Committees

 

Administration
The role of the Administration committee is to maintain the Club database by inputting people proposed for membership and updating their status once they become members; deleting members when they leave the Club and work with Rotary International's database to make certain our databases are in sync. 

Additional duties of the Administration Committee include:
  • Billing to members for Club dues and reporting monthly to the President all outstanding dues and help where needed with the collection process.
  • Maintaining the Club by-laws and helping Club officers with the proper procedures should there be a proposal to change or amend the by-laws. 
  • Assisting the Past President and his/her Nominating Committee to ensure proper protocol is followed during the nomination and ballot process.
  • Maintaining the website, social media presence and produce the newsletter. 
  • Attending the District Training Assembly for ongoing training in various Rotary software and processes. 
  • Interface with all of the other Committees and assist them as needed. 

The Centennial Society 
Akron Rotary’s Planned Giving committee was organized in 2013 to cultivate and solicit current and future legacy gifts to Akron Rotary Camp, Akron Rotary Foundation and/or Rotary International to help ensure the future of these organizations. Committee responsibilities include annual goals, donor recognition, education program, identification and solicitation.
 
Any donor who makes a commitment to leaving a portion of their estate to Rotary, via a bequest, an insurance beneficiary gift, charitable gift annuity or any other type of planned gift is recognized as a member of “The Centennial Society”.

Chili Open Golf Classic 
The Chili Open is the major fundraising event of Rotary Club of Akron that benefits the Akron Rotary Camp. This event was started in 1990 and has raised over $3,000,000. This winter golf event is one of Summit County’s largest and most unique promotional venues. The event is held annually held on the first Saturday of February at Hale Farm and Village in Bath, Ohio. Golfers face challenging holes and survivors will be rewarded with warm chili and artic beverages.
 
All Rotarians are asked to assist with securing sponsorships, camperships, ad sales, door prizes and silent auction items. Personally sell or purchase $200 in raffle tickets. Volunteer for event set-up, event day activities and event day tear down. 

Diversity and Inclusion 
This committee promotes our Club, so that our membership is reflective of the rich diversity of the Akron area, through community collaboration and service (to all)

4-Way Test Speech Contest 
Akron Rotary participates in District 6630’s 4-Way Test Speech Contest for students at North High School. The purpose of the speech is to apply the principles of the 4-Way Test to a current ethical issue. Students are challenged to identify a topic they feel passionate about and to adopt a point of view from which they will seek to persuade others.
 
In addition to recognition, students can also win cash prizes at the Club and District levels of the contest. The Club’s prizes range from $75 to $300. District level prizes range from $200 to $1200. 

Rotarians serve as judges. The time commitment includes a brief training session and judging contestants.

Grants
The Grants Committee works with District 6630 to secure matching funds for service projects that are recommended by and involve Akron Rotarians. There are two different types of grants available: District and Global. To qualify, both grants must support the mission of the Rotary Foundation, are measurable, include Rotary participation, meet a community need, are sustainable and are approved PRIOR to being implemented. To qualify for a Global Grant, the project must include and be approved by the Rotary Club or District in another country. The committee secures ideas, and following Director approval, submits grant applications, provides plans and budgets, and submits required documentation demonstrating completion of the project. Each club may apply for one district and one global grant annually.

Membership 
The role of the membership committee is to foster the growth and viability of the club by encouraging members to propose suitable candidates for membership and to receive the proposals for consideration. When approved, the committee has the responsibility of seeing the process through to notifying the president and proposing Rotarian that the candidate is ready for induction.
 
For the 2015-16 Rotary year, the goals, as established by the President and accepted by the committee are to:  
  1. Promote and facilitate the continued growth of the club at a pace consistent with the other goals.
  2. Assure that newly proposed candidates and newly inducted members are informed and otherwise made comfortable with their responsibilities and opportunities in Rotary.
  3. Conduct interviews/conversions with each prospect to further results of goal #2 and to increase the likelihood that new members will have a quality experience in rotary and become long standing, engaged members and to help the committee evaluate newly proposed members.
  4. Work with the mentorship committee to maintain continuity between the intake process and mentoring process.

Mentorship
The Mentorship Committee works in conjunction with the Membership Committee with the goal of assisting each new member to acclimate to the club and initiate a service plan. Each new member is assigned a more seasoned member as a mentor. The formal mentor relationship is expected to last no longer than two years following induction. At the time of the mentor assignment, the new member and mentor are sent a list of committee's and service projects, as well as the club's service plan.
 
Mentorship is not intended to be a time-intensive commitment. The purpose of a mentor is basically to serve as a guide and counselor to a newer member, to assist in acclimating the newer member to the Club, to assist with information, to help steer the newer member down appropriate service avenues, and to help address any issues that may arise.  In other words, a go-to person on which the newer member can rely for acclimation, guidance, information and assistance when needed.
 
The focus here is making the new members feel welcome, and helping them become active in some way, so they want to attend and do not drift away (i.e. membership retention.)

Programming 
The Programming Committee secures relevant and interesting speakers for weekly Rotary membership luncheon meetings.


Public Relations
Club Communications and Public lmage Committee’s purpose is to educate, promote, and keep all Akron Rotarians informed of all goings on via Social Media, press releases,

Club newsletter, etc. with the goal of pursuing the success of the Akron Rotary, Akron Rotary Camp, and its members. Our goal is to have a centralized place for all Rotary communications.


