Procedures and Rules

IV. PRESIDENT

Function:
The President serves as chief executive officer of the Network and of the Council.
Appointments and Assignments:
The President is responsible for the following:
1. Appointing the chairs of all committees except the Awards and Honors, and Nominations and Elections Committees, and the Budget Task Force;
2. Appointing the members of all committees except the Awards and Honors and Nominations and Elections Committees, and the Budget Task Force, or arranging for their appointment by the Committee Chairs;
3. Assigning Committee Liaison responsibilities to the Directors;
4. Appointing the conveners of Interest Groups or arranging for appointment from among the membership of the Group, with the approval of Council;
5. Appointing liaisons to other organizations, agencies, and to meetings of other associations;
6. Appointing the president-elect or other Councillor as alternate in performance of presidential duties when necessary;
7. Appointing a parliamentarian to advise the Chair on correct parliamentary procedure during Council meetings and Network business meetings.
Duties:
The duties of the President are:
1. To recommend to the Council measures considered desirable to further the objectives and broaden the effectiveness of the Network;
2. To call and schedule at least one membership business meeting of the Network biennially in conjunction with the biennial conference of the Network;
3. To set the agendas for all Council meetings and all membership business meetings;
4. To preside at all meetings of the Council and the membership;
5. To arrange for a mail, telephone or electronic vote of the Council on any question requiring action of the entire Council which cannot await a regular or special meeting, provided that all Council members have consented to voting by such means, and that a two-thirds affirmative vote of all Council members with voting privileges is received for a measure to pass;
6. With the Secretary/Treasurer, to sign all contracts and legal documents, unless otherwise determined by the Council, and to serve on the Budget Task Force;
7. To notify individuals of their designation as Honorary Members of the Network and to make the public announcement of this honor and all awards given by the Network;
8. To notify successful candidates for Network office and announce the election results.
9. To issue a letter of congratulations and endorsement to organizers of any planned East European Round Table conferences.
Reports and Records:
The President is responsible for the following:
1. Preparing an Annual Report of Network activities for submission to the Council and the membership;
2. Assuring that the Secretary/Treasurer has prepared the minutes of Council and membership meetings and submitted them in accordance with Network guidelines;
3. Preparing appropriate news or activity items for dissemination on USAIN-L, and/or the USAIN web site including the minutes of Council and membership meetings.
Special Expenditures Funding
1. Funding requests for special expenditures must be submitted in writing to the USAIN President. The President will then provide copies to the Executive Council, along with a timeline for the decision making process. The council may ask for additional information or documentation, in order to make a final decision. Standing committees and task forces are encouraged to use the existing procedures and rules regarding budgets and expenditures, and rely on these special procedures sparingly.
2. The President has the authority to approve unbudgeted expenditures of less than $500, up to 2 times in his or her term. The total of these expenditures may not exceed $1,000.
3. All unbudgeted expenditures greater than $200 must be presented to and approved by the Executive Council. All expenditures over $5000 must go through a bid process. As a rule there should be 3 bids presented to the Executive Council at one of the bi-annual Board of Directors meetings. However, there may be some special circumstances in which fewer than three bids will be feasible. These would be in cases that because of the nature of the project, there may not be a large group of expertise to choose from to satisfy the requirement of three bids. In such cases the "Sole source justification concept" will be considered. The project director will be responsible for managing the bidding process.
4. All unbudgeted funding requests for any amount must meet the criteria below and be in the form outlined or they will not be considered.
  
  CRITERIA
  
  Criteria for funding must fit in one or more of the following categories.
  Funding will be used:
  1. to further the work of USAIN
  2. for a special project requested by any USAIN member
  3. to encourage participation in USAIN
  4. to benefit a charity, cause, or to further agriculture related or library work.
FUNDING REQUEST FORMAT

All requests for funding must be in writing and must include the following:

Title of Project or Initiative
Amount requested
Date of request

Date or duration of project or initiative

Member name and contact information
Criteria category with explanation/description
Date needed by
Date used by
Rationale for the special funding request and expected outcome of the project

If funding is approved, there should be progress reports on achievement, preferably every three months. A final report of how much money was spent and an accounting of the expenditure of funds must be provided to the Executive Council within 4 weeks of the completion of the project. The Executive Council has the right to cancel the project if there are major problems.

SUGGESTED PROCEDURES FOR DRAWING UP A CONTRACT WITH A CONSULTANT

In general the project director is responsible for setting up a contract and having a discussion with the person who will be doing the actual work. Once the project director (and perhaps the Executive Council if that is necessary) has created an RFP with the guidelines and expectations, the potential consultant would be able to respond. The consultant may be the best person to actually draw up the contract. The contract would include a statement in advance of what the research will entail, the expected deliverables and outcome, the responsibilities on each side, the due dates or a time-line, and the penalties for not producing. In addition, there should be an escape clause, including any disclaimers, disclosures and limitations on the part of the consultant. The contract would also include the amount of money and how it is paid, e.g. in installments, at the end, or when a time line is met. This serves as a protection for the consultant.

Once the contract is drawn up, the Executive Council will vote on whether or not to accept the proposal.