Empowering Students to Achieve Excellence

It is essential to hold meetings on a regular basis and to inform students when meetings are scheduled. The meeting times and locations can take a variety of forms to meet the needs of your student body. Because of the integral nature of SkillsUSA to CTE programs, many chapters will hold their meetings during the school day within each class period to give everyone an opportunity to be involved. However, it is fine to get creative and hold chapter meetings when they work best for your students and their school day. 

• Mirror the chapter meeting by holding it once in the morning and again in the afternoon so all students can participate in one of the meetings.
• Assemble the chapter members for a large group meeting in the cafeteria, common area or gym, and then schedule committee meetings so smaller teams can work on projects.
• Conduct chapter meetings before school or after school.
• Conduct evening meetings.
• Gather the group for a virtual meeting outside of school hours using Zoom, Microsoft Teams or a similar technology. Meetings are where the work of the chapter is accomplished, and decisions are made by the members. To keep members engaged and regularly attending, chapter meetings should be meaningful, productive and purposeful.

Goals for chapter meetings may include:

• Provide an opportunity for chapter members to participate in decision-making processes to determine Program of Work activities, officer elections and recognition programs.
• Set up committees to plan, implement and report on the Program of Work activities.
• Have FUN! Conduct activities that allow members to get to know one another and have a good time.

A Chapter Officer Election Toolkit is available to download on the this page. This toolkit walks advisors through the process of promoting elections, hosting interviews, establishing a Meet the Candidate event and electing chapter officers.  

Before beginning the Chapter Officer Election process, ensure candidates fully understand the duties of the office for which they desire to campaign. Below are a few of the roles and duties that officers may perform.

PRESIDENT

• Guides the chapter and officer team in setting goals 
• Presides over meetings
• Keeps members informed and maintains order
• Signs chapter certificates and important documents

VICE PRESIDENT

• Presides over meetings when the president cannot
• Responsible for managing the chapter’s committees to complete the work of the chapter
• Carries specific responsibility for program planning
• Assists the president and assumes the presidency if the position is vacant before end of the term

SECRETARY

• Keeps all chapter records
• Advises the president on agenda matters and prepares meeting agenda
• Takes notes and prepares minutes of each meeting
• Oversees all chapter correspondence

TREASURER

• Maintains membership records
• Keeps a record of all chapter funds
• Maintains records of chapter income and expenses
• Oversees the chapter budget

REPORTER

• Communicates news to chapter members, administrators, school community and the public
• Captures photographs and videos of chapter activities
• Uses a variety of communication tools to manage the image of the chapter including social media, local newspapers, radio, television stations and SkillsUSA websites
• Writes news releases or blogs, creates vlogs or videos and writes captions for photos

PARLIAMENTARIAN

• Be familiar with and refer to Robert’s Rules of Order during meetings
• Has a working knowledge of parliamentary procedure or a willingness to learn
• Works with the president to ensure parliamentary procedure is followed
• Offers guidance to members during meetings for effective and efficient meetings

Serving as a SkillsUSA chapter officer and receiving training is invaluable professional development for students! 

Why should your chapter be involved in the full SkillsUSA Program of Work (PoW)? When a chapter provides rich experiences in all six categories, it empowers students to become career-ready. The Program of Work is a road map for the kinds of activities your chapter will conduct every year. From project management to creating a budget, advocacy efforts or event coordination, the Program of Work is a laboratory in which students can experiment, reflect and receive coaching and feedback while gaining knowledge and new transferable skills.

Program of Work Resources

For more information and resources, visit the SkillsUSA Program of Work webpage. The SkillsUSA Program of Work can be found in SkillsUSA Absorb.