Rotary International Foundation 
The mission of Akron’s Rotary International Foundation Committee is to transform lives worldwide. We encourage all of our members to become Paul Harris Fellows (PHF), whose contributions go towards supporting Rotary International’s six areas of focus:
  1. Fighting Disease, Including Eradicating Polio
  2. Providing Clean Water & Sanitation Education
  3. Saving Mothers and Children
  4. Supporting Education & Child Literacy
  5. Growing Local Economies & Communities
  6. Promoting Peace & Conflict Resolution
Many of our members that are involved give $250.00 per year for four years, while others may choose to give $1,000 in one year to become a Paul Harris Fellow, or add a Gem Stone to their existing Paul Harris Fellow Pin.

Rotary Youth Exchange
The Rotary Youth Exchange and International Committee (RYE/I) promotes the International aspect of Rotary through interaction between Rotarians, Americans and students from other countries and cultures. This is done primarily through the recruiting and hosting of exchange students. Our first task is to find local students (ages 15-18) who wish to become Outbound (exchange) students in countries all over the world. Our second task is to host inbound students from Rotary clubs worldwide.
 
There are two exchange programs, short-term (8 weeks - summer) and long-term (11-months).  
 
For the long-term program, a value of $35,000 has been placed on the scholarship aspect awarded the American student studying abroad (outbound). It is a life changing event for both outbound and inbound students. For Inbound students, we work together as a committee to find host families, a host school, and make our international guest feel welcome in Akron, Ohio. In addition, we provide transportation to Rotary lunches twice a month and other important Rotary functions. We create a variety of activities to support the integration of our international student into our NE Ohio community (welcome picnic, Rubber Ducks game, Cav’s game, Indians game, service projects, etc.) One Rotarian acts as counselor in advising the RYE student, but the committee provides counsel and support throughout the in bounders’ stay. Our job is to share our club and our community with the RYE students and to make certain that these international students feel at home while they are here.  
 
To our outbound students, we also provide support before selection, during orientation and departure. Once in the foreign country we maintain contact with our Akron RYE Outbound student. The experiences are shared through communication (letters, e-mails, and skype).  
 
The short-term program is a direct exchange between students in two families in the summer. The exchange is facilitated by Rotary. The committee is only involved in recruiting the student who wishes to go.
 
The RYE/I Committee has also launched an effort to start Interact clubs in local high schools (Firestone, Hoban, etc.) so that young people learn more about Rotary service, leadership and international exchange possibilities. Working with local young people ensures the future of Rotary Club of Akron.

Community Service Projects
The Service Projects Committee engages in a number of projects throughout the year to support the community and those in need both here and abroad.  We are very mindful of the acute need to improve literacy. The mission statement of the Committee is: “Through our service projects we involve the family of Rotary in the life of the Greater Akron Community and its role in the world.” Refer to “Rotary Service Opportunities” for listed service projects.

Scholarships 
The Akron Rotary Scholarship program covers three areas. These areas are Career Education, Academics and Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (RYLA).
 
The Career Education program provides scholarships to nine students attending Akron Public Schools who are enrolled in one of the numerous career education programs offered by the school district. 
 
This Career Education category is divided into three sections: 1) Business, Education and Marketing, 2) Trades, Hospitality and Communications and 3) Information Technology and Health Sciences.
 
Interviews, that involve 3-4 Rotarians, are scheduled with students from each category. The number of students interviewed for each section varies with the number of students nominated by their teachers in the respective career area(s). There can be only one student nominated per section per high school. Of the students interviewed in each section, only the top three are selected. This scholarship award is for a one-time $1000. These students are recognized by section at a Rotary luncheon during the months of January thru April.  The Rotary interview members can choose less than three recipients, if in their opinion, there are not candidates whom they believe are worthy of the award.
 
The Academic Scholarship Program is the second category of scholarships provided by the Akron Rotary Foundation to seniors who are graduating from an Akron public or private high school, however these students are selected by their respective school counselors and then interviewed by 3-4 Rotarians who select five or six recipients. This scholarship award is also for a one-time $1,000. The Rotary club recognizes these students each year at a luncheon near the end of May. 
 
RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Academy) is the third category of awards provided by the Akron Rotary Foundation. This summer program is awarded to Akron public school juniors who will be seniors in the fall, who are nominated by their respective schools to attend a one-week leadership camp at Baldwin Wallace campus in Berea, OH.
 
RYLA camp is normally conducted during the second or third week of June. Nominated students are interviewed by Rotarians from our club near the end of April and up to 5 or 6 students are selected.
 
All camp expenses are paid by our club. Students are responsible for their own transportation to and from the camp.

Social Events 
The Social Committee is new. The goal is to plan after hour social events periodically throughout the year. Volunteers are sometimes needed to assist with planning these events, securing locations, promoting, etc.
 

 
The Rotary Club of Akron Committees are designed to conform with the Rotary International Leadership Development Plan.
The Rotary Club of Akron is One Club & One Membership with Three supporting Segments.
Rotary Club of Akron
Founded April 1, 1915
Rotary Camp For Children
with Special Needs 
Founded in 1922
Akron Rotary Foundation
Founded in 1992
 
 
 
 
Sponsors