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AEA POLICIES
Version as of February 15, 2010
The
following represent the Board-level policies of the association.
Current status:
Note
that the most recent changes appear
highlighted in yellow.
PREAMBLE
The American Evaluation Association seeks to act in ways that
embody our mission, vision, and values in pursuit of our defined
policies and goals.
MISSION: The American Evaluation Association’s mission is to
improve evaluation practices and methods, increase evaluation
use, promote evaluation as a profession, and support the
contribution of evaluation to the generation of theory and
knowledge about effective human action.
VISION: The American Evaluation Association’s vision is to
foster an inclusive, diverse, and international community of
practice positioned as a respected source of information for and
about the field of evaluation.
VALUES: The American Evaluation Association values
excellence in evaluation practice, utilization of evaluation
findings, and inclusion and diversity in the evaluation
community.
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We value high quality, ethically defensible, culturally
responsive evaluation practices that lead to effective and
humane organizations and ultimately to the enhancement of
the public good.
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We value high quality, ethically defensible, culturally
responsive evaluation practices that contribute to
decision-making processes, program improvement, and policy
formulation.
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We value a global and international evaluation community and
understanding of evaluation practices.
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We value the continual development of evaluation
professionals and the development of evaluators from
under-represented groups.
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We value inclusiveness and diversity, welcoming members at
any point in their career, from any context, and
representing a range of thought and approaches.
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We value efficient, effective, responsive, transparent, and
socially responsible association operations.
I.
GOALS
POLICIES - As approved February 2010:
1. Evaluators: AEA will provide and increase access
to resources, and contribute to communities, that enable and
support evaluators to:
A. become knowledgeable, effective,
culturally competent, and ethical professionals;
i. Provide resources that support
rigorous education regarding history, methods, and
theories of evaluation
ii. Provide resources for teaching
evaluation standards, ethics and culturally
responsive practices
B. develop, disseminate, and transfer
knowledge about evaluation;
C. engage diverse communities in
evaluation practice;
D. contribute to inclusiveness and
diversity through evaluation;
E. contribute to building evaluation
capacity within the communities and organizations in
which they work;
F. facilitate meaningful feedback
mechanisms from evaluation consumers/public at all
stages of evaluation;
G. engage in the field and profession of
evaluation and in the life of the association;
H. engage in other fields and
associations that are related to or aligned with the
field of evaluation;
Specifically, AEA has taken steps towards
achieving the above Goals Policies through the following
activities and programs:
1.1. Annual Conference: AEA will have an
Annual Conference
1.1.1 Content for the Annual
Conference is primarily identified through a
member-driven peer-review process
1.1.2 Content for the Annual
Conference is also identified by the President or
her or his Designee for a thematically-focused
Presidential Strand
1.2. Awards: AEA will have an Awards
Program
1.2.1 The AEA Awards Program will
recognize excellence in the field of evaluation.
1.3. Diversity Focused Programs: AEA will
offer diversity-focused programs and services
1.3.1 AEA’s diversity-focused
programs will be aimed at expanding the diversity of
the membership and of those practicing and teaching
in the field.
1.3.2 AEA will offer a Graduate
Education Diversity Internship Program
1.3.3 AEA will offer a range of other
diversity-focused programs for students and
professionals
1.4 Internationally Focused Programs: AEA
will internationally-focused programs and services
1.4.1 AEA’s internationally-focused
programs will be aimed at supporting our
international members, evaluators working in
international contexts, AEA’s networking with other
associations, and the field as it expands
internationally
1.4.2 AEA will designate a
representative to a major international organization
1.4.3 AEA will offer a joint
membership program with the Canadian Evaluation
Society
1.4.4 AEA will offer a range of other
internationally-focused programs
1.5 Journals and Peer-Reviewed Content:
AEA will offer peer-reviewed content
1.5.1 AEA will offer New Directions
for Evaluation as part of membership
1.5.2 AEA will offer the American
Journal of Evaluation as part of membership
1.5.3 AEA will take a variety of
approaches to increasing access to other
peer-reviewed content.
