OM SPES Section Chair

Title

SPES Chair

Purpose

The Chair is the chief officer of the Section and a member of the Executive Committee, along with the Chair-Elect, Secretary/Treasurer, Past Chair, Program Chair, Program Chair-Elect, Publications Chair, and the Representative(s) to the ASA Council of Sections. The main function of the Chair is to coordinate and integrate the efforts of Section officers (elected and appointed) so as to accomplish the various goals and activities of the Section. The Chair must ensure the Section’s activities are supportive of the objectives described in the Section charter. The Chair presides over meetings of the Section and Executive Committee, and performs other duties described in the Section Charter and below.

Term of Office

The term of office for the Chair is one year. This term as Chair will be preceded by one year as Chair-Elect, and followed by one year as Past-Chair.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and oversee the functions performed by the Section’s officers (elected and appointed) and interactions between the Section and ASA headquarters.
• Work with the Chair-Elect to develop him/her for leading the Section in the following year.
• Develop agendas for, and chair, the Section Executive Committee and Business meetings at the Joint Statistical Meetings in August.
• Together with the Chair-Elect and Secretary/Treasurer, prepare and approve the Section’s budget for the following year in which the Chair-Elect will serve as Chair.
• Chair the Committee on Nominations (consisting of the Chair, Chair-Elect, and Chair-Elect-Elect) that nominates candidates for Section positions to be elected the following year (when the Chair-Elect becomes Chair).
• Serve as the Master of Ceremonies for the Friday lunch program at the Fall Technical Conference (FTC). This includes introducing the luncheon speaker, who traditionally is the President of the ASA. The Chair invites this speaker during his/her term as Chair-Elect during the preceding year.
• Appoint replacements for any elected or appointed officers who cannot complete their term of office.
• Copy the Executive Committee members on all Section correspondence and keep all officers (elected and appointed) apprised of the business of the section.
• Maintain a contact list of names, addresses, phone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses of the Section officers (elected and appointed).
• Prepare “A Message from the Chair” column for each issue of the SPES/Q&P Newsletter published during the year as Chair.
• Provide ideas to the Section Publicity Officer for items to appear in the monthly SPES News column in Amstat News.
• At the end of the term of office, submit to ASA headquarters an annual report on the activities of the Section.
• At the end of the term of office, improve this job description and submit to incoming Chair and to the Chair of the Operating Manual Committee.

Additional Activities (Desirable, not Mandatory)

• Work with Officers and Committee Chairs on tactical planning, and help the Past Chair organize Tactical Planning meetings.
• Chair the Section Executive Committee meeting at the Fall Technical Conference in October. Attend the Section Tactical Planning meeting at the Fall Technical Conference in October.
• Maintain list of contacts with interest in the Section’s business and activities.

Qualifications

• Must be a member of the Section on Physical and Engineering Sciences of ASA.
• Must be able to commit to the stated responsibilities as Chair, to the Chair-Elect's responsibilities for the preceding year, and to the Past-Chair’s responsibilities for the following year.

Resources Available

• SPES Charter and Operating Manual
• SPES Past Chair
• SPES Chair-Elect
• ASA Council of Sections “Section Officers Handbook”

