New Structure for the AAAOM Student Organization

By Amanda Troelsen, MAc, LAc, DiplAc, CR (ARCB) Reiki Master

The AAAOM-SO has grown to over 1200 members strong— a 400% growth in 2 years! To accommodate this increasing membership, and to “mimic” the leadership structure of the parent organization (AAAOM-BOD), the AAAOM Student Organization Council (SOC) has instituted a new structure to take effect October, 2008.

To be an AAAOM-SOC officer or chairperson, you will need to serve for one year, must be currently enrolled in an ACAOM accredited college and be an AAAOM member in good standing. You will be expected to attend two in-person meetings a year and devote a considerable amount of time to the position. A summarized description of each of the new leadership positions is listed here. For more complete descriptions, please check: www.aaaomonline.info/soc-positions-08.pdf

• President- serves both as the leader of the SOC and as the voice of the SOC to the BOD, on which they serve as a full member with voting rights.
• Vice-President- serves by assisting the president in carrying out all administrative duties. The vice presidents of membership, communications, and events report to the VP.
• Treasurer- is responsible for the financial documents of the SOC and serves as the chairperson of the annual Silent Auction and the Legislative Committee.
• Secretary- is responsible for all written documentation, serves as the chairperson for the Elections Committee, and moderates the AAAOM-SO forum.

The above 4 positions comprise the Executive Committee (EC) of the AAAOM-SOC which, in addition to their other duties, provides editing and approval of all promotional materials distributed to the AAAOM-SO general membership.

• Vice President of Membership- oversees the work of the six regional directors (RDs) to ensure proper and complete communication between the AAAOM-SO and school representatives. This person also serves as chairperson of the Membership Committee. This role may be served concurrently with an RD position.
• Vice President of Communications- is responsible for the creation of AAAOM-SO communications to students. These include, but are not limited to, articles, flyers, brochures, etc. This person also serves as chairperson of the Media and Publications Committee, which is responsible for providing monthly and quarterly articles to AAAOM publications.
• Vice President of Events- is responsible for coordinating all activities, materials, etc. necessary for communicating to the AAAOM-SO general membership and AOM students nationwide about AAAOM-SO events. This person also serves as chairperson of the Conference Committee.
• Regional Directors- there are six RDs representing different regions of the country. The RDs serve as the liaison between the AAAOM-SOC and the local chapters of the AAAOM, which have been established at individual schools (AAAOM-SOCC). They are also responsible for aiding interested schools in establishing local chapters.
• President Emeritus- this is a purely advisory role served by the president immediately preceding the current president. Although invited to SOC and EC calls and meetings, this member has no voting rights.
• Members-at-large- two professional level members of the AAAOM can be called to serve as members-at-large. These are advisory roles only and sustain no voting rights.

The AAAOM-SO maintains six standing committees: Conference, Elections, Executive, Legislative, Media/Publications and Membership. All committee and task force chairpersons must be AAAOM-SOC members. Committee chairpersons shall serve as the AAAOM-SOC student representative on all applicable AAAOM committees as needed and approved by the AAAOM-BOD. With the exception of the Executive and Elections Committees, all committees are open to the general membership of the AAAOM-SO. No committee may consist of more than 10-15 members. Unless otherwise provided, all committee chairpersons and members shall hold their positions until the next elections or until successors are appointed.

Task forces are created for a specific need and are of shorter duration than committees. They may be created as needed and approved.

We hope that this new structure will better serve the AAAOM-SO constituents as well as provide more opportunities for involvement on the national level. Any questions regarding the new structure or involvement opportunities can be directed to AAAOM-SO Co-President Amanda Troelsen at atroelsen@comcast.net.

On behalf of the entire SOC, we thank you for your continued support.