VI.G. BSC Owner's Manual Program

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A. Preamble

The BSC Owner’s Manual is a foundational document that is meant to give any and all members the basic knowledge and tools to exercise ownership over their organization. It is valuable for the document and the program to be defined in policy in order to increase transparency about the program, allow for easier development of the program over time, and ensure that the Board is fulfilling its educational obligation to the membership.

B. Content The BSC Owner’s Manual should contain enough content to equip members to effectively navigate their unit and the larger BSC. While this section is not meant to be prescriptive, the following topics should be considered by the Member Resources Department and ETCom when creating the manual:

1. Practical information that a new member would need in order to successfully interface with the Central Office, move in to their new house or apartment, stay safe, and carry out the day-­‐to-­‐day tasks of living in our organization.
2. Information on decision-­‐making processes, conflict management, and community-­‐building.
3. Organizational information, such as organizational and board structure, the relationship of the units to the central level, a guide to the various departments of the Central Office, and information about the Alumni Association.
4. Background information on cooperatives, to help the member understand the history of cooperatives, cooperative principles, and the existence of the larger cooperative movement.
5. A description of some of the most important policies that members may need to reference.
6. A compendium of all the BSC units and their relevant information.
7. Any extra “features” that might enhance the usefulness of the Owner’s Manual to members.

C. Creating the Owner’s Manual

1. The Owner’s Manual is produced by the Member Resources department and subject to review by the Education and Training Committee. The Member Resources department will be primarily responsible for its content and form while the Education and Training Committee is responsible for reviewing the Owner’s Manual to ensure it meets member needs.
2. In the Spring Semester,the Education and Training Committee will meet with the appropriate Member Resources staff member to review the previous year’s Owner’s Manual. The Education and Training Committee and the staff member will discuss potential content changes for the upcoming year and work together to establish goals. The Education and Training Committee will consider revisions to the Owner’s Manual using these guidelines:
a. The Education and Training Committee should first consult the Member Education Framework and ensure that the priorities of the Owner’s Manual are in line with the priorities of the larger education framework.
b. The Education and Training Committee should strive to collect feedback and ideas from as many sources as possible (members, managers, staff, external entities, etc.) when reviewing the content of the upcoming manual. The member resources assistant will incorporate changes discussed and represent the revised content to the Education and Training Committee by week 14 of the spring semester.

D. Distribution

1. It will be the responsibility of the House President or equivalent house-­‐level new member educator to ensure that every new BSC member receives a copy of the Owner’s Manual and is given a brief introduction to the manual and its contents.
2. The Owner’s Manual should be easily accessible online.
3. If printed, copies of the Owner’s Manual should be available at the BSC Central Office.

[Approved by Board 04/26/12]