Academy Committee Governance Policy

The term “committee” includes those boards, practice councils, and committees authorized by the Board. For purposes of this policy, “committees” also include task forces, work groups, and other constituent bodies established by those Board-authorized groups.

This document reflects the Board of Directors’ intention to provide guidance on the governance of Academy committees to ensure that their activities are carried out in a manner consistent with the Academy’s mission.

I. COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS

The committee chairperson, as part of the practice council, reports to the Vice President. Chairpersons have the flexibility and discretion to manage their committees’ activities generally and to encourage volunteers to be actively involved in a manner that works best for the committee. The chairperson focuses on the Academy’s mission rather than on personal or constituent interests, and works toward fulfilling the committee’s objectives while reinforcing the importance of maintaining independence and objectivity in committee activities and work products.

Committee chairpersons must be current members of the Academy.

The chairperson:

With staff, develops a work plan that will allow the committee to discharge its responsibilities effectively and efficiently for the year in support of fulfilling the Academy’s mission and aligning with the Board’s strategic plan.
With staff, develops agendas and conducts committee meetings.
Ensures the committee makeup represents diversity of viewpoints and fosters an inclusive environment for all committee members.
Ensures that all members, observers and interested parties understand and apply any confidentiality requirements of the committee.
Approves reports and pre-meeting materials before their distribution.
With staff, ensures the committee’s work is carried out between meetings.
Approves reports on committee activities, including requests to the Board of Directors for action items.
Reports to the committee or practice council, Board of Directors, or Executive Committee decisions that affect the committee’s work or activities.
Focuses on the engagement and development of committee volunteers.
With staff, evaluates member engagement and participation annually.
With staff, evaluates and confirms the status of interested parties annually.
With staff, ensures compliance with this policy and facilitates new member appointments and onboarding.
With staff, ensures compliance with Committee Member Tenure Guidelines (See Section VII below) and facilitates new member and interested party appointments with the President as applicable and appropriate.
With Vice Presidents and staff, recommends to the President committee members to be vice-chairperson. Chairpersons should consider whether this member may make a good candidate to succeed them. Committees may have more than one vice-chairperson.
Vice-chairpersons must be members of the Academy.
At the chairperson’s discretion, one or more vice-chairperson or a committee member who is a current member of the Academy may temporarily replace the chairperson in their absence.
With Vice Presidents and staff, recommends to the President potential candidates to fill their chairperson slot.
Must acknowledge the Conflict of Interest Policy.
Must adhere to any confidentiality requirements set by the chairperson and to Academy policies.
Must acknowledge that they meet the annual continuing education requirements as set forth in the U.S. Qualification Standards as provided at https://www.actuary.org/content/us-qualification-standards

II. COMMITTEE MEMBERS

The committee member reports to the committee chairperson. The member actively participates in the work of the committee, provides input on the deliberations of the committee, focuses on the best interests of the Academy and the committee rather than on personal or constituent interests, and works toward fulfilling the committee’s objectives.

Committee members must be current members of the Academy unless the chairperson determines that a non-member’s participation is critical to the committee’s work and the Vice-President approves the non-member’s participation.

The committee member:

Is expected to be prepared for and engaged in the activities of the committee, according to the parameters set by the chairperson. Such parameters can be qualitative and quantitative.
1. Qualitative parameters may include:
  1. Reviewing all relevant material before committee meetings.
  2. Making contributions and voicing objective opinions on issues.
  3. Carrying out individual assignments made by the committee chairperson.
2. Quantitative parameters may include attending 75% of committee meetings.
May vote.
When assigned by the chairperson, represent the committee in meetings of other organizations.
Promotes an understanding within the committee of the committee’s role and how it supports and fits within the interests of the Academy.
Assists in recruiting future Academy volunteers.
Must acknowledge the Conflict of Interest Policy
Must adhere to any confidentiality requirements set by the chairperson and to Academy policies.
Must acknowledge that they meet the annual continuing education requirements as set forth in the U.S. Qualification Standards as provided at https://www.actuary.org/content/us-qualification-standards

III. STAFF LIAISONS

The staff liaison supports and serves as a resource to the chairperson and committee members. The staff liaison assists the chairperson in facilitating committee discussions and activities that address the committee’s charge. The staff liaison works with the chairperson to ensure that all committee work is consistent with the Academy’s mission and strategic plan and that the committee is following Academy policies and procedures. All Academy calls and meetings must be staffed by a member of Academy staff.

