The Medical Section of the SLA Biomedical and Life Sciences Division

Governance

The Medical Section is a sub-unit of the Biomedical and Life Sciences Division, following the Division Bylaws. The Chair of the Medical Section serves as a member of the Section's leadership and is responsible for overseeing medical programming at the Annual Conference of the Special Library Association.

Below is an outline of the governance positions and responsibilities as defined in the Medical Section Procedures Manual:

CHAIR

Function: The Section Chair serves as the representative of the Section and has control over its affairs.

Qualifications: The Chair must be a member, associate member, or retired member of the Association, as well as a member of the Biomedical and Life Sciences (BIO) Division and the Medical Section.

Appointments: Along with the consultation of the outgoing Secretary and Chair-elect, as well as previous Medical Section leaders, the outgoing Chair will appoint the incoming Chair-elect and Secretary, to be named at the Annual Business meeting of the Medical Section.

Duties:
  • To preside at the annual Medical Section business meeting during the Annual Meeting of the Association.
  • As part of the Section's business meeting, the Chair will promote an educational segment that will give other Section members a chance to present to their colleagues at a national venue, and in an informal setting. The Chair, in consultation with the secretary and chair-elect, will select the speaker based on an abstract submitted by March 1.
  • To encourage and coordinate planning of a Division program at the Annual Conference that has a medical- or health-related emphasis. Topics pursued should be of interest to Medical Section members and to other related Divisions, such as the Pharmaceutical, Information Technology and Insurance Divisions. The Chair should serve on the Program Committee for the next year's Annual Conference.
  • To prepare a budget based on consultation with the BIO Division chair and plans for the Medical Section program at the Annual Conference.
  • To review the appropriate sections of this Procedures Manual and submit revisions in February.
  • Distributing the names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. of the Chair, Chair-elect, and Secretary to the BIO Division Chair by SLA deadlines and to the Bulletin Editor and editor of the Division Web page.
Reports and Records:
  • Preparing an annual report of the Section activities for submission to the BIO Division Chair for presentation to Division members at the Division Annual Business Meeting, and for publication in the Division Bulletin following the Annual Conference.
  • Preparation of preliminary Conference Program plans to be reported to the BIO Division Conference Committee Chair as requested by and according to a timetable established by the BIO Division Conference Committee Chair.
  • Preparing regular columns for Biofeedback .
  • Transferring files (including correspondence, fax, e-mail, membership roster of the Section, and summaries of verbal communications) deemed important to the business of the Section to the incoming Chair.


CHAIR-ELECT

Function: The Chair-elect serves as a member of the Section's leadership and participates at the request of the Chair in the general supervision of Section activities. The Chair-elect may represent the Section upon the request of the Chair and assume the duties of Chair in event of the absence or withdrawal of the Chair. The Chair-elect succeeds to Chair at the annual business meeting of the Section.

Qualifications: The Chair-elect must be a member, associate member, or retired member of the Association, as well as a member of the BIO Division and the Medical Section.

Appointments: The Chair-elect will consult with the Chair and Secretary to select the incoming Chair-elect and Secretary, to be named at the Annual Business meeting of the Medical Section.

Duties:
  • To support the current Chair by providing advice, counsel, ideas, and proposals.
  • To learn about the past development, issues, procedures, and history of the Section in order to help shape its future and strategic direction.
  • To become more knowledgeable about SLA as an organization and getting to know more people both within the Medical Section, and in the BIO and other Divisions. To help select incoming Chair-elects and Secretaries.
Reports and Records:
  • Arranging for the transfer of all pertinent files to the incoming Chair-elect.


SECRETARY

Function: The Secretary serves as the recorder of official business of the Medical Section and participates and confers with the Chair-elect and Chair on Section business as requested.

Qualifications: The Secretary must be a member, associate member, or retired member of the Association, as well as a member of the Bio Division and the Medical Section.

Appointments: The Secretary will consult with the Chair and Chair-elect to select the incoming Chair-elect and Secretary, to be named at the Annual Business meeting of the Medical Section.

Duties: Besides consulting and conferring with Chair and Chair-elect on various matters, the primary responsibility is to record notes for the Annual Business meeting of the Medical Section.

Records and Reports: The Secretary is responsible for:
  • Submitting the minutes of the Medical Section Annual Business meeting to the Division Chair and the Bulletin Editor.
Rev. July 2007