Section Council
2. Section Council
2.1 Section Council Chair
2.2 Section Council Representatives
2.3 Proxy Vote
The Section Council of the Medical Library Association is one of two councils serving in an advisory capacity to the Board of Directors of the Association. The Section Council promotes interchange between Sections, and together with its counterpart, the Chapter Council, promotes interchange between Sections and Chapters.
The Section Council receives recommendations from individual Sections or Section Council Committees and considers them either for approval or disapproval. Approved recommendations are forwarded to the Board of Directors; those not approved are referred back to the originating Section or Council Committee
The Section Council provides an opportunity for Sections to participate more directly in the governance of the Association through representation of their interests at the Board level. The Council also enables Sections to better define their role and function within the Association through participation in a coordinated, unified representative body.
The Section Council is composed of the Section Council Chair, and the Section Chair and Past Chair of each individual Section, with the Past Chair being the voting member and may serve as officers or Committee members of the Section Council. These voting representatives will select a Section Council Chair from among the representatives.
2.1 Section Council Chair
Members of the Section Council elect one member to serve as Section Council Chair. All continuing and outgoing representatives, but not incoming representatives are eligible. During the Section Council meeting and before the election, candidates for Chair-Elect present brief oral summaries of their goals for the Section Council.
The Section Council Chair is an ex officio voting member of the Board of Directors and participates in planning and policy-making activities at this level. The Chair also serves as Board liaison to Sections, and in this capacity communicates Section concerns and recommendations to the Board. Likewise, relevant action by the Board is reported to the Council as soon as possible after Board meetings. As Board liaison, the Section Council Chair serves as the link between the Sections and the Board, and as liaison to the Headquarters’ staff. For additional duties of the Section Council Chair, please refer to the Section Council Procedure Manual.
2.2 Section Council Representatives
Each Section is represented on Section Council by the Section Chair and Section Past Chair with the Past Chair being the voting member. The representative from each Section must be a voting member of the Association, selected in accordance with the bylaws of the Section. Responsibilities of Section Council representatives include:
- Attend all Section Council meetings and represent his/her Section on the Council and in the conduct of Council business. The Past Chair serves as the voting representative regarding issues presented in the Section Council. Both the Past Chair and Chair will participate in Section Council deliberations and may respond on behalf of their Section. The Section Past Chair has the official vote.
- Implement Council decisions, gather information as requested, inform Section membership of issues under discussion by the Council, and solicit comments and suggestions.
- Through the Section Council Chair, communicate concerns to the Section Council and potentially to the MLA Board. The representative also communicates Council issues to their respective Sections seeking membership response. The chart of Responsibilities of Section Officers outlines the interactive responsibilities of the Section representatives.
- Keep his/her Section informed on MLA policies relating to Section business, such as the MLA Guidelines for Seeking Outside Funding, Fact Sheet for Submitting Articles to the MLA News, Online request form for membership rosters, and the revision and submission of Section bylaws (see Model Bylaws and Procedures).
- Ensure the selection of an MLA Nominating Committee nominee from his/her Section, and submit a copy of the nominees’ biographical form/consent form to the Elections Committee Chair before the election. Keep the Section informed of all significant business and events emanating from the Section Council.
- Be willing to serve on at least one Council committee, but no more than two at the same time. Serve, if appointed, as Chair of a Council committee, and submit the committee’s objectives, a midyear report, and an annual report by the assigned date to the Council Chair.
- Transfer documentation as outlined in the Document Retention Guidelines to the incoming representatives (Section Chair and Chair-Elect).
2.3 Proxy Vote
When a Section’s voting representative (Past Chair) is unable to attend the meeting, the Section’s Chair may serve as the Section’s official voting representative to Section Council.
When neither the Section Past Chair or Section Chair are able to attend the Section Council’s meeting a Section may appoint an officer as the proxy who will represent the Section’s interests during discussions and may vote on Council issues. The proxy may also present motions to the Council on behalf of the Section.
Appointment of a proxy must comply with the following guidelines:
1. The proxy is appointed by the Section Chair.
2. The proxy must be a current member and officer of the Section.
3. The Section Council Chair is notified by the Section Chair of the proxy’s name, e-mail address, and other contact information.
4. Notification will be accepted by the Council Chair up to the official starting time of each Section Council meeting.
5. The proxy must be willing to become familiar with all motions and issues being considered by Council before the Annual meeting and to discuss them with the appropriate Section officers to gain the Sections’ opinion on the issues.
6. The proxy should review information in the Council’s procedures manual describing the responsibilities of representatives and the process for handling Council business.
7. The elected representative should share all Council mailings and files with the proxy before the annual meeting and update the proxy on special areas of concern to the Section.
Any Section member may attend the Council meetings for observation, but only the representative or an approved proxy may officially represent the Section at the Council or vote on Council issues.