Advisors' Role and Expectations
Role of the Student Organization Advisor, as adopted by the Council on Student Organizations:
The role of an advisor is to provide stability and continuity to student organizations.
To provide stability and continuity to a student organization, the advisor must assume an active role in the affairs of the student group.
Maintaining stability and promoting close cooperation among club members frequently requires that the advisor takes proactive steps such as attending meetings or gathering with club leadership to ensure operations are running smoothly. Occasionally, the advisor might need to serve as a mediator in the instance of intra-club conflict. Ideally, the energy behind intra-group conflicts should be channeled through constructive outlets. It is important to avoid the breakdown of student groups into non-functioning factions.
The advisor is to provide guidance to student organizations through advice and suggestions.
This guidance may assume a variety of forms. One aspect would be specialty advice, such as suggestions that an advisor might make to an organization concerning the selection of material for a student publication. The advisor is not the director of a club's activities. Providing guidance through advice and suggestions, the advisor assists students in making their own decisions.
The advisor is to assist in fostering the prudent management of organizational funds.
The prudent management of funds necessitates close cooperation between club officers and club advisors. In order that COSO policy be in line with that of the general college, the signature of the Collis Center staff member must appear on all purchasing forms.