Maintaining a strong organization from officer to officer and year to year is incredibly important. Keeping a history of the RSO helps the organization continue it's growth, stay on-course and keep an active membership. One of the biggest reasons we see RSOs become inactive or struggle is due to a lack of proper passing of the reigns. The information on this page has been developed to help guide RSOs in thinking about how to successfully transition their RSO.
Good Transition Practices
When planning for transition in your RSO, consider the important aspects of your RSO and what it will need to continue to survive and be active. Below is a list of some things - certainly not all - that you should include in your transition.
- A report of the RSOs recent activity - include events, important changes, answers to common questions, etc.
- Information about the Center for Student Involvement and the resources/services we provide
- Information about RSO policies (provide our website link!)
- Bank account information (if your RSO has a bank account)
- You should even go with the new officer(s) to the bank to sign the account over
- An updated membership roster - keep your roster in DawgDen updated!
- Information about any storage/computer workstations that your RSO uses through our office
- Common all-RSO events information (i.e. involvement fairs)
- Success, failures and challenges that your RSO has faced
- Recommendations for future years
- Contact information for yourself and any outgoing officers (never know if the organization will need to contact you with a question!)
- Your advisor's information and contact
When Should a Transition Occur?
This is very RSO-specific, but in general, it's a good idea to plan a transition process for each school year and/or transition of an officer(s). Most RSOs complete their elections in the Spring quarter, so with terms ending/beginning at the end of the school year. Often this means that the RSO uses the Spring and Summer as transition periods.
If your RSO is following this typical timeline, it's a good idea to ensure your RSO feels ready BEFORE the start of the school year. Otherwise the organization will be playing catch-up.