The staff liaison:

Works with the chairperson to develop a plan that will allow the committee to effectively and efficiently discharge its responsibilities for the year.
Works with the chairperson to develop agendas and conduct effective committee meetings.
Drafts reports of committee meetings when appropriate for review and approval by the chairperson.
Works with the committee chairperson, other committee members, and Academy staff to ensure that the committee’s work is carried forward between committee meetings.
Provides a list of committee members, interested parties, and observers; monitors member attendance; and helps the committee chairperson evaluate member participation annually.
Helps the committee chairperson ascertain the status of interested parties annually.
Facilitates communication of committee activities to their staff supervisor.
Reports to the committee chairperson on decisions of the Board of Directors, Executive Committee, or other Academy committees that impact the committee’s activities.
Assists the chairperson with the volunteer staffing of the committee.
When appropriate, assists the committee in proposing products and services that will further the mission and objectives of the Academy.

IV. LIAISONS BETWEEN COMMITTEES

Committee-to-committee liaisons link two committees:
1. Their originating committee, of which they are a member;
2. The receiving committee, about whose activities they report to their originating committee and/or share information with about the activities of their originating committee.
The role of a committee-to-committee liaison is to improve the communication and relationship between committees and where committees’ interests converge, to efficiently support mutually informed decision-making to achieve the Academy’s strategic objectives.

Liaisons are encouraged to:
1. Report back to the committee for which they are a liaison on any information provided, including on work products under consideration and development.
2. Openly solicit and share information, including on work products under development in the committee to which they report.
3. Be active participants in both committees.
4. Collaborate with committee chairpersons.
Liaisons must adhere to any confidentiality requirements set by the chairpersons of their originating and receiving committees.
The duration of a liaison’s appointment is limited to the duration of their tenure on their originating committee, which includes any extension granted by the Executive Committee in the Committee Member Tenure Guidelines (See Section VII below).

V. INTERESTED PARTIES

Committee chairpersons may approve interested parties (IPs). IPs are those that have an interest in the committee’s work, but do not fit the requirements for committee membership. Examples include members of Academy leadership, a former chairperson of the committee, a person with subject matter expertise who is unable to serve as a committee member, and an actuary who wants to follow a committee’s activities before making the commitment to join the committee. The intent is that the interested parties will enhance the committee’s work through their expertise or experience.

Interested parties must be current members of the Academy unless the committee chairperson determines that a non-member’s participation is critical to the committee’s work and the Vice-President approves the non-member’s participation.

The interested party:

Must be approved by the chairperson. Except for Academy leadership, the chairperson has final say for an IP to be added. Examples of appropriate reasons for rejecting an IP may include situations in which:
1. The work is highly confidential,
2. The work group is too far along for the project to be understood or appreciated by an IP;
3. The work requires regular attendance and a large time commitment outside the committee to appreciate/understand the issues involved;
4. It would be inappropriate and counterproductive to share discussion material with anyone not directly involved in the committee work;
5. The potential IP is expected to be a disruptive influence or will not respect the need for confidentiality.
Agrees to limit their status as an IP for one year, or the remainder of the current year, and must confirm their interest and be approved by the chairperson to continue their IP status into the next year.
All IPs, including non-Academy members, must acknowledge and agree to adhere to the Conflict of Interest Policy.
Must adhere to any confidentiality requirements set by the chairperson and to Academy policies.
When attending committee meetings, must announce they are an interested party when meeting participants are introduced.
May participate in committee discussions only with the consent of the chairperson.
May not vote.
May not serve as a representative or presenter for the committee without prior approval of the committee chairperson.

VI. OBSERVERS

Observers are persons who are not members or interested parties of the committee who ask committee chairpersons to observe committee meetings.

