Article IV of the ESA Bylaws sets out the officers and operations for ESA Sections. The officers for Section C include Chair, Chair-elect, Secretary and Representative on the Governing Board. Section C officers are nominated and elected according to Article IV, Section 5 of the ESA Bylaws. At the annual Section C Preliminary Business Meeting, the Chair of Section C appoints a nominating committee consisting of the Past-Chair of Section C as the Chair, and current Chairs of Subsections Ca, Cb, Cc, Cd, Ce and Cf, to identify nominees for Secretary-Elect, and other Section or Society offices and Committees as appropriate. This committee identifies prospective candidates, and secures a commitment from each nominee that (s)he can and will serve if elected. Nominees are presented to the final business meeting of Section C, and those attending approve a slate for a mail ballot sent to members. Annually at the end of the Section C Final Business Meeting, the Secretary-Elect becomes Secretary, the Secretary becomes Chair-Elect, the Chair-Elect becomes Chair and the Chair becomes past-Chair.
Year = end of Section C Final Business Meeting (Nov/Dec) until next Final Business Meeting.
To view Section C's Operations Manual, simply scroll down, or to view a particular portion, click on the item directly below:
Secretary-Elect
Secretary
Chair-Elect
Chair
Past Chair
Operations of Section C Subsections
Nomination/Election Processes
Symposia Selection Process
Secretary-Elect
Year 1 - Nominated at the previous year's Final Business Meeting, elected by mail ballot.
In the year of election, the Section Chair introduces the Secretary-Elect as an incoming Officer at the Section C Preliminary Business Meeting. In the year of election, the Secretary-Elect will:
a. attend the Section Officers' meeting and the Section C Preliminary and Final Business Meetings. The Section Officers' meeting is held before Subsection meetings, and is usually on the first full day of the ESA Annual Meeting. You will receive announcements of this meeting every year from the Section C Chair.
b. assist the current year's Secretary during the business meetings, by counting votes, noting names of individuals nominated, nominating and making motions, and otherwise assist with taking Minutes.
c. obtain a copy of the current Minutes from the Secretary, as a guide for the following year. Look this over and use it as a model for the amount of detail needed and the topics likely to be discussed for the meeting in which you will be taking Minutes.
At the end of the Section C Final Business Meeting, the Secretary-Elect becomes the Secretary.
Secretary
Year 2 - You are now the Secretary, but not dealing with Minutes until the end of the year at the Annual Meeting.
The general duties of the Secretary are a bit odd in that most of them are performed after the individual is officially Chair-Elect. The primary tasks of the Section C Secretary are to record and report Minutes of the Section C Preliminary and Final Business Meetings during the ESA Annual Meeting, and to maintain records of persons holding office in Section C. Minutes recorded for Section C Preliminary and Final Business Meeting are developed by the Section C Secretary, and posted on the ESA website with the assistance of the National Office. The Secretary may want to bring a tape recorder to help assure a complete record of Section business.
All year:
a. participate in e-mail/telephone business of the Section as requested by other officers. In recent years, e-mail communication, especially from the Chair, has kept officers informed of issues and the status of Section business.
b. serve as the contact person for information going onto the ESA Web site, under Section C. This should include abbreviated Minutes of the Preliminary and Final Business Meeting.
Spring:
c. serve on the Selection Committee for Section C symposia. The symposia proposals will be mailed to you and other Section C officers (including Subsection Chairs) by the Section C Chair, in early spring (depending on upcoming Annual Meeting dates and deadlines).
Fall:
d. make sure that your successor (Secretary-Elect) receives a copy of this or an updated list of duties prior to the ESA Annual Meeting.
e. attend the Section C Officers Meeting, and remind everyone who will report to the Section to provide written (handwritten is fine) reports immediately following their oral reports. Get the updated listing and diskette copy of Section C and Subsection officers and Committee Representatives from the now Chair-Elect, who should have compiled this list immediately after the previous Annual Meeting. The Section C Secretary should verify the accuracy of this information before using it in the Minutes or in the list of Subsection Chairs and representatives.
f. attend the Section C Preliminary and Final Business Meeting and take Minutes, with help from the new Secretary-Elect. Be sure to obtain a written report from the various committee chairs, Section representatives and Subsection chairs, or to remind them to get such a report to you during the Annual Meeting. In the Preliminary Business Meeting, obtain from each Subsection chair a name, with address, telephone number, fax and e-mail, of individuals who were elected at the Subsection business meeting to the position of Subsection secretary; verify the accuracy of your information about the other Subsection officers. Note all newly elected committee representatives, and get the same information for them. An accurate listing of current officers and reps may be the most important thing that you do for the Section this year! And e-mail is how we are communicating most effectively.