1.6 Practitioner-focused content: AEA
will offer practitioner-focused content
1.6.1 AEA will offer
association-sponsored publications with
practitioner-focused content
1.6.2 AEA will increase access to
other materials including electronic resources for
evaluation practitioners
1.7 Professional Development: AEA will
offer professional development
1.7.1 AEA will offer professional
development workshops as part of the annual
conference,
1.7.2 AEA will offer an Evaluation
Institute
1.7.3 AEA will offer a range of other
professional development opportunities.
1.8 Standards and Principles for the
Field: AEA will serve as a leader in the setting and
vetting of Standards and Principles for the field
1.8.1 AEA will develop and maintain
Guiding Principles for Evaluators
1.8.2 AEA will send a Representative
to the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational
Evaluation (JCES)
1.8.3 AEA will be involved in the
vetting process for new standards in the field
1.8.4 AEA will also support other
programs that promote and advance ethical practice
in the field.
2. Evaluation Users: AEA will provide and increase
access to resources, and contribute to communities, that
enable/support evaluation users to:
A. have an appropriate knowledge about
multiple ways of doing and using evaluation;
B. hold positive and realistic views
about the role evaluation can play;
C. make evaluation a standard practice in
their organization’s operations;
D. be sensitive to the ethical issues
that are involved in the doing and using of evaluation.
Specifically, AEA has taken steps towards
achieving the above Goals Policies through the following
activities and programs:
2.1 Influencing of Evaluation Policy: AEA
will strive to influence the setting and use of
evaluation policy
2.1.1 AEA will strive to influence
United States federal evaluation policy
2.1.1.1 AEA will strive to do
this primarily through outreach via a paid
consultant
2.1.1.1.1 Guidance and
direction for the consultant will come
through a Task Force of the Board of
Directors
2.1.1.1.2 The paid consultant
and guiding Task Force may advocate, in
relation to the U.S. federal sector, on
behalf of the association for the following
items in these or analogous terms:
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Broad use of evaluation
in public programs, especially those of
the Federal Government
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Using methods appropriate
to the evaluation questions
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Adapting the size and
scope of evaluations to be appropriate
to the program’s context and needs
(e.g., adapting an evaluation based on
the specific stage of development within
the life-span of a program)
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Adequate funding for
evaluation
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Use of qualified,
experienced evaluators as appropriate
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Evaluator independence
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Transparency of results
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Analysis of the requirements for scaling up or transferring promising programs
to new and different locations or contexts
2.1.2 AEA will work to influence
evaluation policy more generally through other
activities
3. Public: AEA will provide and increase access to
resources so that the public will:
A. be more aware of the concept of
evaluation;
B. understand and appreciate the value of
evaluation;
C. expect and demand evaluation;
D. use evaluation appropriately.
Specifically, AEA has taken steps towards
achieving the above Goals Policies through the following
activities and programs:
3.1 Public Statements: AEA will issue
public statements on issues of importance to the field
3.1.1 AEA public statements will be
member-developed
3.1.2 AEA public statements will be
member-approved
3.2 Public Presence: AEA will project a
public presence by having association officials and/or
appointed designees represent us at select meetings and
conferences.
4. Organization: AEA will contribute to society
through:
A. building and sustaining a respectful,
welcoming, inclusive, fun community;
B. acting, and encouraging members,
partners, and vendors to act, in a socially responsible
manner;
C. collaborating with actors that align
with its values towards the furtherance of the
evaluation profession.
D. becoming known as a professional organization that is
exemplary in its strategic, operational, and normative commitments to diversity
and multiculturalism through:
i. adopting a broad
commitment to multiculturalism
and promoting the practice of applying a multicultural lens to every aspect of
the association;
ii. promoting justice and
excellence by committing to reach out to people of color and others
from underrepresented groups
and to maintain organizational openness and acceptance for all evaluators within
the association;
iii. fostering and regularly evaluating representation from
multicultural groups across the spectrum of AEA
leadership positions, both elected and appointed, and requiring that all
task forces, committees, and groups within the organization demonstrate a
commitment to multiculturalism.
Specifically, AEA has taken steps towards
achieving the above Goals Policies through the following
activities and programs:
4.1 Community and Member Engagement: AEA
will engage its members through a variety of mechanisms
4.1.1 AEA will have Topical Interest
Groups
4.1.2 AEA will have structured member
involvement outreach
4.1.3 AEA will undertake a range of
community-building and member-involvement efforts.
