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Chapter Guidelines
Chartering and Administration
(Adopted by Council November 1993, revised
April 2008)
Chartering a Chapter
The process for forming a chapter of the American
Physiological Society is quite simple. The interested group needs only to
submit a Petition for Chapter Status to Council, via the APS
Executive Office. This petition must be signed by twenty Regular Members of
the Society who reside in the same region. A name, reflecting its
geographical location, should be specified on the petition.
A chapter may adopt bylaws for the regulation of its
affairs provided they do not conflict with the “Articles of Incorporation”
or the Bylaws of the APS. Bylaws must be submitted to Council for approval
before they may be formally adopted by a Chapter.
Chapter Administration
The Society has no regulations regarding the
administration of its individual chapters. In this section of the manual,
we would like to recommend methods of administration.
In general, chapters have adopted an organizational
structure which includes a President or Chairperson. They may also include a
Secretary and Treasurer (often both these roles are performed by a single
individual). The mechanisms for officer selection differ, though most are
elected for a specified tenure by a plurality or majority of votes.
Chapters which choose to adopt bylaws often include a section which
carefully defines further election procedures.
The degree of formalization of the chapters'
administrative structure varies considerably and tends to be related to the
size of the chapter. A chapter might be composed of a council, as well as
officers. The council may also include student representation. In this
way, responsibility is delegated to a group who may be better able to
represent the membership as a whole. A chapter may find it advantageous to
appoint committees which are responsible for specific functions such as
membership drives, newsletters, and special programs.
Leadership Transition
The transition in the leadership of a chapter is often
accompanied by a breakdown in communications within the chapter. It is
vital that the outgoing and incoming officers work together to exchange
important information and documents.
Listed below are several suggestions to help smooth the
transition.
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All new officers should specifically request the
transfer of any existing files regarding the chapter and its previous
activities.
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The APS Executive Office should be notified,
preferably in writing, immediately after a change in leadership to
ensure that all mailings are sent to the appropriate person.
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A position of Past President and/or President-Elect
should be established. This assures that the incoming president will
have a “training period” before assuming complete responsibility for the
chapter. A variation of this would be to have the President serve as
Secretary immediately following his/her tenure.
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A Chapter Advisory Committee Meeting, to be held in
conjunction with the APS Annual Meeting, will serve as a valuable source
of information for all Chapter Officers and will provide a useful
orientation to newly elected leaders. New officers are encouraged to
contact the APS Executive Office if they require any assistance. The
APS Executive Office will maintain files on each chapter, including
their annual reports.
Chapter Responsibilities to the National Society
The Society imposes only two specific obligations for
the maintenance of an active chapter.
A. Annual Meeting
The chapter must hold at least one meeting
annually.
B. Membership
The chapter must maintain at least twenty
Regular Members in good standing who reside in the area. In
addition, all chapters of the Society will have an obligation to
promote, at the local level, the general objectives of the Society,
including its goals of interdisciplinary contacts among the research
workers interested in the physiological sciences and education of
the general public and future scientists.
1. Annual Report
Each chapter is
asked to submit an annual report to APS each July. The annual
report will provide the Chapters with its most comprehensive
principal source of information regarding the administration,
organization, and activities of the chapters. Data accumulated
from each report is used to compile, with the approval of
Council, a report which is circulated to the local chapters.
2. Chapter Representatives Meeting
Each year, The
Chapter Advisory Committee will hold an annual meeting in
conjunction with the Society's Annual Meeting (EB). The meeting
provides a forum in which chapter delegates may voice their
views on a variety of issues and exchange information among
themselves. All chapters will be invited and will be urged to
respond to the yearly request to send a representative to this
meeting. Any chapter member may be chosen as a delegate,
although officers should be given priority.
3. Financial Affairs
A chapter
should exist as an incorporated state society. Consequently,
the chapter is responsible for its own finances, maintenance of
records, and filing of necessary forms to the Internal Revenue
Service. As a courtesy, the APS Executive Office should be
informed of sources from which your chapter derives funds. In so
doing, the APS can assist in the acknowledgement of the support
provided by these companies. Chapters having any questions
concerning plans/strategies to raise monies should contact the
APS Executive Office for ideas and suggestions.
