Roles of Members of the Executive (under review)

This position is a director position as required by the the SKABC Constitution
Chair Annual Meetings, Executive Meetings, Club Meetings, and Extraordinary Meetings
Direct internal and external inquiries to the appropriate committee chair or Executive
Ensure that Club functions and actions are consistent with the constitution and bylaws
Receive and respond to communiques from the club members and outside parties
Establish Standing Committees or Special Committees as required
Ensure that signed waiver documents are maintained through the club website
Cause a review of official club policy documents in conjunction with the Secretary, Safety Officer, and the appropriate Executive or Committee Chair.
Be present at club functions to greet new members and be available to the membership for questions or discussion
Promote the association

Duties as noted in SKABC ByLaws

42 (1) The President presides at all meetings of the association and of the directors.

The president is chief executive officer of the Association and must supervise all other officers in the execution of their duties.

Functional Duties:
receive receive and respond to inquiries from within and outside of the Association
establish special committees as required to conduct club business
act as point of escalation when club activities or practices appear to conflict, and facilitate resolution that maintains overall association interests

Additional Notes
Initiate and manage strategic planning activities

Assist the president as needed. This position is usually a director position, as the Vice-President needs to be able to act as proxy for President.

• The Secretary is a director position as required by the SKABC Constitution.
• The duties of the Secretary are summarized here. Details may be found in the Manual for the Secretary on the website.
• The duties of the Secretary, as prescribed by SKABC’s Bylaws: Note that the Secretary may delegate some or all of these duties but is responsible to ensure that they are done.

The secretary is responsible for doing, or making the necessary arrangements for, the following:

(a) issuing notices of general meetings and directors’ meetings; 

(b) taking minutes of general meetings and directors’ meetings; 

(c) keeping the records of the Society in accordance with the Act; 

(d) conducting the correspondence of the Board

(e) making the Society’s filings respecting taxes

(f) filing the annual report of the Society and making any other filings with the registrar under the Act.

• • Record Keeping: Ensure that important SKABC records are stored so that they can be made available if needed in future. Most SKABC records are now stored in electronic form. The Secretary has access to a storage site on a server, using an account owned by the Web Manager. In many cases, other Executive Officers receive important records, rather than the Secretary. Consequently, it is incumbent on the Secretary to remind other Executive Officers from time to time to forward important documents such as contracts and agreements to the Secretary for storage.

• Executive meetings:

• Assist the President with preparation of the meeting agenda.
• Ask the Zoom Coordinator to set up a virtual Executive meeting and then circulate the meeting link to the Executive.
• Record the minutes of the meeting, send a draft to the Executive Officers for review, and revise the draft.
• After approval of the minutes by the Executive, send the approved version of the minutes to the Web Manager for posting on the website.

• • Board of Directors  meetings: Duties are similar to those for Executive meetings.
  • Monthly club meetings: No duties.

• Annual General Meeting (AGM): 

• Collect, edit, and collate annual reports from Executive Officers. 
• Assist the President with preparation of the agenda, including any resolutions requiring approval of the membership.
• Allow the Executive Officers to review the agenda and annual reports. Then, revise them.
• Ask the Zoom Coordinator to set up a virtual AGM and member registration.
• Coordinate with the Zoom Coordinator, Communications Officer, and Web Manager to ensure that members are notified of the AGM, informed how to register, and receive the agenda and annual reports at least two weeks prior to the AGM.
• Record the minutes of the meeting, send a draft to the Executive Officers for review, and revise the draft.
• Send the revised draft of the minutes to the Web Manager for posting on the website so that members have the opportunity to read it before being asked to approve it at the next AGM.

• Annual Report to BC Societies: File the annual report, director changes, and any bylaw changes with BC Societies within 30 days after the AGM.

