22nd Annual Student Research Conference
Understanding the Job of Student Organization Presidents
Tracy H. Mulderig*, Jennifer D. Schmidt, Kyle W. VanIttersum, Taelor M. Cash, and Jennifer L. LaChapell
Dr. Teresa Heckert, Faculty Mentor
The position of student organization president is arguably the most demanding of all the officer positions. Structured training varies by organization. The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge areas and skills/abilities (KSAs) needed for the presidency and to ascertain in which of these areas presidents felt additional training would have been useful. Truman State University student organization presidents rated the frequency and importance of various job tasks and the importance of various KSAs for successfully completing their position responsibilities. In addition, they indicated whether, as a newly elected president, they would have benefited from training in each KSA. The most important and frequent tasks were running chapter meetings and motivating members. The most important KSAs were leadership skills, interpersonal skills, and decision-making skills. Among the most important KSAs, presidents reported that training would have been very helpful on university resources, leadership skills, and being proactive.
Keywords: Organization Presidents, Training, Job Analysis
Topic(s):Psychology
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 4-5
Location: VH 1010
Time: 9:15