Committee Chairmen

Each Committee, Study Group, and Sub-Group within The Augustan Society, Inc., needs a leader. These are variously titled Chairman, Coordinator, or Dean, and some have specific titles that apply only to that group. All are referred to as Chairmen 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, usually by the President, and they serve at his pleasure. Your appointment becomes official when the news of your appointment and your acceptance are received at Headquarters 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 Consuls 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 the Board has eliminated all grace periods, so if dues aren't paid by 31 December, you'll be out of office on 1 January. You may of course be reappointed after restoring your membership to Good Standing. Some years may have different renewal dates, alas.
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 Membership Meeting, unless extended.
5. You are expected to give a Report of your Committee's activities and plans to the Board of Directors annually at the August meetings, 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; attendance at the annual meetings is desirable, but not a requirement.
6. You are expected to report your volunteer hours, expenses, and mileage to Headquarters on a regular basis. Monthly is best, but so long as we get a report on one year by 31 January of the next, we can endure. 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 (and 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 your committee. To check if a member is in good standing, please contact Headquarters. It is far preferable to check before extending the invitation to membership! Such appointments do not take effect until you notify Headquarters. The Consuls may also have recommendations for or against various individuals based on their historical performance.
8. If you determine that the expertise your Committee needs is not available from the membership, as indicated by the lack of response to an advertisement for such in Augustæum, you may appoint non-member advisors to your Committee, provided that a majority of the Committee are members of the Society at all times. Should the number of Augustans fall too low to support your non-member consultants, you must make either additional member appointments or dismiss sufficient non-members to regain a member majority. If yours is a review committee, you will not be able to submit recommendations to the Board when you lack a member majority.
9. The President and the Consuls are ex officio members of all committees, as is the Chairman who appointed you, if different. 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.
10. We expect that in most cases, non-member advisors will be strongly encouraged to join the Society. You will be credited as their sponsor if you can induce them to join.
11. Chairmen of standing committees are authorized to name a Vice-Chairman, and you are expected to do so within your first year in office. 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.
12. Study Group Coordinators may name a Vice-Coordinator, but this is not required until there are five members in the group.
13. Vice-Chairman will be asked to step in whenever you are unavailable or unresponsive. This should not be used to avoid contacting a Chairman, but only to ensure that business continues despite all the interruptions that volunteer service is prone to.
14. If you have trouble finding appropriate members for your Committee, contact Headquarters, as they have a file of Member Interest Surveys that may suggest worthy candidates, maintain the "Help Wanted" list on the website, and can place a longer ad in Augustæum.
15. 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 and the Finance Committee (under the chairmanship of the Treasurer) to put your requests into each year's budget. Do not delay "until the next budget cycle", as it is very possible to make mid-year adjustments — we like to think of our Budget as a planning tool, not a control mechanism, though it is both.
16. Email forwarding has been set up for your Committee's use. These generally follow the following formats:
    • <CommName@augustansociety.org>, which forwards to you and your Vice-Chairman, if any;
    • <CommName.comm@augustansociety.org>, which forwards to you and all members of your Committee, including the ex-officio members;
    • <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, not all members have them. They can be added for any member upon request.
    • Email addresses for the two senior Sub-Groups follow a different format, which see.
17. We urge you and your committee to use these special 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.
18. 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.
19. If you appoint members to your committee who are offline, you should take personal responsibility to mail them all communications. Your expenses, and theirs in replying, may be reimbursed under your budget.
20. 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).
21. If your committee wishes to meet at the Convention, please so inform Headquarters as early as possible. We need to schedule meeting space carefully to minimize expenses.
22. If your committee wishes to meet via teleconference, please contact Headquarters so we can set this up. A week's notice is suggested, as that will let us give your members (including the ex-officio members) the same advance alert. There is no charge for teleconferencing other than individual's phone calls, and these can be reimbursed.
23. Remember that your Consuls stand ready to assist you and your Committee however we may.

    ---

    • back to Administration
    • back to Main Page