 

This position is a director position as required by the the SKABC Constitution

Duties as noted in SKABC ByLaws
Prepare annual financial statements for presentation at the AGM
Maintain all financial records of the Association
Prepare annual budget
Filing annual report as per Societies Act
Maintain bank accounts of the Association
Cause financial audits as required

Notes;
- In 2011 the Secretary took over the Societies Act annual report filing (previously listed under Secretary's duties)
- Financial audits, if required, are expensive and should called for by decision of the President or Directors only if irregularities are suspected. A financial overview is part of our standing policies - another club member with financial background is invited to peruse all of the Treasurer's records to see if in her/his opinion the procedures are adequate and business-like.

In 2017 a second position was added as bookkeeper / assistant Treasurer -does monthly bank reconciliation, reports from Quicken, financial statements.

Regular Duties;
Preparation of financial reports for each Exec meeting, including;
Bank reconciliation
Stripe or Paypal account reconciliation, setup, transfers, disputes
Issuing cheques or electronic transfers to reimburse claimed expenses
Depositing funds in the bank accounts
Managing bank funds and term deposits
Preparation of reports for financial statements
Maintain complete paper trail for all transactions
Monitor expenses compared to budget and report any issues

Annual duties:
“Consent to act as director” form – get signatures and personal information from all directors - also required by PayPal from 2019.
Update signing officers at the bank as needed -usually after the AGM- first pass motion to authorize the singing officers and revoke all others, then submit to bank, then significant coordination required for each new signing officer to report in person to bank with ID
Prepare the budget, with input from the rest of the Exec, at or near the beginning of the financial year
Review insurance policy with the Executive, and negotiate changes as required, ensure continuity of coverage, request certificates or other documents to prove insurance coverage for facility rentals.
Report social events to insurer in advance of the event
Pay meeting place rental fees
Financial report for AGM
Co-ordinate the financial review

Duties to get started;
Receive all records, account information, passwords from outgoing Treasurer

Become a signing officer for the bank accounts
Obtain a “deposit only” atm card, bank card
Get set up as new account owner with the club's payment gateway - this is not straightforward with Paypal. We are switching to Stripe in 2019 to hopefully make this a simpler process.

Software used;
Quicken 2009 for accounting (owned by skabc)
Excel spreadsheet for financial reports and Stripe or Paypal reports downloads

The Programs Coordinator will be referred to as “Programs” in this description.

Functional duties:

1. With input from others, both club members and sources outside of SKABC, Programs sets the content and books presenters for the monthly general meetings in Sept, October, January to June.
2. July and August general meeting dates may be scheduled outdoor events and may include paddles, skill practices and/or picnics.
3. Presentations should be relevant to the activity of sea kayaking and can include information on safety and skills, trip presentations, environmental issues, and so forth.
4. Topics should be of interest to a large proportion of the membership.
5. Programs introduces and thanks the presenter (s).
6. A small token of appreciation such as a card or very modest gift may be given to the presenter.
7. At the discretion of Programs, the club may reimburse the presenter for travel or other expenses incurred for the purpose of the presentation to SKABC.
8. The Board/Executive sets an annual budget with input from Programs
9. A description of each month's topic is provided by Programs for the website and club emails.
10. This can be a shared position. One representative of Programs should be present at monthly Executive meetings, held each month except for December and July.

Oversee the online registration process
Send out welcome letters
Provide periodic reports to executive
Attend club meetings to answer questions and hand out nametags
Attend executive meetings
Maintain and cause yearly review of membership forms, waiver forms, and association information documents.
Respond to occasional inquiries from prospective members
Coordinate and/or lead initiatives to address membership concerns, and identify opportunities to promote the club.

Organize annual social events for club members. Typically these events include:

- Spring Fling, a social event combined with a day paddle that is coordinated with the Trips Committee
- July Locarno picnic and August Locarno picnic
- Volunteer Appreciation Dinner
- Christmas Party

Tasks include booking facilities, recruiting volunteers to assist, and organizing refreshments. Prepare budget and record expenses.

