Committees

Remember in high school, FFA, or 4-H when everyone told you to get involved in committees because it would look good on a resume? Yeah, me too. So I'm pretty sure I got involved in nearly EVERY committee I could, which may or may not have been a great idea. Nonetheless, now that I am taking a Parli Pro class, I have a lot more knowledge about different types of committees and what they are actually designed to do.

Types of Committees:

Standing Committee: a permanent committee that performs a continuing function and remains in existence for the life of the assembly which established it. It it usually created by a specific provision in the bylaws.

Some examples of standing committees are: fundraising, social, and professional development. These are very common to see in collegiate organizations around Penn State!


Special Committee (Ad Hoc): a committee created to serve a particular purpose and which automatically ceases to exist when work is done and its report has been given.

An example of a special committee could be when a member at a meeting of the assembly makes a motion to refer a main motion to a committee. Thus, a smaller group of people have been assembled with a specified purpose and should report back. Some special committees you may see formed in some organizations could be planning a specific event, such as a party, or creating a special committee to do research about a topic to report back to the assembly.

Allyson Balmer
The Pennsylvania State University
Agricultural and Extension Education
2018 Student Teaching Cohort
@allyson_balmer