Leadership Transition

Chapter Leaders offer vision and direction to their Chapter, while taking care of the logistics, relationships, and finances for Chapter activities. Both new and continuing Chapters will need to select their leaders. Possible roles include:

• The president facilitates all meetings and has the authority to act on behalf of the organization when matters require immediate action. A vice president to run meetings in the president’s absence and act as a consultant on any issues requiring group leadership is suggested.
• The Secretary records the minutes of the meetings, or simply documents the main decisions reached and the next steps to be taken, and shares this information. The Secretary may also handle the registration and other organization of the Chapter.
• The Treasurer is in charge of all financial records and prepares the budget.
• The Outreach Committee Chair is responsible for identifying and recruiting new members to the Chapter. He/She shall also coordinate the publicity and recruitment for specific chapter events with other committee chairs.
• The Global Health Action Committee Chair is responsible for the annual Global Health Week of Action (GHWA) in April.  In addition he or she works with the National Student Program Coordinator to implement priority campaign events and actions.  A toolkit is available for the GHWA.
• The Health and Human Rights Education Committee Chair coordinates HHRE initiatives. A Toolkit is available for HHRE. HHRE Mentors, who are students who have successfully introduced HHRE initiatives, are available as well.
• Other issue committee chairs can be created at the discretion of the President to coordinate priority issues, events and/or campaigns for the chapter.

When you have chosen your new Chapter leaders, please submit your new contact information to ensure your Chapter’s new officers are officially recognized and are receiving resources, invitations to special events, and personal support from the national office. The new leadership team should also contact the National Student Program Coordinator immediately to to ensure uninterrupted contact with the National Student Program.

During a turnover of the PHR student chapter to new leaders, it is crucial for the transition to run smoothly so that the club does not lose momentum or member interest. Ideally, the new leaders would be selected well before the end of the academic year to allow for sufficient overlap and for the new leaders to shadow the current administrators in their roles.

If you decide to wait until the fall to name new leaders, the current leaders will continue to receive PHR communication. Please be sure to continue distributing relevant information to the other members of the Chapter.

Current leaders should can facilitate a smooth transition to new leadership and ensure a strong start next year by capturing and transmitting information like PHR and other human rights resources, speaker contact information, protocol for event management at your school, as well as any tips and advice the veteran team may have.

• Document how to host an event, including how to reserve a room at your school.
• Create a contact list and make note of previous speakers.
• Make sure all passwords and keys have been handed over.
• Put together a one-page “lessons learned” memo so that others may learn from your experiences.
• Assess and document issue and advocacy resources (See Develop Resources on the Student Blog).  
• Host a fundraiser.