Fall Conference:
Plan, organize annual fall camping conferences for section
This involves choosing and reserving the location, dates, and theme far enough in advance to be able to advertise at the spring conference at the latest, recruiting volunteers for the conference committee, recruiting workshop presenters, any speakers or entertainment, planning the schedule, registration, meals, etc.
Awards:
Voting on (and often nominating) someone for section Environmental Educator of the Year
Council positions/vitality:
Recruiting, appointing, electing volunteers to the section council – keeping positions filled with qualified and interested members. Main positions to keep filled at all times are Chair, Chair-elect, Secretary, Newsletter Editor, Outings and Adventures Coordinator.
Other potential positions include Membership Liaison/Conference Registrar (someone to coordinate with state membership regarding new memberships from conferences, and to coordinate with CFO regarding budget, income from conferences and other sources), section PR committee member – to coordinate with state PR and help publicize our events locally, charitable donations coordinator for section and section-hosted state conferences (get prizes, awards, and scholarship donations) – work with state position if there is one. Newsletter committee could include people that deal with printing and mailing, instead of putting it all on the newsletter editor. Things like Inclusivity committee members/chair are also council positions.
Members-at-large are interested volunteers to attend meetings, participate in discussions, and vote on issues, and also provide a pool of volunteers for committees and position openings.
State positions, such as Membership, CFO, PR, and Webmaster should also be involved on the council for the section in which they reside, and having members-at-large and other positions on the council also creates a pool from which to recruit for statewide positions as they become available.
Newsletters:
The council communicates with the newsletter editor on important items to be included in each newsletter, such as conference information, registration forms, calls for presenters, outing descriptions, nomination forms for EE-er of the Year and Howard Bell, “word from the chair” and other articles from the council – introductions, calls for volunteers, etc., and the council should help solicit and/or write articles for the newsletter as well. The council also reviews each newsletter before publication, to make sure essential information is included and there are no errors. See Newsletter Editor description, and Newsletter Content Guidelines for more information.
Statewide Spring Conferences:
Every other year, each section will host the annual statewide spring conference. During a conference year, the section council has additional duties of planning and organizing the state conference. Recruiting volunteers for the conference committee is especially important for the spring conference, as it is much more work that the fall conferences. See Conference Coordination pages for more information. The section chair generally is also the conference coordinator, as that becomes their main job during that time. They can, however, delegate this position, but are still ultimately in charge of making sure it gets done.
Participate in State Meetings and discussions on statewide issues:
AEOE needs an active and engaged board to be an effective organization. This means, that even if as a state council member other than chair or chair-elect, you do not have a vote on issues, that we want and need to hear your voice. You represent the members of your section, and your opinion counts! The State Exec. Board needs your input and recommendations for making decisions – problems occur when few attend state meetings, decisions are made, and then people later complain or disagree. To prevent this from happening, make sure your voice is heard before and during meetings where decisions will take place. See the meetings minutes page for past meeting minutes and schedule meetings.
General Communication:
Make sure events (meaning conferences, outings, and meetings) are well-publicized – that the webmaster is given information needed as well as BOTH section newsletter editors and the PR/Outreach person.
Make sure any items affecting the budget are discussed or approved by the CFO and state board.
Make sure decisions, appointments, and elections are shared – introduce new council members, even via email, make sure their information gets sent to the webmaster for the contacts page, to the newsletter editors for the contacts section, and that they are added to the email lists.
Make sure meeting minutes get taken, are accurate, show decisions, and get shared and posted online. (council should review minutes before they are posted)
Council members should read and respond to emails requesting input, and keep the rest of the council informed about any issues they are working on.
Council members should plan to attend all council meetings.
Understand the Bylaws, Policies, Guidelines, Mission, and Vision of AEOE :
This isn't a council activity, but everyone on the council, especially chairs and chairs-elect, needs to familiarize themselves with the Bylaws of AEOE as well as understand Policy and Nonprofit Guidelines. Everything the council does should be guided by the AEOE Mission and Vision. Click on the links to learn more.