Announce events at monthly meetings, and provide write-ups for the Communications Officer and Web Committee.

Shop for and provide snacks for monthly club meetings.

Attend monthly executive meetings to provide planning updates and participate in other executive discussions.

The librarian arrives early and brings the books from their storage location to the meeting and returns them later, tracks books out and in, updates the records as books/DVDs are added. They select books and DVDs add them to the Library.  The librarian will periodically cull out of date books and arrange for their sale or donation. They report to the executive periodically as to the state of the library.

• Partners with the Communications Officer and Social Media Officer to coordinate the different avenues of communication to members (email, social media, website, etc.).
• Updates the website with the latest information on club activities.
• Ensures that the website is backed-up and that all necessary security updates are installed.
• Renews website hosting and domain name annually.
• Manages email forwarding for the executive through the hosting interface.
• Organizes and manages a Web Committee to develop the website and assist the club's executive officers in using the website collaboratively.
• Trains the Communications Officer to use email functions and templates within WordPress.
• Assists the club’s executive officers in posting events and news updates on the website.
• Monitors membership renewal functionality in coordination with the Membership Officer.
• Oversee the member forums on the website.
• This role requires intermediate/advanced skills in WordPress.

• Partners with the Webmanager and Social Media Officer to coordinate the different avenues of communication to members (email, social media, website, etc.).
• Collects content, organizes and sends out periodic email updates - Monthly Newsletter, Mid-Month Update, Ad-hoc Messages - using a WordPress template.
• Sends out email reminders of monthly and other meetings & events.
• Is a member of the Web Committee

• Promote safe kayaking practices in the Association.
• Oversee safety procedures for SKABC including First Aid Kit committee.
• Cause review official club policy documents in conjunction with the Secretary and appropriate Executive Chair.
• Receive Trip and Incident reports. Maintain record of Incident Reports.
• Produce or locate safety articles, find safety products, present safety products at club meetings.
• Talk about safety issues at club meetings.
• Encourage safety related training activities.
• Engages with the Training/Workshops Officer to deliver safety related workshops as requested by the membership.

SKABC’s vision for training is to have an effective, consistent and leading edge training system that puts safety first and foremost and ensures enjoyment for all levels while caring for the planet.

SKABC has nine core courses developed by the club and offered each year. Also, members volunteer to deliver specialty topic sessions and from time to time we make arrangements for courses with external providers.

While club members provide the instruction and coordinate individual courses, the training coordinator oversees the budget and the planning, scheduling and booking of courses for the season. Course related responsibilities include ensuring courses are posted on the website and regularly updated during the busy months, identifying qualified instructors, providing the lead instructor with originals of course handouts, ensuring the course coordinator has the necessary information to handle registrations, collecting  participant and instructor feedback, approving expenses and monitoring the training budget.  

In addition to the monthly club and executive meetings, the time commitment is heaviest from March through early June when most courses are running and may require 2-4 hours each month.  The majority of scheduling and bookings is normally completed in January and early February and takes 5-10 hours over that period depending on the courses and options available. During the rest of the year, some off season courses may be offered but the work involved is limited.  

- Oversee the Trip Planning Committee which schedules club trips for the paddling season
- Identify qualified trip leaders and encourage them to lead club trips
- Organize a trip planning meeting ahead of the paddling season
- Ensure trips are posted on the website and regularly updated during the busy months
- Cause annual review of trip policies in the SKABC Policies and Procedures Handbook, and also the trips guidelines posted on the website. Revise as needed in conjunction with the President, Safety Officer and appropriate Executive.
- Attend monthly Club Executive meetings and report periodically.

