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| Guidelines for Special Interest
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Academic Pediatric Association Policy for Special Interest Groups (SIGS)
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The Special Interest Groups of the Academic Pediatric Association have provided a valuable venue for our membership to network with other colleagues with similar interests, to provide a forum to discuss issues concerning relevant topics to the SIGS, and work towards goals that will benefit the membership of the Academic Pediatric Association at large. Some of the outcomes of the SIGS have included annual innovative meetings, invited speakers at the national PAS Meeting, development of research awards, topic specific manuals, collaborative research projects and collaborative policy statements.
The Academic Pediatric Association regularly receives requests from groups who desire to establish a new Special Interest Group. It is important to have criteria in place for the establishment and maintenance of each SIG. This will help ensure the long lasting viability of the SIG, minimize redundancy between SIGS and prioritize resources related to our SIG structure. Moreover, other factors argue for limiting the total number of SIGs: a) the number of SIGs effectively limits the number of workshops that can be selected, because they share the same pool of rooms, b) it has become increasingly challenging to schedule SIGs at the PAS meetings to minimize conflicts, and c) members can effectively belong to only a limited number of SIGs. The following procedures have been developed to outline criteria for initiation of a new SIG, and expectations for accountability in maintaining a SIG.
Criteria for Initiation of a New SIG
- State the name of the SIG
- List explicit goals of the SIG
- Explain why the SIG is important and in what ways it will benefit the membership of the APA
- List names and signatures of a minimum of 20 APA members who would join
- Identify the SIG Chair (and/or Co-Chair)
The APA Board will discuss the application for a new SIG, and vote on the application.
Expectations for Accountability for Already Established SIGS
- Each SIG will be expected to meet at the national PAS meeting.
- Each SIG should submit a minimum of 2 SIG specific reports per year to the APA newsletter.
- The SIG will send an annual report to the Chair of Workshops/SIGS by June 1 of the academic year, for review by a subset of the APA Board, (SIG Review Board). The report should contain the following:
- Description/agenda of the PAS SIG meeting held
- Number of participants at the meeting (on list, identify APA members)
- Evaluation of annual SIG meeting by members
- Description of additional SIG meetings with information including items a-c.
- Accomplishments of the SIG from the previous year. Possibilities include:
- SIG sponsored workshop(s)
- SIG sponsored abstract(s)
- SIG sponsored manuscript(s)
- List of SIG members who participated in workshop or abstract review
- SIG sponsored documents- clinical practice guidelines, directories, content specific manuals
- Documentation of how SIG funds were utilized
Criteria for SIG Merger
If the SIG does not meet the following minimal criteria, they will be asked to merge with another SIG
- Does not meet for 2 consecutive years at the PAS meeting, without extenuating circumstances
- SIG has less than 10 active members
- SIG does not provide the annual report
- SIG does not provide at least 2 submissions to the APA newsletter
The SIG Review Board will include the following APA Board members:
- Chair of Workshops/SIGs
- Secretary
- Chair of Membership
- Past President
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