Responsibilities of Instruction Section Officers

Executive Committee Members

In addition to specific responsibilities outlined below, each participant in the work of the Instruction Section is expected to participate in the following activities:

  • Attend and participate in virtual Advisory Council and Executive Committee meetings.
  • Contribute appropriate items to Advisory Council or Executive Committee meeting agendas.
  • Respond in an active and timely manner to Executive Committee listserv discussions throughout the year.
  • Monitor the Instruction Section web page for potential revisions and/or corrections to charges, responsibilities, bylaws, etc.
  • Submit news or other items to the Instruction Section Newsletter.
  • Represent the Instruction Section at meetings or events when already planning to attend. (For example, tabling at ACRL 101 if you planned to attend Annual and have time)
  • Coordinate and monitor progress in support of the ACRL Strategic Plan in alignment with the ACRL Guide to Policies and Procedures.
  • Accept and complete other duties as assigned by Instruction Section Chair or Executive Committee.
  • Serve as liaison to 2 to 4 Instruction Section committee chairs. Specific duties include:
    • Research and interpret Instruction Section, ACRL, and ALA policies, procedures, and committee history for liaison committee chairs.
    • Notify liaison committee chairs of deadlines for newsletter submissions, annual planning forms, and other deadlines specific to a committee’s work.
    • Mentor liaison committee chairs, especially new chairs, regarding duties, deadlines, policies and procedures. Work with liaison committee chairs to establish annual planning goals in keeping with committee charge.
    • Monitor committees’ progress throughout the year in completing their goals.
    • Ensure committee is keeping their web site up to date and accurate.
    • Keep current with liaison committees’ topics and issues via their listserv communications. Advise or intervene when necessary.
    • Bring liaison committee issues, proposals, and questions to Executive Committee via the listserv or to meetings for discussion. Facilitate discussion and communicate decision to the liaison committee in a timely manner.
    • Review and approve revisions to liaison committees’ web pages.
    • Review drafts of liaison committees’ publications. Bring final drafts to Executive Committee for discussion. Facilitate discussion and communicate feedback to the liaison committee in a timely manner.
    • Attend liaison committee virtual meetings. Bring questions, concerns, and updates to Executive Committee. Report back to committee as needed.

Officers

Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect Chair Past Chair Secretary/Archivist Members-at-Large

Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect

Term of Service: One year to begin immediately after Annual Conference. After serving a full year term as Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, the individual assumes the position of Chair. Duties: In addition to the following activities, see All Executive Committee Members duties above.

  • Appoint all committee members based upon existing vacancies; ACRL office will provide a list of committee members and their status; Nominating and Conference Program Planning Committees should be appointed by ACRL deadlines. The Tips for Making Appointments outlines the appointment process.
  • Appoint task forces at the direction of the Executive Committee.
  • Monitor all new committee member acceptance or reappointment responses via the ACRL online appointment system.
  • Submit an annual Appointment Cycle Report (needs new link) after all appointments have been made. The report should follow the model established in earlier reports so that data will be comparable across time.
  • If already planning to attend ALA meetings, attend ACRL Community of Practice/Leadership Meeting.
  • Attend ACRL Board of Directors Meetings virtually, as appropriate.
  • Either just before or just after Annual Conference, conduct a virtual New Leadership Orientation to brief all incoming members of Executive Committee and Advisory Council on their responsibilities and timelines. Give overview of leadership goals and vision for coming year.

Chair

Term of Service: One year to begin immediately after Annual Conference. After serving a full year term as Chair, the individual assumes the position of Past-Chair. Duties: In addition to the following activities, see All Executive Committee Members duties above.

  • Submit agenda items to ACRL Board of Directors (see ACRL Guide to Policies and Procedures for submission procedures) as appropriate.
  • Prepare and distribute agendas for Advisory Council and Executive Committee meetings (distribution list includes Advisory Council, ACRL Office, ACRL President and President-Elect).
  • Conduct Advisory Council and Executive Committee meetings.
  • If already planning to attend ALA meetings, attend ACRL Community of Practice/Leadership Meeting.
  • Attend ACRL Board of Directors Meetings virtually, as appropriate.
  • In collaboration with the Secretary, prepare a record of all actions taken by the Executive Committee between conference meetings that will be approved and appended to the minutes of every second Executive Committee meeting.
  • Monitor all IS projects via committee minutes and personal contact.
  • Designate committee liaison responsibilities to Executive Committee members. Within scheduling limitations, keep assignments consistent from conference to conference.
  • Coordinate selection of IFLA representative for Information Literacy Standing Committee in March of even years (2018, 2020, etc.) at the direction of ACRL.
  • Draft the ACRL Strategic Implementation report and submit to ACRL liaison by the assigned deadline.
  • Update the Executive Committee and Advisory Council web pages.

