With the semester starting soon (or maybe it has started already!), I thought I would share some tips for the incoming SSHP presidents and officers!
- Use the many resources available to you
Coming up with events, programs, and ideas for chapter activities can be challenging. Fortunately, there are many resources you can use to help plan for the year. Ask past-presidents for events they held, reach out to other chapters, and use the ASHP website! The ASHP website features many tools and resources, such as professional development project ideas, that were submitted by student chapters to help other chapters.
ASHP Student Society Tools
- Collaborate
Collaboration is a buzzword these days, and your chapter can collaborate in a number of ways! Work with other organizations to host events, thus increasing manpower and the turnout. Communicate with other SSHP chapter leaders to learn best practices and improve your organization, and possibly plan a joint event with them! At URI, we asked other chapters in New England to set aside a week to promote pharmacy advancement, including PAI and provider status.
New England Pharmacy Advancement Week
- Choose quality over quantity
It is natural to want to host 73 speakers, implement 45 professional development projects, and a hundred other events. When it comes down to it, the most successful will be those that have been carefully planned and executed, which usually requires a lot of time and effort. Instead of trying to do too much and ending up with numerous sub-par events, hold a few events and make sure that they are of the highest quality.
- Get your general members involved
It is extremely important to have members who are not on the executive board to be active in your chapter. Having only the executive board members plan and execute events leaves nothing for the bulk of the organization to do, so make sure that members take the lead on planning events, speakers, and projects!
- You’re the president, not the whole organization