Roles and Responsibilities

OAGEE: Roles and Responsibilities: 

President:

The President is responsible for the leadership of the organization. As such, this person will ensure that Geography and Environmental Education continues to play an important role in the education of students in Ontario.

To do this, the president will ensure that:

• The executive accomplishes its goals in supporting Geographic and Environmental Education
• The executive continues to have close links with the membership.

The president will ensure that the OAGEE Constitution and Organizational Structure (implemented (2015) and passed at 2016 AGM) is followed and this person will lead the meetings of the organization.

The president must be willing to delegate duties and responsibilities and monitor the progress of the Council members given or chosen initiatives.

The president should ensure that OAGEE has a current membership in the NCGE and supports the CGE.

Specific duties include:

• Represents OAGEE
• Ensures executive positions are supported and implemented
• Ensures OAGEE is a stakeholder in many initiatives concerning Geography in Ontario
• Liaison with Ministry of Education – works on initiatives and projects
• Lead voice for all OAGEE matters
• Efficiently plans and executes regular OAGEE meetings – 4 per year (one coincides with Fall conference)
• Holds regular OAGEE executive meetings (at least 2-3 weeks before regular mtg)
• Communicates regularly, within a timely fashion, with OAGEE Executive and Regional Councillors (should there be suggested 48 hours)
• Prepares an article for each issue of The Monograph
• Establish new and maintain current links with other organizations and special interest stakeholders (e.g. OTF, STAO, OHASSTA, OEN)
• Represent OAGEE at meetings of other groups such as OTF
• Build links with Ontario Colleges and Universities (support special interest councillor)
• Encourage Councillors to build membership and offer professional development in their regions

Past President:

This person can make an unusually strong contribution to the organization by assisting the new president and by providing a fund of knowledge to the organization.

The past-president chairs the Annual General Meeting and is responsible for establishing the Council-elect as chair of the ‘nominating committee’ (heretofore called the Publication and Nominating Committee, 14-01-78)  (Check constitution OAGEE)

The past-president is to assist the treasurer with long range budget planning.

Specific duties include:

• Ensure continuity of leadership and institutional memory
• Supports President in any and all ministry projects
• Resource person for the current President
• Supports President in current role: Communicates regularly, within a timely fashion, with OAGEE Executive and Regional Councillors (should there be suggested 48 hours)

Secretary

The duties of the secretary include:

• Attending the Executive and Council meetings and records all minutes of every meeting (regular and executive, if possible) and sends minutes to OAGEE executive and regional councillors/special interest councillors within 48 hours
• Records of attendance occurs at every meeting
• Request that detailed reports and motions be submitted prior to the commencement of meetings
• Works closely with President to set agenda and help with preparations for every meeting (run agenda copies, order lunch, bring food etc)
• Works closely with President to prepare for Annual General Meeting at Fall Conference
• Keep efficient records of past OAGEE historical records: names of award winners, past executives, locations of conferences, etc
• Maintain a record of Region newsletters (if produced)
• Assist with correspondence pertaining to OAGEE

Treasurer

The treasurer is responsible for maintaining and reporting on the financial status of the organization.

Specific duties include:

• Efficiently accounts for all monies pertaining to OAGEE business (writing cheques, preparing records, income tax, HST, etc)
• Prepares and presents quarterly reports to regular OAGEE meetings
• Prepares and presents an annual report for the Annual General Meeting
• Pay all bills up to the amount authorized by the executive.
• Present a financial statement/report to each full executive meeting
• Maintain a ledger showing all financial operations of the organization
• Maintain a record of all requisition and deposits for each fiscal year
• Keep the executive informed of any outstanding account which is delinquent for an unreasonable length of time
• Work with Conference VP to provide advances and assist with conference financial costs to report to Council
• Review OAGEE’s term deposits and insurance costs,
• Keep the incorporation papers and seal
• Advise the Corporation Information Section of the Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations on any changes in officers/directors of OAGEE Inc
• Provide a financial statement and report for each Annual General Meeting

Vice-President of Communication:

This vice-president of communications has responsibility for connections of OAGEE with other public and private groups and organizations as well as maintaining a strong social media presence for OAGEE.

Specific Duties include:

• In charge of social media: twitter, facebook, Instagram with the goal for OAGEE to have a strong presence within social media
• Support and oversee the development and maintenance of the OAGEE website – liaison with website sub-committee
• Encourage all OAGEE members to have social media (eg. twitter accounts) to follow OAGEE
• Measure and report on social media activity
• Support the development of annual posters (through supporting sub-committees) and special project posters (eg. Development of French/English marketing banners)
• Advocate for and support ongoing development of partnerships between OAGEE and stakeholders for geoliteracy
• Other duties to include: public relations, media relations, branding (merchandise with e-store/website), awards, contests, advertising, promotions, marketing
• Ensure OAGEE booth for conferences has necessary display items and has people to look after the booth

Vice-President of Conferences

The person in this role must be instrumental in the long and short term planning of conference events. This VP will be in charge of conferences to ensure consistency and prior knowledge.

