Hello engineering friends!
As you might know this spring we have elections for all of the Executive positions in the Society! This includes President, VP Education, VP Internal, VP External, and VP Finance. Leading up to the nomination period each week one of the current Exec will be posting a blog post detailing what each of our positions actually does, what an average day is like, where we see the portfolio going, and why we love our jobs. Watch out for all our posts and get in touch if you want more information!
Check out my first post below on the role of President in the Engineering Society!
The Role of President
The President of the Society is responsible for overseeing the direction of the Society as a whole and managing the entire team of Executive, commissioners, directors, volunteers, and the staff. They are responsible for ensuring that the Society is running smoothly and that the Society continues to grow to meet the needs of students. The President also oversees the communication portfolio and has to ensure that the Society is communicating as effectively as possible.
There isn’t really an average day for the President but some tasks include preparing for council meetings, sitting on committees, meeting with the Executive, working on new initiatives, and talking with students about issues. Each President is able to cater their experience to how they want to grow the Society and what individual initiatives they are working on.
As the Society has continued to grow into a more professional organization I see the portfolio of the President growing to include even more student advocacy, more involvement in the Faculty administration, and placing a larger emphasis on introducing new services for students. As the directors and commissioners each year continue to excel and plan great events and services that frees up more time for Executives to focus on improving the Society. The President has the unique opportunity to oversee each portfolio and by collaborating with the other Executive it is possible for the President to work to improve every aspect of the student experience.
Lastly I did touch on this in a previous blog post but I can’t write an article about the role of the President without saying how much I have truly enjoyed the Executive experience and this position in particular. As President you get to be involved in everything and have to be capable of knowing when to step in and help out. You learn to be able to multi-task like a pro, write policy in your sleep, and chair more meetings then you would have thought possible. I have gotten to work with an absolutely fantastic team of Executive who I have been able to see grow into one of the best Executive teams I have seen.
Anyway that’s all from me for now! If you are interested in the Elections or possibly running for a Exec position check out my past blog posts that go over why you should consider running and the process of the elections.
Why You should consider running for Executive
Guide to running in the Spring 2015 elections
Thanks!
Leila Meema-Coleman
President Engineering Society ‘A
president.a@engsoc.uwaterloo.ca