g. assist the Section C Chair in identifying and securing judges for the student competition for the ESA President's Prize Competition. (Section C has needed more than 75 during recent years.) Circulating a sign-up sheet during the ESA Annual Meeting has usually recruited most of them. Critical information from each volunteer is name, and e-mail and phone number.
h. at the Annual Meeting, attend the joint meetings of the outgoing and incoming Program Committees. As the soon-to-be Chair-elect of Section C, you are a member of the incoming Program Committee, which will meet during the summer at the site of the next Annual Meeting. The current Chair and Chair-Elect will also be attending. Don't miss this. Section C has the biggest job of scheduling for Annual Meetings, and you need to be informed about how this committee operates. We are the only Section whose officers serve two years on Program Committee.
At the end of the Section C Final Business Meeting, the Secretary becomes the Chair-Elect.
Chair-Elect
Year 3 - You are now Chair-Elect, but are still dealing with a number of Secretarial tasks.
The Chair-Elect helps the Section C Chair conduct Section C business. Sections are the primary device for programming the ESA Annual Meetings. Thus, most tasks associated with Chair-Elect are related to the Annual Meeting programming. Specific Chair-Elect responsibilities are to help the Chair (1) solicit, select and prepare Section C Symposia for the ESA Program Chair; (2) identify and secure judges for the ESA President's Prize Competition; (3) identify and secure moderators for Section C ten-minute paper sessions; and (4) attend all meetings of the ESA Program Committee. For the Section, you will read the Minutes at each Business Meeting, attend the Section C Officers' meeting, attend the Preliminary and Final Business Meetings, and serve for the Chair as needed or requested.
All year:
a. participate in Section business. This year you'll get the hang of it so you can lead next year.
January:
b. immediately upon returning from the Annual Meeting, prepare an updated list of the Section and Subsection officers, representatives to publications and other boards and Committees, and nominees approved at the Section C business meetings. Verify addresses, phone and FAX numbers, and e-mail directly with each individual (Subsection chairs can help with this, but don't rely on the ESA directory; it is quickly out of date). Verify that all nominees will serve if elected. Distribute a copy of this listing to all Section C officers.
c. prepare Minutes and mail them to the current Section C officers and Subsection chairs for editing and correction. Contact the ESA Headquarters to determine the procedures for submission of Section Minutes for the web site. Send the final draft of the Minutes to ESA Headquarters in a timely manner.
d. work with the new Secretary, and Headquarters, to assure a smooth transition for submission of material for the web site.
Spring:
e. serve on the Selection Committee for Section C symposia. The symposia proposals will be mailed to you and other Section C officers (including Subsection Chairs) by the Section C Chair, in early spring (depending on upcoming Annual Meeting dates and deadlines).
June/July:
f. serve on the ESA Program Committee, assisting the Section C Chair. Each year the Program Committee meets at least three times, at the end of the Annual Meeting, during the summer on-site at the next location, and in the Fall at the beginning of the Annual Meeting that they have organized. The summer meeting is to fit the sessions into the space and time available. Both the Section C Chair and Chair-Elect attend this meeting. ESA will arrange and pay for travel for this meeting, and will provide your room. If your institution cannot pay for your per diem, ESA also will cover that. Primary duties are to assist the Section C Chair in assembling the program that relates to Section C, especially assigning papers to appropriate sessions.
g. with the Chair, secure moderators for ten-minute paper (TMP) sessions. The Chair and Chair-Elect depart the Program Committee meeting with copies of Section C TMP submission forms arranged in sessions.
Fall:
h. bring hard copies of the Preliminary and Final Business Meeting Minutes to the Annual Meeting, post them on the ESA bulletin board near the ESA registration desk, and pass them out at the Officers' Meeting. Bring a copy of the list of current officers and representatives to the Section Officers' meeting and distribute. Bring a copy of all of the above on diskette to pass on to the current Section C Secretary. During each of the Section C Business Meetings the Chair-Elect reads an abbreviated version of the respective previous-year Minutes (the ones you wrote) for the appropriate session. These are approved as read or modified.
i. lead efforts to identify judges and moderators (75+) from Section C for student competition. This falls into YOUR lap early this year. Sign-up sheets circulated at Subsection meetings and other places must be returned to you. Don't lose these!
j. make sure you get copies of all symposium proposals with a minimum of title, organizers and contact information. You will have to shepherd these proposals along during the selection process of Program and Section Symposia, and verify viable informal conferences for the ESA Program Chair.
