Educate yourself
The role of a faculty or Kiwanis advisor is an important one. You will be called on to give of your time, your energy and your enthusiasm. Because of your dedication and commitment, students will be given the opportunity to become better leaders and to serve their home, school, and community.
Get your team together Look to your school and community for more adults willing to share the workload and the benefits involved with mentoring and advising Key Club members. Below is a list of duties that can be organized and divided based on skills and interests of the club advisors.
Faculty advisor responsibilities
- To the school and community:
- Make certain that all Key Club projects and fundraising activities are acceptable to the school and are in accord with regulations.
- Ascertain that Key Club Bylaws always comply with school regulations that govern student organizations.
- See to it that the financial records of the Key Club are kept in accordance with standard procedure for student groups.
- Work with the advisors of other student groups in forming a possible joint service project to promote a cooperative spirit in the school.
- Seek to bring a Key Club understanding to all members of the administration and faculty. To the Key Club membership:
- Attend all regular meetings and all board meetings.
- Assist the Key Club in obtaining meeting room space for regularly scheduled club and board meetings.
- Assist in recruiting additional members for the club through contacts with other faculty members and students.
- Help obtain proper and adequate publicity for Key Club in school publications.
- Seek ideas and suggestions for Key Club service projects from the faculty, the administration and other groups.
- Help maintain discipline as needed.
- Assure leadership and personal development opportunities are provided for all members.
- In many instances, the faculty advisor can do more in the school for Key Club than can be done by the sponsoring Kiwanis club, because you are already an accepted member of the school community. You are in a position to be more familiar with school regulations and resources available.
- To the sponsoring Kiwanis club/community support (if you have a Kiwanis sponsor):
- Discuss Key Club challenges with the Kiwanis advisor, perhaps away from Key Club meetings, on a regular basis.
- Reach a mutual understanding with the Kiwanis advisor regarding proper sharing of responsibility for guidance, training and supervision.
- Be thoroughly familiar with all available Key Club literature.
- Attend Key Club conventions and training conferences whenever possible to share ideas with other faculty members and Kiwanis members.
- Do not become overloaded with details. Do not do what the Key Club members should do for themselves. Do not hesitate to make certain that Key Club members are doing what they should be doing.
- Become a part of the Kiwanis-family. Become interested in Key Club and Kiwanis, Kiwanis advisor responsibilities or other advisor team member(s) responsibilities. Each Kiwanis club sponsoring a Key Club must have a Key Club chairman. Ideally, the Key Club committee chair should be responsible for the successful operation of the Key Club. Those Key Clubs are most successful that have a well‐functioning Kiwanis Key Club committee. It is imperative that the Kiwanis advisor not only understand their obligation to the sponsoring Kiwanis club but also the total operation of their Key Club.
Key Club International faculty advisor training
