2007 Promising Practice Award Winners

first place

The American Constitution Society's most successful management practice is its CTools website. The website stores our collective knowledge and helps smooth leadership transitions. Board members can access the website to find any information, from a copy of our constitution to a "services chart," complete with phone numbers of local businesses and estimated prices.

We also archive information on our site, such as meeting minutes, agendas, flyers, and funding applications. This information can be used for informational purposes, or can serve as examples for future board members.

This website has been very effective because it organizes information in one place and lessens the need for email. Also, it is a very effective way to pass on information to new board members from year to year, eliminating the problem of student leaders graduating and taking the information with them.

Another benefit of CTools is that most law students already use it for their classes, so they are familiar with the site. Other student organizations can easily use this practice since starting a site is simple, requiring very little student training. Finally, it's a very good way to organize the institutional knowledge in a way that is easy to pass on.

second place

The International Law Society has a designated board position for an archivist in order to increase organizational effectiveness from event to event and from year to year. An archivist is a board member appointed to record ILS events, organize documents, and record methodology so that each board can pass down knowledge to incoming board members. An archivist keeps our organization from having to re-invent the wheel. Over time, ILS is building a treasure trove of institutional knowledge and is able to learn from past successes and failures. By utilizing past documents, ILS is able to run more efficiently and thus save money. Most importantly, we believe having an archivist on the board is something that can be replicated by any student organization.

An archivist serves as a general support throughout all aspects of our organization. The archivist catalogs posters, email event announcements, agendas, meeting minutes, and photos from past events for use by board members. Every position on the executive board benefits from this work by avoiding retracing steps taken by other board members or past boards. When the overall workings of an organization are made more efficient, the organization is stronger adn everyone's job is made easier.

ILS knows that employing an archivist is effective because we can see the benefits in our day-to-day operations. We are not constantly figuring out how to replicate past events and practices because we already have a record of what was done by previous boards. Our archivist keeps our locker organized and our supplies in order so we are able to efficiently advertise ourselves and our events. Our archivist keeps a record of important contacts together, as well as general administrative knowledge and procedures. When anyone needs to know how to reserve a room, or where to order food, the information is readily available. Ultimately, it serves its purpose best during transitions from board to board.

Any organization can benefit from using an archivist. In particular, the role of an archivist is flexible and can be adapted to each organization's particular style of leadership and management. An archivist saves an organization time, money, and stress. In addition, many student organizations don't have continuity from board to board and, in some cases, don't have offices or files to store information. An archivist addresses some of the problems posed by this reality by deliberately creating a repository for institutional knowledge.