Officer Transition Resources

Transitioning knowledge and role responsibilities from outgoing to incoming officers is vital for student organizations’ long-term success. The transition process provides new officers with the opportunity to learn from outgoing officers about their position and responsibilities. Proactive and successful transitions will facilitate the following:

  • Transfer of organization ownership and historical knowledge
  • Seamless continuity of the organization’s progress, growth, and goals
  • Reinforcement of productive communication and support between officers to plan and create new goals
  •  Development of a sense of pride and mission-aligned purpose in the new officers

A successful officer transition requires more than a one-hour meeting. During an officer's entire time in their role, they should be documenting processes, progress, recommendations, and goals.

Resources

A transition guide is available for your organization to use. There are helpful questions and checklists for both outgoing and incoming officers. When transitioning, we recommend following the outlined steps:

  1. Outgoing officers complete the ‘Outgoing Officer Checklist’ and ‘Outgoing Officer Worksheet’
  2. Incoming officers complete the ‘Incoming Officer Worksheet’
  3. Outgoing and new officer board meet for transition meeting (sample agenda available in the transition guide)

               a. During the group transition meeting, ensure time is allocated for one-on-one meetings for individual officer transitions.