Radio Society of Tucson

Members often wonder what are the duties and responsibilities of the officers, S.I.G. leaders, committee chairman and club representatives. Following is a "brief" description of their duties and responsibilities. We have not tried to be all inclusive with the descriptions and welcome suggestions and corrections. If you are interested in filling a position or just being a worker bee on a committee, we welcome you. Try something new, volunteer for a position and participate in club activities.
President

The President is the presiding officer of the Club and shall also serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors. It is the responsibility of the President to open all meetings at the prescribed time, shall have a prepared agenda outlining the business that will come before the membership in the proper sequence to maintain the business in an orderly manner. The President shall further state and put to a vote all questions that legitimately come before the meeting and announce the result of each vote. The President has the right not to recognize motions that are obviously frivolous or dilatory.

The President shall keep him or herself up to-date on club activities, both current and pending, and be available to answer questions from the membership on club functions and activities. Further it is the President's responsibility to seek volunteers to fill staff coordinator positions and/or appoint members to these positions. The President is an ex-officio member of all standing committees andhas the same rights as other committee members. However, he/she is not obligated to attend committee or event meetings and is not counted in determining if a quorum is present at a meeting if a quorum is required. With Board approval, the President may replace any committee or event chairman/coordinator who is failing to perform to club expectations. The President shall stay abreast of committee and event activities and should they become inactive, determine the reason and recommend appropriate action.

The President shall check with the Secretary and/or Treasurer to confirm that all invoices are paid as required, and that all corporate reports are filed in a timely manner. He/she shall also insure that Liability Insurance is in place.

The President shall authenticate by his/her signature, when necessary, all acts, orders and proceedings of the club. The President should work closely with the Board of Directors on club business and future plans seeking their idea's and/or suggestions. In short, the President see's that the club functions smoothly and stays within the framework of its By-Laws and State regulations. Use a lot of common sense and stay active.

Vice-President

If the president for any reason vacates the chair or is absent, the Vice-President shall take the chair and assume all the President's duties and responsibilities until his/her return or until the end of their term of office.

Another duty of the club Vice-President is arranging for after meeting guest speakers and/or presentations. Every effort should be made to schedule speakers/presentations that are presumed to be of interest to the majority of attendee's. Subject matter does not have to be Amateur Radio specific, but topics that relate to or have a connection to the hobby. However, non-radio related subjects are welcome if as stated they are of common interest to the membership.

The Vice-President along with one other member of the club shall audit the financial records semi-annually.

Secretary

The Secretary is the recording officer of the Club and the custodian of its records, except those specifically assigned to others, such as the Treasurer's books. He/She shall keep a record of all the proceedings of the organization - usually called the minutes, keep on file all committee reports and keep the organization's official membership roll and to call the roll anytime it may be required. Further he/she shall make the minutes and records available to members upon request.

The Secretary shall furnish such documents as may be requested by an officer or board member that may be required to assist in the performance of their duties.

The Secretary will sign all certified copies of acts of the club, unless otherwise specified in the By-Laws.
In addition, he/she shall be responsible for sending or verifying that any required notices are mailed or emailed in a timely manner. The Secretary is also responsible for going to the Post Office to get the club mail, make proper distribution of said mail and respond to mail not specifically directed to a club official. Most records should be maintained indefinitely except routine coorespondene that does not affect the club By-Laws or financial condition past, present or future. Various meeting agenda's may be discarded after two (2) years as meeting minutes should reflect that meetings activities.

In the absence of the President and Vice President, assume the duties of the President until one or the other return.

Treasurer

The Treasurer is the officer entrusted with custody of all club funds. He/she is responsible for the payment of all debts, fees, fines or such other expenses approved by the Board of Directors. The Treasurer will not disburse any funds without prior approval of the Board of Directors. The Board may give blanket approval to pay certain expense items when they come due, such as liability insurance, legal filings requiring a fee payment, post office box fee, postage for mailings etc. The Treasurer and at least one other officer shall be signatories for the club bank account. The Treasurer will normally maintain possession of the checkbook

Further the Treasurer is responsible for notifying members when their club dues are payable and the collection of same. You are to provide the Secretary with a current list of paid members. As we work on a calendar year, dues will become deliquent on February 15th and deliquent members shall be removed from the membership roll. He/she shall provide a monthly up-to-date Treasurers report at each monthly meeting. Several copies should be available for attending member review if so requested.

Amateur Radio Council of Arizona (ARCA) Representative & Alternate

The ARCA representative and/or alternate is to attend all ARCA meetings which are normally held monthly nine times per year; usually at a hamfest in different Arizona cities. Currently, meetings are held in Kingman, Mesa, Scottsdale, Flagstaff, Tucson, Sierra Vista, Show Low, Glendale and one wild card location.
The representative(s) keep the RST membership abreast of ARCA activities. The representative(s) in turn can make reports to ARCA on our club activities that might have an impact on, or be of interest to other ARCA members. ARCA is made up of member clubs, not individuals. Each member club has one vote on issues requiring approval and our designated representative(s) are the only ones allowed to vote. There will be occasions when the representative(s) will need RST members to approve or disapprove an issue that will be voted on at an ARCA meeting. During the State Convention & Hamfest, volunteer hours are recorded and the club is paid a percentage of the profit. The representatives are responsible for assuring accurate work time hours of RST volunteers are maintained and submitted to ARCA.

