As you prepare to vote in APA's 2006 election, you should know the officers' duties and responsibilities and where you are needed to serve your professional organization.
How does APA's governance structure operate? What are the responsibilities of APA members who hold governing positions? The answers to these and similar questions may not be familiar to many APA members, yet they are vital to the smooth and successful functioning of the Association. The following article provides a brief description of the Association's purpose, its organizational structure, the duties of the officers and trustees, and the role of councils and other components. It is intended to help APA members make the best possible choice among the candidates running in the 2006 election.
Purposes and Objectives of the Association
The purposes for which APA is organized are to
promote the common professional interests of its members;
improve the treatment, rehabilitation, and care of persons with mental disorders (including mental retardation and substance-related disorders);
advance the standards of all psychiatric services and facilities;
promote research, professional education in psychiatry and allied fields, and the prevention of psychiatric disabilities;
foster the cooperation of all who are concerned with the medical, psychological, social, and legal aspects of mental health and illness;
make psychiatric knowledge available to practitioners of medicine, to scientists, and to the public;
promote the best interests of patients and those actually or potentially making use of mental health services; and
advocate for its members.
Organization
The key elements of APA's governance structure are the Board of Trustees, the Assembly, and the Joint Reference Committee. Standing committees (those named in APA's Bylaws) and topic councils and their components carry out the Association's work.
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees, composed of officers and trustees elected by the membership, governs the Association. These are the voting members of the Board of Trustees:
President
President-elect
Vice president
Secretary-treasurer
Seven Area trustees, representing each of APA's seven geographic Areas
Two trustees-at-large
One early career psychiatrist (ECP) trustee-at-large
Member-in-training trustee (MITT)
Three immediate past presidents
Speaker of the Assembly
The nonvoting members of the Board are the member-in-training trustee-elect (MITTE) and the past presidents elected before the year 2000.
Candidates other than those for Area trustee are selected by the Nominating Committee or nominated by petition. They are elected by the entire voting membership, except for the MITTE, who is elected solely by members-in-training. The seven Area trustees are nominated by their Area Councils or by petition and elected by the members who belong to the district branches within the individual geographic regions (see page 36).
In the 2006 election, voters will elect the president-elect, the vice president, a trustee-at-large (one trustee-at-large elected every year for a three-year term, with the ECP trustee elected every third year), the MITTE (serves one year without voting privileges and one year as MITT with voting privileges), and Area trustees from Areas 1, 4, and 7.
Duties of Officers and Trustees
President/President-Elect — The president-elect chosen in the 2006 election will serve as president-elect through the annual meeting in 2007 and as president through the annual meeting in 2008.
The president-elect chairs the Joint Reference Committee and carries out any duties assigned by the president that are specifically designed to familiarize him or her with the duties to be assumed as president.
If the president is unable to function because of absence or illness, the president-elect shall act for the president. If the president dies or resigns, the president-elect becomes president for the remainder of the term.
The president prepares the agenda for and chairs all meetings of the Board and general meetings of the Association. The president (after election as president-elect) appoints the personnel of nearly all components except the Joint Reference Committee.
Vice President — The vice president, who will be elected in 2007, performs the duties assigned by the president. He or she may represent the president at official functions of APA, such as district branch meetings, national conferences, and other meetings.
Secretary-treasurer — The secretary-treasurer will be elected in 2006. The secretary-treasurer and his or her authorized agents are bonded in an amount determined by the Board. He or she receives, disburses, accounts for, and manages all monies of APA under the general direction of the Board. The secretary-treasurer submits financial statements each year to the Board and to the Assembly at the annual meeting. He or she also submits financial statements to the auditors, sends out annual dues bills, notifies members who are in arrears, and is responsible for investment of Association funds with the help of the Investment Oversight Committee and the medical director. The secretary-treasurer, by reason of office, is a voting member of the Budget Committee. The secretary-treasurer also keeps the records of the Association; receives petitions for nominating candidates or for referenda or to amend the Bylaws or for recall of officers or trustees and submits the recall ballot to the membership; certifies minutes of Board meetings; certifies the editions of the Bylaws; and chairs the Ethics Appeals Board.
Other Trustees — Two trustees-at-large, one ECP trustee, trustees from each of the seven Areas, and the three immediate past presidents are members of the Board of Trustees, as are the officers. The power to make policy is vested in the Board, and the Board's primary function is to formulate and implement the policies of the Association. The Board exercises all powers of the Association that are not otherwise assigned. Trustees are expected to attend all Board meetings and participate in the matters at hand, for they cannot delegate responsibility to govern or give a proxy vote. Area trustees are ex-officio members of their respective Area Councils.
Member-in-Training Trustee (MITT) and Trustee-Elect (MITTE) — Each year an MITTE is elected to serve on the Board for one year without a vote and then advance to the MITT position for one year with a vote. The MITTE is elected by members-in-training only, instead of by the membership at large.
Assembly
The Assembly is composed of representatives from the Association's seven Area Councils and 74 district branches, minority/underrepresented groups, ECPs, MITs, and allied organizations. The Board and its components often refer issues to the Assembly for consideration and study. The Assembly elects its own officers each May.
Area Councils
The seven Area Councils are regional links between the Assembly and the district branches. They consist of representatives from each of the district branches within the Area, an Area representative and deputy representative elected by the council itself, an Area ECP representative and deputy representative, an Area MIT representative and deputy representative, allied organization liaisons within the Area, and the Area trustee to the Board of Trustees. The Area councils promote relationships between organized psychiatry and state governments, coordinate a range of branch activities, hold scientific meetings and other programs in continuing education, and provide a forum for discussion of national and regional issues.
District Branches
Constituent parts of the Association, district branches work locally to foster the science of psychiatry, promote its progress as a healing profession, and maintain high professional standards. Most correspond to state or metropolitan areas. Each district branch collects dues from its members, elects its own officers, and arranges and funds its own programs. Each district branch elects its own representatives to the Assembly. An effective way for members to bring an issue to national attention is through their district branch representative to the Assembly.
Joint Reference Committee
The Joint Reference Committee is a standing committee that acts as a liaison and screening mechanism for the Board, the Assembly, and the Association's supportive components. It refers issues for study to various components and coordinates their recommendations for further consideration by the Board or the Assembly. The president-elect serves as chair and the speaker-elect of the Assembly as vice chair.
Other Components
Standing Committees
The Bylaws establish an Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees and eight committees to assist in conducting the business affairs of the Association: Ethics, Membership, Nominating, Bylaws, Budget, Tellers, Elections, and Joint Reference.
Councils and Components
There are currently 14 councils: Addiction Psychiatry; Advocacy and Public Policy; Aging; Children, Adolescents, and Their Families; Global Psychiatry; Health Care Systems and Financing; Medical Education and Lifelong Learning; Member and District Branch Relations; Minority Mental Health and Health Disparities; Psychiatry and Law; Psychosomatic Medicine; Quality Care; Research; and Social Issues and Public Psychiatry. Various committees, corresponding committees, task forces, and caucuses report to each council. Each council, composed of voting members, has authority to create and eliminate informal work groups, subject to the approval of the Board.
Several boards report directly to the Board of Trustees, such as the editorial boards of APA's newspaper and journals.
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Published online: 2 December 2005
Published in print: December 2, 2005
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