Executive Board Archaeology Seat Position Description

Responsibilities of the Board

A member of the AAA Executive Board (EB) helps to set the vision and strategic direction of the association, safeguard the organization’s assets, and ensure the fiscal, legal and ethical integrity of the association. EB members also translate the shared values and interests of the members into organizational plans and programs, determine desired organizational outcomes, and assess progress in achieving those outcomes. All authority contained in this job description should be understood to be those as part of the Executive Board as a unit and no individual authority is inferred.

As the highest leadership body of the organization and to satisfy its fiduciary duties, the Executive Board is held responsible to

  1. Maintain knowledge of the American Anthropological Association bylaws, structure, activities, and processes, and determine the Association’s mission.
  2. Maintain a personal commitment to the Association’s goals and objectives.
  3. Meet at least once annually and at such other times as may be deemed necessary.
  4. Appoint, support, set objectives, and evaluate the performance of the Executive Director.
  5. Nominate candidates for any elected Association office except for the three (3) Section Assembly designated seats on the Executive Board.
  6. Appoint the Association Treasurer, Executive Director, and the Editors of the American Anthropologist and other association special publications and monographs.
  7. Provide strategic and organizational planning, including approving and monitoring the organization’s programs and services.
  8. Authorize committees, define their duties, receive their reports, and take action as required.
  9. Authorize the establishment of new AAA Sections and Interest Groups and create policies and procedures for their continued maintenance.
  10. Appoint representatives to other bodies, define their duties, and receive their reports.
  11. Establish and make known association governing policies and assess performance as the overall governing body of the organization.
  12. Approve the place and the date of the Annual Meeting and provide notice to all members.
  13. Authorize revenues and expenditures of Association funds through the annual budget process or as needed during other times of the year.
  14. Engage in fundraising and resource development to identify and secure the financial resources and partnerships necessary for the organization to advance its mission.
  15. Establish appropriate fiscal policies and controls and manage financial oversights.
  16. Employ a certified public accountant to conduct annual external audits of Association financial records.
  17. Ensure legal and ethical integrity.

Responsibilities of Individual Board Members

The Archaeology Seat is expected to

  1. Know the organization’s mission, policies, programs, and needs as well as understand its collective purpose.
  2. Read and understand the organization’s financial statements and board materials to prepare for and participate in meetings.
  3. Represent the subfield of Archaeology and the interests of its practitioners.
  4. Leverage connections, networks, and resources to develop collective action to achieve the organization’s mission.
  5. Serve as active advocates and ambassadors for the organization.
  6. Abide by the association’s Conflict of Interest Policies and will annually sign the conflict-of-interest disclosure and update it during the year if necessary.
  7. Serve as a member of the Association Operations Committee, or the Anthropological Communication Committee.
  8. Uphold the legal duties and laws regarding nonprofit governance, and follow the organization’s bylaws, policies, and board resolutions.
  9. Maintain confidentiality about all internal matters of the organization.
  10. Board members are encouraged to make a personal gift at a level that is personally meaningful to them.

Note: This job description is subject to modification based on the evolving needs of the AAA.

AAA Mission Statement, Values, and Vision

AAA’s mission is to advance anthropology as a discipline of scientific and humanistic research, practice, and teaching that increases our fundamental understanding of humankind, and applies this understanding in addressing the world’s most pressing problems. AAA’s vision is to enrich the discipline’s intellectual terrain, challenging ourselves to dismantle the barriers that have hindered preparation, entry and career progression for scholars and practitioners, with special focus on anthropologists who have been alienated from, harmed by, or marginalized by the Association. The core values that guide the AAA in realizing this vision are equity, inclusion, accessibility, quality, and sustainability.

Board Structure

The responsibility for all matters of Association-wide governance rests with the Executive Board. Its governance obligations require participation by the 4 subfields and 2 dimensions of Anthropology. Therefore, the Executive Board shall be composed of 17 seats as follows:

  • President
  • President-elect/ Vice President
  • Secretary
  • Section Assembly Convenor
  • Cultural Anthropology
  • Linguistic Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Biological Anthropology
  • Practicing/ Professional Anthropology
  • Minority Anthropologist
  • Student Anthropologist
  • 3 Undesignated Seats
  • Small Section Assembly Seat
  • Medium Section Assembly Seat
  • Large Section Assembly Seat

Qualifications

  • Candidates for election to the board must be voting AAA members.
  • Previous leadership experience, in AAA and/or its Sections, either appointed or elected.
  • Evidence of leadership (e.g., in a Department, College or University, or in a non-AAA organization.)

Selection: Executive Board members are elected by the membership at large.

Term of Office: Three-year term.