Now and in recent years, the national bureau chief has also served as CUP's vice-president. In some previous years, the national executive was made up of three or four staff and also included a national features editor (who also held the title of vice-president) or national affairs writer. These staffers held their positions at the conference listed and were elected at the previous conference. In CUP's early days, the titles of president and secretary were awarded at a conference to a newspaper, which would then fill those roles from among staff members.