4.2 Communications and Website: AEA will
develop and maintain multiple communications vehicles
and materials that allow AEA to pursue its Goals
Policies
4.2.1 AEA will have an extensive
website
4.2.2 AEA will have a field-wide
discussion list
4.2.3 AEA will have other
communications vehicles and materials
5. Priorities: Priority areas for the Association
Management Company for the remainder of FY2010 (through June
30, 2010) will be as follows:
A. Priority 1: The highest priority for
new efforts will be supporting the board in pursuing 4a,
building and sustaining a respectful, welcoming,
inclusive, fun community, through working on outreach to
leadership groups (committees, groupings, TIGs,
affiliates) and members to assist them to be informed,
included, and involved in our transition to policy
governance. This effort may be pursued within our
current budget.
B. Priority 2: The second highest
priority for new efforts will be 1c/d, engage diverse
communities in evaluation practice and contribute to
inclusiveness and diversity through evaluation, through
engaging the board, committees, broader membership, and
staff taking into consideration the report from the
multicultural task force.
II. EXECUTIVE LIMITATIONS POLICIES – As approved November 2009:
1. GLOBAL EXECUTIVE CONSTRAINT: The Executive
Director (ED) shall not cause or allow any practice,
activity, decision, or organizational circumstance that is
unlawful; in violation of commonly accepted business and
professional ethics or that endangers the association’s
nonprofit status; or is in conflict with the association’s
mission, vision, values, and goals. Limitations on the
actions of the Executive Director with regard to any
policies may be waived in specific instances by a vote of
the majority of the Board.
A. FINANCIAL PLANNING: Financial planning
for any fiscal year or the remaining part of any fiscal
year shall not deviate materially from the Board’s Goals
Policies, risk fiscal jeopardy, or fail to be derived
from a multi-year plan.
i. The ED shall not plan in a manner
that fails to include credible projection of
revenues and expenses, cash flow, and disclosure of
planning assumptions.
ii. The ED shall not plan for less
than a ratio of 1:1 income to expenditures for the
overall recurring (schedule I) budget within any
given fiscal year.
B. ACTUAL FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
ACTIVITIES: With respect to the actual, ongoing
financial condition and activities, the Executive
Director shall not cause or allow the development of
fiscal jeopardy or a material deviation of actual
expenditures from Board priorities established in Goals
Policies.
i. The ED shall not make a single
purchase of greater than $200,000 for events or
$50,000 for all other activities without the
approval of the Treasurer or President.
ii. The ED shall not commit the
association for multiple years for obligations in
excess of 3% of the currently available (operating
plus restricted) reserves without the approval of
the Board, except as explicitly stipulated in the
Goals Policies.
iii. The ED shall not allow to be
spent for nonrecurring (schedule II) items more than
20% of the unrestricted reserve within a given
fiscal year as identified at the beginning of the
fiscal year nor allow the unrestricted reserve to
fall below 25% of the restricted reserve (one year’s
operating budget) at any time without notifying the
Board and identifying whether the Board wishes (a)
to allow for fee increases in subsequent years, or
(b) to change Goals Policies in subsequent years.
iv. Introduction and removal of
revenue and expenditure items on Schedules I and II.
a. New programs and initiatives
must be trialed first on Schedule II.
b. Neither expenditure nor
revenue items may be moved from Schedule I to
Schedule II.
c. No expenditure item and no
revenue item may remain on Schedule II for more
than three years, except those that represent
‘pass throughs’ of funds.
d. New expenditures may not be
added to either Schedule I or Schedule II
without Board approval if they are in excess of
5% of the previous year’s schedule I budget.
C. EMERGENCY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR COVERAGE:
In order to protect the Board from sudden loss of ED
services, the ED will not fail to provide a written
emergency plan and identify one or more other persons
who would be able to step-in in case of emergency. Any
person who assumes the position/or any responsibilities
of the ED will be held accountable to the Board under
all applicable policies.
