February 2024

You are receiving this email because you are the Chair, Chair-elect, or Treasurer of an ASIS&T SIG or Chapter. Please read for ASIS&T policies, procedures, and upcoming deadlines that are pertinent to your position.

NEW SIG & CHAPTER BYLAWS REQUIREMENT
Action Required

The Board of Directors have approved new blanket bylaws for all SIGs and Chapters. The draft of these blanket bylaws was shared with you in early January with a request for input. Very little in put was received in response to that request. Subsequently, the bylaws were reviewed by the Governance Committee and finally by the Board.

These blanket bylaws will apply to all SIGs and Chapters respectively effective July 1st. The revised Bylaws do not differ greatly from the existing template but rather add some clarity and flexibility to some processes and formallizes others. Here is a list of the changes in the new Bylaws.

• Establishes required membership tenure for SIG/Chapter leadership;
• Limits officer roles that are elected to the Chair-Elect. All other positions are acquired by ascension or appointment;
• Limits the term of an elected officer to one consecutive year in each position (Chair-Elect, Chair & Immediate Past Chair) but allows an individual to serve more than once so long as it is not in consecutive years;
• Clarifies the process and line of succession in the event that an officer role becomes vacant;
• Formalizes the nominating process;
• Formalizes the election process; and
• Allows the annual business meeting of the SIG/Chapter to take place outside of the Annual Meeting

We are confident that these changes will work to your benefit and facilitate transition between leaders by virtue of the consistency between all SIGs and Chapters.

Next Steps:

1. Review the revised Bylaws with your leadership to ensure you are all abreast of the new policies.
2. Drop your SIG's purpose statement or your Chapter's geographic information into the template and submit the document to Pamela Yonker. Pam will upload your new Bylaws to your iConnect site. If we do not hear back from any SIGs or chapters, we will use whatever the most recent information we have available to finalize your bylaws for you. Please submit your new Bylaws no later than June 30, 2024.

SIG PURPOSE ASSESSMENT

Action Required

As noted above, all SIGs will be required to include a purpose statement in your new Bylaws. Your SIG should already have a purpose statement in your existing bylaws that you can use for this purpose. 

That said, the ASIS&T Board feels that it would be useful for each SIG to revisit its statement of purpose to ensure that it remains relevant, that it is not duplicative of what is done by another SIG, Chapter, or ASIS&T Central, and that it truly reflects what the SIG does. If in the process of this evaluation, a SIG determines that its purpose has changed or evolved, we invite the SIG to do one of the following:

• Rewrite the purpose statement to better reflect what the SIG is/does;
• Assess whether or not the SIG is still relevant to the needs of the ASIS&T community and, if not, consider sunsetting the SIG;
• Consider merging with another SIG in a similar content area to maximize resources and effectiveness.

To accomplish this in an efficient but not overwhelming manner, over the next three years we will ask six SIGs each year to undertake this work. We would recommend the following process:

1. Meet with ASIS&T staff to determine a timeline and review thoughts raised by members and the Board.
2. Conduct a survey or focus groups of members (at least 20-30 members should be engaged in this conversation, not just the current leadership) to assess the current purpose and develop ideas about updating the purpose or recommending closure of the SIG should a new purpose not be something members can agree upon. Include HQ in the survey as they may have recommendations based on member feedback and scanning the field.
3. Look at the current SIG structure to determine if there are other SIGs working in a similar area where a merger might combine resources and increase impact and influence.
4. Not later than July 1, submit a proposal to the SIG Cabinet to update the purpose, merge with another SIG or sunset the SIG. 

The following timeline for SIG purpose assessment is:

ASIS&T staff will reach out to those SIGs identified for assessment in 2024 to schedule a preliminary Zoom meeting for this purpose.

SPECIAL PROJECT FUND REPLACED WITH ASIS&T GRANT PROGRAM

Input Requested

The ASIS&T Board voted in January to sunset the Special Projects Fund which provided funding for SIGs and Chapters to undertake innovative projects outside of the scope of their annual activities.

In its place, ASIS&T will be launching the ASIS&T Grants Program. This program will essentially offer the same opportunities to SIGs, Chapters, and Committees but with a few modifications. For example, a SIG or Chapter may request funds through the Grant Program at any time of year. If there is money available in the current budget then it can be funded right away, otherwise funding may wait until a future budget cycle. Chapters and SIGs with retained earnings will be asked to spend those funds before using any grant funds, making this a good way for Chapters and SIGs to spend those retained earnings that must be used up by the end of 2025.

We invite member input on the guidelines for the new program. Please send your input no later than February 26 to lmiddleton@asist.org.

ASIS&T AWARDS POLICIES

As SIGs and Chapters begin holding events, they may choose to offer awards to recognize members for outstanding achievement. SIGs and Chapters may make awards at their discretion if they meet the following requirements: 

• The award must be listed on the "Awards" page of the SIG's or Chapter’s website. The criteria for the award and deadline for application must be explicit.
• The call for nominations/applications for all awards must be shared in the SIG's or Chapter’s iConnect page and in the Inside ASIS&T newsletter.
• Awards to individuals who are not ASIS&T members are strongly discouraged. No award may be given to an individual who is not an ASIS&T member unless membership in ASIS&T is an explicitly included as part of the award.  
  • ASIS&T memberships, when given as part of an award, may only be funded with retained earnings. SIGs and Chapters may not use allocation funds to award memberships.
  • SIGs and Chapters may only award ASIS&T membership to non-members. Awards may not be used to pay for membership for a current or recently (within the last 5 years) lapsed member.
  •  If membership is offered as part of an award to a non-member, it must be spelled out on the website whether the cost of membership is provided in addition to the value of the award or if it will be deducted from the total amount of the award. 
• Requests for award funding must be submitted to ASIS&T HQ at least 30 days prior to the end of the fiscal year (not later than June 1) for inclusion in the current fiscal year. Requests received after June 1 will be processed out of the following fiscal year’s funds. 

These policies are also available in the SIG Officer's Manual and the Chapter Officer's Manual.

EVENT REGISTRATION SUPPORT AND FEES

When your SIG or Chapter holds an event, please work with ASIS&T HQ so we can set up a unique registration portal for you. This ensures that your event registration is open to only members, or if your event is open to non-members as well, it ensures that the appropriate fee is charged to non-members. It also ensures that there is a record of all who attended your event. Be sure to fill out the Event Notification Form to initiate the process of HQ creating your registration page for you.

Please keep in mind that all events other than meet-and-greet events require a registration fee for non-ASIS&T members. Content developed by Chapters and SIGs should not be made available for free to non-ASIS&T members without approval of the Board of Directors.

Finally, please remember that SIG and Chapter funds cannot be used to pay speaker honoraria to individuals who are current or lapsed members. If you are not sure of an individual's membership status, please contact Pamela Yonker.

WHAT'S NEW WITH YOU?

ASIS&T HQ wants to know what's happening with your SIG or Chapter! Please email Pamela Yonker at pyonker@asist.org with any announcements, information about events, or news to be included in the Weekly Roundup or Inside ASIS&T newsletters. The deadline for Weekly Roundup is every Thursday by 5:00 PM EST. The deadline for the next issue of Inside ASIS&T is March 6, 2024 at 5:00 PM EST.