Hello All!
As we return to regular meetings and activities, the Club is now looking for new club members to shape its agenda and social atmosphere. There are several benefits to participating in a club’s leadership, not the least of which is that it’s a fun, rewarding, and usefully challenging experience. I’ve been part of my community college’s, university’s, and now CSULA’s philosophy clubs. All were invaluable and great learning experiences.
We’re looking for individuals who want to work with a few others on creating an enriching social space — a place in which students can freely talk philosophy, make new friends, participate in non-academic activities (like games and movies), and think about their relationship with the world and future. In other words, we’re looking for new Club Officers to be part of our Club Cabinet!
Here is a list of the possible and necessary offices:
- Club President
- Vice President or the following two offices:
- Internal Vice President
- External Vice President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Social Media Officer
- Multi-media and Design Officer
- Inter-club Liaison
- Book Club Liaison
- Club Historian
We are required to have a president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer–but there’s opportunities to do much more if desired. Here’s some description of each office; a full, formal description can be found in the Club constitution (see the prior post).
- President: the President sets the tone and drive for the Club, and helps out in any way they’re needed. This is a position of leadership, oversight, delegation, and responsibility. The President is not a tyrant; but they are looked to by other officers and club members for guidance and decisions. They are expected to come up with plans, initiate new activities and events, and put them into action. They are also expected to work with all officers on their particular tasks if needed.
- Vice President: the Vice President has several specific tasks (all of which are partially shared with the President and other officers). Consequently, it might be helpful to break the office up into these two more specialized offices:
- Internal Vice President: The Internal Vice President is primarily expected to care for the rapport and morale of the Club. They concern themselves with the happiness and enjoyment of the members. So, they head up non-academic activities such as playing board/card/party/online games, arranging movie or show watching nights, conducting skits or artistic interventions in student life, and engagement in acts of community service.
- External Vice President: The External VP is focused on Club representation. Here are some examples: presenting the Club to the student body through on-campus promotional efforts like in-class announcements; tabling at the Arts and Letters Fair; advertising Club information on social media, college radio, bannering, and distribution of fliers (if there’s no Social Media Officer; if there is, they help); promoting the undergraduate and graduate philosophy journal; and so on.
- Secretary: The primary duty of the Secretary is to keep the minutes and schedule of Club meetings and event. This also includes keeping track of important info and dates, and communicating this to members. The Secretary also handles the Club’s email list, among other things.
- Treasurer: The Treasurer is the financial manager of the Club. For more specifics, see our constitution!
- Social Media Officer: The Social Media Officer promotes the Club and its activities through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and any new platforms that come into existence. The Club has accounts on many of these platforms already.
- Multi-media and Design Officer (MMD): Along with the Secretary, the MMD helps write and disseminate Club information but they also have a wide variety of other exploits! These include managing, editing, and updating the Club’s website (including the blog if anyone wants to use it); liaison and collaborate with members engaged in projects like podcasting, event planning, or community outreach; and to help design, produce, or solicit other CSULA students to come up with creative, aesthetic, artistic, or otherwise visual displays for the Club. Since there’s a lot of variety, this office can always be divided into two offices.
- Club Historian: is the member consulted on questions of constitutionality and formal procedure, as well as how past Club officers have conducted business (if records are available). This is an optional office that takes some of the duties from the Secretary and Internal Vice President.
- Inter-Club Liaison: The Inter-Club Liaison is our ambassador to the Associated Students Incorporated. They’ll attend all their necessary meetings on the Club’s behalf; initiate all communications with other campus organizations; and (with the Treasurer) make requests for funds to ASI.
- Book Club Representative: In the event that Club members decide to form a book club, they’ll appoint someone to represent their interests on the Club Cabinet.
If you’re interested in getting involved with the Club, even in a less formal capacity, send an email with your name, class year (e.g., “freshman”), and interests to csulaphilosophyclub@gmail.com.
Best!
Dave Dixon
