OFFICERS’ DUTIES

 

 

All officers are responsible for meeting with his or her successor at the end of his or her term to transfer records, explain duties and to be available for advice.  Also, retiring officers are expected to attend Executive Committee meetings for one year after their term ends and in some cases, they may actually be voting members.  See the Section bylaws for details.

 

CHAIR

The supervision, coordination, and overall direction of section activities are the primary and ongoing responsibilities of the Section Chair.  The Chair should provide leadership for the Section officers and committee chairs and delegate authority and responsibility as broadly as possible.  The Chair is also considered the leader of the Section in motivating members and serving as a spokesperson for the Section.  In being spokesperson for the Section, the Chair must set goals for the Section and take an active interest in achieving these goals.

 

The Chair presides at all possible Section meetings and at all sessions of the Executive Committee and posts the agenda for these meetings.  The Chair also arranges Executive Committee meetings, corresponds with National ACS and helps to host tour speakers.

 

In most cases, the Chair makes all Section standing committee appointments.  From the Chair, the appointees should receive guidance, supervision and assistance, especially with respect to specific committee assignments.  The Chair also officially activates standing committees immediately after January 1.  This is especially important with the Awards Committee.

 

Nominating Committee members and chairs are appointed by the Chair by May 1 and possible candidates are provided to these committees.

 

The Chair keeps the Memphis Section Seal, maintains the Chair work and correspondence for the Archives at the University of Memphis, functions as a non-voting member of the Awards Committee and is responsible for maintaining the Jobs Manual.  Another important duty of the Chair is to assure timely filing of the Section’s annual report and ensure that all duties and deadlines of the Section are met.

 

CHAIR-ELECT

The Chair-Elect is invited each year to attend a Local Section Leadership Conference.  This conference helps in orientation with the position and provides a forum for choosing speakers for the lectures in the upcoming year.  It is primarily the Chair-Elect’s responsibility to choose the slate of meeting speakers and programs for the year in which he or she will serve as Chair.  The Chair-Elect is the Program Committee chair and as such, serves as master of arrangements and host for Section speakers and lectures.  Details on the speaker are the Chair-Elect's responsibility to provide to the Secretary for inclusion in the newsletter before the meeting.  In addition, the Chair-Elect maintains a file of communications with speakers and Program Committee planning.  The Chair-Elect serves as a non-voting member of the Awards Committee.

 

The Chair-Elect gives assistance to the Chair where possible or necessary and may be assigned other duties by the Chair or the Executive Committee as they occur.  The person elected to the position serves as Chair-Elect for one year and then automatically becomes Chair for the following year.  

 

SECRETARY

The Secretary has a broad range of responsibilities including, most importantly, maintaining the membership list and other Section records.  On a bimonthly basis, the Secretary receives a Section membership roster from the ACS, which includes a complete alphabetical list of members’ names and addresses as well as changes from the previous edition.

 

On or before December 1 of each year, the Secretary must certify to the ACS Executive Director the names and terms of office of all Section Councilors and Alternate Councilors.  This certification is required for both newly elected Councilors and Alternates and those continuing to serve unexpired terms.  The Secretary should also submit biographies of the Councilors with this report.

 

The Secretary manages the election process for the upcoming year’s officers and by December 1, he/she should notify the ACS Executive Director of newly elected local section officers and committee chair appointments.  Prompt reporting of the names and addresses of these individuals ensures that all official correspondence and other communications from the national office are directed to the proper local section people.

 

The Secretary should maintain the charter and list of original members, historic documents and the set of Section bylaws bearing the signed stamp of the ACS Secretary, i.e., the official approved bylaws, and all should be in a readily retrievable file.  He/she also handles membership applications, special notices and the active membership mailing list.  In association with the mailing list, the Secretary maintains a spare set of mailing labels that he or she monitors to insure a continuous supply.  The request for the "Standard Package" of mailing label distributions is made in mid-August.

 

The Secretary is also responsible for recording and maintaining a complete file of minutes of all general membership and Executive Committee meetings.  He/she writes all regular Section correspondence and prepares and distributes the Section’s newsletter which, if it announces a regular section meeting, should be mailed no later than seven days prior to the meeting. 

 

A large responsibility of the Secretary is compiling and preparing the Section’s annual report.  Forms for the report are received after November 1 of the reporting year; however, the Secretary is strongly encouraged to compile information for the report all year long.  The annual report is presented to the Executive Committee for approval before sending it to National ACS by February 15.

 

Since this office is elected for a two-year term, the office of Secretary provides continuity within the Section.  For this reason, the Secretary usually receives a copy of all official correspondence directed by the ACS national office to the Section.  The Secretary should be sure that copies of all correspondence are directed to the appropriate officers and committee chairs.

 

 

 

TREASURER

The Treasurer receives and disburses the Section’s operating funds and is responsible for accounting for all Section moneys, including annual ACS allotments, local membership dues, and Section revenues and expenses. The Treasurer is expected to maintain accurate financial records for the Section and prepare periodic and annual reports on the Section’s fiscal condition.  The Treasurer is also responsible for filing Internal Revenue Service Forms and for writing and keeping track of any checks, invoices or receipts required for Section activities.

 

The SOCIETY provides annual allocations of funds from members’ national dues for the operation of the local sections.  However, the ACS Bylaws require that the local section treasurers make a formal request to the SOCIETY for payment of funds.  To facilitate this procedure, a formal request form indicating the allotment amount for the succeeding year is sent to each section treasurer in mid-November to be signed and returned to the national office by December 15.

 

The Treasurer is responsible for preparing the annual financial report.  The appropriate forms are sent to the Treasurer in mid-November and must be returned to the national office by February 15.  The Treasurer must prepare an annual report for review and approval by the Executive Committee.

 

The Treasurer files IRS Forms 1099-MISC and 1096 by Feb. 28 and IRS Form 990 and other forms by May 15. 

 

The Section can decide to participate in the local section dues collection program that is a dual billing service for national and local dues, free to local sections.  In March each section treasurer receives details of the service, the deadline for requesting the service for the succeeding year is May 1 and the deadline for filling out the dues allotment vouchers is December 15.

 

Further information about these and other responsibilities of a local section treasurer is outlined in the Handbook for ACS Local Section Treasurers, available on request from the ACS Office of Local Section Activities.

 

COUNSILOR AND ALTERNATE COUNSILOR

Elected for terms of three years, the Councilor and Alternate Councilor share the same responsibilities except that only one can represent the Section at a time. 

 

The main responsibility for Councilor or Alternate Councilor is to serve as a link between the National ACS and the Memphis Section.  A Councilor attends at least one National Council Meeting per year (which the Section pays for) and keeps abreast of National affairs which may affect the Memphis section.  The Councilor reports back to the Executive Committee on the National Council Meeting that he/she attended and in return, he/she reports the views of the Memphis section back to the National Council. 

 

The Councilor and Alternate Councilor are members of the Executive Committee and keep the Section informed of developing issues.