Council Vice Chair

The vice chair of a council is second in command at the council level. He or she should strive to maintain a relatively high profile in the council, be on friendly terms with all members and generally provide support and assistance to the chair. The vice chair helps the council chair guide the council in fulfilling its stated and chartered roles. In cooperation with the council chair, the vice chair supports and implements measures to ensure that the council’s time and resources are invested wisely, and in a manner that will ensure the current and future health of the council.

Often councils use the vice chair position as training for the position of council chair. Council vice chairs should be sure to read the description of council chair and be prepared to take on all or some of those roles as needed.

Towards the end of their term, the council vice chair often leads the council’s strategic planning process, as they will be taking over the council as chair during the implementation of that strategic plan and should have full ownership of the goals and outcomes of the plan.

In addition, the vice chair should:

• Preside over meetings from which the chair is absent.
• Provide support and assistance to the chair in order to achieve the core functions of the council.
• Perform duties as assigned by the chair or the council Executive Committee.
• Build relationships with individual chapter leaders and ensure every chapter has a vice president in place.
• Consider working with your chair to organize a chapter presidents forum where current presidents and vice presidents can come together to discuss leadership topics and share best practices.