D. DECISION MAKING: The ED shall not
develop or implement programs, initiatives, or policies,
without weighing (a) alignment with the association’s
mission, vision, values, and goals, (b) input from the
board, (c) input from members and relevant member groups
(e.g. TIGs, relevant task forces), (d) evaluative data,
and (e) short- and long-term ramifications. The ED shall
not implement new programs, initiatives, or policies
without first informing the Board about the AMC’s plans.
If a majority of the Board does not believe that the
plans are a reasonable interpretation of Board policy,
the ED shall not implement the plans without
reconsideration of Board policy.
E. ASSET PROTECTION: The ED shall not
allow association assets to be unprotected, inadequately
maintained or unnecessarily risked. The ED shall not:
i. Fail to insure against liability
losses to Board members and the organization itself
in an amount no less than the average for comparable
organizations.
ii. Pay for any significant amount of
products, services, or contract or project staffing,
at rates higher than average rates paid for or by
relevant comparables.
iii. Fail to protect intellectual
property, information (including member databases)
and files from loss or significant damage nor
breaches of confidentiality.
F. COMMUNICATION TO THE BOARD: The ED
shall not withhold information or misinform the Board.
G. TREATMENT OF MEMBERS: With respect to
interactions with members or those applying to be
members, the ED shall not cause or allow conditions,
procedures, or decisions that are unsafe, untimely,
undignified, unethical, or unnecessarily intrusive.
Further, without limiting the scope of the foregoing by
this enumeration, the ED shall not:
i. Elicit information for which there
is no clear necessity.
ii. Use methods of collecting,
reviewing, transmitting, or storing client or member
information that fail to protect against improper
access to the material elicited.
iii. Fail to establish with members a
clear understanding of what may be expected and what
may not be expected from the service offered, and
the opportunities available to them.
iv. Fail to inform members of this
policy or to provide a way to be heard for persons
who believe they have not been accorded a reasonable
interpretation of their protections under this
policy.
v. Fail to incorporate the
association’s values as a key consideration
throughout the process of identifying operational
volunteers.
H. TREATMENT OF VOLUNTEERS and
CONTRACTORS: With respect to the treatment of volunteers
or contractors, the ED shall not cause or allow
conditions that are unfair, undignified, or unethical.
IIII. DELEGATION POLICIES AS APPROVED - As approved November
2009:
1. GLOBAL DELEGATION POLICY: The Board’s official connection
to the operational organization, its achievements and
conduct will be through the Executive Director (ED).
2. UNITY OF CONTROL: Only officially passed policies of the
Board are binding on the ED.
A. Decisions or instructions of
individual Board members, officers, or committees are
not binding on the Executive Director except in rare
instances when the Board has specifically authorized
such authority.
B. In the case of Board members or
committees requesting information or assistance without
Board authorization, the ED can refuse such requests
that require, in the ED’s opinion, a material amount of
staff time or funds or are disruptive to carrying out
operations.
C. The ED will develop and maintain
operational policies as needed to carry out the business
of the association. These must be differentiated from
Board policies. The operational policies will guide the
work; the Board policies guide decision-making, priority
setting, monitoring and evaluation.
3. ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: The ED is the
Board’s only link to operational achievement and conduct, so
that all authority and accountability of staff, as far as
the Board is concerned, is considered the authority and
accountability of the ED; consequently, the Board will view
ED performance as identical to operational performance, so
that reasonable progress towards Board stated Goals and
adherence to Executive Limitations policies will be viewed
as successful ED performance.
4. DELEGATION TO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: The Board will
instruct the ED through written policies which prescribe the
organizational Goals to be achieved, and describe
organizational situations and actions to be avoided,
allowing the ED to use any reasonable interpretation of
these policies.
A. The Board will develop policies
instructing the ED to achieve specified results, for
specified recipients at a specified priority or cost. In
the absence of specifying a priority or cost, the ED may
use any reasonable assumption of the appropriate
allocation of resources within the restrictions
identified in the Executive Limitations Policies. These
policies will be developed systematically from the most
general level to more defined levels, and will be called
Goals policies.
B. The Board will develop policies that
limit the latitude the ED may exercise in choosing the
organizational means. These policies will be developed
systematically from the broadest, most general level to
more defined levels, and they will be called Executive
Limitations policies.
