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Section I.  Action Committees and Issue Response Groups of the Association

A.            Action Committees

1.             Action Committee Formation:  Action Committees represent the long-term, broad, ongoing organizational priorities of the Association, as defined in the Constitution and Bylaws.  Action Committees may be created through a constitutional amendment submitted to the House of Delegates by five (5) or more medical student members of the Association.  Creation of a new Action Committee must be accompanied by a Statement of Goals, Means and Purpose, as well as a justification to the House of Delegates of the institutional need for and fiscal impact of a new Action Committee.  The constitutional amendment must receive an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds (2/3) of the delegates present and voting.  Membership is open to all members of the Association.

2.             Action Committee Maintenance:  It is the responsibility of the Vice President for Programming and DSP to maintain quality assurance of the Action Committees.  As such, the DSP and Vice President for Programming shall review the performance of each Action Committee at each meeting, and shall make recommendations and actions needed to maintain the viability of each Action Committee. (2002)

3.             Action Committees of the Association: The Action Committees of the Association shall be—the Committee on Community and Environmental Health; the Culture of Medicine Committee; the Committee on Gender and Sexuality; the Committee on Global Health; the Committee on Race, Ethnicity and Culture in Health; the Committee on Student Life; the Education Team; the Grassroots Leadership Team; the Humanism in Medicine Team; the Policy Team.

B.            Issue Response Groups

1.             Issue Response Group Formation:  Issue Response Groups represent the short-term priorities of medical student members of the Association. Issue Response Groups are created through majority passage of a Resolution of Internal Affairs submitted to the House of Delegates accompanied by a “Statement of Purpose, Goals and Means.” Membership is open to all members of the Association. An Issue Response Group may also be created during the year with unanimous agreement of the Executive Board of the Action Committees, with such funding as is necessary coming from a discretionary pool maintained by the Board. The resolution which creates the Issue Response Group must specify the positions needed for operation of the Issue Response Group, a timeline for any activities or projects to come to completion and a detailed budget with resources thought to be necessary for the efficient operation of the Issue Response Group.

2.             Issue Response Group Maintenance:  Issue Response Groups will be authorized for a one-year period, during which time they are expected to accomplish their stated goals through those means outlined in their enabling statement of Purpose, Goals and Means.  Issue Response Group maintenance is the responsibility of the Executive Board of the Action Committees, and their reports shall be processed and monitored as stated above for Action Committees. Additionally, the Director of Student Programming shall act as the Chair of all Issue Response Groups created for the current year, and shall be responsible for selecting those Issue Response Group Coordinators who shall attend meetings, as well as assisting the Executive Board of the Action Committees in the budgeting for the Issue Response Groups.

3.             Issue Response Group Reauthorization:  To instill within the Issue Response Groups the energy, enthusiasm, and commitment of the membership-at-large, and to avoid possible stagnation effects of institutionalization, those seeking reauthorization after one year must submit a new statement of Purpose, Goals and Means to the House of Delegates.

a.             Legislation to reauthorize an Issue Response Group should address the manner in which the group’s responsibilities have been met. It must outline what aspects of the Issue Response Group mandate another year, and are sufficiently important to require extension beyond the initial year. The resolution must also address whether the initiatives of the Issue Response Group cannot be better represented within the framework of an Action Committee. Lastly, the Executive Board of the Action Committees must concur in their report that the Issue Response Group should be reauthorized.  All of these criteria must be met in order to justify to the House of Delegates an extension of one year.

C.            Statement of Purpose, Goals and Means (PGM)

1.             Definition of PGMs:  A Statement of “Purpose, Goals and Means” will define the Issue Response Group’s mission.  It will include at a minimum, but is not limited to:

a.             A clearly stated “Purpose,” using newly legislated or currently existing Principles to define specific health-related, medical, social, educational, etc. issue(s) that the Issue Response Group plans to address.  In essence, the Purpose will define the Issue Response Group’s mandate.

b.             A “Goal” stating anticipated objectives.  Goal, as used here, refers to projected accomplishments.

c.             An explanation of the “Means” and methods by which the above-mentioned goal is expected to be realized.

d.             Documentation demonstrating that issues which the Issue Response Group addresses are met best under the aegis of an Issue Response Group, and showing that other means, including existing Issue Response Groups, Action Committees, AMSA Foundation projects and other structures have been reasonably examined and determined to be unsuitable.

e.             A schedule of deliverables, listing timelines and activities to be completed by such time, to measure the progress of the Issue Response Group.

2.             Uses of PGMs:  A statement of “Purpose, Goals and Means” shall be required for:

a.             Creation of new Issue Response Groups.

b.             Reauthorization of Interest Response Groups.

