Governance Department Helps APA Leaders Do Their Job
The members of the department work as a team, with each member assigned as the staff liaison to various components and activities of the Association (Board, Assembly, Joint Reference Committee, Area Councils, APA elections, etc.). Staff liaisons are responsible for coordinating and implementing all aspects of governance meetings; tracking actions submitted for consideration; staffing the many subcommittees, task forces, and work groups; and serving as primary resources to governing body members regarding APA policies and procedures.
With seven staff and a budget of $600,000, the department serves as a resource on policy, procedures and strategic planning for the Board, Assembly, and other member components and facilitates the flow of information throughout APA from these entities.
The department’s staff work quietly behind the scenes to provide the members with the clear, accurate, and complete information needed to make essential decisions.
Good decisions, of course, need to be conveyed to their audience. Association Governance staff produce rapid, well-written reports and, after appropriate review, ensure that they are disseminated to our members as quickly as possible. Most recently, the Board and Assembly have been utilizing the “Members Only” section of the APA Web site to post their agendas and meeting reports so that any APA member can access this information. For the most recent Assembly meeting, members were able to access all the meeting materials online.
To ensure that all APA staff are kept well-informed of Association initiatives and issues, the department also holds regular staff-liaison meetings before and after each major governance meeting, during which more than 70 staff liaisons and senior staff have the opportunity to review agendas and reports and discuss key issues that will require staff assistance.
Presidential-Appointment Process
The process by which presidential appointments to APA components are made is also coordinated by the department. The Board has ceded the authority to appoint members to components of the Association to the APA president-elect. In the months leading up to the annual meeting, at the end of which he or she assumes the presidency, the president-elect begins the process of appointing individuals to the positions that will become vacant on components in his or her presidential year. In an average year, each president-elect makes approximately 300 appointments.
Coordinating Election Activities
Association Governance handles all aspects of and activities related to the annual election of APA officers and votes on amendments and/or referenda. Staff also support and coordinate the functions of election-related components such as the Nominating, Elections, and Tellers committees. The department maintains and updates a “History of Elections” and other election-related documents that constitute a comprehensive record of APA elections back to 1970.
The department also staffs the Bylaws Committee, drafting amendments to the APA Bylaws for the committee’s review, which involves consulting legal counsel as needed. When Bylaws changes are approved by votes of either the Board of Trustees or the membership, the Bylaws are updated for certification by the APA secretary and posted on the APA Web site. The aforementioned election history includes a history of amendments to the APA Constitution and Bylaws (prior to 2000) and to Bylaws (after 2000).
Providing Source Materials
Another function of the department is to develop and update primary source materials for APA members and staff—documents that serve as the procedural manuals for the governing bodies.
The “Operations Manual” is maintained and updated to include revisions approved by the Board of Trustees and is available on the APA Web site as a downloadable Word document. The “Staff Liaison Handbook” combines portions of the Operations Manual, the Assembly Procedural Code, and other resources so that APA staff have a quick reference guide on how to function as a staff liaison.
Each summer the Department of Association Governance updates the “Directory of Components and Staff.” This publication lists the membership of the Board of Trustees, the Assembly, and district branch officers, and the members who have been appointed to the councils and to the committees, corresponding committees, and task forces that report to those councils. The primary source for information on the current membership of these APA components is the online component directory, available to APA members in the “Members Corner” section of the APA Web site at www.psych.org. The APA staff directory provides information on who to contact within the APA for information on a wide range of topics and includes phone and fax numbers.
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