The Roosevelt Institution
Roosevelt Institution at Otis Admin Team
The admin team fulfills the needs of the chapter that are non-policy related. It builds relationships, manages and raises funds, and organizes events, among other things. The structure of an admin team varies depending on the size and location of the university, as well as the size and needs of the chapter. The most effective admin teams are also friends. They get along well together and can therefore work well together.
Functions of an Administrative Committee
• Fundraises for chapter (Please see fundraising section).
• Manages finances of chapter (Please see finance section)
• Creates and Maintains an Advisory Board
• Fosters Relations with Academic Departments and Professors
• Establishes Relations with appropriate administrators
• Builds relationships with other school clubs and institutions.
• Garners Press for the chapter in on and off campus publications. Creates press kit, builds relationship with press, writes press releases.
• Organizes and hosts events. Invites speakers.
• Publicizes and performs outreach duties for the chapter and for its projects/events
• Solicits policy papers from students in the school
• Fulfills school requirements of being a club
• (Optional) Sets up Roosevelt Classes, internships, a program to participate in Roosevelt for credit.
• Networks and establishes relations with elected officials, non profits, and political organizations in the area.
• Manages Roosevelt website
• Maintains main chapter list serve for updating chapter members about important things relating to the chapter, events in the school and the community, jobs/internship opportunities, and the progress of the chapter.
• Stays in touch with the policy branch.
• Organizes recruitment efforts. (The policy branch does some of their own targeted recruiting, too, but the admin team runs general recruitment drives).
• May help policy branch in submitting policy and Op Eds to publication.
The Administrative Director
This person oversees the functioning of the admin team and runs admin meetings. The director must identify and iron out any problems in the admin team, and must be able to provide guidance and support for its members.
The Administrative Director must also serve another function on the admin team besides being a manager. This can be any position. It is advised that the Admin Director serve a role in which they meet with contacts for the chapter. Since the admin director represents the chapter, they should be the ones to network for the chapter and meet with important people about the chapter, along with the Policy Director. Therefore, the admin director might want to take on the position of University Relations Director or Community Outreach Director.
Often the admin team and the committees within it find that they need more people to work on a project. The admin director heads up the effort to fill these roles. Also, the admin director should have an idea of people who would be good future directors of the admin team, and should help to begin to train and communicate with these future chapter leaders.
The Admin Director also needs to come to the Policy Directors’ weekly meetings, just as the Policy Director must come to admin meetings. This helps connect the two branches of the chapter and keeps both chapter heads informed about what is going on in the chapter.
What makes a good Admin Director?
•Preparation: The chapter heads should always be a few steps ahead of the chapter. They need to come prepared to meetings with agendas in order to lead them effectively.
•Organization: and Vision: They need to have clear vision about the progression of the chapter. The chapter heads plan agendas, guide the chapter, and troubleshoot problem areas before they grow into problems. This takes reflection, analysis, and organization. Chapter heads must be able to look at a goal, figure out how to reach that goal, break it into steps, delegate jobs, and then help people along as they work to achieve that goal.
•Ability to Inspire and Motivate: Chapter heads must make sure that everyone they work with believes in Roosevelt, is excited to do their jobs, and feels valued and respected for the work that they do. Therefore, it is important that chapter heads do not lecture- this can seem condescending, especially because this is a group of peers. Presidents should inspire by leading by example. If people see the dedication they put in and the joy they get out of Roosevelt, others will be motivated to do the same
•Communication: The admin director must know when to talk and when to listen. It is easy to feel that since you are in charge, you can always lead. However, it is important that the Admin Director knows when to take a step back and let someone else lead a conversation. Also, a well liked Admin Director will truly listen to someone’s ideas or concerns and make them feel valued. They must be approachable and friendly. They must try their best to solve any social tension affecting the team, rather than create it.
Structures of An Administrative Committee
Though the functions of an advisory board are listed above, at different schools those functions vary in importance and difficulty. Every school is different, and therefore each chapter will have a different admin structure. Though some roles are uniform, such as an Admin Director, chapters have unique needs and they organize the functions above into roles to suit those needs. It is best to find people with relevant experience to fill appropriate roles.
