Executive positions

This page gives descriptions of the executive roles. For a list of people who served in these positions, see Executive. For annual reports, see Exec Reports.

Overview

Requirements for the Exec positions are pretty simple. You have to be a member of VOC, and further, you have to be a UBC student. Staff members, spouses of students, alumni members, and other such combinations are not eligible. You should be in Vancouver for the Fall and Spring terms (sometimes exceptions are workable - ask the current exec). You should plan to attend Exec Meetings (weekly).

Positions are filled by election, or by acclamation.

If you choose to be on the VOC Exec, this can give you invaluable experience working in a team, accomplishing vague diffuse goals.

A successful Exec learns to delegate. This is a very valuable skill in real life. If the only person you can trust to do the job right is yourself, then at least there's someone to do it, but this really limits what you can accomplish, and you'll soon get really pissed off doing it all yourself. Another thing you should learn, is to ask for help if you need it.

With so many Execs, communication is very important. Without weekly meetings, it is impossible to keep things flowing smoothly. If you do not expect to attend the Exec meetings, you will not know what is going on and your effectiveness will be pretty limited.

All Execs are expected to lead two Club trips during the year, open to all Club members, announced in advance, and not too life threatening. They should be fun, if possible. Most of us can do this with no trouble.

The term of office of each Exec member runs from the time they are elected until the next one is elected plus a little wiggle room. There is a Exec Potluck where the transition happens.

VOC Exec Positions

President

• Must have been on the VOC Exec of a previous year.
• Ensures the overall running of the Club.
• Maintains a personal relationship with each other Exec and mentors them in getting the most out of their role.
• Knows the responsibilities of other Exec's and tactfully makes sure that things get done.
• Deals with club emergencies.
• Coordinates Exec meetings and club projects.
• Ensures that the club maintains warm and reciprocal relations with the First Nations on whose land there are VOC Huts.
• A good position for someone who likes to help others shine.

Vice-President

• Keeps and posts neat, accurate, complete minutes of Exec meetings.
• Collects Club mail from the AMS mailbox and delivers it to Execs.
• Prepares an agenda for meetings.
• A good position for someone who is organized and is good at creating a comfortable environment for other Exec to speak during meeting.

Treasurer

• Must have been on the VOC Exec of a previous year.
• Ensures that the Club is following the current Budget.
• Prepares a new Budget at the end of the year.
• Provides guidelines for Club spending. i.e. How much gear can we buy this year?
• Arranges VOC payments as required, within the AMS guidelines.
• Ensures the cash box in the Clubroom does not contain much cash, and tracks cash flow.
• A good position for someone who is responsible and organized.

Huts Coordinator

• Determines what hut maintenance should be done so that the huts remain in good shape.
• Ensures that hut maintenance gets done properly and expediently.
• Advises the Exec on large maintenance projects that will need to be done in the next five years or so (e.g. roof replacements, building outhouses, etc.). Ensures the VOC is prepared and ready for such projects.
• Advises people, members and non-members how to get to VOC Huts, and what to expect there.
• Collects information from users, on the state of the VOC Huts, and advises Exec on problems that need to be dealt with.
• Makes recommendations regarding building of new huts, or removing/replacing existing huts.
• A good position for someone who is interested in VOC Huts and is enthusiastic about dealing with repair issues that suddenly arise.

Trails Coordinator

• Collects information from users on the state of the VOC Trails and recommends to the Exec if any work needs to be done on them.
• Makes recommendations regarding trail/route building and maintenance.
• Ensures that any trail building commitments undertaken by the Club are properly followed through.
• A good position for someone who is interested in VOC Trails and is excited about creating stoke for trail work.

Access Coordinator

• Coordinates the VOC's response to issues around hut/trail access. Works with other exec to craft a unified response to these issues so that the VOC can put its best foot forward.
• Watches out for potential future access issues for VOC Huts and Trails (e.g. keeps track of logging near huts, roads that may be deactivated in the future, etc.).
• Communicates with the government and other entities on access issues.
• Understands the other Exec roles and how they fit together.
• Represents the VOC on the FMCBC Recreation and Conservation committee (which meets monthly).
• Advises Exec on diplomacy and negotiation.
• A good position for someone who is good at listening, is diplomatic and organized, and has the time to be thorough amid complex issues.

External Relations Representative

• Liaises with the Federation of Mountaineering Clubs of British Columbia (FMCBC) and the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC).
• Maintains personal relationships with important FMCBC/ACC contacts.
• Attends FMCBC meetings and reports back to the VOC Exec on the various FMCBC projects and objectives.
• Ensures that the FMCBC is aware of VOC issues and opportunities that they could become involved with.
• Is familiar with ACC and what it has to offer the VOC.
• Promotes any especially interesting FMCBC and ACC events to VOC members (e.g., puts them on the Trip Agenda).
• A good position for someone who likes getting to know people and is interested in the broader outdoors community.

Social Coordinator

• Organizes Rock Party and Son of Rock.
• Organizes the winter and spring Annual General Meetings.
• Organizes other social events as needed/wanted.
• A good position for someone with social and organizational skills and who can get a lot of help when needed.

