With a student body that’s constantly in flux, campus organizations face leadership deficits each term. Andres Ramirez ’14 was working on a project for his Tuck School of Business undergraduate marketing course in the fall when he conceived a solution. His new student-run organization, the Collis Consulting Group, launched this term and aims to consult for other College groups.
Ramirez attributes the majority of problems facing campus organizations to the D-Plan. Many students assume executive positions within their groups as sophomores and juniors, but this also coincides with the time when students take leave terms. The absence of upperclassmen leadership causes administrative turnover, confusion and inconsistency, he said.
“[Interim executives] do not have the same goals and the same initiatives as the prior execs did in the term before,” Ramirez said.
The group will establish guidelines for executive transitions in student organizations and will teach groups about available resources. The group also aims to assist student groups that are not familiar with administrative tasks, such as budgeting and sending proposals to the Council on Student Organizations.
“A lot of the organizations don’t have the resources necessary to be the best that they can be or they are too intimidated to ask for help from their administrative faculty members,” Ramirez said. “CCG will be the middle man between the administrators and the student groups.”
The group is launching its pilot stage this winter and announced in an email to campus on Tuesday that it seeks to recruit a sophomore co-director to join Ramirez, currently the group’s only member.`
This term, the group will reach out to a few organizations to offer assistance and will hold nighttime office hours. Though they will mostly work with groups recommended by COSO this term, they will consider consulting with groups by request in the spring.
Ramirez will then recruit students with professional experience in consulting, finance, non-profit organizations and event-planning, as well as those involved in student organizations on campus.
The group will have a hierarchical structure similar to that of COSO — once selected, members will remain in the group until they graduate.
In the long term, Ramirez would like the group to become an “umbrella organization,” consulting for campus religious groups and Greek organizations. Ultimately, the group seeks to consult for companies in Hanover and the surrounding area.
Collis Center director and group supervisor Eric Ramsey said Collis administrators and future group members will collaborate to give meaningful advice to student organizations.
Tucker Byrne ’16, who is applying for the group’s co-director position, said the organization offers a mechanism by which students can connect with administrators.