Calendar

• early January - Update the SPES Contact List and distribute to officers, committee chairs, and other appointed positions (henceforth "SPES Folks").
• early January - Review conference contracts (Spring Research Conference and Fall Technical Conference). Begin renewal process if contract(s) expire this year.
• early-mid January - Send e-mail to SPES Folks to kick-off the new year. Summarize status of SPES, activities, etc.
• January - Provide (per ASA headquarters request) list of names and positions of key officers and appointed positions for inclusion in the annual "ASA Organizational Rosters" publication.
• January - Work with FTC Chair to create a SPES session at the FTC (optional). Work with the Education Chair to hold a SPES short course at the FTC.
• January-October - Keep FTC Friday luncheon speaker (usually the ASA President) informed of progress with FTC program and other FTC information.
• January-December - Copy Chair-Elect on e-mails and letters that will help inform him/her of the duties of the job. Add new items as needed to Chair's calendar, and pass on to Chair-Elect periodically.
• January-December - On a regular basis, extract new member list from ASA web site and send to the Membership Chair so Welcome Letter can be sent.
• January-December - On a regular basis, extract member email list and send to Webmaster so SPES's Listserv can be updated.
• February-March - Make arrangements with Q&P for joint mixer at JSM, including day, time, and food & drink order.
• March - Fill out and return to ASA the forms to request Executive Committee and Business/Mixer meetings at JSM.
• March - Provide to ASA names of any candidates for appointment to ASA Committees by ASA President-Elect.
• Mid April - Prepare "Message from the Chair" for June issue of SPES/Q&P Newsletter.
• Spring - Send thank you letters to the SRC Program Chair and the SRC Management Committee following the SRC.
• May-early June - Select SPES member of FTC program committee if the SPES person on the committee the previous year is not the two-year continuing member. If the position to be filled is the two-year position, make sure this is clear to candidates for the position.
• June - Provide any suggestions for Deming Lecturer to ASA.
• June - Send e-mail announcing election results to SPES mailing list (including all candidates). Thank all candidates for running, and encourage those who didn't win to stay involved with SPES and maybe run again in the future.
• June - Send e-mail to SPES list passing on information on days, times, and rooms for Executive Committee Meeting and Business Meeting/Mixer at JSM.
• July - Remind Chair-Elect about writing to ASA President-Elect to invite to speak at FTC Friday luncheon. Send/fax copy of letter used from previous year as an example, if needed.
• July - Draft agendas for Executive Committee meeting and Business meeting at the JSM and circulate to Executive Committee for comments/additions.
• August - Chair Executive Committee and Business meetings at JSM.
• July-August - E-mail from Chair to Executive Committee to identify candidates for election slate of new officers. Slate typically due to ASA sometime within the period September 15 to October 1.
• August-early Sept. - "Long list" of candidates for each elected position, total of 5 votes per voter to be spread among candidates for each position to narrow the list. Executive Committee members vote to help produce short list to get broader input than just from the formal 3-person nominating committee.
• early-mid Sept. - Chair, Chair-Elect, and Chair-Elect-Elect (who form the nominating committee according to the charter) form prioritized short list of 3-5 candidates for each position. Chair (and other committee members as needed) contact candidates to get agreements to run for office. Submit two candidates for each position to ASA headquarters by Sept. 15 (or due date as specified).
• August-September - (Optional) Prepare for Tactical Planning session at FTC (with Past Chair and/or Chair-Elect as the main person responsible).
• August-September - With the Chair-Elect and Secretary/Treasurer, prepare the Section's budget for the following year.
• Sept. - early Oct. - Prepare "Message from the Chair" for December issue of SPES/Q&P Newsletter. Acknowledge/thank all elected and appointed officers.
• Sept - early Oct. - Prepare materials to introduce FTC Friday luncheon speaker, and the agenda for the Executive Committee meeting at the FTC.
• October - Attend FTC, participate in (optional) Tactical Planning meeting, chair the (optional) Executive Committee meeting, and serve as Master of Ceremonies at FTC Friday luncheon (including introducing luncheon speaker).
• Oct. - Nov. - Coordinate with chair of committee to nominate fellows (Past Chair) to identify names of fellow candidates, and identify people to lead the nomination process for each individual.
• late October - Following the FTC, send thank you letters to the FTC Friday luncheon speaker (usually the ASA President), the SPES FTC Program Chair, and the FTC General Conference Chair.
• December - Write letters thanking each officer, committee chair, etc. for their service to SPES during the year.
• December - Improve this job description and submit to incoming Chair Elect and Chair of Operating Manual Committee.
• December - Write and submit to ASA headquarters a report on the Section's activities for the year.

Election/Appointment Mechanism

ASA will hold an annual Spring election at which time the Section members have the opportunity to vote for one of the two candidates for Chair-Elect. The candidate receiving the most votes immediately becomes Chair-Elect-Elect, becomes Chair Elect the following year, Chair the next year, and Past-Chair the year after that.