C. As long as the Executive Director uses
any reasonable interpretation of the Board’s Goals and
Executive Limitations policies, the ED is authorized to
make all decisions, take all actions, establish all
practices and develop all programs. Such decisions of
the ED shall have full force and authority as if decided
by the Board.
D. The Board expects the ED to maintain
and improve upon the existing baseline activities of the
association as defined by the specific examples provided
within the Goals Policy.
E. Within resources available, the Board
expects the ED to develop and trial new programs in
pursuit of the Goals Policies within the constraints
defined under the Executive Limitations Policies.
F. The Board may change its Goals and
Executive Limitations policies, thereby shifting the
boundary between Board and ED domains. By doing so, the
Board changes the latitude of choice given to the ED.
But as long as any particular delegation is in place,
the Board will respect and support the ED’s choices.
5. MONITORING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR PERFORMANCE: Systematic and
rigorous monitoring of Executive Director job performance
will be solely against the only expected ED job outputs:
progress towards the general Goals Policies and execution of
the major activities noted in the Goals Policies within the
boundaries established in Executive Limitation policies on
Executive Limitations.
A. Monitoring is to determine the degree
to which Board policies are being met. Data that does
not do this will not be considered to be monitoring
data.
B. The Board will acquire monitoring data
by any of a number of methods, including: (a) by
internal report of the ED, (b) the independent report of
the volunteers serving under the ED, (c) by external
report, in which an external, disinterested third party
selected by the Board assesses compliance with Board
policies, (d) by direct Board inspection, in which a
designated member or members of the Board assess
compliance with the appropriate policy criteria.
C. In every case, the standard for
performance shall be any reasonable ED interpretation of
the Board policy being monitored. The Board is final
arbiter of reasonableness, but will always judge with a
“reasonable person” test.
D. All Executive Limitations policy
violations will be noted and, if there are no mitigating
circumstances, will contribute to a negative appraisal
of the ED’s performance. The Board will however view
violations of financial policies as especially serious.
6. ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT COMPANY (AMC) CONTRACT: The Board
will hold a contract with the AMC and the ED and Board will
be bound by that contract and the contract will stipulate
adherence to these policies.
IV. GOVERNANCE POLICIES – As approved November 2009:
1. BOARD of DIRECTORS: AEA will be governed by a Board of
Directors, elected to represent the organization as a whole,
that sets and refines policy, evaluates progress towards
policies, engages members, and is selected through a careful
and systematic nominations and elections process.
2. GLOBAL GOVERNANCE LIMITATIONS: The Board shall not cause
or allow any practice, activity, decision, or organizational
circumstance that is unlawful; in violation of commonly
accepted business and professional ethics; endangers the
association’s nonprofit status; or is in conflict with the
association’s mission, vision, values, and goals.
3. GLOBAL GOVERNANCE-MEMBER CONNECTION: The Board serves the
organization membership. It draws its authority from and is
accountable to the members. As such, its role is that of
servant-leader to and for that group.
A. INTERNAL RESEARCH: The Board will
conduct internal research as needed to understand the
membership and pursue its Goals Policies.
4. GLOBAL GOVERNANCE-MANAGEMENT CONNECTION: The Board’s
official connection to the operational organization, its
achievements and conduct will be through the Executive
Director (ED).
5. AGENDA PLANNING: The Board will follow an annual agenda
which (a) annually completes a review of all Board policies
for relevance to current issues in the discipline,
responsiveness to membership interests, and other criteria
as appropriate, (b) monitors ED performance on reasonable
progress towards Goals, and (c) continually improves Board
performance through Board education and enriched input and
deliberation.
A. Time will be set aside at each Board
meeting for consideration of policy changes,
introduction of new policies, and review of outstanding
policy issues.
B. The Board will utilize evaluation data
in its responsibility to regularly review policy.
6. MONITORING AND EVALUATION: The Board will use
high-quality monitoring and evaluation processes in ensuring
that AEA governance and operations are well-designed,
well-implemented, and effective.