The APS Lectureships
The American Physiological
Society allocates funds to support an APS Lectureship at the annual meeting
of an APS Chapter. The program serves as an important means for chapters to
host visits that would have otherwise been impossible.
The lectures foster the
exchange of ideas with distinguished physiologists and provide updates on
recent research developments. The program is also an ideal vehicle for
attracting the interest of the general public to the physiological sciences.
The APS allocates $1000 to
support the scientist invited to participate as an APS Lecturer. In order
to assess the success of the program, the chapters are asked to provide
adequate feedback to the Chapter Advisory Committee about the program. The
continued success of this program relies upon the cooperation of the
chapters.
Chapter Finances
Chapter finances are always
a concern for those individuals responsible for conducting the affairs of
the chapter. Many chapters are interested in increasing their level of
activity of support but are inhibited by a lack of financial resources. In
order to help formalize the existing chapter program and to encourage the
formation of new chapters, the APS Council is prepared to make a grant of
$1000 to a chapter to either initiate or to strengthen operations. The
following descriptions will also be of some assistance to chapters in their
efforts to maintain financial stability.
A. Chapter Dues
Most chapters have instituted a form of local
dues, generally ranging from $5 to $15, frequently with a reduced
rate for students. Based on estimates of mean chapter size,
proportion of student members, and mean faculty/student size, it
expected that a chapter could generate approximately $400 per year.
While this amount of money cannot cover all the costs of an active
chapter, dues revenue is a good place to begin. For example, this
amount would probably cover all the clerical expenses for the
chapter. This would cover several mailings, a newsletter, a
membership directory, etc. The average annual dues revenue would
also be sufficient to sponsor one visiting scientist from a nearby
region.
B. Institutional Contributions
Most chapters
receive some degree of local support. Frequently this is obtained
through departmental contributions, generally for the support of
visiting scientists. Funds may also include input from
interdisciplinary grants or institutional monies. There is also the
possibility of seeking institution support through a “matching
funds” approach. It may be worthwhile to approach an administrator
with the proposition that the institution match chapter funds
obtained from membership dues or from an APS Visiting Lectureship
Grant or start-up grant.
C. Non-Institutional Contributions
Local groups often request support from various
foundations and local companies in the name of a chapter of the
American Physiological Society. A few requests of this nature have
been addressed to an organization that was already providing support
to the Society as a whole. Since the chapters are separate,
incorporated organizations, they can solicit funding from
organizations that may also provide support to the Society. It
should be noted that local firms, such as banks or insurance
companies, may be more likely to make financial contributions than
larger national companies. Similarly, the local pharmaceutical or
instrument representative to your institutions might be willing to
make a modest contribution in support of the Chapter meeting.
D. American Physiological Society Support
As indicated earlier, the Society is prepared
to make a one-time grant of $1000 to a Chapter to either initiate or
strengthen operations. The Society will also provide each chapter an
additional $500 per year for student awards at the annual Chapter
meeting. This is in addition to the $1,000 allocated for the APS
Lecturer at the chapter meeting.
E. Other Sources
It is important to all the chapters that the
above list be expanded as groups find new vehicles for increasing
support for their activities. We urge you to provide such
information in your forthcoming annual report. It is clear that
there is no easy way to generate financial support; this is a
problem faced by most national societies and non-profit
organizations. However, with the aggressive pursuit of funding,
your chapter can generate extra resources with which to sponsor
activities.
F. Scientific Meetings
It is typical for a chapter to hold an annual
meeting at which lectures and volunteered papers are presented. In
order to support this meeting, it is necessary to charge a
registration fee to cover administrative and meal cost for the
meeting.
New Chapter Petition Form
A new chapter petition form would include the proposed
name of the chapter, endorsees, and new chapter members.
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