Past Chair

Term of Service: One year to begin immediately after Annual Conference. Duties: In addition to the following activities, see All Executive Committee Members duties above.

  • Chair the Dudley Award Subcommittee of the Awards Committee.
  • Announce the Dudley Award at ACRL Awards program, if applicable.
  • Add major accomplishments of the Section during year as chair (taken from annual report) to the Instruction Section Chronology web page.
  • Serves as an Ex-Officio member on the ACRL Student Learning and Information Literacy Committee; virtually attends and participates in SLILC meetings.

Secretary/Archivist

Secretary

Term of Service: One year to begin immediately after Annual Conference. After serving a full year term as Secretary, the individual serves a one-year appointment as Section Archivist.
Duties: In addition to the following activities, see All Executive Committee Members duties above.

  • Track throughout the year actions taken by the Executive Committee and by Executive Committee liaisons to IS committees. Compile a draft “List of Executive Committee Actions” covering a) the period beginning after Annual and ending prior to Midwinter, and b) the period beginning with Midwinter and ending with Annual. The Executive Committee should approve the lists and the Secretary posts them online, around the same time that the Midwinter and Annual IS minutes are completed.
  • Take minutes at the Advisory Council and Executive Committee meetings at the Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference.
  • Distribute draft minutes to the respective committees via e-mail within two weeks following each conference for review. Upon acceptance, archive a copy of the final agenda to the IS Archives in ALA Connect. Communicate with Committee Chairs and Secretaries about procedures for taking minutes.
  • Track that minutes from each of the IS committees and task forces have been added to the appropriate location in ALA Connect (the IS Archive committee folder). (Committee Chairs are responsible for archiving minutes in the IS Archive. IS Executive Committee liaisons also ensure that committees have stored their files in the IS Archive. The IS Secretary then double-checks that all committee files are in the IS Archive.)
  • Review Tips for Taking Minutes, Responsibilities for Archiving the Section Web Site, and Archiving Information annually and revise these and other assigned documents as necessary in consultation with the Executive Committee and current Archivist.
  • Send the forms for Annual Planning Report and the End-of-Year Report to IS Advisory at the beginning and end of the year, respectively. Archive all reports in the IS Archives.

Archivist

Term of Service: After serving a full year term as Secretary, the individual serves a one-year appointment as Section Archivist, beginning immediately after Annual Conference.
Duties: In addition to the following activities, see All Executive Committee Members duties above.

  • At the beginning of the fiscal year create IS Archive file folders for new committees and task forces and new subfolders for each committee’s annual work (e.g., 2018-2019, 2019-2020).
  • Archive the annual Strategic Plan Implementation Report in the IS Archives and on the IS website.
  • Ensure IS archival policies and procedures as specified in the document, Guidelines for Archival Record Retention.
  • Update the “Publication Proposal Archive” and revise the Tips for Managing Publication Proposals as needed, in consultation with the Executive Committee. The Archivist maintain the existing Section Publications List, which is available in ALA Connect (Publications List folder) and includes active, inactive, and retired documents. At the beginning of the academic year the Archivist sends to publication list to IS Advisory in order to remind committees of their publications. (IS Committee Chairs are also reminded about publication ownership and upcoming updates as part of the new chairs orientation.) The Archivist updates the publications list as needed throughout the year. Around April of each year the Archivist asks IS Advisory to review the publications list and to inform the Archivist of any additional updates that are needed.
  • Update the Publication Policies and Procedures Manual and related documents (proposal form, etc.), with the exception of the Chicago Manual of Style Quick Guide, which is maintained by the Publications Editor.
  • Update the Section Policy site as needed, in collaboration with Executive Committee.

Members-at-Large

Term of service: Two years to begin immediately after Annual Conference. Duties: See All Executive Committee Members duties above.

Prepared by the ACRL Instruction Section Executive Committee. Revised January 1996, June 1997, May 1998, October 1998, February 1999, March 1999, June 2004, April 2007, August 2009, June 2015, March 2019, and July 2019.