Specific Duties include:

• Take a leadership role in the executive committee and Council
• Encourages membership in OAGEE through attending conferences
• Maintains and reports to council membership numbers and supports regional councillors to promote and encourage membership in their regions
• Find locations and chairpersons for conferences two years in advance
• Maintain records of conferences
• Keep OAGEE Council informed of upcoming non-OAGEE geography and related conferences
• Encourage OAGEE participation and/or presence at non-OAGEE conferences (eg. STAO, OHASSTA)

To aid in conference planning:

• Act as a start-up person with committee
• Help set conference goals
• Outline OAGEE parameters (budget, finance policies, exhibit needs, etc)
• Provide examples/binder info (electronic files) from previous conferences
• Assist with local program development and selection of presentations
• Organizes and takes the lead for the Exhibitor area for Fall Conference (research and work to acquire new exhibitors, contact previous participants and maintain their participation)
  • At the conferences:
• Be visible, supportive with registration desk
• After the event, encourage a quick wrap-up of the conference the following month
• Write thank you notes to planning committee
• Ensure electronic files from every conference are collected from conference chairs and archived for future reference

VP of Curriculum

The person holding this position will encourage, support, and provide leadership in OAGEE’s curriculum projects.  This VP will be a geography link to the Ministry of Education and other boards and groups both public and private related to curriculum endeavors and:

Specific Duties include:

• Work closely with President on Ministry of Education projects and initiatives
• Work closely with Ontario College of Teachers, when required, with projects and initiatives
• Represent OAGEE through attending conferences, when required
• Chair any curriculum review committees or projects
• Report to executive and council on a regular basis with development and/or changes to curriculum
• Select individuals to sit on writing teams, provide leadership, organize and complete writing projects
• Take an active role in Conference presentations
• Report on projects both completed and upcoming at the Annual General meeting

Vice-President of Geo-technologies

The Vice-President of Geo-technologies gathers and communicates geotech and spatial technologies resources.

Specific duties include:

• Create PD opportunities and promote PD opportunities in Geotech
• Stay informed of on-going professional development in Geotech area
• Liaison with ESRI
• Liaison with Skills Competition (plays a role in ensuring Geotech is a presence at the annual Skills competition)
• Liaison with Geomatics possibilities throughout Ontario
• Written report or review of a resource to The Monograph for each edition on use of geotechnologies in the classroom (i.e. apps for geography, Arc GIS On-line news)
• Geo-technology page on the OAGEE website – send it through website sub-committee

Monograph Editor

• Editor and Publisher of The Monograph…
• Collects articles, reviews, reports (conferences, institutes, Ministry), President’s Message, advertising copy, OAGEE annual award winners for each issue
• Publishes four 32 page issues per year
• Creates pdf files (Covers and Pages 1-32) of each issue in grayscale for direct printing at Langstaff and Reed
• Forwards issues in pdf format to Becker Associates for the Best of the Monograph archive and to the printer for making hard copies to be mailed to members
• Answers questions on, and provides digital or printed copies (where available), of past issues of The Monograph
• Maintains and updates an archive of all digitally produced, past issues of The Monograph
• Provides copies of issues of The Monograph to advertisers, contributing authors who are not members of OAGEE, or individuals/institutions interested in the publication
• Reports on the status of The Monograph at each Council meeting

Regional Reps:

Regional Councillors represent the interests of OAGEE members in their regions at all council meetings.  Regional Reps will maintain a list of OAGEE members specific to region provided by VP-Conferences.

Specific duties include:

• Regular communication within regions: Keep their local geography teachers informed of developments within the region, news items, curriculum revisions, etc. Communicate within their regions with all schools teaching geography 7-12 using an emailed newsletter and mailing list. Ideas: monthly emails/twitter/social media updates – set up a blog for your region to follow (include Faculties of Education)
• Newsletters should also be sent to the OAGEE Council members as well.
• Actively work on 1-2 projects/year within the OAGEE organization and report on said projects at each meeting (Serve on OAGEE subcommittees where interested or appointed.)
• Encourage members to submit articles for publication in the Monograph.
• Liaise with any executive member such as a vice-president to become familiar with other positions on Council – Idea of job shadow??
• Attend all OAGEE meetings throughout the year and prepare a region report that is sent to the secretary before the meeting that will be included in the minutes and highlighted during the meeting
• Promote and attend the fall and, if possible, spring conference and institutes
• Arrange for geography professional development programs in their region (e.g. guest speakers, field trips, new resource help) (Note: $250 is allocated on an annual basis to enhance and promote geographic education in regions)

 Special Interest Councillors

These Councillors may be appointed from time to time where needed and are not considered permanent Council positions as people are appointed, not elected to their positions. It is understood that these people bring with them, as their major contribution to OAGEE, a particular perspective which their involvement gives them.

Examples include special interests like Faculties of Education, Francophone Geographers, 7 & 8 Geography, OGCA, Independent Schools, and Environmental Education

Their roles are:

• Represent your area of interest and identify role in enhancing OAGEE’s mandate
• To provide reports regarding developments, opportunities, problems and issues related to OAGEE’s interest in promoting geographic and environmental education
• Work with OAGEE Council, particularly appropriate Vice-Presidents, to help promote geographic education perhaps by establishing committees to deal with some particular issue/development
• Assist OAGEE with current efforts connected to their Special Interest
• Connect with groups and individuals in their area of interest to provide current information regarding their field
• Promote geographic education and ensure OAGEE is aware of upcoming events
• Promote partnerships between OAGEE and special interest groups
• Attend each OAGEE meeting and send reports to secretary

Note: It is the recommendation that the Roles and Responsibilities Sub-committee to please consider a special interest position for Poster Development.

Suggested Portfolio: Poster Development

• Creatively develop the poster to be released at each Fall Conference
• Work closely with the President and VP Curriculum
• Present options at the spring meeting
• Work closely with councillors to write curriculum to connect with the poster to then be also put on back of poster