Coordinators Guidelines

These guidelines describe the roles and expectations for Coordinators, and provide some ideas about how they might fulfil these roles, although it is recognized that these may differ to some extent in different parts of the world.

Responsibilities

Collection of Membership Fees: The responsibilities regarding the collection of membership fees will vary from region to region.

• In countries/regions where currency issues make it difficult for individuals to pay membership fees directly to SAGE, it is the responsibility of the Coordinator to collect the fees and forward them to SAGE at the start of each calendar year.
• In regions or countries where it is difficult for the Coordinator to forward the fees to SAGE, the Coordinator may send a brief proposal to the Membership Secretary to use the fees for ISSBD-related activities in their country/region. In that case, a report on activities undertaken should be included in the Coordinator’s annual report.
• Coordinators should send member details to SAGE as early as possible in the year to enable SAGE to process their membership.
• In regions without currency restrictions, the Coordinator should encourage the payment of fees by members.
• SAGE will provide regular information to each Coordinator on membership status and fees payments for the relevant region or country.

Recruitment and retention of members: Coordinators are expected to promote ISSBD, to encourage new members to join, and to encourage existing members to retain their membership. The Executive Committee expects that the membership will steadily increase in areas supported by Coordinators. The strategies for achieving these goals will vary across regions but might include:

• Keeping in touch with members on a regular basis
• Emphasising the benefits of membership, e.g., its internationality and focus on the lifespan
• Working with national professional organisations to arrange joint activities
• Liaising with existing members to encourage their students to become members, via personal invitations
• Taking opportunities to publicise ISSBD at regional and local meetings

A brochure outlining the member benefits of ISSBD can be found here

Services to members: Coordinators are expected to help members in the region to reap the benefits of ISSBD membership. This might be by:

• Organizing local networking meetings, seminars, or professional development events
• Identifying early career researchers deserving scholarships or support to attend ISSBD conferences and workshops
• Encouraging the submission of applications to host ISSBD workshops
• Sending information on conferences, workshops, grant opportunities, elections, deadlines for abstracts, etc to members by email
• Providing support in developing proposals for conference symposia or workshops
• Distributing the ISSBD Bulletin in hard copy if necessary
• Helping members to develop networks and collaborations with members from other countries

Regional/National Coordinators can seek help from the Membership Secretary or President to recruit members within their country or region.

Reporting

Coordinators must submit a report to the President and Membership Secretary on an annual basis, for consideration at the annual meeting of the Executive Committee. The report should include information on the membership, strategies that had been adopted to help retain and support members and expand membership, and a financial statement of income and expenditure if relevant. It is expected that membership will increase in areas supported by Coordinators. The report should include discussion of reasons for changes in numbers of members. A plan for the forthcoming year should also be included in the report.

Recognition and remuneration

The work of Coordinators will be regularly acknowledged, e.g. at the biennial ISSBD General Meeting, on the website and in publications such as the Bulletin. Coordinators will receive a formal letter of acknowledgement from the President.

The biennial conference registration fee of Coordinators will be waived, and they are strongly encouraged to attend the conference. ISSBD will organize a meeting of Coordinators at each conference, usually in conjunction with a meeting of the Membership Committee. Contact amongst coordinators will be facilitated via the ISSBD Facebook Group or the membership directory.

In regions where Coordinators are involved in the collection and forwarding of fees, they will be paid 10% of the total fees collected to cover their administrative costs.

Selection and terms of office

A call for nominations (including self-nominations) for the position of Coordinators will be made in the Bulletin, and will be publicised on the website. The application form will ask for evidence of the person’s networks, and capacity to carry out the required tasks. The President and Membership Secretary will make the final decisions about successful candidates.