 |
CHECKLIST OF DUTIES: LIRT COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Your appointment as committee chair will begin at the close of the Annual Conference and continue through the close of the Annual Conference the following year.
ONGOING DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
_____ Attend ALA Midwinter and Annual conferences. If for any reason you are unable to attend a conference, notify the President as soon as possible and arrange for a committee member to run the committee meetings in your place.
Responsibilities to your committee:
_____ Chair meetings of your committee during the All-Committee meeting times at each conference. Ensure that committee meetings are productive and worthwhile; remember that some committee members may make travel plans to ALA conference based solely upon their LIRT meetings.
_____ Plan the work of the committee in accordance with the committee/task force charge. Use the LIRT Mission, Goals and Objectives as guides for planning the work of the committee.
_____ Communicate with committee members on a regular basis between conferences, preferably via e-mail.
_____ Ensure that committee members are involved in committee activities and utilize their time productively. Make sure that tasks are evenly distributed so that all committee members have a chance to contribute.
_____ Follow through with committee members regarding tasks and assignments.
Responsibilities to LIRT:
_____ Keep the LIRT Executive Board informed of your committee’s activities by responding to requests for information and submitting committee information when requested.
_____ Attend Steering Committee meetings and give brief reports about your committee’s activities (see Conference Meeting Schedule for times). If unable to attend, inform the President as soon as possible and make arrangements for a committee representative to attend and report on the committee’s activities in your place.
_____ Respond to requests for information from Vice-President and President. These will include requests for reports and forms to be submitted; and inquiries from the Vice-President about adding new members to your committee.
_____ Seek Steering or Executive Committee approval for your committee’s activities when appropriate. Examples would include major publications, conference programs topics and titles, discussion forum topics, etc. In brief, any committee activities which will represent LIRT to an outside audience should be communicated to and approved by Steering or Exec.
_____ Communicate with the Treasurer about your committee’s budget needs. Your budget for the year will have already been set by the previous chair; after the budget has been prepared and approved, any additions to the budget must be approved by the Executive Board.
_____ Ask the LIRT Executive Board questions. If you’re unsure about anything—how to accomplish a task, why something is done in a particular way, how a situation has been handled in the past, please ask!
_____ Monitor LIRT-S and respond to any issues or requests that come up on the list.
_____ Identify articles that your committee might contribute to the LIRT News.
_____ Ensure that your contact information is is listed correctly on the online LIRT Directory of Officers and Chairpersons; inform the Vice-President and Electronic Resources Manager of any changes. (Note: this contact information will be listed in the ALA Handbook of Organization).
_____ Ensure that the contact information for each member of your committee is listed correctly on the online comittee roster; inform the Vice-President and Electronic Resources Manager of any changes.
TIMELINE OF DUTIES
ANNUAL CONFERENCE (before your term begins)
_____ Attend New Chairs and Officers Orientation (usually held during the Steering I meeting - see: Conference Meeting Schedule for times).
_____ If possible, attend one Steering Committee meeting with outgoing committee chair to see what will be expected of you during your term.
_____ Discuss ongoing projects with the outgoing chair; make sure you have any important documents or information needed to continue the committee’s work, including a list of continuing and new committee members, and information about the committee’s budget.
BETWEEN ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND MIDWINTER
_____ You should hear from the Electronic Resources Manager that you have been subscribed to the LIRT-S mailing list. The list includes all committee chairs and officers as well as the ALA Liaison to LIRT.
_____ Meet LIRT News deadline (typically July 15 and October 15th) for any articles you have been assigned to write.
_____ Contact any new committee members; intLIRT roduce yourself and give a summary of the committee’s activities.
_____ Communicate with all committee members about ongoing projects; ensure that significant progress is being made.
_____ Respond to the Treasurer’s request for committee budget for next fiscal year. (Which will begin September 1 of the following year).
BEFORE MIDWINTER_____ Recommend Midwinter Steering Committee and Executive Board agenda items.
_____ Send committee members information about upcoming meetings at conference, including locations and the planned agenda.