A. The Board will ensure ongoing
monitoring and evaluation that helps the Board shape
policy and fulfill its responsibility for (a) monitoring
the association’s performance, (b) monitoring the
effectiveness and reasonable progress toward the
association’s goals, and (c) ensuring the effectiveness
of its governance.
i. The evaluation process will
include but not be limited to four sources of data:
(1) monitoring data from the executive director
about operations the Board has delegated to the
executive director as indicated in the Delegation
Policies; (2) membership input; (3) input from
governing bodies including the Board and its
committees; and (4) special studies conducted by
Board-established task forces and/or external
evaluation providers.
ii. Annual evaluation activities as
well as activities that fit within a longer
timeframe as determined by the Board will be
conducted. Evaluation activity will include both a
retrospective and prospective perspective, thus
helping the Board determine what has been
accomplished and provide input into strategic
planning.
B. The primary user of evaluation
findings is the Board. The scope of evaluation
activities, however, will be informed by other relevant
stakeholders (e.g., executive director, task forces,
committees, and members at large, other associations,
partners and non-members), and findings will be
disseminated to AEA members and a broad range of AEA
stakeholders on an annual basis at minimum.
i. Regular monitoring of operations
will be a part of the general reporting function of
the Executive Director and he or she will provide
reports to the Board at each meeting on progress
towards Goals with all Goals reported on within the
full annual cycle.
ii. The Board will use the findings
from monitoring and evaluation to learn what is
going well, what is not, and how the Board and the
Executive Director can make improvements in
governance and operations.
iii. The findings will be used to
assist the Board in policy making and strategic
planning.
7. BOARD CYCLE: The Board cycle will begin each year on
January 1 and conclude each year on December 31 so that
administrative planning and budgeting can be based on
accomplishing a one year segment of the Board’s most recent
statement of long term Goals.
8. BOARD BUDGET: Guided by the Treasurer, and informed by
discussion with the ED, the Board will establish a budget
within Schedule I each fiscal year (July 1 to June 30) for
its own activities (e.g. Board meetings, auditing, Board
training, evaluation of the Board and Association).
9. PRESIDENT’S ROLE: The President, a specially empowered
member of the Board, assures the integrity of the Board's
process and sets the agenda at each meeting consistent with
the Board’s annual agenda, with input from the Board
members, and chairs the meeting.
A. CHIEF EXECUTIVE: The President is the
Chief Executive Officer of the association with the
following roles and responsibilities:
i. The President is the public face
of AEA.
ii. The President sets the
Presidential Theme for the annual meeting.
iii. The President Chairs the
Executive Committee.
iv. The President addresses emergency
issues working along with the Executive Director.
v. The President is the primary
association official with direct responsibility for
managing the relationship to the Executive Director.
a. The President is the
association official who signs the AMC contract
on behalf of the Board.
b. The President is responsible
for assuring that the Board reviews the
performance of the Executive Director and the
association’s operations.
vi. The President Chairs the Board of
Directors’ meetings with the following roles and
responsibilities:
a. The President is responsible
for setting the agenda for Board meetings with
consultation and input from the Board.
b. The President presides over
Board meetings and enforces procedures and
processes that assure the meetings proceed in a
collegial and business-like fashion (using a
form of Robert’s Rules of Order as a guideline).
c. The President is responsible
for assuring that any Board Task Forces,
Committees, or Groupings, or other volunteers
who work on behalf of the Board, have adequate
direction from the Board.
d. The President is responsible
for assuring that the Board provides adequate
training and orientation of new and returning
Board members.
vii. The President Chairs the AEA
Annual Business meeting with the following roles and
responsibilities:
a. Ensuring that a report is made
regarding the status of the association;
b. Ensuring that a report is made
regarding the current Board volunteer leadership
support structure;
c. Ensuring that a report is made
regarding the financial state of the association
by the Treasurer or duly-authorized
Board-appointed agent.
viii. The President serves as the
second signatory on all AEA Bank Accounts.
10. PAST-PRESIDENT: The Past-President is a specially
empowered member of the Board with the following roles and
responsibilities:
A. The Past-President is the Secretary to
the Board with responsibility for assuring that all
Board records are up-to-date and sufficiently archived.
B. The Past-President is an Ombudsperson
to the Board, responsible for assuring that complaints
or issues of Board Members or serious complaints or
issues of members of the association receive a clear and
proper hearing of the Board.