At the end of the Section C Final Business Meeting, the Chair-Elect becomes the Chair.
You may wish to present information from the Program Committee regarding the upcoming ESA Annual Meeting. Thank the outgoing Chair for services rendered, and adjourn the meeting.
Chair
Year 4 - This is your big year. Good luck. Do a good job; we are all counting on you.
The Section Chair conducts Section C business. Since Sections are the primary devices for programming the ESA Annual Meetings, most tasks are related to this programming. Specific Chair responsibilities are to (1) organize solicitation of proposals for Section symposium for the Annual Meeting to be held the year after you serve as Chair. Selections will be made at 'your' Final Business Meeting of the Section, (2) encourage organizers, whose proposals were not selected, to develop their proposals as Informal Conferences, (3) identify and secure judges for the student competition, (4) identify and secure moderators for Section C ten-minute paper sessions, (5) attend and participate in the ESA Program Committee summer meeting, and (6) assure the identification of candidates for various Standing Committee and other committee assignments.
January:
a. write a letter of congratulations to the new Editorial Board members, with cc to the executive director of ESA, the chair-elect, the secretary and the incoming chair of the appropriate editorial board. Write to those appointed to any special Section committees to verify their appointment and detail their charge, with cc to chair-elect and secretary. (This occurs infrequently.)
b. review Minutes from the Preliminary and Final Business Meeting and be sure they are sent to ESA for publication on the Web site.
c. make sure the Chair-elect sends out a list of new Section officers to all those on the list and to the Executive Director of ESA.
All year:
d. respond to various issues from the Society that require input from the Sections.
March:
e. obtain write-ups and photos for the ESA Newsletter for our Section nominees for ESA President, Representative on the Governing Board, and Section C Secretary. The nominees should provide much or all of the material, but it must be forwarded to the ESA office by the Section C Chair. Assure that the information for each is similar. In cases where we are coordinating the nomination with another Section or Branch, obtain the write-up that they will use and coordinate our statement with theirs using your best judgment. Verify deadline of receipt by the ESA office and meet that deadline. This information is for the mail ballot which goes out during the summer.
Date set by Program Chair (approx. Apr.1):
f. work with Symposium organizers to assure that all information for symposia is in the hands of the Program Chair by the deadline set.
June/July:
g. serve on the ESA Program Committee, this time as the lead person. Attend all meetings of the Program Committee (at least three). The summer meeting is especially important. Your Chair-Elect will also attend this meeting. ESA will arrange and pay for travel, and will provide your room and per diem. Your primary duty is to assemble the program that relates to Section C.
h. with the Chair-elect, secure moderators for ten-minute paper (TMP) sessions. The Chair and Chair-Elect depart the Program Committee meeting with copies of Section C TMP submission forms arranged in sessions.
Fall:
i. notify all Section Officers, the Governing Board Representative, and the Publications Council Representative, of the time and place of the Section C Officers' meeting. In addition, remind all the editorial board reps and committee members that they are required to present a report at the Preliminary or Final Business Meeting of the Section, and when and where those meetings will be.
j. notify all TMP moderators in writing of the time and location of the session they will be handling, and who the co-moderator is.
k. prepare an agenda for each of the Section C business meetings, based on past meetings and any current or unfinished business that you are aware of, for discussion at the Officers' meeting. Also prepare a list of the nominations necessary for ESA and Section officers, Standing Committee nominees, and editorial board representatives, to be passed to the Section C nominations committee (Past-Chair and Subsection Chairs). The Chair of the ESA Nominations Committee should contact you regarding necessary nominations. Bring copies of the agendas, nominations list, and judges sign-up sheets to the Officers' Meeting for distribution.
l. chair the Officers' meeting, and the Preliminary and Final Business Meeting for the Section.
At the end of the Final Business Meeting, the Chair becomes the Past-Chair. Heave a great sigh of relief. Attend the ESA Final Business Meeting and accept your plaque graciously.
But...
Past Chair
Year 5 - now you can start to relax again, and be just a Section C member.
All year:
a. support the new Chair with sage advice and all your recently acquired understanding of how the Society works.
February:
b. update the 'Duties of Officers' statement as necessary in consultation with the Chair, and provide fresh copy to all Officers.
Fall:
c. serve as the Chair of the Section C nominating committee. The Section C Chair should provide a list of all positions, Section officers, Society officers, Editorial Board Representatives, and committee positions, for which nominees are required/encouraged.
