MNPC Committee Descriptions

There are currently ten Standing Committees. They are: the Executive Committee, the Nominations Committee, the Membership Committee, the Program Committee, the Budget Committee, the Resolutions Committee, the Procedural Guide and Bylaws Committee, the Awards Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee and the Fellows Nomination Committee. What follows is a brief description of the duties and responsibilities of each of these committees:

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee consists of the elected officers and the immediate past Chair of the Section. This committee is advisory to the Chair. Appointments to the Nominations Committee are subject to theapproval of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee usually meets annually at the Annual Meeting of the AAPS prior to the Section membership meeting in order to set up the agenda and discuss relevant issues.

Nominations Committee

The Section Chair, with the approval of the Executive Committee, appoints the Nominations Committee and names its chair. The committee should consist of at least three active members of the Section and should be appointed at least 90 days prior to the meeting at which its report is to be presented. A copy of the committee report should be in the hands of the Section Secretary and AAPS office at least 30 days before the annual membership meeting.

For each of the offices to be voted upon and to be placed on the ballot, which include Vice Chair and Secretary, the committee should propose the names of two Section members who preferably have been active in the affairs of the Section. Acceptance should be obtained from each of the proposed nominees prior to the placement of their names on the ballot.

The Section Secretary notifies the AAPS office of the nominees for each office. The AAPS office is responsible for preparing and processing the ballots.

Membership Committee

The Membership Committee is composed of at least four members and a chair, appointed by the Section Chair. The Section Chair and Section Secretary may also be members, and additional members, if desired, may be appointed to the Committee. The Committee must be representative of the Section membership, that is, committee composition should include government, industry, faculty and graduate student members. In particular, this Committee should be charged annually with the development of a strategic plan (goals and actions) describing new and imaginative approaches to increasing membership, including inducements. The Committee should be required to complete its plan early in the year and put it into action during the year, with particular emphasis on the AAPS membership drive during the fall or late fall.

This Committee is also responsible for developing a recruitment statement for the AAPS membership brochure.

The term of service of the Committee members shall be one year. Succeeding appointments by the Section Chair should be allowed and encouraged. The chair of the Membership Committee shall be the Section's representative on the AAPS Membership Committee.

The chair of the Membership Committee presents a report on the Committee's activities at the annual Section membership meeting.

Program Committee

At minimum, the Program Committee consists of four members in addition to the Section Secretary. The members serve for three years with one new member being appointed by the new Section Chair. In this way, three members remain on the committee with one rotating off as one new member joins the committee each year. As specified in Article II, Section 4, the Vice Chair serves as chair of the Program Committee. As chair of the Program Committee the Vice Chair has two full years to develop and implement the program. The first year is to develop the plans and the second, while as Chair-elect is to finalize and to see to the completion of the MNPC Symposia at the Annual Meeting.

This is an important committee in that one of its responsibilities is to formulate ideas and to provide the names of notable speakers for symposia and, through its interaction with the Budget Committee, to present a balanced program. Program planning should begin 18 months prior to the Annual Meeting so that symposia topic development can proceed independently of other AAPS sections in order to best serve MNPC Section membership. If interest exists among other AAPS sections and section program committees, the Committee should explore joint programming and co-sponsoring symposia at least 18 months in advance. If screening of papers for presentation is adopted as a policy, this committee should be charged with the implementation of this policy.

The chair of the committee automatically becomes a member of the AAPS Program Committee in order to permit integration of suggested symposia with the overall AAPS program.

The Program Committee should also explore the possibility of regional meetings of medicinal chemists and natural product chemists/pharmacognosists. Liaisons should also be established with the Medicinal Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society and the American Society of Pharmacognosy to aid in the program planning of all groups.

An annual report is provided at the annual Section membership meeting.

Budget Committee

The Budget Committee consists of at least three members. Since all funds are handled through the AAPS office, which is the fiscal agent for the AAPS and the Sections, there is no handling of funds by the committee. However, the committee should determine the financial position of the Section and should prepare and submit a statement of income and expenses at the annual membership meeting.

The committee should, by interaction with the Program Committee, provide advice and counsel for the procurement of funds from outside sources for special symposia, publication of symposia, and other expenses related to the implementation of programs. The committee may act as the Section's agent in writing requests to funding agencies for special purposes.