Admin Team Roles
Here are some examples of how NYU, Yale and the University of Georgia organized their admin team.
• New York University: The chapter at NYU was founding fall of ’05. It hosted its constitutional convention in January of that year, and began functioning as a chapter with policy centers and an admin team in beginning of the spring semester.
NYU is a large school with no centralized campus. With 50,000 students, campus outreach and building relationships with professors, departments and the campus community is a major team effort. Also, one of the key goals of the NYU chapter is to connect the university with the political community in New York City.
Because the school is located in an expansive urban setting, community relations and coalition building with other organizations is a focal point of the admin team. The chapter recruited directors with experience and already established connections in the university and the city. For example, the Community Relations director worked in city council, the University Relations director was highly involved in the school and knew administrators, and the Finance Director was a business student.
• Administrative Director- previously defined.
• Policy Director: The description of this role is standard and will not vary by chapter. Please see the Policy Organizing section of the manual for more about the Policy Director’s role in the Policy Branch.
-represents the interests of the policy centers and the policy branch as a whole on the admin team
-keeps admin team members up to date with the policy branch
-communications the needs of the policy branch to the admin team
-works on policy related events
-Does outreach to professors, administrators and experts in the community. Because the Policy Director can best speak about the chapter’s policy and projects, the Policy Director is an integral part of the University Relations Team as well as the Community Outreach Team. The Policy Director attends meetings along with the directors of these teams. The Policy Director also connects the policy center with relevant contacts.
-helps build advisory board
-works on events that are policy related.
-works with Communications Director by giving her/him op eds and policy pieces to publish.
-symbolizes unity in the chapter by representing the policy branch
• University Relations
- This committee is responsible for establishing connections within the school.
-Team members create and maintain an advisory board of professors and school administrators.
-They foster relationships with academic departments and institutions
-They connect policy centers with professors and institutions on campus.
- They help to recruit speakers from the university for events
- They help publicize Roosevelt events and projects in the academic departments and institutions
- One person focused on building relationships with
-They solicited policy papers for publication
-This team also works to set up Roosevelt internships, Roosevelt classes, or programs so that members can write policy for credit through Roosevelt.
-They also seek relationships and coalitions with other clubs and organizations on campus.
-One person on this team is also responsible for making sure that Roosevelt fulfills the requirements of being an official club on campus.
-This team is lead by the University Relations director. Ideally, it should have three or more members- one person to foster connections with clubs and to fulfill the duties of being a club, one person to do outreach to the undergrad departments, and one person (a grad student) to do outreach to the graduate departments.
• Community Relations
-This team networks and establishes relationships with other related organizations and institutions in the local, non-campus community.
-It also tries to make contacts with law makers who can help with enacting a chapter’s policy.
-Team members attend events in the community to network
-Team invites people to join the advisory board
-Team works to create coalitions between the admin team, policy centers and these local organizations and elected officials. It connects the policy centers with professionals working on similar issues.
-The team also maintains a weekly or biweekly list serve for Roosevelt, announcing events in the school and the outside community that are related to Roosevelt or are geared towards specific policy centers. The list also publicizes jobs, internships, networking and volunteer positions.
-The team publicizes appropriate Roosevelt events to the chapter’s contacts in the local community.
- This committee can consists of the Community Relations director and the policy director. This team should ideally consist of 3-4 people. The policy director is an essential member of this team, because the policy director can also speak about the policy branch in meetings and also knows what types of contacts would benefit the chapter. One person may want to focus on outreach to lawmakers and elected officials, and another may want to build relationships with non profits. One person should also maintain the list serve.
• Campus Outreach
-The Campus Outreach Director is responsible for leading publicity efforts.
-The Director is responsible for getting out the word about Roosevelt and Roosevelt events through flyering, and posting on list serves. This person also asks members to make announcements in classes.
-The Campus Outreach Director is also in charge of organizing recruitment efforts.
