what the heck is a committee?
(& other stuff you might not know)
Okay, say you're completely new to Students in Action, you've wandered your way over here, and you want to know what you can do to join. That's great! That's awesome! We're so happy to have you! Your only problem: You've got absolutely no idea what the heck we keep talking about. Maybe at the callout meeting, you were sitting there thinking, What is a committee? Or What is competition? Or maybe even What is community service?
Hey, it's okay. At one point, every single person in this club had no idea what they were hearing all about. Yes, even the officers. Yes, even the all-powerful Mr. Torres. They only knew that whatever those people in charge were talking about, it seemed super important. And chock-full of trade lingo like "committee," "target," "essays," and "student-led service."
So, here. A little Students in Action dictionary on committees, just for you.
If you're confused about competition, go visit the Competition? For Community Service? bit of the Know-How tab.
Any more questions? Yes? No? Unsure? Talk to an officer. Any one of us will do. You could even ask Mr. Torres, our really cool sponsor who knows all. One of us is bound to have an answer.
Hey, it's okay. At one point, every single person in this club had no idea what they were hearing all about. Yes, even the officers. Yes, even the all-powerful Mr. Torres. They only knew that whatever those people in charge were talking about, it seemed super important. And chock-full of trade lingo like "committee," "target," "essays," and "student-led service."
So, here. A little Students in Action dictionary on committees, just for you.
- committee: A group of people who gather to brainstorm, research, create, execute, and participate in a community service project within the club. (Used as a general term, it can also just mean the group of people + the project they're executing!) A committee could be formed based on interest in a certain problem, or you could form a committee with a bunch of your friends and determine the problem you're trying to solve later. Or any combination of the two, really.
- committee head: The leader of the committee. In most cases, the committee head is the person who has the idea for the service project. However, sometimes the committee head is just the most organized of the bunch, or was selected by the original leader of the committee to become the new committee head. Your committee head is automatically invited to leadership meetings, which are separate from normal club meetings, but any and all other roles of responsibility fall to the individual committees to decide.
- project: The community service aspect of the committee. The project is what you accomplish - the committee is who accomplishes it. Make sense? Think Death Star and those technicians from Eadu in Rogue One. The Death Star is your project, the Death Star technicians are your committee. Please don't make the Death Star your project, though. That goes against pretty much everything Students in Action stands for.
- population: The people you help in your project.
- target or goal: The amount of change you want to impart upon the community. This should be a measurable number, like 1,000 pairs of shoes, 325 pounds of food, or $4,500 dollars. If your project revolved around providing shampoo to the homeless, your target should be x bottles of shampoo.
If you're confused about competition, go visit the Competition? For Community Service? bit of the Know-How tab.
Any more questions? Yes? No? Unsure? Talk to an officer. Any one of us will do. You could even ask Mr. Torres, our really cool sponsor who knows all. One of us is bound to have an answer.
I'm a committee head...
(& I STILL HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT THAT ENTAILS)
So you've just started your own committee. Cue the confetti! But there's one small setback: You have absolutely no idea what being a committee head entails, and trying to manage people and run a project and report to SIA leadership is overwhelming and, well, frankly, way harder than it needs to be.
The good news: I'm here to fix pretty much all of that! I'm going to make things easier on you, and the leadership staff, so that our club can run smoothly and we can focus on what really matters, which is community service. Without further ado, here is Committee-Heading 101:
So, what's my real job?
Your real job is heading your committee. I know, I know, the title implies that much. But really, that's your primary responsibility. Unfortunately, "heading your committee" is a vague statement that covers everything from running point on all your projects, managing your committee members, coming up with great ideas and workshopping them, and being Ground Zero for communications within your committee. Plus, some other stuff I didn't include, and some other other stuff I've forgotten. Basically, being a committee head means that you're in a position of real leadership over a few or a lot of people, and you absolutely have to have your stuff together in order to do that.
If I'm in charge of, well, everything, what should I do first?
I'll go step-by-step, in order of importance.
Sound like a lot? Yeah, it probably is. I won't lie - being a committee head takes work. No one in Students in Action can sit back and idly twiddle their thumbs, but that rings especially true for committee heads.
