Difference between revisions of "Committee Chairmen"

Revision as of 18:04, 1 December 2020

Each Committee, Study Group, and Sub-Group within The Augustan Society, Inc., needs a leader. These are variously titled Chairman, Coordinator, Moderator,or Dean, and some have specific titles that apply only to that group. Most Chairmen are appointed by the President, but some are appointed by other officers or elected. All are referred to as Chairman and President on this page for simplicity.

These Chairmen all have similar duties. This page is an effort to make a list of them all in one convenient place. Chairmen are encouraged to make contributions, whether they are typos or complete rewrites.

1. Chairmen are appointed by the President, and they serve at his pleasure. Appointments become official when the news of the appointment and the acceptance are received by Headquarters Staff in writing (email is preferred). Those chairing sub-committees will be appointed by the Chairman of the next superior Committee. Some Sub-Groups have other ways of selecting their leaders, which see.
2. Serving "at the pleasure of the President" does not mean that you need to submit your resignation after each election. Most Presidents will make few changes in appointments, and you should carry on with the work until and unless you are asked to step down.
3. There are four ways to leave office:
   1. The President asks you to step down (sometimes by announcing a new Chairman, though that's very poor form);
   2. You tender your resignation, which should go to the President (so he can appoint someone else) and to Headquarters (so they can take your name off the website);
   3. If you fail to submit an Annual Report in July, or fail to report your time and expenses for twelve consecutive months, you will be automatically removed — Headquarters Staff will send reminders so this last is unlikely to happen by surprise.); or
   4. If you fail to maintain your membership in the Augustan Society. Note that while there is normally a 30-day grace period, the Board has at times eliminated grace periods or extended them. But best to assume that if dues aren't paid by 31 December (or such other deadline as may be published), you'll be out of office on the following day. You may of course be reappointed after restoring your membership to Good Standing.
4. If yours is a standing committee or Study Group, it will continue from year to year. If yours is an ad hoc committee (one formed for a specific short-term task), then it will end when the Board receives your final report or at the Board meeting following the next Annual Meeting, unless extended.
5. You are required to give an Annual Report of your Committee's activities and plans to the Board of Directors for the August Board meeting, and at such other times as the Board or President may request it. Annual reports are normally sent to Headquarters during the month of July, but sub-committees maybe asked to submit such reports to their supervising officer during June that he may consolidate such reports. If you are the head of such a sub-committee and have submitted such a report to your supervising officer in the past year, you may freely disregard any calls for reports from Headquarters Staff.
6. You are required to report your volunteer hours, expenses, and mileage to Headquarters Staff on a regular basis. Monthly is best, but so long as a report on one calendar year is submitted by 31 January of the next, no harm is done. Note that some offices have more stringent reporting requirements. Note too that reimbursement is subject to budget limitations, and occasionally to cash-flow challenges. Under those conditions, volunteers who make prompt, monthly reports will be paid first.
7. Chairmen of Standing Committees and Study Groups are authorized to appoint any Augustan Society member in Good Standing to their committee. To check if a member is in good standing, please contact Headquarters. It is far preferable to check before extending the invitation! Such appointments do not take effect until you notify Headquarters of your appointment and we receive word of their acceptance. Email is acceptable for this.
8. The President and Headquarters Staff are ex officio members of all committees. They are not to be counted in the calculation mentioned in the previous item. They must be copied on all communications sent to your whole committee. This is done automatically if you use the Society email system.
9. Chairmen are authorized to name a Vice-Chairman, and you are expected to do so within your first year in office (save for positions necessarily located at Headquarters where such appointments would depend on finding a local volunteer). You are also expected to keep this Vice-Chairman fully informed so that he will be able to step in at need. This is important for ensuring the continuity of the Committee's work. One way to do so is to ask that others use your Society email address, which will copy your Vice-Chairman automatically. If not, it is your responsibility to send them a copy, just as it is that you copy (or more often BCC) them on all email sent in the performance of your work.
10. Study Group Coordinators may name a Vice-Coordinator according to standards set by the Dean of Studies.
11. Vice-Chairmen will be asked to step in whenever you are unavailable or unresponsive. This is not to be used to avoid contacting a Chairman, but only to ensure that business continues despite all the interruptions that volunteer service is prone to.
12. If you have trouble finding appropriate members for your Committee, contact Headquarters, as they keep a file of Member Interest Surveys that may suggest worthy candidates, the Webmaster maintains the "Help Wanted" list on the website, and the Augustæum Editor can place a want ad in Augustæum.
13. While incidental expenses like postage and long distance will normally be covered by the Budget, should your Committee need additional funding for any reason, you should work with Headquarters Staff and the Finance Committee to put your requests into each year's Budget. Do not delay "until the next budget cycle", as it is very often possible to make mid-year adjustments — the Budget is primarily a planning tool, and only secondarily a control mechanism.
14. Email forwarding has been set up for your Committee's use. These generally follow the following formats:
    1. <CommName@augustansociety.org>, which forwards to you and your Vice-Chairman, if any;
    2. <CommName.comm@augustansociety.org>, which forwards to you and all members of your Committee, including the ex-officio members;
    3. <firstname.lastname@augustansociety.net> will forward to the member named — note the .NET suffix on named emails. Such forwards are only set up for members who take a position on a committee, or on request; not all members have them. They will be added for any member or non-member consultant upon request to the Postmaster.
    4. Email addresses for the two senior Sub-Groups follow a slightly different format, which see.
15. We urge you and your committee members to use the Society email addresses. They help avoid errors and omissions, make sure all are copied, and when email changes are reported to Headquarters, delivery is automatically redirected.
16. Not all members with such email addresses actually receive email. Some are offline and some people just don't bother to read their email. You may wish to take the level of responsiveness into consideration when appointing and retaining members.
17. If members of your Committee are offline, you must take personal responsibility to mail them copies of all online communications. Your expenses, and theirs in replying, may be reimbursed under your budget.
18. Unless you are also a Director, you will not be expected to attend either Board meetings or the Annual Convention, though we of course hope you attend the latter (at your expense). You may occasionally be asked to join a Board meeting; these are normally held via teleconference, so the commitment is small (and any telephone charges will be reimbursed).
19. If your Committee wishes to meet at the Annual Convention, please so inform Headquarters Staff as early as possible. Meeting space needs to be scheduled carefully to minimize expenses.
20. If your Committee wishes to meet via teleconference, Headquarters Staff will set this up. A week's notice is suggested, as that will permit adequate notice to your members (including the ex-officio members). There is no charge for teleconferencing other than individual's phone calls, and these can be reimbursed.

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