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ResolutionNumber:
05
Year: 2003 Title: YOUTH REPRESENTATION IN AIUSA Resolved:
CONSIDERING that a youth is often defined as any persons aged 25 years or younger; and WHEREAS providing positions for capable student/youth activists would help develop these student activists to be longtime participants in the larger movement, and CONSIDERING that there is no shortage of capable and committed student/youth activists already within the existing framework of AI,
BE IT RESOLVED that all steering committees, advisory councils, task forces, action teams, Regional Planning Groups, and other such volunteer structures, including the Board of Directors, be required to take concrete, affirmative steps to recruit youth. Each structure shall be required to set a goal for youth membership and to review and improve its efforts to recruit youth should the goal not be met. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a youth is defined as any person aged 25 years or younger. Implementation: : Because different parts of the organization are responsible for forming the various groups referred to in the resolution, various groups (e.g. board of directors, senior managers) will be responsible for implementation. Step 1. Identify who is responsible for overseeing recruitment of the groups mentioned (e.g. the board of directors govern formation of task forces, steering committees, regional offices manage the recruitment of Regional Planning Group members, and various programs create action teams). Key staff and volunteers responsible for recruiting members to their group should report to whomever manages their work how many youth (people aged 25 or younger) are currently in the group, what concrete, affirmative steps they are taking to recruit youth, and what their goal and timelines are for recruiting youth members. (The managers include the board of directors and senior managers.) If a committee does not represent youth constituents and recruiting youth is not feasible, this should be reported. Step 2: Some groups might not be meeting this goal because of a lack of commitment to it or a lack of knowledge/skills (e.g. how to recruit youth members). Through the reporting out process, these groups should be identified and supported. (For example, if they’re having a difficult time identifying appropriate student leaders, they could contact the National Campus Advisory Committee or the regional office staff who work with student groups for ideas.)
a) Consult with Membership Mobilization about how the work of the task force can fit into AIUSA’s current initiatives on membership and students. b) Identify liaisons for recruitment of students/youth on each committee. c) Complete assessment of youth representation on all AIUSA steering/standing committees. As a starting point, the Task Force will use information gathered from a questionnaire developed by the NCAC that reviews each committee’s involvement with student representation and participation. (The questionnaire was developed by the NCAC as a project independent from the task force, and may be revised for the work of the Task Force). To date, the Board, Multicultural Assessment Advisory Committee, Special Initiatives Fund, Women's Human Rights, the AGM Program Committee, Just Earth, OUTFront, and the Board Nominating Committee have responded questionnaires circulated by the NCAC during its project. d) Create a proposal to institutionalize a process to secure youth representation on AIUSA committees. e) Evaluate results.
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