Operations of Section C Subsections
There are six Subsections attached to Section C, Ca - Biological Control; Cb - Apiculture and Social Insects; Cc - Insect Vectors in Relation to Plant Disease; Cd - Behavior and Ecology; Ce - Insect Pathology and Microbial Control; and Cf - Quantitative Ecology.
Each Subsection meets once each year during the Annual Meeting and just prior to the Section C Preliminary Business Meeting. The Subsection meetings last 30-60 minutes. During these meetings the Subsection Chair conducts business important to members, from an agenda set by the Subsection Chair.
Officers for each Subsection include the Chair, Chair-Elect and Secretary. The Chair presides at the meetings, the Chair-elect serves for the Chair as needed, and the Secretary records votes and takes Minutes. Each year, a new Secretary is elected at the Subsection Business Meeting, to take office the following year at the Annual Meeting. The notes taken by the Secretary will serve as the basis of information reported by the Subsection Chair to the Section during the Preliminary Business Meeting.
The Chairs of the six Subsections are members of the Section C Nominating Committee, and are expected to participate in the Section C Officers' meeting. A key topic of business for each Subsection every year is to discuss and resolve prospective topics for symposia for the following year. The Subsection Chairs will also assist in the solicitation of judges for the student competition.
Nomination/Election Processes
The Section elects Officers and representatives in a number of ways. The following are the usual positions that must be filled and how they are confirmed.
Section C Secretary (who successively serves as Chair-elect, Chair, Past Chair). Generally a slate of two nominees is provided by the Nominating Committee, with additions accepted from the floor during the Final Business Meeting. Two nominees are selected at that meeting, to appear on a written ballot issued by the ESA office during the following summer. The winner is then Secretary-Elect at the next Annual Meeting, and becomes Secretary at the conclusion of that meeting.
Governing Board Representative (serves three years). A similar procedure is followed, with two nominees selected during the Section C Final Business Meeting and included in a written ballot during the summer.
Editorial Board Representatives (serve five years). A varying number of these reps is elected in any one year. Nominees are provided by the Section Nominating Committee, with floor nominations allowed. The representative is elected by the members present at the Final Business Meeting, and confirmed by the Governing Board.
Standing Committee representatives (usually serve 3 years). Section C has representation on many of the Standing Committees, as defined in the Bylaws, and may nominate at-large members as well. Election takes place at the Annual Business Meeting, with service beginning at the close of the Annual Business Meeting. Names of at-large nominees to Committees, identified at the Final Business Meeting of the Section, will be forwarded to the Governing Board for review, and presentation to the membership at the Annual Business Meeting one year hence.
Symposia Selection Process
To generate material for discussion, the Chair-Elect will solicit proposals through the Newsletter, the ESA web site, and by any other means that is deemed effective. Such notices should appear no later than late summer preceding the Annual Meeting, and have a deadline date (to allow preparation of handouts for the Section Business Meetings) of no later than two weeks in advance of the Annual Meeting dates. All members of the Section should be actively encouraged to give serious thought to organization of symposia, as they are an increasingly important component contributing to the quality of our Annual Meetings.
At the Officers' Meeting, the Chair-Elect will have available, as handouts, all of the proposals submitted, and encourage Subsection Chairs to initiate discussion during the Subsection business meetings. Additional suggestions should be encouraged, but recognizing that they are already at a disadvantage against the prepared submissions in hand.
At the Section Preliminary Business Meeting, the Chair-Elect will have available, as handouts, all of the proposals for Section C symposia for the Annual Meeting one year hence. Each potential Organizer (or representative) will have no more than one minute to supplement, orally, the written information if desired. Additional proposals may be presented orally at this time, again with a one minute limit, and with the expectation that a written proposal will be posted for member review prior to the Final Business Meeting of the Section.
At the Final Business Meeting of the Section, the Chair-Elect will lead a discussion among the members present concerning ranking of all of the symposia submitted for consideration. During the discussion, the Chair-Elect should identify any proposals which may be suitable for selection as a Program Symposium. Such proposals would normally be closely aligned with the Theme identified by the current President-Elect of the Society for the following year's meeting.
At the conclusion of the discussion, each member of the Section shall rank all of the symposia on a written ballot, provided at the meeting. These results shall be used by the Section Officers and Subsection Chairs, serving as the Selection Committee, as they make the final selection of Section C symposia. The Selection Committee shall endeavor to follow the wishes of the Section members, while also considering balance among the Subsections, repetition of themes from year to year, and other programming issues that are relevant. The Chair-Elect, who has now become Section Chair, will report the selections to the Program Committee Chair according to the timetable set by that Chair.