Delegation Resource Manual: Club Work
Page 8
YMCA PA Youth & Government Program
I stress to you that this is the President’s responsibility to get this info to your Club as soon as
you are made aware of it.
Meetings/Attendance
1.
Knowing when to schedule meetings can be hard. Depending on the size of your Club, you may
be able to consult with all the members. If it is a larger organization, set a time and day of the
week that seems to have the least conflicts. Of course your advisor and/or Y-staff should also
be at all the meetings. In fact, most schools and YMCAs require the advisor to be present.
Remember, you can’t accommodate everyone; therefore you must pick the best fit for your Club
as a whole. People must prioritize their own schedules. Try also to make the meetings regular.
For example, every first and third Monday of the month or however often you feel is necessary
to meet. Keeping it consistent helps people to remember when meetings are.
2.
Every Club must also determine how attendance affects your chances of attending the Model
Government Convention. Many Clubs have enlisted a point system. You get a certain number of
points for being on time and attending meetings. If your Club is not delegated enough spots, the
students with the least amount of points will not be able to attend the conference. Either way, it
is very important to have students sign in at meetings so you have a record of who was in
attendance.
3.
Tardiness and people leaving early was a problem for my Club at the beginning of the year. To
curve this problem, we would not let people sign in until the end of the meeting. Then people
cannot simply come sign in and leave (this can be very difficult for larger Clubs to keep track of).
Oh, this is important…. ALWAYS START ON TIME! If you say you are going to start at
2:00pm, START. Do NOT wait for people you “know” are coming. The Club will get into the
habit of you starting late, and they will start arriving late as well.
4.
As far as running meetings, be sure you and your officers have come up with an agenda
beforehand. Know who is talking when, and about what. It helps if you have the resources to
make copies of the agenda and hand them out to Club members as they enter. This can help
them remember important dates/deadlines, etc. if they have it written on a paper in front of
them that they can stick in their backpack. You could also have an overhead projector so
members know what you’ll be talking about at the meeting. This helps keeps things focused and
on topic! Try not to digress from your plan unless it’s important….this keeps meetings from
being too long! Plus, you’ll start to lose the attention of your members.
The Bottom line
Attitude and enthusiasm are the grease for wheels of your Club. I promise, that this can (and will)
make ALL the difference in the success of a Club. The members are always looking at the President
and officers. If they have a positive attitude, that will be passed on to the entire Club. You have to
have enthusiasm!! If you are genuinely excited about Y&G, everyone else will be too!
Don’t forget that Y&G is a “youth-led, youth-run” program – which basically boils down to it being
the responsibility of the Club leadership to set the path for its membership, and as the Club’s
fearless leader you have to guide your group.