• Communications
-Communications team builds a relationship with both on campus and off campus press.
-It creates a press kit, writes press releases, and gets press coverage for events and for policy related projects.
-The Communications Director will submit policy and op ed piece, and work to get them published.
-This team is suitable for one person, but may want to have more when publicizing the launch event.
• Events
- Events are a crucial part of establishing Roosevelt on campus, recruiting members, creating unity amongst the chapter, and can be a fundraising tool as well.
- Different team members will lead different events. Leaders of an event arises organically depending on the type of event and which committees are most involved in organizing it. For example, for an event hosting a professor speaking, the University Relations will direct that event. If a person from the outside community speaks, the Community Relations director might organize it. If it is a recruitment event, the Outreach Director will lead the event.
-Communications does press for an event, outreach handles campus publicity for an event.
-Finance figures out the financial aspects
-University Relations publicizes it to the departments and recruits speakers,
-Community Outreach director can do publicity and can help get speakers from the community as well.
-The policy director tends to be more involved in policy-related events, but is also responsible for getting the policy center members involved in events when appropriate.
- The chapter began with one events director, but that role did not work out because different admin directors took charge of different events. In the end, the chapter found that the events team should consist all directors on the administrative committee.
• Finance/Development Committee
- This committee is in charge of handling all finances for the chapter.
-Team members work on fundraising through the school, direct mail campaigns, house parties and other creative endeavors.
- They apply for local grants (see fundraising section for more about this)
-They also keep track of a budget.
-The Finance director oversees the committee. The team has as many members as are needed for the projects at hand, like applying to grants. 2-3 members besides the director is suitable.
Skills For the Admin Team
• Define and Promote Vision
Every member of the chapter, especially admin directors, should know what they are working towards. They should have a clear picture of the chapter’s goals and the vision of what Roosevelt will become. They should know the values the chapter represents, and the change it seeks to create in the world. To that effect, these four aspects of the chapter should be discussed at events, and brought up at meetings. People will have a much easier time deciding how to do things if they know how their projects contribute to the bigger picture, and how the chapter will grow into the vision for what it will be. When administrating the chapter and planning events, the admin team should always keep this in mind.
• Make Chapter Goals Known
Goals for the year should be carefully laid out, voted on by the steering committee, told to the chapter, and displayed on the website. Everything the admin team does should be geared towards accomplishing these goals.
Through its work and the policy centers, every member should know the chapter’s yearly goals. They should understand that the chapter is building towards two large events to showcase their policy, and that identify of the chapter for that year revolves around the challenges and local initiatives it has chosen.
• Create Clear, Specific Goals
Clear goals are an essential aspect of a successful and a productive chapter. Everyone in the chapter should be working on a project with its own goals and timeline. Everyone should clearly understand their role in that project, and should have their own timeline and their own personal goals. This is especially important for admin team members.
All admin directors are leaders. They must have the ability to identify what needs to be done, and then break this down into goals, steps, delegated roles and timelines. Some admin directors are run teams. They are responsible for clearly defining goals for their team and making everyone feel that their contribution is important.
• Delegate and Define Tasks
In order to work together, team members must have a clear conception of their roles and duties. This should always be written out for future reference. People should know what is expected of them, and often, people will live up to expectations. In this way, delegating requires role definition, but goes further to outline specific tasks and when they should be accomplished. Delegating is a skill, and it gets easier the more you do it.
Warning: Often, capable leaders have a tendency to want to do most things by themselves- this way, they know things will get done the way they want them too. However, this approach has considerable downsides. Having one person do most of the work on a project alienates other members and creates group tension. Also, often one will start a project thinking they can handle it on their own, and then they might get overwhelmed and burn out. Working together fosters trust, which is important for any teamwork.
