Leadership Toolkit: Organizational Roles

Learn more about the different people and groups within CSEA that you will be working with as a committee leader, as well as your role as a Committee Chair.
 

Board of Directors

The CSEA by-laws describe the board’s role is managing and directing the business of the association, as well as promoting its development and growth. Specifically, the board:
  • Develops and updates the organization's strategic plan that includes short and long-term objectives.
  • Develop and enforce organization-wide policies and procedures to ensure uniformity, structure and consistency in areas where needed.
  • Delegates management tasks to staff and committees to further the work of the association.
Board members are elected each year by the general membership. A call for nominations is distributed to members in early Spring each year. Statements of interest from candidates are reviewed by a nominating committee, and a representative slate is put together for a membership vote.


Executive Director

The Executive Director works closely with the board to implement the strategic objectives of the association. Committee-related responsibilities include:
  • Serves in a leadership and oversight role for all committees to ensure consistency and provide institutional knowledge and direction.
  • Assists with decision-making and workload to ensure high quality work across all programs and services.
  • Additional responsibilities include: marketing, social media, program development, operating communications procedures, developing project plans/timelines, cross-committee collaborations, managing staff and contractors, and assisting with committee and leadership transitions.
The Executive Director is a member of all committees and is included in committee and committee chair communications and committee meetings.


Board Liaison

A Board Liaison is assigned to each committee to serve as communications conduit between the committee and the board. His/her role includes the following:
  • Helps communicate and enforce the board’s policies and procedures.
  • Answers questions about the strategic plan.
  • Provides regular reports to the board regarding the committee’s progress, including formal reports June and December.
  • Represents the interests of the committee to the board and requests assisstance from the board as needed.


Committee/Task Force Chairs

Committee or Task Force Chairs work closely with the Executive Director and Board Liaison to manage the work of the committees/initiatives in the following ways:
  • Help ensure organizational policies and procedures are being followed
  • Assist with budget management as needed
  • Manage regular meetings
  • Delegate tasks as needed/appropriate
  • Communicate with committee/task force members regarding procedures, policies, expectations, timelines and processes. 
Chairs are selected by the Executive Director and President, with input from additional leaders as appropriate. Chairs are members who have demonstrated leadership skills and interest, who have ideally participated on the committee or initiative before and are able to make the necessary time commitment.

CSEA leaders are expected to represent the organization in a professional way at all times, both internally and externally. This includes supporting decisions made by organizational leaders and/or committees.


Committee/Task Force Members

Committee/task force members complete the important work of the committees and initiatives. Assignments and time commitments vary depending on the role. The specific committee roles and responsibilities are outlined in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s), which are reviewed and revised by the Executive Director and committee members on an annual basis.
 

Committee Selection Process

  • A volunteer expresses interest in serving on a committee through a number of ways:
    • Conference evaluations - conference attendees are asked to sign up for committees when they complete evaluations for each conference.
    • Conference sign-ups - attendees are provided with on-site sign-up opportunities at in-person conferences 
    • Volunteer form - all members receive a "Call for Volunteers" in July, which contains a link to a Volunteer Form 
    • Organic - the Executive Director, a board member, or another organizational leader receives an inquiry from a volunteer
  • All new volunteers complete a Volunteer Form, which can be found online. This provides important information about their committee/task force interest, skills set, background and availability. This must be completed by ALL interested volunteers, even if they participated on the same committee in the past. The Executive Director determines committee assignments based on requested areas of involvement and skills set. If someone expresses interest in more than one committee/area of involvement, the Executive Director reaches out to the volunteer to ask for their preference. 
  • Note: the Standards and Awards Committees are by invitation only due to the steep learning curve and specific knowledge set needed for those areas.