[nabs-l] Sustaining a student division in a rural state

[Jim Reed]

Hello,
My name is Jim Reed. I am president of the Montana Association of Blind Students (MABS). I am puting this email out to reach out to other student division leaders for advice.

Background:
The whole state of Montana has a population of less than 1 million.
The largest city in Montana has approx 100,000
The two largest universities in the state have a combined enrollment of approx 50,000 
The largest university has less than 10 blind students
The MABS has approx 5 members
The MABS consitution requires 4 officers (pres, VP, secretary, treasurer) and 4 board members   
The MABS has less total membership than we have officer/board positions.

I am trying to convince our members that we need to restructure our leadership to reduce the number of people required, as I personally doubt the MABS will ever have more than 10 members.

I am running into resistance as some members seem to believe that our organization will grow. One person is making the argument that it is ok to leave an empty board as the student population is transient anyway. I disagree on both counts. 

In the meantime, we have no board, and we have only filled our secretary position. With out a board, we are essentially stalled, as I dont know what I can do indepoendently before I cross the line from being a president to being a dictator.

I would be curious to hear what some of our other rural [presidents have to say.
Thanks,
Jim 




"Ignorance killed the cat; curiosity was framed."