The challenge faced by volunteer turnover within WUSC

Every year, WUSC committees around Canada undergo some form of change in membership. Individuals may change roles within the organization or new replacements may enter. As with any organization, its effectiveness is only as good as its membership, so it comes as no surprise that there are concerns when there is a majority turnover of membership within WUSC.

As you will see in the video, one of the challenges faced by majority turnover is the great loss of valuable volunteer experience. New members who take on executive positions are at a slight disadvantage if they have little to no experience working beside their predecessors. While many positions are “learn-as-you-go” and can readily accommodate new and enthusiastic members, areas such as the Student Refugee Program, which has tremendous responsibilities, require quick transfer of knowledge so that progress is not slowed.

At the end of this academic year at Trent University, quite a few executive members graduated and will probably be pursuing life and higher education elsewhere. We are looking forward to the return of those members who were on study abroad programs. Their experience and that of other returning members will be critical for the forward movement of WUSC at Trent University. Therefore, in order to streamline the transition, outgoing members are being encouraged to facilitate easy transfer of knowledge by whatever means are available.

We hope that our efforts will serve to minimize slowdowns in the forward movement of WUSC and keep the organization actively engaged in fulfilling its goals as we move into the future.

Credits go to Kerry Blackadar and Sarah Stenabaugh of UBC’s The Thunderbird for this great video as they speak about similar challenges faced by WUSC at the University of British Columbia.