Section Officer Roles and Responsibilities

A Section President serves a 2-year term. A primary responsibility of a Section President is to recommend potential candidates for chairs and members of Union committees including the Fellows and Macelwane Medal Committees and Spring and Fall Program Committees. He or she must also lead and direct Section activities which require:

• recommendation to Council, directly or through appropriate Union committees, items for its consideration which pertain to Section activities
• appointment of a Section Fellows Selection and Nominating Committees
• establishment of Section committees as necessary to address specific problems, whether scientific or administrative
• recommendation of candidates for the Section Eos Editor
• organizing meetings of the Section and its Executive Committee
• appointing the editor for any Section publications and name press liaisons. and anything else that needs to be done to achieve the goals of the Section.

The President-elect serves a 2-year term, followed immediately by a 2-year term as Section President. The President-elect must be prepared to assume the duties and powers of the Section President at the request of the President or in the absence or incapacity of the President. She or he will be asked to serve as a member of at least one of the Union committees to bring the committee perspective to the Council and vice versa. The President-elect should also support the President as required in fulfilling the various duties outlined for that position.

The Secretary serves a 2-year term. Section Secretaries serve without formal appointment as a voting alternate at Council meetings for either the Section President, if another alternate has not been appointed, or the Section President-elect. Section Secretaries need, therefore, to keep abreast of Union issues and are encouraged to attend Council meetings. Other duties of Section Secretaries include:

• issue the notices of all Section and its Executive Committee meetings and support the Section President in the preparation and distribution of agendas
• prepare the official minutes of all business and other meetings of the Section and its Executive Committee
• handle the general correspondence of the Section and maintain records of section activity.

 Headquarters support for section activities is provided primarily through the staff coordinator assigned to the section. In addition, general information regarding policies, staff assignments and key dates will be posted on the AGU web site. The Leadership Support is also ready to assist section officers with any special needs.