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​​Committee Appointments and Duties​

Subject Matter Expertise and Individual/Career Pathway Committees

Process for soliciting new committee members

• APS Members may volunteer for committee service for Subject Matter Expertise (SME) and/or Individual/Career Pathway Committees (CP) by contacting the current chair of the committee that they wish to join, either prior or during the APS annual meeting.
• Committee chairs and committee members may solicit interest in committee membership from APS members attending any Committee Connection virtual event or committee meetings at the APS annual meeting. 
  

Process for joining a committee​

• APS members who are interested in joining and/or renewing their committee term may do so by completing the online committee inter​est form​, or by contacting the committee chair directly.
• ​All APS Committee Members are to have high standard of excellence in the profession of plant pathology, and breadth in professional experience, achieved through geographic distribution of members across the U.S. and internationally, and by employer (academic, industry, government), and membership type (regular, post-doc, graduate student, etc.).
  
• APS Staff will add eligible members to the committee's roster.
  

Duties of Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs

• Appoint an incoming Vice Chair. ​Appointment to be confirmed and APS Staff notified ​prior to the close of the APS annual meeting. 
• As noted in the Guidelines for Committee Leadership (Section 8.​a.iv) It is advisable that APS members serve as chair or vice chair of one of the same committee type (e.g. Subject Matter Expertise or Career Pathway Committees). 
• Notification of appointments to committees. Upon confirmation from APS staff, committee chairs are responsible for informing each new member of their appointment to the committee. This is the time to welcome the member and inform them of issues being discussed by the committee. 
• Notification to nominees who were not appointed. Chairs are responsible for notifying individuals who volunteered but not appointed to their committees due to their membership status. These individuals should be encouraged to join APS.
• Term Length. Typically for SME and CP committees, the Chair and Vice Chair terms are one year, with the Vice Chair moving up to the Chair role the following the close of the APS annual meeting. It is recommended that committee members are appointed to 3-year terms, renewable at the committees’ discretion.

• Effective date of service. ​​​​​​​​​​​Committee chairs begin and end their service as chair following the close of APS annual meetings. This will make it necessary for the outgoing and incoming chairs to work together in a smooth transition of leadership and also in welcoming new committee members. All newly added committee members begin their 3-year term on a committee following the close of the APS annual meeting. ​
  

• Inactive Committee Members. ​Committee members who have not attended a minimum of two committee meetings in a fiscal year may be replaced or removed at the discretion of the Committee Chair and Vice Chair. ​

Duties of the Councilor-at-Large​ Liaisons​

• Each SME and CP are assigned a designated Councilor-at-Large (CAL) who shall serve as the committee's liaison and resource during the CALs 3-year term. 
• CALs will provide an annual orientation to committee chairs and vice-chairs via a webinar held typically 2-3 months before the APS annual meeting.
• Along with APS Staff the CALs will ensure incoming vice chair appointments are completed for the upcoming year (all appointments completed by the close of the APS Annual Meeting).​
  
• Along with APS Staff, CALs will communicate the importance of submitting the committee's annual report to APS Council and sending reminders to committees of the annual report deadline of August 31.
  
• Following the annual report deadline, the CALs shall submit a summary of the committee's annual reports and any actions/responses required by APS Council.
  

Duties of APS Staff​

• Maintain the committee database and share current rosters to the committee chairs and Councilors-at-Large following the annual meeting.
  
• Communicate status of the committee appointment process to the Councilor-at-Large and notify chairs of final appointments.
  
• Schedule APS Committee Connection virtual meetings an/or committee calls as requested.
  
• Send reminders to Immediate Past Chairs and Chairs to submit their committee's annual report by the annual deadline of August 31.
  
• Inform CALs of any missing committee reports and/or vice chair appointments. ​