Calling all Volunteers: Time to Nominate to Serve!

Calling all Volunteers: Time to Nominate to Serve!

ASCO President-Elect Melissa Trego invites you to nominate yourself or a willing colleague to serve on an ASCO committee or task force starting this July.

How to nominate candidates for volunteer positions

• Please review the list of committees and task forces below.
• Then, submit the following information for each candidate you are nominating:
  • Name, title and employer of nominee;
  • Committee or task force that the candidate is being nominated for;
  • Position to be served (Chair, Member, or Board Liaison)
  • Special interest, skills, background or perspective that distinguishes the nominee for the position;
  • Any other reason why the candidate would make a good addition to the committee/task force.

Self-nominations are permitted and encouraged. All nominations from an institution under consideration for appointment will be shared with the dean/president of that institution to seek approval before an appointment is made.

All nominations should be sent to ASCO’s Business Operations Manager Sara Lau at slau@opted.org. The deadline for submitting nominations is May 31.

Terms of Service
Service on an ASCO committee or task force runs in one-year terms, throughout ASCO’s programmatic/fiscal year (July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023).

Eligibility
Anyone employed by an Active, Associate, or Affiliate member of ASCO is eligible to serve a committee, task force, or Special Interest Group (SIG).

Unlike ASCO’s Special Interest Groups (SIGs) or other institution-wide professional groups (such as the Student Affairs Officers and the Chief Academic Officers), each institution is not assigned a certain number of slots on ASCO committees and task forces. If a current volunteer is not reappointed, rotates off, or if his/her dean or president does not want a given volunteer to continue serving, it is not guaranteed that the nominee selected to fill that position will be from the same institution. While we can never achieve perfect balance, ASCO’s President-Elect takes overall institution representation into account when two equally qualified nominations are made for the same opening.

Terms of Service
Term limits provide opportunities for fresh thinking on ASCO committees, give new people an opportunity to serve, and widen ASCO’s reach. ASCO’s tradition has been that committees allow service for a maximum of three consecutive one-year terms. On rare occasions, special circumstances may arise when members who have served three years are in the midst of ongoing project work. Such circumstances may warrant continuing service, and the ASCO President-Elect has been empowered to make such a decision.

Volunteer Groups within ASCO
A copy of ASCO’s Volunteer Organizational Chart can be found here.

Committee/Task Force/SIG Member Openings for FY 2022-2023

Board Management Committees
(must be chaired by an ASCO Board Member, but committee members do not have to be an ASCO board member unless specified):

• Audit Committee  (AUDC) - chaired by President Elect; looking for members
• Communications Committee (COMC; formerly the Communications Task Force) – chaired by the Secretary; looking for members.
• Financial Affairs Committee (FAFC) – chaired by the Treasurer; looking for members.
  - Partnership Endowment Advisory Subcommittee (PEAS) – looking for chair and members.
• Nominating Committee (NOMC)– chaired by the Past President; looking for members from the ASCO Board

Programmatic Committees & Task Forces
(Chairs and members do not have to be on the ASCO Board):

• Academic Affairs Committee (AAFC)
• Awards & Resolutions Committee (AWRC)
• Clinical Affairs Committee (CAFC)
• Diversity and Cultural Competency Committee (DCCC)
• Education Committee (EDUC)
  • Future Faculty Program Subcommittee  (FFPS)
  • Optometric Education Leadership Institute Subcommittee (OELI)
  • Summer Institute for Faculty Development Subcommittee (SIFD)
• Fundraising Advisory Committee (FNDC)
• Government Affairs Committee (GAFC)
• International Optometric Education Committee (IOEC)
• Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice Committee (IPRF)
• Research Committee (RESC)
• Residency Affairs Committee (RAFC)
  • OR Match Subcommittee (ORMS)
• Student Affairs Committee (SAFC)
  • OAT Subcommittee (OATS)
  • OptomCAS Subcommittee (OPTS)

Task Forces
(members and chairs do not have to be on the ASCO Board):

• Applicant Pool Development Advisory Task Force (APTF)
• Summit on Subspecialization Planning Task Force

To learn more about the individual committees and task forces, please visit https://optometriceducation.org/for-faculty-administrators/committees-task-forces-sigs-groups/.