[Coca] The Fall (please read in its entirety)

[Alexandra Taylor Vara]

Hi all,

I couldn't agree more with Jay. COCA isn't a one man job and it shouldn't be.
I'm hoping to start off running when school starts, maybe focusing on Hampfest
and getting more people on board. The circus folks have already contacted me
about bands for Halloween so be ready to jump right into Halloween planing as
well. I'm hoping that we can work together and make this a great year for COCA.
Looking forward to seeing you all. Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Sincerely,
Alex
Quoting Jay Cassano <jomc06 at hampshire.edu>:

> Hey everyone,
>
> Hope you've had a good summer so far. Now that we're a little past halfway
> through the summer, it's time to start thinking about the Fall. As you'll
> probably remember, in the Spring, I'd say approximately 90% of the work of
> COCA fell on my shoulders alone. This is not an acceptable or successful way
> for a committee of Community Council to operate. In my opinion, the chairs
> of committees should not even have much explicit work and should instead be
> responsible for oversight and fixing up loose ends that other people drop
> behind.
>
> It is imperative that we find an effective and efficient way to divide up
> tasks and have some more clearly defined roles for everyone on COCA. To
> illustrate my point, I am going to list all of the duties and tasks that go
> into running COCA. Again, bare in mind that I did almost all of this myself
> this past semester. To be frank, I am on the fence about whether or not I
> will continue with COCA this semester. One of my conditions for returning to
> COCA is that these tasks be more evenly divided between committee members.
> The list:
>
> -Setting meeting agenda
> -Taking meeting notes
> -Transcribing meeting notes into meeting minutes which are then formatted
> and posted on Hampedia
> -Treasurer/Accountant to keep track of COCA's account
> -Liason to FiCom
> -Liason to Community Council
> -Reviewing student group proposals prior to discussing them at a meeting to
> make sure they meet minimum standards
> -Corresponding with student groups regarding the status of their proposals
> -Answering questions about how to receive funding, fill out paperwork, and
> plan events from both individuals and student groups
> -Processing paperwork
> -Tracking down paperwork when it inevitably gets lost
> -Be in contact and work with Pub Safety
> -Be in contact and work with PhysPlant
> -Be in contact and work with Student Services
> -Be in contact and work with Special Programs
> -Be in contact and work with Sodexo
> -Work with bands and performers for Halloween/Spring Jam
> -Work with rental agencies for Halloween/Spring Jam
> -Staffing and cleanup at Halloween and Spring Jam
>
> And I'm sure that there is tons I've forgotten. The point is that this is
> clearly not a one or even two or three person job. It's the job of a
> well-organized committee. I hope that everyone replies over the list with
> their ideas for how to best organize COCA and divide up the burden of
> running it. Otherwise, to be frank, I'm not sure I can commit again to COCA.
>
> That said, I still want to be on COCA in the Fall, but we need to work
> together to make this successful. So let's do that.
>
> ~Jay
>