Resolutions Committee

The Resolutions Committee consists of at least three members. This committee must be ready to report at the first membership session of the Section. Therefore, it must have the recommendations or suggestions from all committee chairmen and from the Section Chair's address at least 30 days prior to the Annual Meeting. It should meet before the Section membership meeting to finalize any resolutions that are to be presented.

A person familiar with the problems and working of the Section should be appointed chair of this committee. Other committee members should be individuals who regularly attend the Section meetings.

Procedural Guide & Bylaws Committee

The Procedural Guide and Bylaws Committee consists of at least three members. The membership of this committee could well be for more than one year with overlapping terms. The Section Chair should be specific in this regard. The committee should be cognizant of the changing views and needs of the Section and propose revisions as they become necessary.

The immediate past chair would be a logical appointment to this committee because of past knowledge of the affairs of the Section. The chair provides a report at the annual Section membership meeting.

Awards Committee

The MNPC Awards Committee consists of at least two Section members. The members serve two-year alternating terms and must include recipients of the MNPC Research Achievement Award. Committee members are appointed to serve consecutive terms. The senior member serves as the chair and provides annual reports of committee activities at the annual MNPC membership meeting.

A major responsibility of this committee is to ensure that announcements regarding any awards process appear in publications, such as the MNPC Section Newsletter or the AAPS Newsmagazine , appropriate to the MNPC membership. The committee also encourages colleagues to provide nominations of qualified individuals.

The committee may also recommend the establishment of new awards. When approved by the Section, approval to offer awards is sought through the Section Chair and the AAPS Executive Council. Following such approval, funds will presumedly be solicited by either the AAPS Awards Committee or by the MNPC Section. If the Section is given the authority to seek its own financial sponsors, the MNPC Awards Committee will assume this responsibility.

While nomination materials are sent directly to the AAPS office, this committee is responsible for recommending to the AAPS Executive Council through its chair, one, but not more than two nominees for each award. Recommendations with nomination materials are forwarded to the sitting Section Chair, who with the approval of the Executive Committee of the Section, forwards the names of recipients (one name per award) to the Executive Council of the AAPS through the National Office.

Each year, after receipt of nomination materials, the committee selects two evaluators for each award offered by the Section. The anonymity of these evaluators must be guaranteed and will be known only to the MNPC Awards Committee. The committee has the responsibility to avoid the selection of evaluators who may have or may give the appearance of having a conflict of interest by virtue of: co-authorship of or collaboration in research or membership in the same faculty or concern or other common professional associations. The evaluators are responsible for returning to the MNPC Awards Committee one name, none, but not more than two nominees for each award.

Eligibility requirements for the Research Achievement Award may be obtained from the National Office. Eligibility requirements for new awards will be approved by the Section membership or by the Executive Committee of the Section.

Prior receipt of an American Pharmaceutical Association Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences (APhA-APS) Research Achievement Award does not automatically disqualify an individual from receiving an AAPS MNPC Research Achievement Award, unless recognition is being sought for the same contributions already recognized by the APhA-APS award. This recognizes that the AAPS awards are being conferred by essentially the same colleagues who were previously members of APhA-APS.

Strategic Planning Committee

The MNPC Strategic Planning Committee consists of at least five members including the Section Chair-elect, who shall serve as chair. Membership of this committee should be staggered.

The chair of the committee serves as the Section representative to the AAPS Strategic Planning Committee. The committee chair must submit an annual report to the Section at the annual membership meeting.

Fellows Nomination Committee

Members of the MNPC Fellows Nomination Committee must be AAPS Fellows. This is a five member committee, each member serving five years with initial appointments ranging from one to five years so that one member is replaced each year. The chair of the committee is the senior member in terms of service. The chair of the committee serves as the Section representative to the AAPS Fellows Selection Committee.

The chair of the committee and the National Office prepares announcements to appear in publications, such as the MNPC Section Newsletter and the AAPS Newsmagazine, which are relevant to Section membership. The committee should also take an active role in recommending nominees. The committee meets or engages in conference calls to fully discuss all nominees and to develop a clear consensus.

The chair presents an annual report at the annual Section membership meeting.

Special Committees

The Section Chair may appoint additional committees as needed to facilitate the activities of the Section. The charge to each committee should be carefully stated. In addition, the Section Chair may appoint members to serve on various AAPS Standing Committees. Section representatives for these committees include:

Publicity

Education

Public Policy

Short Courses

Paper Screening