C. The Past-President is the
Parliamentarian to the Board and is responsible for
assisting the President in the management of discussions
at Board meetings.
D. The Past-President has a special role
as mentor to new Board members and is responsible for
assuring that they are integrated well into the life of
the Board.
E. The Past-President is a member of the
Executive Committee.
F. The Past-President serves as the
acting President in the event that the President and
President-Elect are unable to fulfill the position.
G. The Past-President works with the
President as needed to set the agenda for Board
meetings.
11. PRESIDENT ELECT: The President-Elect is a specially
empowered member of the Board with the following roles and
responsibilities:
A. The President-Elect works with the
President to set the agenda for Board meetings.
B. The President-Elect meets with the
current President and ED at least once for a detailed
briefing on the current state of the association and of
the Board.
C. The President-Elect is a member of the
Executive Committee
D. The President-Elect serves as the
acting President if the President is unable to fulfill
the position.
12. TREASURER’S ROLE: The Treasurer is a specially empowered
member of the Board whose responsibilities in consultation
with the Board and ED are, at minimum:
A. The Treasurer assures that projected
expenditures are balanced by projected revenues in
budgets prepared for the association.
B. The Treasure preserves financial
assets for core operations of the association.
C. The Treasurer maintains adequate
self-insurance for the association against potential
disasters.
D. The Treasurer serves as educator to
the Board on association financial issues.
E. The Treasurer provides signatures on
financial matters on behalf of the association (except
for those matters directly related to the Treasurer).
F. The Treasurer ensures that ED
monitoring includes attention to fiscal issues as
delineated in the Executive Limitations Policies.
G. The Treasurer serves as a key liaison
with the association’s accountant and auditor.
H. The Treasurer facilitates the Board in
monitoring the fiscal health of the association.
i. The Treasurer oversees regular
external review of AEA’s finances.
I. The Treasurer chairs the Finance
Committee and serves as a member of all Committees or
Task Forces related to financial issues.
J. The Treasurer maintains direct contact
with the ED regarding the association’s budget and
expenditures.
K. The Treasurer, or duly-authorized
Board-appointed agenda reports to the membership
regarding the financial state of the association at the
AEA Annual Business Meeting.
13. BOARD MEMBER AT LARGE: The duties of all Board members,
as informed members of AEA, are those that ensure
appropriate governance and performance. All members of the
Board have the following roles and responsibilities:
A. Fulfill the three primary
policy-governance roles of the Board.
i. Serve as the link between AEA as
an organization and its membership.
a. Engage the membership both to
understand their interests and needs and to
communicate Board policies and practices.
b. Develop and review policies
that are member- and organization-driven rather
than constituency-driven.
ii. Actively engage in the ongoing
development and priority-setting of written
governing policies that address the broadest levels
of all organizational decisions and situations,
including:
a. Goals Policies that define
desired organizational outcomes.
b. Executive Limitations Policies
that define constraints on executive authority
and establish the prudence and ethics boundaries
within which all staff executive activity and
decisions must take place.
c. Governance Policies that
specify how the Board conceives, carries out and
monitors its own work.
d. Delegation Policies that
specify the ED’s role, authority and
accountability, and how the ED performance is
monitored.
iii. Fulfills the monitoring and
evaluation responsibilities as specified in written
Governance Policies.
B. Serve as public ambassadors of the
association.
14. BOARD MEMBER CODE OF CONDUCT: The Board commits itself
and its members to the highest ethical, businesslike, and
lawful conduct, including proper use of authority and
appropriate decorum when acting as Board members.
A. Dedication to Governance: The Board
will invest in its governance capacity through
appropriate and thorough individual preparation for
meetings, individual and group training and capacity
building, and provision for and insurance of avenues for
member input. Board orientation for new members,
especially with reference to policy governance, will be
a routine activity.
i. Professional Role: The Board will
be prepared, conscientious, and professional in its
role.
a. Sign Letter of Agreement to
abide by the principles so delineated by the
Board member roles and responsibilities.
b. Declare any potential conflict
of interest.
c. Learn the governance
procedures of the Board.
ii. One voice: The Board’s authority
is a group authority rather than a summation of
individual authorities. While there may be
disagreement among Board members, duly-reached Board
decisions are supported by the Board as a whole.
iii. Confidentiality: Board
discussions will be kept confidential and not shared
with association members except through formal
vehicles such as minutes or reports unless otherwise
decided by the Board.
iv. Promote and uphold the Guiding
Principles: The Board will conduct all association
evaluation work in accordance with the AEA Guiding
Principles for Evaluators.
v. Board evaluation and training: The
Board will set its own agenda for training and
evaluation of itself.
15. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: The Executive Committee is a
specially empowered subgroup of the Board that consists of
the President, Past-President, President-Elect and Treasurer
with the following roles and responsibilities”
A. The Executive Committee may be
Convened by any member of the Executive Committee.
B. Emergency Decision-Making: The
Executive Committee is convened in situations where
immediate action or decision-making is needed and it is
not feasible to convene the whole Board. In these
situations, the Executive Committee may be convened by
any member of the Executive Committee or by the
Executive Director. The Executive Committee or ED will
notify Board members of the situation, and seek and
consider any input provided in the timeframe needed for
the decision. The Executive Committee will notify the
Board upon making a decision.
C. Advisory Role: The Executive Committee
may be called upon by the President to advise on Board
work such as the determination of agendas, resolution of
conflicts or strategic directions for the Board.
D. Representation: The Executive
Committee may be called upon to represent the Board and
AEA membership in matters pertaining to the association
and its functioning.
16. BOARD COMMITTEES: A committee is a Board committee only
if its existence and charge come from the Board. The sole
responsibility of Board Committees is to provide policy
guidance to the Board.
17. BOARD COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Board committees commit
themselves and their members to the highest ethical,
businesslike, and lawful conduct on behalf of the
association.
18. BOARD COMMITTEES: In accordance with our Mission,
Vision, and Values, currently there are five priority areas
for policy-making:
A. For 2010, Board Standing Committees
work within Priority Area Teams established by the Board
as follows:
-
Finance Team: Finance Committee
-
Knowledge and Professional Support
Team: Annual Conference Policy Committee,
Publications Committee, Professional Development
Committee, Membership Committee
-
Leadership Team: Nominations and
Elections Committee
-
Public Engagement Team: Public
Affairs Committee, International Committee
-
Values Team: Diversity Committee,
Ethics Committee, Awards Committee
B. The sole responsibility of Priority
Area Teams is to provide policy guidance to the Board.
They work on advising Board policy under a written
charge from the Board. This charge is reviewed at the
beginning of a new Presidential term and revised as
needed.
i. Coordinator: Each Priority Area
Team is coordinated by one of the Standing Committee
Chairs.
ii. Leadership Team: The chairs of
the Standing Committees will serve as a Leadership
Team for the priority area.
iii. Board Liaison: Each Priority
Area has a primary Board Liaison appointed by the
President, selected from one of the standing
committees’ liaisons of the committees in that
priority area. The other Board liaisons support the
work of the Lead Priority Area Liaison.
C. All communication to the Board on
committee work comes through Priority Area Teams.
19. BOARD TASK FORCES: The Board may appoint time-limited
Board Task Forces for specific tasks such as exploring
particular policy issues, following up on evaluation study
recommendations, and other tasks that are typically of an
immediate nature and/or require particular expertise.
A. Charge: A Board Task Force receives
its charge from the Board and reports to it as progress
is made and its task is accomplished.
B. Term: The term of each Board Task
Force is set by the Board. Board Task Forces must have a
specified term of no more than three years.
C. Establishment: The Board may establish
a Board Task Force by a two-thirds vote. Alternatively,
the President may establish a Board Task Force for a
term corresponding to the President’s term in office.
D. Chair: The Board will identify the
Chair for any Task Force that it convenes. The President
will identify the Chair for any Task Force that she or
he convenes. The Task Force Chair will serve a term
corresponding to the term of the Board Task Force.
E. Liaison: Should the Chair of a Board
Task Force not be a current Board member, the President
will appoint a Board liaison each year to the Task
Force, otherwise a Board member on the Task Force will
serve as the liaison.
20. SPECIAL LEADERSHIP POSITIONS: Special leadership
positions may be specified by a two-thirds vote of the
Board, and shall be noted in the policies.
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