Club Advising 101

As the date of the third Accounting Club meeting of the spring semester drew closer, the anticipation for PriceWaterhouse Cooper's (PwC) visit heightened. The meeting was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Students eagerly entered the room, some bringing resumes. Four accounting faculty members, including the faculty advisor to the Accounting Club, also joined the meeting. Everyone was seated and ready for the meeting, including the two guest speakers, who were auditors from PwC, as the Club President approached the front of the room to begin the meeting. He nervously looked around the room and began to speak, "Good evening and welcome to" and then froze mid-sentence, not a word coming from his lips. All eyes were on the Club President. The audience was waiting for him to finish the introduction when finally the Secretary of the Accounting Club completed introducing the guest speakers. As the Secretary returned to her seat, her eyes crossed the faculty advisor's irritated eyes: "How could he be so unprepared for such an important meeting?" Background Florence University's Baxter School of Business and Leadership had three academic departments and five majors. The Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance sponsored various student clubs including the Accounting Club, Investment Club, Economics and Finance Club and the Student Academic Advisory Board (SAAB). Although all of the clubs were open to students of all majors, the Accounting Club focused on students who were planning a major and a career in Accounting. The mission of the Baxter Accounting Club was to expand accounting majors' experience at Florence by introducing students to faculty, other accounting majors and professionals in the accounting field. The officers, including a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer, worked together with guidance from the club faculty advisor, Professor Madison Watkins, to bring in speakers from public, private and governmental accounting organizations. Over the years the meetings had proven to be an excellent way to network and to find internships and fulltime employment. Selection of the Spring Officers At the end of the fall semester, all of the current Accounting Club officers were either graduating or not running for office for the spring semester. With every officer's position being vacated, the Accounting Club secretary sent an e-mail to all current Accounting Club members and Accounting majors asking for nominations. Within a few days, four students showed interest in becoming an Accounting Club officer. Bianca Smith, a junior who was fairly shy, but very successful in all of her classes, responded to the email. She was also a member of the business fraternity, a co-ed organization that focused on leadership and preparing students to enter the work force. Cameron Johnson, a senior, said he was interested in becoming more active in the Accounting Club. Samantha O'Brian, a junior transfer student, was eager to get involved in the Accounting Club. Josh Anderson, an outspoken junior, was active in many organizations in the Business School and the university, including the same co-ed business fraternity to which Bianca belonged. When the current President, Brandon Davis, reviewed the emails from the four interested candidates, he only recognized Josh and Bianca, two of his business fraternity brothers. Brandon realized that somewhere in the old Accounting Club files was an Accounting Club Constitution and Bylaws, which potentially outlined officer succession. Since there were only four interested students, however, Brandon chose not to consult the bylaws. Instead he decided they would all become officers without a formal process. Brandon emailed his decision to the four candidates. During the last Accounting Club meeting of the semester, Brandon met with the four students to determine who would fill which position. With no one requesting a certain position, he asked the candidates for their preference. …