President  (elected officer)

The president is the chief administrator of the chapter, having overall responsibility for the operation of the chapter. In particular, the president is responsible for making sure the chapter is in compliance with the bylaws and policies of Great Outdoors and making sure all officers perform their duties. The president calls and presides over Core Group meetings. Prior to a Core Group meeting, the president should send out a proposed agenda to all Core Group members. The president presides over the election of new chapter officers each year at a general membership meeting.

The president should be a good leader, able to motivate volunteers to join the Core Group and able to diplomatically manage conflicts that arise within the chapter or with other chapters. The president should be familiar with all operations of the chapter, and ideally have been a member of the Core Group in some capacity at least one term of office.

VP Outings  (elected officer)

The VP of Outings is responsible for all outings (events of more than one day) of the chapter. The VP Outings solicits members to lead outings, and makes sure all outings are managed according to Great Outdoors bylaws and policies. The VP Outings prepares and maintains the chapter outings calendar and coordinates dates with other chapters via the Corporate master calendar. The VP Outings is responsible for making sure outing  documents are properly prepared and handled (including trip notes, registration form, expense form, etc.) by the trip leaders. Each fall, the VP Outings holds a trip planning meeting to assemble the calendar of outings for the next year in preparation for presenting the calendar at the annual Great Outdoors conference in October. The VP Outing ensures that new memberships received as part of trip registration are properly forwarded to the treasurer and membership coordinator.

The VP Outings should be a good leader, able to motivate volunteers to lead outings and willing to follow through that outings are being properly organized and led. The VP Outings should also be able to mentor new outing leaders. The VP Outings should be a graduate of the Great Outdoors Wilderness Education program (or equivalent training) and have led at least one outing previously with Great Outdoors.

Treasurer  (elected officer)

The treasurer is responsible for the chapter’s financial affairs, maintaining all accounting of chapter income and expenses. The treasurer deposits received funds to the chapter checking account and disburses funds as appropriate for chapter expenses. The treasurer tracks the income and expenses for each chapter activity. The treasurer prepares a financial report each month to present to the Core Group, and submits a monthly chapter financial report to the Great Outdoors corporate financial officer. The treasurer keeps all financial records, including reports and any bank statements, on file for a minimum of three years. The treasurer also forwards registrations received electronically and forwards new member information to the membership coordinator.

The treasurer must be detail oriented and should ideally have some basic bookkeeping knowledge. Proficiency with Excel is highly desired.

Corporate Representative  (appointed officer)

The corporate representative represents the chapter at Great Outdoors corporate board meetings. The corporate representative conveys the chapter’s opinions to the board and votes on behalf of the chapter as a member of the board. The representative reports all board decisions and actions to the chapter Core Group.

The corporate representative should be an active member of the chapter and ideally have been a member of the Core Group in some capacity at least one term of office. The representative must be willing to drive to board meetings held in the vicinity of other chapters.

Secretary  (appointed officer)

The secretary takes minutes during each Core Group meeting and sends out a formal write-up of the minutes to all officers within one week after the meeting. In addition, the secretary helps ensure that proper rules of order are followed in all Core Group meetings.

The secretary should be a good listener able to take accurate notes.

Membership Coordinator  (appointed officer)

The membership coordinator manages the membership roster for the chapter. The membership coordinator processes all new member registrations and renewals. The coordinator sends out renewal notices and sends out acknowledgements to all new and renewing members. The coordinator maintains a current roster of all members and reports the count of members (including how many are new and renewing) to the treasurer each month. The coordinator prints the newsletter each month and mails the newsletter to members who request a paper copy of the newsletter. The coordinator sends out email notifications of chapter events to members on behalf of the VP Outings and Day Activities Coordinator.

The membership coordinator must be detail oriented and must be able to reply to registrations and renewals in a timely manner. We currently use a Microsoft Access database to store membership information, so familiarity with databases is strongly desirable. The membership coordinator should also be able to compose bulk emails and do a merge of names and email addresses from the database.

Day Activities Coordinator  (appointed officer)

The day activities coordinator is responsible for all day activities (events of one day or less) of the chapter. The coordinator solicits members to lead hikes and other types of activities, and makes sure all activities are managed according to Great Outdoors bylaws and policies. The coordinator maintains the chapter day activities calendar and coordinates dates with the VP Outings.  The coordinator should forward email addresses of non-members collected from day activity waivers to the membership coordinator.

The day activities coordinator should be able to motivate volunteers to lead day activities and must be willing to follow through that activities are being properly organized and led. The day activity coordinator should also be able to mentor new outing leaders. The day activity coordinator should have day hike certification from the Great Outdoors Wilderness Education program (or equivalent training) and have led at least one activity previously with Great Outdoors.

Webmaster  (appointed officer)

The webmaster maintains the chapter website. The webmaster receives trip notes for outings from the VP Outing  and creates a summary description on the website and a link to the full trip notes. The webmaster also receives day activity notes from the day activity coordinator and creates an appropriate description on the website. The webmaster should notify persons submitting content to review the postings to confirm correctness of the posted information. The webmaster is responsible for posting all events onto the website in a timely manner and making sure the website is kept up to date. The webmaster can make adjustments to the look of the website, but must make sure the website is easy to use by members and satisfies its primary purpose to publicize chapter events. Every month the webmaster uploads the newsletter to the website and provides a URL to the membership coordinator to include in emails to members for downloading the newsletter.  The webmaster will manage renewal of the hosting service for the website.

The webmaster must be familiar with maintaining websites and have experience using the tools required to prepare and post content to a website. Familiarity with HTML is useful.

Newsletter Editor  (appointed officer)

The newsletter editor prepares the monthly newsletter for the chapter. The newsletter editor receives trip notes and day activity notes from the VP Outings and day activity coordinator and prepares summary descriptions of the events as necessary to fit within the newsletter. The newsletter editor can be creative with the layout of the newsletter, but must make sure the newsletter is easy to read and satisfies it primary purpose to inform members of chapter events. The newsletter can include content other than events in the newsletter provided that the content is consistent with the goals of the chapter. Content is due to the editor by the 15^th of each month. The newsletter editor sends out a draft of the newsletter to the core group and any content providers by the 22^nd of each month for proofreading. The newsletter editor emails an electronic copy of the newsletter to the webmaster by the  25^th of each month for uploading to the website. At the same time the newsletter editor emails a copy of the newsletter to the membership coordinator for printing copies of the newsletter.

The newsletter editor must be familiar with word processing software, including page layout features of such software. The newsletter editor must be able to write correct and understandable text, and should have a good sense of visual layout. The newsletter editor must be sensitive to original authors of content when editing material to fit within the newsletter.

Publicity / Outreach Coordinator  (appointed officer)

The publicity/outreach coordinator is responsible for promoting the chapter and Great Outdoors to the community. The coordinator will seek creative ways to spread awareness of the chapter and attract people to attend chapter events. The coordinator will manage chapter participation in community events such as festivals. The publicity/outreach coordinator will send out information about the chapter to other organizations.

The publicity/outreach coordinator must have excellent communication skills, both written and verbal. The coordinator should be creative, gregarious, and familiar with the various avenues available for promoting an organization to the community.