OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR IPA COMMITTEES

Introduction
1. Much of the work of the IPA is conducted through its Committees, task forces and other special IPA bodies. They ensure that the IPA benefits from the talents and experience of its members throughout the world.

Committees and Committee Structure


2.   The President proposes Committees and the Committee Structure, which includes the ways Committees relate to each other and the methods by which they will be funded. The Board is asked to ratify the President’s proposals and the Mandates for Committees.


Committee Appointments

3.   Under the Rules of the IPA, Rule 8, Section A (1)(ii), ‘the President appoints the personnel of IPA Committees, task forces and other special IPA bodies in consultation with (and subject to rejection by) the Board’.

4.   The President may, but is not obliged, to consult Committee Chairs and Co-Chairs as to the membership of Committees. Committee Chairs and Co-Chairs do not appoint members of Committees and any questions to do with new appointments should be discussed with the President before discussing such matters with any prospective appointees. The President may require a member of a Committee to stand down at any time without citing a reason for this action.

5.   Appointments to IPA Committees are confirmed in writing by the President or Central Office. Copies of these letters are sent to the Central Office, Membership Secretary, who maintains the list of IPA Committees and their current membership. Appointees are required to send notice of their acceptance of appointment by email to the President with a copy to Central Office. The IPA’s biennial Roster includes a list of the IPA’s Committees, Task Forces and other special IPA bodies. The current list is also published on the IPA’s website. Central Office can additionally provide members with a current list of IPA Committees at any time.

6.   As and when persons cease to be members of Committees, they receive letters of thanks from the President or Central Office.


Regional Representation

7.   The President ensures that Committees have the balance of representation that he or she thinks appropriate to meet the Mandate of the Committee. There is no requirement for Committees to have representation of all three regions. There are some Committees, such as various Site Visit or Ad Hoc Committees where the President may judge it appropriate to have committee members from the same region.


Terms of Committee Membership

8.   The Board of Representatives adopted the following resolution at its meeting in December 1999: ‘All Committee Chairs, Co-Chairs and members will be assumed to have submitted their resignations on the change of IPA administration. The new administration, with due consideration for maintaining continuity, will re-appoint those persons who will best contribute to this continuity and add those it deems necessary to further the IPA’s objectives.’

 

Procedures for face to face meetings and for budgetary requests prior to the IPA’s budgetary process


9.

a)   All committee meetings are to be held as far as possible by video conference, telephone conference or e mail.

b)  Where face to face meetings are necessary and the rationale is provided according to this policy, there should normally be a maximum of one face to face meeting per year, and wherever possible any meeting should be attached to a regional meeting or IPA Congress. Any exception to this should be carefully assessed by the BFC and ExCom during the budgetary cycle.

c)   As face to face meetings are expensive, the meetings must be properly planned so that it is not wasted expenditure. Most meetings should be planned for a minimum of one day to make them more cost effective.

d)   Committees meeting for less than one day should not be funded to fly people internationally to that meeting.

e)   For future new administrations, they should try to appoint their major committees before the Congress when the new administration takes over, so that their main committees can meet and start their planning at the Congress.

f)   It is necessary for the IPA on occasions to budget for events well in advance. This can require the IPA to make budgetary provision in response to funding requests in advance of the IPA’s budgetary cycle, which typically runs from June to the following early January for the year beginning on January 1. For instance certain conferences, that may seek assistance from the IPA, require confirmation of budgetary support well in advance and often prior to the IPA’s budgetary cycle. Also for committees wishing to meet at its January meetings.

g)  All requests for funding provision prior to the IPA’s budgetary process for that year will be first considered by the Treasurer and Budget & Finance Committee to determine whether they meet current policies agreed by the Board.

h)  All such requests which can be delayed till the next Board meeting should be referred to the Board for approval.

i)   If the request cannot wait for a decision of the next Board meeting, the Executive Committee may then consider it and is authorised to commit funding for the year in question up to $20,000 on any single request provided this does not exceed $100,000 of advance commitments for any one budgetary year. The Board must give approval for advance commitments above the $100,000 level.

j)   All such commitments made by the Executive Committee will be communicated to the Board in the minutes for information.


Criteria for assessing face to face meetings approval


10.

a)      Meeting should be for a minimum of 1 day

b)      Agenda with approximate timings should be sent in advance to the ExCom for consideration.

c)      Reasons why agenda items require face to face discussion and cannot be achieved in a conference call should be given.

d)      Expected outcomes from the meeting should be noted.


Presentation of Budgets and Reimbursement of Expenses



11. These issues are covered in the Procedural Code entry on ‘Financial Procedures and Policies: Budgetary Process, Reimbursement and Reporting’. Each Chair, Co-chair and member of a committee will be sent a copy on acceptance of their appointment.


Committee Mandates and Monitoring


12. It is policy that all Committees should have Mandates agreed by the Board. Such Mandates shall include specific objectives consistent with the agreed mission and current strategic objectives of the IPA and include a specific lifetime for the various tasks. Mandates are drafted in consultation with the Chairs of Committees. Such Mandates may be withdrawn and changed, in whole or in part, at any time, at the discretion of the Board.

13. Chairs of Committees are required to submit reports to the Board as and when requested. These reports should specifically cover progress towards the achievement of Committee Mandates and contain any relevant recommendations or requests.

14. The Executive Director, or the Central Office staff, will ensure that Chairs of Committees are informed of the outcome of the Board consideration of Committee reports.


Voting


15. All reports from Committees are assumed to reflect the opinion of all members. When there is minority dissent, this should either be stated in the report or be the subject of a minority report in which case the minority report shall be submitted at the same time as the main report.

16. The Mandate of each committee will specifically state when any Committee report should be unanimous, rather than enjoy majority support. There may be occasions when the Board would wish a committee to be unanimous. This would then become part of the Mandate for the Committee.

 


Change Log

Approved by the Executive Council 20th July 2001.

Addition of Board members should not normally be Members of any ING Committee – approved by the Board July 2007

Addition of specific objectives and lifetime under Committee Mandates and monitoring – approved by the Board

Addition of ‘Board members should normally not be Chairs of Committees although they may be ordinary members. Additionally Board members should normally not be Members of International New Groups Committees’ – approved by the Board July 2005.

Deletion of ‘Board members should normally not be Chairs of Committees although they may be ordinary members. Additionally Board members should normally not be Members of International New Groups Committees.” Approved by the Board July 2009

Addition of Face to face meeting procedures and assessment criteria. Approved by the Board January 2013

 

*This change record is for background information only and does not form part of the Procedural Code. If there is any conflict between a statement in the Procedural Code and a statement in this change record, the change record will be disregarded.