Don't let me scare you off, though. Being a committee head is one of the coolest parts about being in Students in Action! Leading your own project that you're passionate about? Executing real ideas that will allow real change to be implemented in the world? Uh, yes, please. Plus, it's a great way to grow your leadership skills and potential while you're still in high school, and, yes, it does look great on college applications.
Still got questions about being a committee head? Let any of the leadership staff know. We can help you out.
The good news: I'm here to fix pretty much all of that! I'm going to make things easier on you, and the leadership staff, so that our club can run smoothly and we can focus on what really matters, which is community service. Without further ado, here is Committee-Heading 101:
So, what's my real job?
Your real job is heading your committee. I know, I know, the title implies that much. But really, that's your primary responsibility. Unfortunately, "heading your committee" is a vague statement that covers everything from running point on all your projects, managing your committee members, coming up with great ideas and workshopping them, and being Ground Zero for communications within your committee. Plus, some other stuff I didn't include, and some other other stuff I've forgotten. Basically, being a committee head means that you're in a position of real leadership over a few or a lot of people, and you absolutely have to have your stuff together in order to do that.
If I'm in charge of, well, everything, what should I do first?
I'll go step-by-step, in order of importance.
- Run your project. Whatever it is that you're doing within your committee, whatever project you've set out to finish, that should be your main goal. The committee only exists because you want to start a project - so make sure that you don't forget about your project in the midst of trying to manage a committee!
- Communicate - with your committee & with us. It's really important to make sure that your committee is engaged in the project; your peers are a wonderful resource to collaborate with and they can help take some of the weight off your shoulders. It's also really important to keep the leadership staff, especially Kara, our Chief Operating Officer, and Maya, our Director of Impact, informed on your current and future plans. To be an effective leader, you should definitely keep your peers and committee members in the loop on what your plans are, and how and when they change, inside and outside of our weekly meetings.
- Meet up! You are not limited to 30 minutes per week before school on Thursdays to work on your project. In fact, we wholeheartedly encourage you to spend more time together to work, brainstorm, and execute that idea you have. If you need to workshop with leadership, we can arrange that too - just ask us.
- Utilize the Internet. If there was one lesson I could communicate with all people who run projects in the 21st Century, it would be to use the Internet. Seriously. You can use social media to connect with people, websites to better explain your points. You could run a whole project online, if you really wanted to. I can't stress this one enough - whether it's just using Google Docs to communicate with your committee, or it's starting your own blog to write about your projects, you should be using the Internet.
- Tell us what you're up to. We don't want to be overbearing, but we actually do need to know what you're doing each week (for competition purposes), which is why someone on leadership will usually come and find you every meeting and ask you what you're up to and if you need any help. No amount of updating is too much updating! You can always give us problems, questions, comments, concerns, anything. That's what we're here for!
- Organize, organize, organize. I'm talking about people, I'm talking about documents, emails, communications, money, supplies, you name it, you need to be organizing it. Again, something that's easily done with aid of the internet - you can create folders for everything! Being organized is a key to leadership in the adult world as well, so sorting your committee's files out now is a great way to prepare.
- Come to leadership meetings. Please. You'll stay informed on the important Students in Action stuff, we'll help you out with your project, everybody wins.
- Help others out. If new people join your committee, you should be around to introduce yourself and explain what it is that you're doing. With Students in Action, you might also be helping out other committees with their projects, if they need volunteers. As a committee head, you can facilitate these interactions and provide help when it's needed to others.
- Come up with more ideas. One project just not cutting it for you? You can always start another one. If you're in the middle of running a project, you should definitely focus most of your brainpower on the already-active project, but you should also always feel free to start anew with a fresh idea.
Sound like a lot? Yeah, it probably is. I won't lie - being a committee head takes work. No one in Students in Action can sit back and idly twiddle their thumbs, but that rings especially true for committee heads.
Don't let me scare you off, though. Being a committee head is one of the coolest parts about being in Students in Action! Leading your own project that you're passionate about? Executing real ideas that will allow real change to be implemented in the world? Uh, yes, please. Plus, it's a great way to grow your leadership skills and potential while you're still in high school, and, yes, it does look great on college applications.
Still got questions about being a committee head? Let any of the leadership staff know. We can help you out.