The Vice President is a volunteer Officer position on the OWCA Executive Board.
Position Details
- Length of term: 5 years total (June 2023 to December 2027)
- Time commitment: 15-25 hours per month (includes synchronous and asynchronous work)
- Renewable?: No
- Elected by: OWCA membership
Qualifications
We welcome your application regardless of your prior experience with professional associations or executive boards. The President and Executive Board will support you as a new Board member and help you to implement your ideas.
You should apply for this position if you:
- Would like to develop/hone skills in leadership and administration
- Can work collaboratively with others, apply feedback from OWCA members and Board members, and support a non-hierarchical association structure
- Have ideas for improving the OWCA for our volunteers, members, and/or the larger writing center community
- Would enjoy helping to steer the OWCA into the future
If elected, you would work closely with the current President and Immediate Past President. You would be provided with a President Handbook and templates to guide you during your term.
Responsibilities
If elected, you would serve 2 years as Vice President, followed by 2 years as President and 1 year as Immediate Past President.
Years 1–2: Vice President
As Vice President, you would do the following within your monthly time commitment:
- Learn the association’s structure, processes, and bylaws
- Work closely with the current President and receive mentoring on leading the association
- Assist the President in developing agendas for Executive Board meetings, leading informational sessions on the association, writing yearly reports, and other tasks as needed
- Attend monthly Executive Board meetings and lead the meetings when the President is not available
- Serve in place of the President when they are not available
- Help manage deadlines and processes for the association
- Serve on a committee of your choosing and/or propose new ideas for the association, if time allows
Years 3–4: President
As President, you would do the following within your monthly time commitment:
- Lead the association to meet deadlines and follow processes and bylaws
- Recommend changes to structure, processes, or bylaws when needed
- Work closely with the incoming Vice President and mentor them on leading the association
- Work with the Treasurer on the association’s budget
- Delegate tasks to Executive Board members and committees
- Develop agendas for and lead monthly Executive Board meetings
- Lead informational sessions on the association
- Write yearly public reports and maintain association records
- Write and send communication to OWCA members
- Advise other Executive Board members and resolve conflict, when needed
- Monitor progress of the association and its committees
- Serve on a committee of your choosing and/or propose new ideas for the association, if time allows
Year 5: Immediate Past President
As Immediate Past President, you would have a reduced time commitment of 5-10 hours per month. You would do the following within your monthly time commitment:
- Advise and assist the President and Vice President, as needed
- Attend monthly Executive Board meetings and lead the meetings if the President and Vice President are not available
- Serve on a committee of your choosing and/or assist other Board members, if time allows
The Association
The OWCA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that is run by volunteers. We are a young association that was founded in late 2020 and is focused on supporting professionals and students who are interested in online writing support. We interpret online writing center support broadly to mean any online service that supports writing in any department or context.
The OWCA currently has 20 Executive Board members/positions. We have Executive Board meetings once per month for an hour and half and usually cancel unneeded meetings in July and December to give Board members a break. Within the next couple of years, the Executive Board will need to revise our organizational values and develop a multi-year plan.
The OWCA also has 5 long-term committees, where most of the association’s work takes place. Each committee is chaired by an Executive Board member, and any OWCA member can volunteer to contribute. Committees propose their own objectives each calendar year and determine the frequency of their meetings.
Learn More
To learn more about this position and the OWCA, you can attend an Informational Session.
You can also review the following pages on our website:
- Commitment to Anti-Racism
- Bylaws
- Budget
- Annual Reports
- Membership Types and Dues
- Committees
- Events & Resources
If you have questions, please contact the current President at president@onlinewritingcenters.org.
How to Apply
Please create ONE of the following:
- written statement (200-300 words) OR
- video statement (2-3 minutes). Video statements should be uploaded to YouTube and include edited closed captions for accessibility (please review the OWCA Guide for Video Applications for assistance).
Your statement will be shared with OWCA members for voting. In your statement, please answer the following questions:
- Why do you want to be more involved with the OWCA and to serve as Vice President and future President?
- What values and/or experiences would inform the way you’d lead the OWCA as Vice President and future President?
- What ideas do you have for the OWCA to better support members, volunteers, and/or the larger writing center community?
Submit
Applications for this election are due May 7 (by end of the day).