• Motivation and Retention
Motivation and retention go hand in hand. If people are motivated to do their work, and enjoy doing it, they will stay. Therefore, everyone needs to feel as if their input is important and is a valued by their teammates. Furthermore, to motivate others, people should lead by example. As cliché as it sounds, the saying, “treat others as you wish to be treated,” is very helpful. Admin team members are all peers, and should treat each other as such. Members should do their jobs well and take pride in their work. Feeling accomplished and meeting goals will motivate the team. Team members should compliment each other on jobs well done, and constructively criticize rather than personally criticize projects that need improvement. It is always more effective to criticize someone’s work than the person them self. If people feel on the defensive, they will not be motivated. If people are having fun, they will stay.
• Transparency
One problem that sometimes arises on admin teams is that certain members feel more informed about what is going on with the chapter than others. This can breed distrust and hurt feelings. Therefore, transparency is important. From weekly meetings and the website, everyone should know what each other is doing. No one should hoard secrets or keep information to themselves, which happens when admin team members do not trust one another. Feelings of exclusion should be addressed personally and professionally, and not at meetings. Such sentiments can begin to break down the admin team, and people who feel excluded will inevitably leave.
• Accountability
Accountability largely rests of self motivation and clear goals. If people are motivated, they will want to complete their project and impress their peers. The admin director should make sure that everyone feels motivated. Also, sometimes people are not accountable because they do not fully understand what they are supposed to do or how to do it. This is why clear goals and delegation are important. Furthermore, sometimes people feel overwhelmed, and are therefore unaccountable. The admin director should talk to this person and come up with solutions to make them feel less bogged down.
Weekly meetings and steering committee meetings promote accountability. If people have to talk about what they did for the week, they will want to represent themselves well. It is up to everyone on the admin team to know what each other is doing, and to hold each other accountable. This job is particularly important for the admin director. The admin director must oversee the progress of the admin committee and must take action if it is not progressing correctly.
However, if the admin director is the only person doing this, then s/he will become more like a teacher and a lecturer, which will hurt the group dynamic. Rather, if there is a problem with the group as a whole, the admin director should bring it up in the meeting and lead a discussion to find a solution.
• Community Building Exercises
For the admin team to be effective, people need to feel like they are a part of a community. Everyone must feel as if they belong to the team. People will work well together if they enjoy working with each other and trust one another. To foster this sense of trust and of community, the team should do things together. They should go out to dinner, to movies, and if appropriate, go out for drinks. Ideally, everyone on the admin team should be friends.
Warning: Often cliques develop and people feel left out. Certain people work more together than with others, and they develop a special bond. This happens, and can be great for certain projects, but keep in mind that this can also hurt the unity of the team. Romantic relationships on the admin team have significantly weakened some chapters. Furthermore, as the admin team bonds, it might start to feel separate from the rest of the chapter. Sometimes, the chapter can feel divided between the policy communities and the admin community. This should be remedied, because both sides of the chapter need to work together and support one another to achieve chapter goals.
• Effective Communication
Effective communication involves contributing, but even more importantly listening. Often, admin team members are dynamic, charismatic leaders. Everyone has so much to say, and one or two people may tend to dominate the group. The admin director should guide conversations, but not speak the whole time. This is something to watch out for.
• Effective Use of Technology
The admin team must know how to use the website, and take advantage of the features on it. If they administer the chapter using the website, members will have to use the website, too. The website is a great way to foster open communication in the chapter. Please see the website guide for more on this.
• Learn from others (Don’t Reinvent The Wheel)
Whatever your chapter is going through, others have gone through this before and have encountered similar problems. Learn from others’ failures and successes. Look to people with experience for support, and try to get them on the advisory board.
Which teachers or people in the community have lead student groups? They can be great resources. The NYU admin director turned to author Todd Gitlin, who was teaching at another university in the area, for advice. Gitlin was the former president of Students For a Democratic Society (the most influential progressive student organization in the 60s) and he gave guidance and support to the NYU chapter.
What professors have non profit management experience? Try to see if there are professors who lead non profits or teach about it in your school. These have been incredible sources of support for chapters.
Also, turn to your regional coordinator for advice. Other chapters probably have dealt with similar things, and they might be able to connect you with people who have developed solutions to your problems.
Read books about non profit management and student organizing.
Group members:
Nicole A Hom
Nick R Bradley
Kenny Harris