By Christopher R. McCurdy, Ph.D., president, and Walter T. Marlowe, executive director
In 2017, the AAPS Executive Council (EC) facilitated a review of the organization’s governance and structure to see if both were enhancing or restraining members’ ability to advance the strategic plan. The EC worked with a Governance Task Force, committee chairs, section/focus group leaders, and an external policy governance consultant to examine our current practices and association management best practices. The EC also obtained intelligence on member perceptions through surveys. The work led the EC to determine that changes in structure to increase member engagement; improve responsiveness to member suggestions for products, services, and activities; and improve AAPS’ speed in serving the members were all necessary. Recommended changes extended from the operation of the EC to committees, to sections/focus groups, and to program development processes.
One step in strengthening AAPS is to update the organization’s bylaws to stay current with association management best practices and ensure protection of the members’ rights and obligations. Although bylaws are often not the most exciting aspect of an organization, they are a critical promise between members and the organization on how it operates. Key proposed changes include:
- renaming the current AAPS Executive Council as the AAPS Board of Directors to clarify governance roles;
- refining the role of the AAPS Treasurer to reflect the position’s fiduciary duty in oversight, rather than day-to-day management of the organization;
- clarifying that all dues-paying AAPS members have the same rights and privileges in the organization; and
- adding official notice periods for governance meetings and member votes.
Please familiarize yourself with the reasoning for the bylaws updates and the exact wording of the proposed changes. Detailed information is provided, including:
- frequently asked questions,
- existing AAPS bylaws,
- proposed AAPS bylaws,
- redlined markup of existing bylaws showing proposed changes,
- AAPS articles of incorporation, and
- process and timeline information.
Members can also discuss the topic on the AAPS Communities.
Please visit the discussion thread to see what your fellow members have been saying and contribute your thoughts.
Next month, AAPS members will be asked to approve modernization changes to the AAPS bylaws. All members will receive an electronic ballot notice via email, similar to our annual election of officers. Please look for that email notification in your inbox during the first week of February 2018. Approval of the proposed changes requires a two-thirds positive vote from all those who cast ballots. If approved by the members, the changes are effective immediately. The results of the ballot will be communicated to members in March 2018.
We trust that once you familiarize yourself with the proposed bylaws changes, you will see the benefits in keeping AAPS’ governing documents up to date and vote “yes” for the proposed changes next month.
Thanks for your continued support for AAPS’ mission and your contributions to advancing pharmaceutical science!