Policy Committee Description

Objective

The Policy Committee establishes guidance to ensure that all activities of the Society are consistent with the Purposes and Objectives of the Society as established under Articles II and III of the Constitution, as well as the operational aspects of NALMS set forth in other sections of the Constitution and Bylaws.  In addition, the committee is expected to formulate recommendations on emerging policy questions.

Organization

The committee chair and members of the committee are appointed by the President.  There are no established limits on the number of committee members.  It is desirable to have Past-Presidents and/or former Board members on the committee.  Experience shows that a committee of four to five adequately serves the Society.

Activities and Procedures

All activities of NALMS are open to review by the Policy Committee.  Of particular interest to this committee are official position statements; contracting, hiring, and accounting procedures; new program initiatives; cooperative programs; and endorsements.

To ensure that policy is sufficient to handle the changing requirements of the Society, the committee shall periodically review existing policy statements and may make recommendations to the Executive Committee for additional policy or policy changes.  Where clarification of policy is appropriate, it is the responsibility of this committee to develop policy proposals for presentation to the Board.  Also, the Executive Committee, Board, or committee chairs can and should, as necessary, request that the Policy Committee review policy statements and prepare recommendations to make the organization more accountable and effective, and reduce the possibility of creating situations that could damage the Society's credibility.

All requests to and from the Policy Committee should be through the committee chair.  In the case of significant differences of opinion, the majority opinion of the members will constitute the committee recommendation.  Minority reports should be solicited by the committee chair.

The committee chair will present a report at each Board meeting which includes a summary of committee activities, revisions to existing policy documents for Board approval, and new policy proposals for Board approval.