Calendar of activities:

Ongoing:
- Attend monthly Executive meetings and report periodically.
- Submit Trips content for newsletter. Include a list of upcoming trips where registration is opening soon and that still have space for participants.
- Review "Trips menu" content and Trips "Policies and Procedures" on website annually or as needed in collaboration with appropriate Executive officers.
Winter:
- Recruit Trips Committee. Include a Web Team member who will be posting the trips.
- Initiate Trips Committee meeting. Group discusses goals for the year and plans the first Trip Leader meeting. - Get input on creating a Trip Leader email list for the season (make sure to check the Volunteer list).
- Submit budget requests to Treasurer (pizza, room rental, any campsite subsidies)
- Plan Trip Leader rescue practices for Spring and Fall.
- Email Trip Leaders about the upcoming meeting, rescue practice dates, and also encourage them to submit their trips for the coming season through the Web Form.  Ask them to let you know if they'd like to be taken off the email list.
- Initiate In-person Trip Leader meeting. Include planning specific destinations and dates, an education component, and handout Launch Site Checklist laminates (and first aid kits?) to any new leaders.
- Vet the trip proposals as they come in by email. Keep track of any unapproved trips or those who need an assistant leader. Consult or meet with Trips Committee as needed to vet leaders. Trips Committee members follow up with individuals with cautions about destinations or requirements to have an assistant.  Goal is for committee members to help volunteers make the proposed trips happen safely.  Let Web Team know when each trip is  approved and they'll complete the posting process.
Spring and Summer: 
- Receive Trip Reports and make notes on anything you'd like to discuss or debrief with individuals or Trips Committee or Trip Leader meetings. Consult Safety Officer or Executive as needed.
- Receive emails about cancelled registrations and changes to Trip listings. Forward to Web Team. Option to have access to make your own updates - discuss with webmaster.
- With help of Trips Committee, organize Zoom Trip Leader meeting in May or June to debrief Spring Trips and try to fill in the calendar for late summer.
Fall: 
- Trip Leader meeting to debrief season. Gather ideas for winter goal setting and planning. Could be by Zoom in conjunction with a Volunteer Appreciation event.
- Write up season recap for Annual General Meeting. It is recommended that it include a list of trips that happened and names of leaders.

Promotes SKABC's conservation goals. Flows information from outside groups to members via our website, newsletter, and club meetings.
The club's conservation goals are to:

• Promote sound ecological practices by our members and awareness of the impact of our activities on our surroundings.
• Provide information to members to enhance their appreciation of the marine environment.
• Provide input to governments when they formulate environmental, legal or other policies that affect access to or the ecological sustainability of the marine environment.
• Advocate for the protection of existing marine protected areas and for the creation of additional protected areas to ensure the sustainability of BC's unique marine ecosystems

As an open-ended position I have chosen to flow information from the many conservation & marine park groups to members via our web site. I have put myself on the participation lists of relevant groups such as the Georgia Strait Alliance, Nature Conservancy, Shore Line Cleanup, the Vancouver Aquarium, as well as municipal, provincial and federal groups such as the National Marine Conservation Area group, Gulf Islands National Park, the provincial BC Marine Trails Network group, and the district of North Vancouver with the Indian Arm Provincial Park Draft Management Plan in conjunction with the Tsleil-Waututh Band.

Time demands can be flexible but have included, generally, the monthly SKABC executive meetings, and monthly meetings with at least one of the relevant groups such as the BC Marine Trails Team in Nanaimo. One has to be open to about 10-20 emails per month which require some action.

In general it is a wonderful volunteer job which allows one to interface with all members of SKABC and with a wide group of ecology/conservancy-minded groups in BC.

Coordinates efforts to maintain 6 campsites in Howe Sound. Manages annual budget for maintenance and recommends improvements.

Coordinates club participation in outside events such as MEC Club Night, Paddlefest, Reel Paddling Film Festival and Big Brothers and Big Sisters paddle. Initiates getting an event on the club calendar, getting a committee together, and publicizing it to make it happen.

Attends Executive meetings and assists Executive with projects when needed.

Serves as a Director. Usually a past executive officer and long-time club member. Attends Executive meetings and assists Executive with projects when needed.

Previous year's president serving as a mentor on the Executive Committee.