The following document serves to elaborate on officers and leaders duties as codified in the Chapter bylaws. As such, it is meant to be an instrument to assist officers and leaders with a fuller understanding of typical operational duties not explicitly expressed in the Bylaws. Terms for officers are stated under Bylaws. This document was updated on 12/16/2022.

President

Typical duties:
Responsible for communicating with Chapter about annual Chapter business, chairing the annual meeting planning committee, holding two business meetings per year – one in the spring at the ARLIS/NA annual conference and in the fall at the Chapter annual meeting.

  • In January, sends updated Chapter officers list to the ARLIS/NA Chapter Liaison and the ARLIS/NA Website Administrator.
  • Holds the less formal meeting in spring, which is usually without a quorum of members.
    • Reserve a meeting space at the ARLIS/NA conference.
    • Create a meeting agenda and preside over meeting.
    • Attend Leadership Institute and Chapters Chairs Meeting at ARLIS/NA conference.
  • Contributes the President’s Column to each issue of The Medium.
  • Contributes a Welcome From the President message for the Chapter website.
  • Chairs annual meeting planning committee.
    • Convene and meet with the committee in the spring.
    • Create a planning schedule of venues and events with annual planning committee.
    • Organize and complete some of the tasks for planning annual meeting.
    • Create business meeting agenda and preside over business meeting.
    • Write thank you letters on behalf of the Chapter to guest speakers and any other members or persons who made significant contributions to the Chapter over the course of a year.
  • Communicates with ARLIS/NA Chapter Liaison.
  • Submits annual chapter report to ARLIS/NA.
    • Annual report – required, typically due in March.
    • Midyear report – sometimes required, typically due June or July.
    • Monthly reports – as needed to notify ARLIS/NA of important chapter updates.
  • Promotes membership.
    • Sends renewal reminders to Chapter:
      • When sending registration reminders for chapter meeting.
      • Immediately after chapter meeting for those who didn’t attend.
      • In mid-February.
      • In early March (two weeks later), send targeted individuals based on list provided by treasurer of former members that have not renewed.
    • Emails ARLIS/NA members whom have expressed interest in the chapter – the ARLIS/NA membership committee will forward their contact information.
    • Welcomes new members to the chapter and, when appropriate, thanks the member for contributions to the LSJ award fund – the treasurer will inform the president when new members join.
  • Works with Treasurer to ensure that 990Ns are filed on time and accepted by the IRS.
  • Retains and submits files and important correspondence to the chapter archives. Follows procedures outlined in the Archives Guidelines.

Vice President/President-Elect

Typical duties:
The Medium editor

  • Produced twice a year:
    • Spring issue – after ARLIS/NA annual conference
    • Fall issue – after chapter annual meeting
  • A week before the conference or annual meeting, send a reminder to the Chapter via Humanities Commons about upcoming call for submissions after the event.
  • At the business meeting, announce the deadline for submissions (10-15 days away). Some members will sign up to submit articles at this point.
  • After the event, send call for submissions (with deadline) to the Chapter via Humanities Commons and the ARLIS/NA Chapter Liaison.
  • Send a reminder to the Chapter 2-3 days before submissions are due. Include which submissions have been received.
  • Send final version in PDF/A format to Website Administrator to publish to website.
  • Once the issue has been published, send announcement to the ARLIS/NA listserv and the ARLIS/NA Texas-Mexico Humanities Commons Group.
  • Act as back-up website adminstrator – will be added in Humanities Commons as second  administrator to retain access to website login in the event website adminstrator is temporarily unable to assist with website needs.
  • Retains and submits files and important correspondence to the chapter archives. Follows procedures outlined in the Archives Guidelines.

Secretary

Typical duties:
Primarily responsible for keeping the minutes of all meetings of the Chapter.