D.            Functions of Action Committees

1.             Required Functions:  Action Committees shall function to provide opportunities for becoming involved in the Association in areas of general concern to AMSA. They shall be obligated to fulfill the minimal responsibilities listed below:

a.             promotion of the projects and activities of the Action Committee through maintenance and update of the Action Committee’s website, and articles for AMSA Focus; (2004)

b.             provision of educational programming at the Annual Meeting;

c.             promotion and review of AMSA’s Policies as specified in the PPP, specifically as they relate to the Action Committee’s area(s) of interest;

d.             promotion of AMSA Foundation projects relating to the Action Committee’s area(s) of interest through newsletters, programming and/or The New Physician;

e.             submission of year-end reports by Action Committee Chairs for inclusion in the Delegates’ Handbook;

f.              attendance of the Chairs at two (2) general meetings of the  Action Committees, in conjunction with meetings of the Board of Trustees, as well as two (2) meetings of the Executive Board of the Action Committees and the Chapter Officers Conference; (2004)

g.             attendance of Project Coordinators at two (2) general meetings of the Action Committees and Issue Response Groups, in conjunction with meetings of the Board of Trustees and National Convention; (2004)

h.             provision of a forum for networking at organizational meetings at Annual Meetings and regional conferences;

i.              development of and funding for projects that reflect the mandate of the Action Committee.

2.             Optional Functions:  In addition, Action Committees may have other functions.  In evaluating them, optional consideration may be given, but is not limited to:

a.             provision of a forum for open discussion of AMSA’s Principles related to the Action Committee’s interest, with a focus on revising obsolete ones and contributing to the development of new ones for consideration in the House of Delegates;

b.             provision of a vehicle for social support and opportunities to identify other medical students having common interests;

c.             provision of opportunities to edit or contribute written articles to the newsletter of The New Physician;

d.             familiarizing members with other organizations related to the Action Committee’s interest;

3.             Advocacy Board: A special function of the  Action Committees shall be to coordinate an Advocacy Board.  This Board, made up of one Action Committee Chair, an Action Committee Coordinator relevant to the subject matter, the Director of Student Programming, the National President and one representative from the Board of Trustees, shall function in the evaluation of and extension of resources available for student advocacy within the Association. They shall also investigate legitimate complaints by students to the Association, and provide whatever means possible for redress.

4.             Newsletters and Publications: Each Action Committee shall have the opportunity to publish newsletters as they see fit throughout the year.  The number and timing of such newsletters shall be determined by the budgetary resources available.  In addition, space will be set aside in The New Physician for articles of interest to the general membership.  Where applicable, confidentiality shall be maintained for the mailing lists of Committee newsletters.

E.             Functions of Issue Response Groups

1.             Required Functions: The functions of each Issue Response Group shall be specifically stated in their statement of Purposes, Goals and Means. Certain basic functions shall be required of each Issue Response Group:

a.             supervision by the Director of Student Programming, who shall serve as the Chair of all Issue Response Groups;

b.             submission of a year-end report to the House of Delegates detailing the progress made in fulfilling the PGM statement;

c.             submission of resolutions appropriate to the work completed by the Issue Response Group during the year;

d.             attendance at those meetings the Director of Student Programming deems necessary for the completion of the goals of the Issue Response Group.

2.             Optional Functions: These functions shall be designated by the resolution creating the Issue Response Group, in conjunction with the support of the Director of Student Programming.

F.             Action Committee/Issue Response Group Liaison Position

1.             Description of Action Committee/Issue Response Group Liaison Position

a.             The Action Committee/Issue Response Group Liaison must be a current member of AMSA and, preferably, an active member of a Action Committee/Issue Response Group of AMSA.

b.             The Action Committee/Issue Response Group Liaisons will be appointed by each local medical and premedical chapter.  The Vice President for Programming and the Director of Student Programming will be responsible for recruiting these individuals from chapters, which do not appoint liaisons.

c.             The Director of Student Programming will coordinate the Action Committee/Issue Response Group Liaison mailings, including collating the information, soliciting reports, and making mailings as necessary from the National office.

d.             A meeting of all Action Committee/Issue Response Group Liaisons will be held at the Annual Meeting of the Association and will be attended by the Executive Board of the Action Committees. The Vice President for Programming and the Director of Student Programming will direct this meeting and facilitate interaction between the Issue Response Group and Action Committee leaders and the chapter Action Committee/Issue Response Group Liaisons.

2.             Action Committee/Issue Response Group Liaison Timeline

The Director of Student Programming shall construct a timeline for communication with and selection of Action Committee/Issue Response Group Liaisons, and shall submit this timeline to the Steering Committee at their initial meeting for approval.