Council has
approved guidelines for each SAA committee and board stating its purpose,
reporting procedures, and duties and responsibilities, and including specific
information about its selection, size, length of terms, and meetings. The
guidelines are intended to ensure that the purpose and goals of each committee
and board are clear and to promote continuity and consistency in the Society's
work. Each committee and board is encouraged to use the guidelines as a source
of guidance for its activities and to refer to them often.
Committees
and boards also are encouraged to note any instance in which the guidelines
might benefit from revision and to recommend any changes to Council for action.
The following
guidance applies to all committees and boards, unless otherwise stated in
specific committee guidelines.
Appointments
to standing committees and boards generally are made by the Vice-President/
President-Elect in the months preceding the SAA annual meeting and take effect
at the close of the annual meeting. Appointments made by a President late
in his or her term may be made in consultation with the Vice-President.
Unless otherwise
stated, appointments are for three-year terms and may be renewed.
To encourage
participation by students and new members of the profession, persons who have
been members of SAA for less than five years may serve as interns to Boards
and Standing Committees. Interns, who are appointed by the Vice President
in consultation with the chair, serve as non-voting members for a term of
one year and are expected to attend the SAA Annual Meeting and assist in the
work of the group throughout the year.
Standing committees
and boards meet each fall at the annual meeting. The work of most committees
is best facilitated if both incoming and outgoing members are invited to participate
in this meeting. The chair is responsible for requesting meeting space at
the annual meeting and for working with SAA staff on the schedule and physical
arrangements for the meeting. The chair also prepares and distributes in advance
an agenda for the meeting.
Additional
mid-year meetings of certain full groups or working subcommittees are possible,
though severely restricted due to the limited availability of financial resources.
Support for mid-year meetings must be requested from Council and normally
requires the presentation of a compelling project in order to secure funds.
In some budget years only partial funding will be possible even of approved
mid-year meetings. In such instances, the groups may be given a travel budget
to be divided among members as equitably as possible. The chair will be expected
to follow ground rules established for this purpose and available through
the SAA office.
The chair is
responsible for ensuring that minutes or reports of meetings are prepared
if these are warranted. Copies of minutes or reports should be distributed
to the President, Executive Director, and Council liaison for information.
Chairs also are responsible for maintaining the committee's official records
and for transferring these to the succeeding chair or SAA's archives at the
completion of his or her term.
Chairs are
responsible for preparing the annual report to Council, including the group's
current activity report, three-year plan, and budget proposals. Budget requests
must be received by the established deadline for Council consideration. The
Executive Office coordinates and distributes the reports in a form and on
a schedule established by Council in coordination with the Executive Director.
If a committee
or board wishes to seek resources (whether cash or in kind) from any source
outside SAA, Executive Committee approval must be obtained in every instance
before approaching the source. Proposals should be routed through the Executive
Director, with sufficient time for consideration by the Executive Committee,
which will respond within 30 days.
Committees
and boards also are encouraged to identify possible publications relating
to their work or areas of interest, which should be referred to the Acquisitions
Editor for concurrence in accordance with established procedures.
Non-participation
by a committee member shall consist of missing two consecutive committee meetings
(including a winter meeting, if scheduled) and/or scheduled conference calls;
not taking active part in working subcommittees or not completing tasks within
assigned deadlines.
If the chair
of a committee finds that a member is unwilling or unable to fulfill his or
her obligations to the committee, as described above, the chair may ask in
writing for that member's voluntary resignation from the committee. The chair
will also provide the President of SAA with written notification of that action.
If there is
no response to the call for resignation within one month of the date of the
letter, the chair of the committee will notify the President of SAA. The President
will contact the member by telephone to notify that him/her that they are
about to be replaced on the committee, but will allow the individual the right
to respond and explain the situation from his/her perspective. The President
will then make the judgment whether or not to remove the person from the committee.
If the individual is to be removed, the President will inform him/her of his/her
replacement by letter, with a copy to the committee chair. The President will
then name a replacement to complete the committee member's term.