  • Take minutes at the Spring and Fall meetings. After each meeting, forward these to the Board for corrections/revisions. Once these have been made, retain a copy of the meeting minutes until it’s time to review again (1 month before the next chapter meeting).
  • About 1 month before both the Spring and Fall meetings, send the Board a copy (as a Word document) of the minutes from the previous meeting, asking for any corrections/revisions. Make corrections based on Board feedback to previous meeting’s minutes in the Word document.
  • Send the corrected minutes to all Chapter members via Humanities Commons asking for any further corrections/revisions. Make corrections based on Chapter members’ feedback to previous meeting’s minutes in the Word document.
  • Request agenda items for each upcoming Chapter meeting via Humanities Commons.
  • Use the Board’s input, Humanities Commons responses, and the previous year’s minutes to create an agenda. Send the agenda to the Chapter President for approval.
  • One week prior to the Spring and Fall meetings, send the final agenda to all members via Humanities Commons.
  • Make copies of the corrected meeting minutes and the final agenda to bring to the upcoming meeting. Obtain a list from the Chapter Treasurer of those registered for each meeting. This will help with recording those in attendance and determining how many copies to bring.
  • After the Spring meeting, send a copy of the approved fall meeting minutes to the Vice President for the upcoming issue of The Medium.
  • After the Fall meeting, send a copy of the approved spring meeting minutes to the Vice President for the upcoming issue of The Medium.
  • Retains and submits files and important correspondence to the chapter archives. Follows procedures outlined in the Archives Guidelines.

Treasurer

Typical duties:
Responsible for the financial affairs of the Chapter.

  • Receives all membership renewals, registration fees, donations, and other expenses, and creates receipts for members needing reimbursement. The treasurer will inform the president when new members join.
  • Verifies the membership status of members as requested.
  • Makes deposits and maintains the Chapter’s bank account.
  • Sees that all accounts receivable are paid in a timely fashion.
  • Makes recommendations to the Chapter members on financial matters.
  • Reviews and completes the Chapter’s annual federal and state tax returns, if applicable.
  • Annually files form 990N, which is an e-postcard for non-profits, by February 15th of each year; the chapter’s tax year runs October 1-September 30.
  • Directs 990N submission confirmations and tax filing questions to the Chapters Liaison.
  • Reports to the membership at the annual Chapter meeting and presents financial reports to the membership.
  • Undertakes correspondence and special assignments as needed.
  • Retains and submits files and important correspondence to the chapter archives. Follows procedures outlined in the Archives Guidelines.

Archivist

Typical duties:

  • Creates a retention policy and schedule for the Chapter.
  • Communicates with the Executive Committee to advise what chapter documents and communications must be retained and submitted to the Chapter Archives.
  • Receives files from the Executive Committee, retains local electronic copies of active and important Chapter records, prepares files for submission to the Chapter Archives, and communicates with the ARLIS/NA Archivist at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign to transfer files for permanent retention.
  • Works closely with the Chapter Website Administrator to ensure that all Chapter documents which are primarily or solely available on the website are archived. These include, but not limited to, the Bylaws, Annual Reports, Officers Roster and Duties, issues of The Medium, and Membership Rosters.
  • Advises the Executive Committee as to when it might be advisable to change guidelines, procedures, or policies.

Officers and leaders may access the Administrative Documents page of the Chapter website. Inquiries about access may be directed to the chapter website administrator.

Web Administrator

Typical duties:
Primarily responsible for updating and maintaining Chapter website.

  • January:
    • Add President’s welcome
    • Update Officer’s roster
    • Send incoming officers information about accessing password-protected Admin Docs page.
    • Sending incoming and outgoing officers information about uploading and accessing chapter files in Chapter Google Drive.
  • December-April:
    • Add annual report (typically completed by President in January-March).
    • Update LSJ Award pages in conjunction with LSJ Award Committee (they determine dates in accordance with ARLIS/NA Annual Meeting)
  • Variable:
    • Upload issues of The Medium (twice a year – after ARLIS/NA conference and after fall chapter meeting)
    • Update The Medium editor / past issues list (twice a year – after ARLIS/NA conference and fall after chapter meeting)
    • Edit Annual Meetings page (President provides info about upcoming meeting. Chapter Fall Meeting info is sent usually early summer to late fall.)
    • Post announcements (e.g., LSJ award) throughout the year
    • Update membership roster throughout the year as members join (Treasurer sends info)
    • Update backend components: plugins, WordPress versions, templates, backups, etc.
    • Manage Flickr account which entails collecting images from chapter members and adding metadata
    • Work with Chapter Archivist to come up with strategy for archiving of chapter website.