This section on observers does not apply to meetings of the following:

The Actuarial Board of Counseling and Discipline;
Any Academy Disciplinary Committee under Article IX, section 3 of the Academy’s bylaws or any meeting of any Appeal Panel under Article IX, section 4 of the Academy’s bylaws;
Committees of the Board, President, President-Elect, or Secretary-Treasurer, or the Committee on Qualifications; and
Any other committee that the Board, in its sole discretion, determines should not be covered by this Policy.

All proceedings of the foregoing committees to which this policy does not apply shall be closed.

The fundamental purposes of the Academy require it to maintain a high level of professional objectivity and independence from any specific interests of the employers of its members or of any other special interest group or organization. To assure that the deliberative process necessary for the completion of Academy work is robust, frank, and considers diverse sources of information and different perspectives, all committee meetings are limited to attendance by members and interested parties of the committee.

Committee chairpersons, in consultation with the relevant officer and Academy legal counsel, may allow observers to sit in all or parts of a committee meeting if the observers’ presence will be helpful to the Academy in that particular committee’s work. Such decisions must be made after reviewing the Academy’s Conflict of Interest and other relevant policies and considering all other relevant factors, such as the need to maintain the confidentiality of information or whether the work of the committee will likely require committee members to request or receive privileged information, such as the advice of counsel.
Observers permitted to attend committee meetings may not participate in discussions without the invitation of the chairperson. Observers who are permitted to attend committee meetings under this policy must acknowledge and commit to adhere to the Conflict of Interest policy before they are permitted to attend the meeting.
No committee member, interested party, or observer will be recognized as a liaison to any other U.S.-based actuarial organization, any employer interest, or any other professional or trade group without the authorization of the Academy’s Executive Committee.
The Academy will not vouch for the accuracy of any notes, reports, or observations on committee meetings made by observers permitted to attend and will not indemnify any observer for any legal or other costs incurred should the observer or any notes, reports, or other written documents the observer creates based on attendance at a committee meeting be subpoenaed or otherwise subjected to legal process.
Subject to the approval of the committee chairperson and after consultation with the relevant officer and Academy legal counsel, certain observers may be added to the committee’s listserv. Only committee members and interested parties, however, may receive the committee agenda, other meeting materials, and drafts of committee documents unless the chairperson decides otherwise.
Observers, including those added to the committee’s listserv, may not vote on any matter before the committee.
Nothing in this policy precludes a committee chairperson from excluding an observer from all or any portion of a committee meeting if, in the chairperson’s discretion, the observer’s presence for some portion of the meeting will not be helpful to the Academy in that particular committee’s work. Similarly, nothing in this policy precludes or prevents a committee from closing a portion of a meeting to observers so that the committee may meet in executive session.

VII. COMMITTEE MEMBER TENURE GUIDELINES

This section reflects the Board’s intention to promote the introduction of new member volunteers to committee activities without sacrificing continuity. It has been drafted with a concern for robust succession planning to allow for a balancing of experience with the introduction of new perspectives.

The Board recognizes that there may be specific instances where exceptions may need to occur, so there is provision for approval of such exceptions by the Executive Committee. Committees for which specific appointment rules are established by the Board (such as the Board of Directors, Nominating Committee, Actuarial Standards Board, or ABCD), or committees that are subject to a specific agreement with other organizations are exempt from this section.

All members of the Academy are eligible to serve on committees.
A person should be chairperson of a committee for no more than three years and should retire from the committee after serving as chairperson.
An appointment to vice-chairperson does not affect a committee member’s tenure.
Committee chairpersons, working with Academy leadership and staff, should monitor each committee’s composition to ensure the proper balance of experienced and new members is maintained.
No committee member other than the chairperson may serve longer than 6 years. For this purpose, such term will be deemed to restart at zero following a 2-year continual period being off the committee.
If the structure or the name of any constituent body is changed (e.g., a task force is changed to a committee or a committee is renamed), these guidelines will continue to apply as if such a change was not made.
The Vice Presidents will identify proposed exceptions to these guidelines and should present justification therefor to the Executive Committee for approval.
Academy Fellows are exempt from this policy.

Approved by the Board in May 2024