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ChABSA Committee Membership

 

ChABSA is a volunteer organization whose mission is to provide valuable content and networking opportunities for biosafety professionals which is enhanced by membership involvement. Returning to in-person and hybrid meetings has created opportunities for members to re-activate the use of committees to assist the Council in communication with the membership about resources, preferences and needs, and in communicating with other affiliates and the associated biosafety organization, ABSA. This is the perfect opportunity to gain experience in leadership roles within a Committee and to collaborate with other ChABSA professionals.

ChABSA is seeking members for the following Committees listed below. To be a Committee member, you must be a ChABSA member in good standing during the current calendar year and a member of ChABSA for at least one year. Each Committee will have its own focus and activities. ABSA will grant CM credits for serving on a Committee and credits for serving as a Chair on a Committee.  See application form at the bottom of the page.


Committee members should expect to commit to participation for roughly 10-11 months of the year beginning August in the year of their application thru the end of June in the following year. Time requirements will vary by Committee and time of year; however, a rough estimate is that ChABSA members should expect to volunteer approximately 20-30 hours over the course of a year inclusive of regular Committee meetings. Committee membership is good for one year. Committee members may renew their Committee membership up to 5 times on the same committee. Members serving on a committee for 5 years can seek membership on another committee or after a one year hiatus, may seek reappointment on the same committee for 5 additional years. One member of each Committee will be elected by Committee members to serve annually as the Committee’s Chair. Committee Chairs may serve if elected by the Committee’s membership for 3 years. There are limited slots for Committee membership which are offered on a first come first served basis. ChABSA members may serve on more than one Committee annually as long as the time requirements can be met. The ChABSA council will review and approve applications for committee membership.

Each committee will have an assigned mentor to assist the Chair and committee members with the organization, operation and reporting by the committee. All possible effort with be made to offer Council members their first choice as a volunteer for committee mentorship. Generally, a mentor will be a Council member but with Council’s approval, other ChABSA members may apply in this role. Mentors will be non-voting committee members and act a resource to each committee.

 

List of Committees

1.      Membership Committee: The purpose of this committee is:

a.       Promote engagement within the biosafety and biosecurity community

b.      Engage and collaborate with industry representatives, local colleges and/or universities

c.       Interact with other professional safety based organizations

d.      Represent ChABSA to inform potential professionals about a career in biosafety and biosecurity

e.      Promote new membership by emphasizing a welcoming environment for new members attending ChABSA events.

 

Potential activities include:

·         Assist in recruiting new members by

§  Develop tools, e.g., surveys, to evaluate current membership status (satisfaction, needs, interests, preferences, etc.).

§  Develop strategy to reach out to established and new groups; develop list of sites to target.

§  Recruit candidates for upcoming vacant ChABSA council positions.

§  Welcome members and identify new members at meetings

·         Design information pamphlet

·         Promote ChABSA awareness at local or national conferences or symposiums

·         Develop budgets as needed for outreach to support recruitment

 

Committee Size: Limited to 8 members.

 

2.      Scholarship: The purpose of this committee is:

a.       Identify prospective students and/or ChABSA members that could utilize this scholarship

b.      Aid council in detailing/updating scholarship criteria and benefits

c.       Increase the utilization of this ChABSA resource for members.

 

Potential activities include:

·         Review of scholarship requests

·         Increase awareness of scholarship opportunities

·         Review policies and procedures for the scholarship program

·         Recruit sponsorship of scholarship opportunities

 

Committee size: Limited to 5 members.

 

3.      ABSA and Affiliate Relations: The purpose of this committee is

a.       To keep ChABSA council and membership informed of activities of other ABSA affiliates (both national and international)

b.      Inform ABSA and affiliates of our events to form relationships with other ABSA affiliates.

c.       Promote joint activities between ChABSA and other ABSA affiliates

d.      Develop and promote International Technical Meetings between ChABSA members and international ABSA affiliates and/or international scientists

 

Potential activities include:

·         Maintain contact with other US ABSA affiliates

·         Report on activities of other groups

·         Develop opportunities for collaborative events

·         Establish and maintain list of biosafety expertise available through ABSA affiliates

·         Determine if activities conducted at other sites should/could be adapted for ChABSA and make recommendations to ChABSA Council

·         Maintain awareness of ABSA activities for membership

·         Provide monthly/quarterly report on upcoming ABSA events and potential/upcoming changes/modifications

·         Develop budgets as needed in support of outreach efforts.

 

Committee size: Limited to 8 members.

Chabsa_Committee_Membership_Application.fillable.pdf