the Advisory Board Chair.
• Along with the Advisory Board Chair, selects group members.
• Serves as liaison among all CSEA committees and groups, assisting with opportunities for cross-committee and group communication and collaboration when needed.

Advisory Group Chair(s)

• Along with the Executive Director, selects board members.
• Chairs board meetings.
• Works with the Executive Director to create an agenda for board meetings, and distributes the agenda in advance of the meeting.
• Ensures that notes are taken during the meeting and distributed to the board after the meeting concludes (note: it's recommended that the chair appoint a board member for this task).
• If needed, follows up with board members in between meetings to help manage group commitments. For example, if the group decides to assist with employer outreach for the conference, the chair would follow up for updates on how the outreach is going.