Newsletter Editor

Primary function is to produce a monthly club newsletter which will then be emailed to the membership via the club Email Reflector. The Editor will send a copy via postal service to any member who is without Internet email service.
It should be noted that the newsletter will only be as informative as the information submitted to the editor not only by the officers and staff, but by the general membership. All articles should be submitted to the editor by the 24th of the month and a copy to the Webmaster for inclusion on the Club web site if appropriate. Send copies of all news items as the news happens.

Club Liaison:

This position requires attending other local club meetings, i.e., TRA, OPRC, U of A, Catalina, Green Valley, etc. It is not required that he/she attend every meeting every month, but should attend at least a couple. It is preferable that at least two members act as Club Liaison so that more monthly meetings can be attended. The purpose is keep other clubs apprised of our activities and for the Liaison to keep RST members up to date on other local clubs activities.

Internet Webmaster

Design, develop and maintain the club web site. Requires staying informed of club plans and activities. Site should contain as a minimum an event calendar, information on club meeting location/date/time/guest presentation(s), event pictures, special notices, exam testing schedule, repeater info, public service events and field day information. In other words, provide a site that is informative, up-to-date and useful.

Librarian/Historian

Maintain a complete history of club activities including a listing of officers and staff. Requires the assimilation of documents, photo's, biographies, records of activities and awards/certificates, etc. All data should be maintained in chronological order and easily accessible.

Publicity Chairperson:

This individual is responsible for initiating, designing, writing and publishing all club promotional and publicity materials. He/she shall use every opportunity to promote Amateur Radio and RST thru media news releases and the use of handouts/flyers at public events. Will provide copies of all materials to the club Librarian/Historian.

QSL Manager

Responsible for assuring club QSL cards or certificates are completed and mailed on a timely schedule after any club Special Event Station function. He/she may have to design and print special QSL cards or certificates as required by the type of event. Will provide a list of all mailings to the club Librarian/Historian.

Social Chairperson

Responsible for organizing and scheduling all club social events including the Christmas Dinner, Picnic(s), State Convention Cookout, Day Trips and other social events. Responsible for arranging locations, dates, times, any club provided food, condiments and supplies. Assure that all activities are scheduled far enough in advance to allow members time to include the activity in their schedules. Ideally, we should have at least four social events per year.

Technical Advisor

Pretty self explanatory, but primarily offer advice or assistance to club members with technical questions, component assembly, repairs etc. Not expected to know everything, only 99%.

Youth Representative

This individual should try and attend all youth specific or oriented functions. Gives a report at monthly RST meeting on youth activities including youth projects, new licensee's, events, training classes, etc.

Field Day Chairperson

Overall responsibility for this major event. He/she shall make site location recommendations to the membership and arrange to use the site selected, browbeat members to serve as band captains and provide a site layout showing band captains where to setup. Also assure that all stations have adequate power and that generators meet any code requirements. Must arrange for, or assure there are adequate toilet facilities on site. Will obtain any necessary permits from the owner or governing entity, obtain and provide certificates of insurance as may be required. If possible, arrange for food service during the event. It is also up to the chairman to assure each band captain knows that they are responsible for providing all operators, radio's, power supplies, coax, antennas, mast's, power etc. for their station. Site selection should be determined by March so the publicity chairman and club liaison representatives can start promoting the event.

Public Service Coordinator

This position requires scheduling operators for various public service events. He/she will have to contact, or meet with the Event Chairperson to learn the scope of the event, location, dates, times, route, and what they expect from the Ham Radio operators. You are required to assign operators as needed at check points, first aid, rest stops or where ever an operator is needed. You will need to determine if and which repeater(s) are usable for the event and obtain permission to use said repeater(s). If simplex is required, you need to drive the route and determine if HT's will work or if 50W mobile's are required. You'll also need to determine what is needed for Net Control, i.e., canopy, generator, what kind antenna, tower etc. Also, do they want a ham as the sweep vehicle. You'll need to know who to contact during the event should there be an emergency. Is an event coordinator going to be at Net Control with a cell phone, commercial radio etc. The more info you obtain the better.
There are a lot of charitable as well as non-charitable events in the Tucson area which could benefit from our service. If club members enjoy working these events, you should spend a little time and effort researching these events and contact the coordinators to offer our services.

Special Events Coordinator

This can be a fun position setting up Special Events Stations during the year. Right now we only have one regularly scheduled special event, that being Kids Day in January and June. In the past we have operated special event stations at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Earth Day at Biosphere II and Pima Air Museum. The OK Corral's Revenge of the Gunfighters is an annual three day event, but the Ham coordinator is not an RST member. However, I'm sure we'll be asked to continue our support.
Hopefully we can come up with some new ideas.

Notes:
Several of these positions should have a committee helping the chairperson or coordinator. It is up to this person to ask for volunteers to assist them. Specifically, Field Day, Social, and Public Service.