Trips Coordinator

• Ensures that outdoor activities are available to members of the Varsity Outdoor Club, particularly new members who may not be prepared to organize activities on their own.
• Encourages competent Club members to lead trips, particularly when the weather is good and exams are not imminent, i.e. in September, October and January.
• Acts as a resource for members who may want to organize their own trips.
• Organizes the fall Glacier School and Winter Long Hike.
• A good position for somebody who truly likes to get out and about, and knows their way around in the outdoors, and is prepared to take beginners and unknowns on their activities, and can kindly badger others into doing the same.

Climbing Coordinator

• Ensures that various climbing trips happen with relative frequency (e.g. Smith Rock and Skaha trips).
• May include assisting with Rock Party and Son of Rock duties if available, though this would not be mandatory.
• Liaises with the Aviary and other climbing groups.
• Ideally a monitor in the Aviary, or would be able to wrangle a monitor for events like the Glacier School pre-trip.
• Deals with the climbing wall.
• A good position for somebody who is stoked about making lots of climbing trips happen.

Water Sports Coordinator

• Ensures water sports trips occur; helps develop paddling within the VOC.
• In charge of reviewing watercraft rental requests.
• Be a point of contact for water sports groups (e.g Vancouver Whitewater Club).
• In cooperation with quartermasters, maintain and acquire watersports-related gear.
• Coordinate pool sessions with the UBC pool.
• Organize whitewater training/rescue courses.
• A good position for somebody who is stoked about making lots of paddling trips happen.

Legacy Coordinator

• Coordinates the Jared Stanley Memorial Lecture, the Neil Mackenzie Adventure Grant, and Will Ungar's Simple Joys trip.
• Maintains copies of Exec minutes, VOCENE's, Committee minutes.
• Looks after, organizes, makes available, does not lose, the Club's library.
• Looks after various other weird pieces of Club memorabilia, such as pictures, maps, awards.
• Updates and maintains photo albums, maps, and a journal index.
• Keeps some contact with members who have graduated, and is their main contact in VOC.
• A good position for a Clubroom organizer or someone interested in Club history.

Journal Editor

• Publishes the annual Varsity Outdoor Club Journal (VOCJ).
• Wrangles members into submitting articles, photos, etc. for the Journal.
• Works to a deadline. The journal must be out by the spring AGM.
• Is solely responsible for the quality of the finished product.
• Works to a budget of sorts. Collects advertisements to defray the cost of the Journal.
• A good position for someone with computer skills and the ability to deal with a heavy workload for a short time in the Spring.

VOCENE Editor

• Compiles "what's happening" information and trip reports.
• Very reliable, collects any Club gossip for publication.
• Prepares the email newsletter, the VOCENE.
• A good position for somebody who is computer literate, available to collect articles each week, can make people tell us what they're planning/just did, and who has a good sense of humour.

Social Media Coordinator

• Arranges publicity for any VOC events open to the public.
• Organizes weekly slideshows. Cajoles people—Old Geezers, current members, non-members—into sharing interesting stories and knowledge. May outsource this to another member.
• Answers emails that get sent to our info email address.
• Manage social media for the VOC.
• A good position for someone who is reliable and enjoys making social media pretty.

EDI Coordinator

• Heads the IDEA committee.
• An advocate for accessibility, diversity, and inclusivity in the club.
• Ensures various scholarships are carried out each year.
• Coordinates the VOC's application to external grants to fund the scholarships.
• A good position for someone who likes coming up with creative ways that the Club can involve more people and who can organize grant applications.

Membership Chair

• Revises the VOC Handbook, pamphlet, promotional materials as necessary.
• Looks after Clubs Day and other campus events.
• Ensures that anybody who wants to join the Club has the opportunity to do so.
• Replies to emails about membership.
• A good position for somebody who is friendly and outgoing, and helpful with giving out Club information, but is still prepared to do some paperwork. Job is essentially finished by the end of the Fall term, other than replying to membership emails.

Head Quartermaster

• Ensures quartermasters know how to run gear hours.
• Encourages quartermasters to run gear hours, especially during busy gear-renting/return times (e.g. right before and after winter break).
• Oversees gear replacement and maintenance.
• Buys new gear as needed.
• Read also: Quartermasters

Quartermasters (there are five)

• Posts hours for taking out and returning gear.
• Is at the Clubroom reliably, to issue and receive gear.
• Ensures that people taking out gear are treated fairly and have reasonable expectations about when the gear must be back and what if it isn't.
• Keeps track of gear, makes sure it is returned on time, in good shape, looks for deals on gear, does inventories, tests transceivers.
• Organizes the VOC Fall gear swap and/or ski tuning session.
• Is heartless and insensitive in dealing with delinquents, repeat offenders, and gear hoarders.
• A good position for somebody who intends to spend a couple of hours every week in the Clubroom, who is organized and is interested in what we are doing with the gear.

Swag Master

• Coordinates AST and wilderness first aid courses.
• Coordinates purchases for the club (T-shirts, Voile straps, anything else you can buy in the clubroom, the seasonal GrandWall Equipment bulk orders).
• Approve ExpertVoice and other pro/deal related account qualification.
• A good person for this position is one who enjoys seeking out items that many club members would be interested in buying.
• For this role, it is very helpful if the person doing it can front money, at any point time, for purchases ranging from $10 to $3500 (expect most purchases to be over $1000) and be okay with it taking possibly up to a month to be reimbursed.

Webmaster

• Keeps the website running.
• Maintains the website, wiki, and mailing lists.
• A good position for someone with some technical skills (Linux, PHP, Wordpress, and SQL are especially helpful).