Decline Letter – Template
SOS as an organization is always striving to be as professional and courteous as possible. Therefore, it is important that along with acceptance letters to new recruits we also send out decline letters to applicants who are not becoming part of the team. Here is a template that you can easily adapt. _ _ _ […]

SOS Organizational Structure
Here is everything you need to know about the structure and set up of SOS as an organization – both in written and diagram form! Click on a position’s title to download a more detailed description. For the complete folder of all positions click here. Chapter President(s) Reports to: SOS Head Office The President is responsible […]

Planning for Exam-AIDs
Below are a series of tools your chapter can use to plan for Exam-AID sessions. This document can be worked through with your executive team as a whole, or with a sub-section of those working directly on logistics & marketing of Exam-AID sessions. In the weeks leading up to sessions, its a good idea to […]
Preliminary Tasks as VP Human Resources
The primary role of the VP HR is to bring a sense of cohesion to your SOS chapter team and to make all members feel appreciated and proud to be an SOS volunteer. You will also participate in many important functions within the chapter, such as: Succession planning and conducting a gap analysis Recruitment and […]
Orientation and Training
The first large scale team building activity that you will organize as VP HR is an orientation for volunteers. Orientation Planning an orientation for your new and returning SOS volunteers is a fantastic way to begin the term. Orientation is particularly important for welcoming new SOSers and letting them know all about your chapter. Furthermore, orientation […]
Resources for Volunteers
Be sure to provide new volunteers with all resources available. Resources may include: transition reports, organizing initial team meetings to discuss positions and goals in more detail, updated contact lists (including important external contacts i.e. event contacts, contacts for room bookings at your university). Be sure to send an email to your new hires linking […]
Creating a Job Description
Job descriptions should be established before recruitment begins or at the beginning of the process. When writing a job description it is important to include: What the jobholder will actually be doing How the job is performed The conditions under which the job is performed A great place to start is by looking at SOS’s […]
Intro to Portal
Major tasks managed by the use of the Portal include: Receive and integrate communications from SOS community, and manage profile and tasks Management of course, exam, and Exam-AID information. Course assignments to Tutors and Coordinators Updating and managing course packages Exam-AID Registration Intro to Portal The volunteer portal is your guide to all aspects of […]

Human Resources Timeline
The above is a visual Timeline of the major tasks of HR. It has been organized in this way to help you visualize what needs to be done in which weeks, and which tasks overlap. Below, find this HR Timeline in a table form. Here, click on tasks to view their associated E-Manual posts. These […]
Establishing Job Specifications
Be advised that Students Offering Support already has an established organizational structure set in place for every one of your chapters (for details visit this post). However, keep in mind that ideally you will modify the descriptions to ensure it exactly reflects what your volunteers are responsible for. We provide guidelines, you modify it to […]