_____ Complete Housing Information Form as requested by President.
_____ Sign up for BITES with LIRT at Midwinter Conference.
MIDWINTER MEETING_____ Attend Steering Committee I and II meetings and report on your committee’s activities (see: Conference Meeting Schedule for times). At Steering I, your committee report should focus on your committee’s progress and activities since Annual Conference. At Steering II, you should discuss your committee’s activities at this conference and your plans for the next six months.
_____ Attend and chair committee meetings. Identify a recorder to take and prepare a draft of minutes of the meetings. Take attendance of committee members and make sure this is recorded in minutes.
_____ Discuss with your committee members who should lead the committee next year. Do you, as the current chair, wish to continue for another year, or is another member of the committee interested in chairing the committee? Elect a member of the committee to propose as Committee Chair for the following year. You will submit this name to the Vice-President, who will then submit the name to the Executive Board for approval.
_____ Attend the LIRT Discussion Forum (typically on Sunday) if possible.
POST MIDWINTER_____ Request committee minutes of the Midwinter meetings from recorder. Make any revisions and then send to all committee members over e-mail, copying president and vice-president.
_____ Submit the Committee Conference Summary Form as requested by president.
_____ Follow through on any projects or assignments from conference.
BETWEEN MIDWINTER AND ANNUAL CONFERENCE_____ Meet LIRT News deadlines (typically February 15th and April 15th) for any articles you have been assigned to write.
_____ Write and submit the committee’s annual report form to the President by June 1, copying all members of the committee. The report should be 150-200 words long and include: the names of the members of the committee; the issues considered by the committee at the Midwinter meeting and any actions taken; the activities of the committee since the previous year's Annual Conference; and the issues and activities to be completed at the upcoming Annual Conference.
_____ Communicate with Vice-President about your committee’s need for new members.
_____ The Vice-President will request a recommendation for a person to chair the committee during the following year. Submit the name of the person who was elected during the committee’s discussion at Midwinter. The Vice-President will then submit this name to the Executive Board for approval.
BEFORE ANNUAL
_____ Recommend Annual Steering Committee and Executive Board agenda items.
_____ Send committee members information about upcoming meetings at conference, including locations and agendas.
_____ Complete Housing Information Form as requested by President.
_____ Sign up for BITES with LIRT at Annual Conference.
_____ Prepare any documents or information that will need to be turned over to incoming committee chair.
_____ Alert incoming chair about meetings that she or he should attend at Annual (including new chair orientation at Steering I, as well as all committee meetings.)
ANNUAL CONFERENCE_____ Attend Steering Committee I and II meetings and report on your committee’s activities (see: Conference Meeting Schedule for times). At Steering I, your committee report should focus on your committee’s progress and activities since Midwinter. At Steering II, you should discuss your committee’s activities at this conference and your plans for the next six months.
_____ Attend and chair committee meetings. Identify a recorder to take and prepare a draft of minutes of the meetings. Take attendance of committee members and make sure this is recorded in minutes.
_____ Discuss ongoing projects with incoming chair; pass on any important documents or information at conference or afterwards. Important documents would include: your Annual Report; your budget request for the coming year (placed last fall); the committee’s current membership list; and meeting minutes.
_____ Attend the LIRT conference program (typically on Sunday) if possible.
POST-ANNUAL CONFERENCE_____ Request committee minutes of the Midwinter meetings from recorder. Make any revisions and then send to all committee members over e-mail, copying president and vice-president.
_____ Submit the Committee Conference Summary Form as requested by president.
_____ Meet LIRT News deadline (typically July 15th) for any articles you have been assigned to write.
_____ Send a thank you letter or e-mail to each committee member.
_____ Suggest any changes or additions to the LIRT Manual (send to Past President).
_____ By August 1, submit any receipts to the LIRT ALA Liaison and send copies to the LIRT Treasurer. (The Reimbursements web page provides the form and additional information). The fiscal year ends August 31 and the new fiscal year begins September 1.
Contact Billie Peterson-Lugo (Billie_Peterson@baylor.edu) about these pages.
Last Updated: Content: 12 Janaury 2006 -- Billie Peterson-Lugo; Graphics: 15 April 2001-- Jana Ronan