HE 378
PRESIDENTIAL POINTERS
by Ann Hancook, Extension Specialist, Program Organization
The members of your group put their trust in you when they elected you their president. The position presents both an opportunity and a challenge. You have the opportunity to contribute to the success of the group by using your leadership skills. The challenge is for you to provide the best leadership possible. Your reward is the growth of your leadership abilities.
Tools of the Trade
Just as a carpenter uses a hammer and saw to put together a house—you have tools to build an effective organization. The organizational tools are.
1.	Constitution and bylaws
2.	Agendas
3.	Officers
4.	Committees
5.	Members
6.	Meetings.
Effective use of these tools will minimize time investment, effort, and conflict, while maximizing service, growth, and development of members and leaders. Keep in mind that the tools are only as good as the skill of the user.
Constitution and ByLaws
Some organizations have constitutions, some have bylaws, and some have both. Generally, a constitution contains information that is not changed.
This includes:
1.	name and objective(s)
2.	qualifications of members
3.	officers and their elections and brief duties
4.	meetings (leave the specific details for bylaws)
5.	how to amend the constitution.
Bylaws include more specific information. It is usually easier to amend the bylaws than it is to amend the constitution.
An effective constitution should clarify basic procedure and offer guidelines before situations become troublesome. A constitution usually states what to do if an officer resigns before a term ends. A policy such as this, written before the problem arises, is most beneficial.
Agendas
To get anything done in a meeting, you need an agenda. An agenda is a list of topics or problems to be discussed. It provides an “order of business . Preparing the agenda is a crucial step in improving organizations’ functioning. If your group always seems to have more things to do than it has time tor-then it is not unusual. An agenda helps you sift through all of these things and establish priorities. Groups who refuse to set priorities run into several difficulties. They either...
■	work overtime
■	never get through the agenda or
■	rush through everything without time for important items.
The agenda belongs to the entire group. It is not the property of the president or officers. Members should be given the opportunity to provide items for the agenda as it is being formulated. Prior to each general meeting, the president or the officers prepare the agenda. At the start of each meeting, the agenda is adopted by the membership.
Officers
The officers of the group work together as a team. They share their talent and ability with each other and with the organization for the betterment of the
Generally, the elected officers make up the board of directors. This is your team. You should call a meeting of the board prior to each membership meeting. At this time, the agenda can be formulated
Cooperative Extension Service, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana