Officers, Committees, and Councils – Roles and Goals

National Initiative for Consumer Horticulture (NICH)

NICH functions with four (4) Officers, rend seven (7) active Committees or Councils. Each Committee/Council has an appointed Chair, who can invite as many working members and/or Vice/Co-Chairs as they deem necessary to accomplish the goals of their committee or council.

Terms of Service:

• Committee/Council Members: At least one (1) year of service is requested. Generally, monthly
  calls/meetings are held by committee members. These assignments do not typically exceed 1-3 hours per month of service.
• Committee/Council Chairs: A two (2) year term of service is requested, preferably with at least one year of service in the Committee/Council being Chaired
• Officers: A two (2) year term of service is requested, preferably with at least one term of service in the Committee/Council Chair or previous officer role

Expectations/Measures of Success:

NICH is a broad coalition representing the entirety of consumer horticulture. At its core are the mission, vision, and values represented in its strategic plan. Driving the initiative are the people dedicated to its success and achieving it through their volunteer service.

All involved will represent the Core Values of NICH by demonstrating through their service:

•  Diversity and Inclusion – all potential members are welcomed and valued as all individuals can make a difference
  •  The organization will contain broad representation combined with a dedication to consider multiple viewpoints
  •  NICH is inclusive and welcoming; as many as possible may be brought under the greater initiative umbrella
•  Service – all officers, committee/council chairs and committee/council members serve for the common good
  •  Able to set aside their own individual biases and consider the “needs of the many”
  •  Those engaged possess volunteer spirit and a ready willingness to provide their unique expertise
•  Research, Education and Extension/Engagement – all members understand the importance of researching and relying upon fact-based, scientific research whenever gathering and/or reporting information
  •  Members will investigate all sides of a goal, objective, or tactic – including how best to educate others and disseminate/adopt the final results/products
•  Environmental, Social and Economic Focus – NICH Committees/Councils address all aspects of sustainability
  •  NICH Committees/Councils orient their work to goal areas
  •  NICH Committees/Councils cooperate to minimize duplication of effort and synergize work and outcomes wherever possible
•  Environmental, Social and Economic Focus – NICH Committees/Councils address all aspects of sustainability
  •  NICH Committees/Councils orient their work naturally to these goal areas
  •  NICH Committees/Councils work together cooperate to minimize duplication of effort, synergize their work together and collaborate on outcomes wherever possible
•  Innovation and Creativity – NICH Committees/Councils and volunteers seek to address and solve real world challenges
  •  NICH Committees/Councils consider “new ways” of addressing “old problems” and are rarely satisfied with “we’ve always done it this way”
•  Accountability – NICH Committees/Councils and volunteers demonstrate the ownership necessary to achieve desired results for the initiative
  •  Committee Chairs and Council Leaders are repeatedly willing to “step up” and perform, and not just recommend the work needed to further initiative
•  Relevant – NICH Committees/Councils respond to the needs of (and actively communicate with) our clientele and the sectors we represent
  •  Members are part of a resilient community that seeks to ever expand the that seeks to expand the awareness and reach of the initiative as it grows and evolves

NICH Officers have the following roles and measures of success:

• Address and achieve legal status for NICH (e.g. become non-profit or form groups that allow continuance of mission, vision, and values for all)
• Ensure information flow within/throughout the organization and to outside interested parties. (Press releases, talking points, use of listserv, website, sharing and archiving working documents (online Box system, etc.))
• Initiate and coordinate National meetings either online or in person.
• Initiate and coordinate Bi-Weekly Executive Committee conference calls
• Maintain high-level calendar of key deadlines and communicate expectations
  for meeting them to stakeholders
• Form teams (Councils, Committees, Task Forces) needed to achieve NICH goals
• 2017 Goals:
  • Develop a draft business plan
  • Receive/pursue funding through grants to sustain NICH efforts

Council and Committee Chairs have the following collective measures of success:

• Recruit and retain at least 8 or more (preferably many more in the case ofCouncils) members of their Committee/Council that are committed and actively working toward the objectives of the initiative
  • 2017 Goal For Committees: Fully staffed with active Vice-Chair named by mid-year
  • 2017 Goal For Councils: At least 15 members with active Vice-Chair named by mid-year
• Plans, schedules, and conducts conference calls/meetings on at least a monthly basis to perform work needed to further initiatives
  • 2017 Goal: All monthly meetings held and priorities accomplished
• Attend Bi-Weekly Executive Committee calls/meetings of Chairs and Officers
  • 2017 Goal: Chair or Designate attends at least 75% of bi-weekly calls
• Updates Executive Committee on work progress in a coordinated fashion, either
  through reports on bi-weekly Calls or more preferably, by written/shared documents
  • 2017 Goal: All Progress Reports Disseminated by email or posted to the Box site
• Performs work directly related to success of initiative
  • 2017 Goal: At least one objective or tactic from plan shows sufficient progress/completion

The following roles and responsibilities are more specific to the work of either Committees or Councils:

Committees (Social, Economic, and Environmental)

• Serve to identify, develop, revise, prioritize, and execute objectives articulated in strategic planning sessions and/business plans in order to further the initiative
• Work in concert with other committees and Chairs to minimize duplicative efforts as some objectives invariably cross goal areas
• Receive and employ feedback given by Councils in prioritizing their work
• Provide timely requests to Councils for specific actions such as letters of support,
  dissemination of information to stakeholders, etc.

Councils (Public/LGU, Industry, NGO)

• Assemble a broad group of stakeholders to represent all aspects and viewpoints of the horticulture sector they represent
• Hold listening and engagement sessions as needed to develop, prioritize, and propose emerging sector needs to Committees as well as respond to their requests
• Engage with all Committee Chairs as needed to ensure Council priorities help guide initiative objective

---

*This document is available in its original format as a PDF.