Roles & Responsibilities

SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS

OKLAHOMA CITY SECTION

OFFICER ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Per the Section bylaws, the SPE program year runs from July 1 – June 30 each year.  All board officers are elected for one year terms, while Section Directors are elected to two year terms.  Individuals may serve in SPE indefinitely, but may not hold more than two consecutive terms in the same office.

All officers and directors may enlist a committee to assist them in their duties.  Committee members are approved by vote of the Executive Committee (typically a formality).

All officers and directors set goals related to their area of responsibility that are followed up on throughout the year at Executive Committee meetings.

Specifics on each role:

Chairman

  • Presides at all Section and Executive Committee meetings.
  • The chairman shall perform all duties that pertain to the direction of the section.  
  • Responsible for the preparation of the Section’s annual report.

1st Vice-Chair (Programs)

  • In the absence of the chairman, the 1st Vice-Chair presides at Section and Executive Committee meetings.
  • Finds qualified speakers for each monthly Section meeting.
  • Responsible for all aspects of Distinguished Lecturer visits and coordinates with SPE Distinguished Lecturer Program staff.
  • Responsible for the arrangement of programs, entertainment, and incidental details relating to monthly Section meetings.  

2nd Vice-Chair (Education)

  • Responsible for arranging continuing education programs through the development and coordination of section study groups, seminars, and forum meetings.
  • Coordinates the selection, logistics, and execution of 3-4 meetings per year for each of the 5 study groups
  • Full responsibility for the organization of 1-2 seminar events per year, typically one day in length
  • Logistics include meeting notices, A/V equipment, credit card machine

3rd Vice-Chair (Membership)

  • Tracks Section membership statistics using SPE’s Membership Builder tool
  • Leads Section efforts to help members stay current with dues and maintain updated profiles
  • Responsible to develop and execute plans for membership activities such as recruitment, member retention, and recognition for long-term members.
  • Liaison with companies to promote membership through bulk dues or other means.

4th Vice-Chair (Young Professionals)

  • Is a Young Professional (YP), which is defined by SPE as a professional member aged 35 and under.
  • With assistance from the Section Director responsible for YP, directs the activities of the YP Committee for the special benefit of YP’s and the section-at-large.
  • Responsible to staff the YP Committee, subject to approval by the Executive Committee
  • YP Committee includes responsibility for OU/SPE Future Trailblazers Program, OU/SPE Student Chapter Liaison
  • YP activities include:   Annual Energy Forum, monthly Tech Talks, golf and shooting events, socials, service activities, and a black tie charity fundraiser.

Treasurer

  • Responsible for all financial affairs of the section.
  • Assists in monthly review of records by our accountant
  • Works with Section Officers to prepare an annual budget, and tracks performance of the Section against the budget.
  • Makes recommendations regarding the ability of the Section to accommodate spending outside of the budget.
  • Responsible to prepare the Section’s annual financial statement for submission to SPE in the Section annual report.

Secretary

  • Attends monthly meetings of the Executive Committee
  • Responsible to take the meeting minutes and record action items.
  • Meeting minutes should be distributed to the committee within one week of the meeting.  

Section Directors

  • The Directors of the section are responsible to assist in the coordination of each of the section’s major initiatives, which may include (but are not limited to) scholarships, social events, conferences, awards, mentoring, Young Professional activities, community relations, Section communications (including the Section newsletter and website), and liaising with student chapters of SPE.
  • The Section Chair assigns committee responsibilities to each Director, which may or may not change through the duration of a director’s term.
  • Past chairmen serve as directors for two years.  During the first year of his/her directorship, the former section chair is responsible to counsel and mentor the current section chair.  During the second year of directorship, the past chair focuses on the continuous improvement of the section (goal setting and tracking).