Glossary of Terms

Glossary of Terms

Rotary uses a lot of acronyms, and though we try to explain these as they come up, this reference is provided for your convenience.  Also included are explanations of Rotary roles, student cohorts, and other terms.

Club President – The Rotarian elected to preside over the weekly meetings of the local Rotary Club.  The Club President serves for one year.  

Country Officer or Youth Exchange Officer (CO or YEO) – A Rotarian who is a member of District 5100 Youth Exchange Committee and responsible for all aspects of the exchange with a particular country. 

District Governor (DG) – The Rotarian responsible to Rotary International for the conduct of all programs within a Rotary district.  The DG is elected annually by the various Rotary clubs within the district at the annual District Conference. 

Host Club – This is the Rotary Club who is providing host families and a monthly allowance to the Inbound Student.

Host Family – These are families who provide room, board and nurturing to Inbound Exchange students hosted by their local Rotary Club.  In some districts, host families are those whose sons/daughters are also participants in the RI Youth Exchange program.  RI recommends that all students have up to three host families to give them a better overview of the culture and language of their exchange country. 

Inbound Student (IB) – A student who holds a foreign passport and is currently participating in the program as an exchange student.   They are expected to participate fully in all host family, school, Rotary Club and Rotary District events as well as learn as much as possible about the language and culture of their hosting district. 

Outbound Student (OB) – A sponsored student who is living in a foreign country as part of the exchange program.  OB Students agree to learn as much of the language and culture of their host country as possible during their exchange year.  They are also expected to participate fully in all sponsor Rotary Club and District events to prepare for successful exchanges. 

Outbound Candidate (OBC) – A student who intends to participate as an Outbound Student.  A student is considered to be an Outbound Candidate until he/she boards an airplane at the beginning of his/her exchange year.   OBC are expected to attend all District sponsored training events in preparation for their exchanges. 

Rebound Student (RB) – A student who has completed an exchange and has returned home.   They can be very useful in helping Inbound Students learn about life in their host countries and helping OBC prepare for their upcoming exchanges.

Rotary Club – Rotary International is organized into local clubs and districts.  These clubs are made up of members who represent local businesses, professions and governments.  A club may hold their weekly meetings for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Clubs range in size from 15 to 400 active members and are governed by a President and Board of Directors.

Rotary District – Districts are numbered for identification and are governed by a District Governor.  District 5100 is comprised of 75 clubs in Northern Oregon and Southwestern Washington, USA.

Rotary International (RI) – The world’s oldest service organization, made up of men and women in various professions throughout the world.  RI is governed by the President of Rotary International and a Board of Directors.  The home office is located in Evanston, Illinois.

Rotex Student – Short for Rotary Exchange Student.  Sometimes used to describe all students in the youth exchange program.  Most commonly used to describe Rebound Students who have been home for a couple years.

Sponsor Club – This is the Rotary Club who selected an outbound student for sponsorship in the program.  A club who chooses to sponsor a student is actually providing a one year scholarship for study abroad.

Student Counselors – Each Hosting Rotary club is responsible to provide a Rotarian counselor to help support the IB student while on exchange.  Many Sponsoring Rotary clubs also provide counselors to assist with the OBC student and family progress prior to the exchange. 

Youth Exchange Committee (YEC) – On the club level, this committee nominates students for participation in the program and sponsorship by their club.  The local club YEC also provides host families and club counselors for students.  On the district level, this committee trains students, maintains contact with counterpart Rotarians in other districts and handles most of the administrative details of the exchange.   

Youth Protection Officer (YPO) – The Rotarian designated by the District Governor as the contact person for all youth related issues that affect the health and safety of participants in the RI Youth Exchange program.   This is the person to be notified immediately if and when one of these issues arise. 

Youth Protection Policy (YPP) – The policy developed by District 5100 to meet the health and safety issues that may arise during participation in youth activities sponsored by Rotary International.