Program Committee

Objective:

To monitor and review the various programs run by the Caring and Sharing Exchange and recommend new programs and programming policies to the Board of Directors as appropriate.

Duties and Responsibilities of Committee Members:

• Become familiar with the mission statement, guiding principles, and core values of the Caring and Sharing Exchange.
• Determine the types of programming the Caring and Sharing Exchange should offer based on community needs, and the aims and purposes of the organization.
• Develop for Board approval, programming policies and guidelines.
• Set up and ensure adequate staffing of program subcommittees (i.e. Hamper Committee) as appropriate.
• Monitor and review the operation of all approved programs.
• Assist staff in the development and maintenance of a communication link with referring agencies.
• Assist staff in the development of an annual programming budget for inclusion in the overall Caring and Sharing Exchange budget.
• Other duties as assigned by the Board of Directors.

Membership Eligibility:

• Representation from the Board of Directors;
• Representation from referring agencies and organizations;
• Representation from the community at large;
• The Executive Director is an ex-officio member;
• Staff, other than the Executive Director, as deemed appropriate by the Executive Director, as resource personnel;
• The chair of any programming sub-committee should be a member of the Program Committee;
• There should be no less than five (5), but no more than nine (9) committee members;
• If the chair of the Program Committee is not a Board Member, a Board Liaison Member must be appointed to keep the Board fully informed;
• The chair, working in consultation with the Board liaison, the Executive Director, and other staff as appropriate, shall recruit other committee members;
• A Committee Secretary who will be responsible for taking minutes of the committee meetings, shall be recruited from within the committee membership

Term of Office:

• All members must serve a minimum of one year.
• To ensure continuity on the committee, there should be no more than one third of the members leave the committee in any one year.

Meetings:

• The first meeting of the Program Committee shall be at the call of the Executive Director;
• Based on the number and size of programs approved by the Board of Directors, a meeting schedule will be struck each year at the first meeting of the Program Committee immediately following the Annual Meeting of the Caring and Sharing Exchange;
• The Chair has the authority to call unscheduled meetings if necessary, to handle emergency situation as they arise.

Time Commitment:

• The time commitment for a committee member will generally be up to two hours per committee meeting, plus extra report review, agency visits, and background research as required.

Reporting:

• A report of the Program Committee activities shall be made at each regularly scheduled board meeting
• A written report of the year’s activities and outcomes shall be included in the Caring and Sharing Exchange Annual Report for distribution to members of the Caring and Sharing Exchange and potential donors.