PSA Seeks Executive Director
The Pacific Sociological Association seeks candidates for the position of Executive Director. The Executive Director is the principal staff officer of the PSA and reports directly to the PSA Council. He or she has primary responsibility for PSA correspondence, for budgeting, for maintaining and updating financial accounts, the disbursement of funds, the membership list and email and snail mail addresses of members, organizing and administering the annual meeting, and coordinating with other support staff, the PSA Council and the committees of the association. Additional support staff may include a treasurer, secretary, and office manager or student assistant.
It is expected that the successful candidate will be an active or recently active PSA faculty member from a college or university in the Pacific region, and that compensation, if required, will primarily be in the form of partial release time paid for by the PSA. Alternative arrangements may be possible and different kinds of candidates may be considered. The final terms of the appointment, including compensation, will be subject to negotiation.
Applications and nominations should be sent to the PSA Office atpsa@sdsu.edu no later than Friday, March 16, 2012. Applications and nominations should include a c.v., a statement describing the nature of the applicant’s interest in the position, an indication of the kind of support if any (e.g. release time) that the applicant is seeking, and a list of at least three professional references aware of the candidate’s managerial experience and/or interest and capacity.
The starting date of the individual selected would be July 1, 2013. Candidates should have their materials to the PSA Office by March 16, 2012. The candidate selected for the Executive Position at the 2012 PSA meeting will shadow the current Executive Director on emails, etc. and learn about the operations of the Executive Office of the PSA.
The Pacific Sociological Association was established in 1929. The PSA is the professional association of sociologists for the western region of the United States, Mexico, and Canada: Hawaii, Montana, Oregon California, Nevada, Utah, Alaska, Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, Idaho, Washington, British Columbia, Alberta, and Baja California and Chihuahua in Mexico. Membership includes professors and students working at colleges and universities located throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada, but especially those who live in the western region of those countries. There are between 1,300 and 1,400 members.
The Association holds an annual meeting that is organized around 180-200 sessions on a variety of sociological topics and which attracts approximately 1,000 registrants. The PSA also publishes a newsletter,The Pacific Sociologist, and a quarterly journal, Sociological Perspectives, which is published by the University of California Press.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PSA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND SUPPORT STAFF
Supervision
Coordinates and oversees the work, decisions and activities of the support staff
Finance
Collects membership dues, registration fees for the annual meeting, manuscript fees, and journal income. *
Maintains detailed financial records and produces monthly and yearlyreports.*
Maintains checking and CD accounts. *
Files appropriate tax returns. * and ***
Pays bills when due. *
Deals with all correspondence and activities associated with the financial well being of the association. ***
Oversees the endowment fund.
Membership
Maintains membership records, including membership and registration data, email and snail mail addresses. * and ***
Publications
Prepares the copy for the online PSA Newsletter, The Pacific Sociologist, which is published three times per year. ** and ***
Maintains the subscription list for the PSA journal, Sociological Perspectives and the PSA Newsletter, The Pacific Sociologist. * and ***
Works closely with the editor or Co-editors of the PSA journal.
Works with the Publications Committee and Council to negotiate contracts for publishing the journal.
Takes minutes of the Council Meetings for the PSA Newsletter. **
Annual Meeting
Oversees site selection, hotel selection, all arrangements for the annual meeting and negotiates contracts with hotels for the annual meeting.
Works closely with the PSA president and chair of the annual program committee on developing the program, session proposal forms, session organizer forms, the call for papers, call for sessions, preliminary program and final program. ***
Staffs the registration table at the annual meeting, prepares the final program, sets up committee meeting rooms, and processes registration and memberships. ***
Prepares award presentations for the annual meeting. ***
Conducts the annual PSA Business meeting.
Conducts the awards ceremony and presidential session at the annual meeting.
Establishes Council agenda and meeting times at the annual meeting.
Council and Committees
Works with and communicates closely with members of PSA Council, chairs of PSA committees and committee members. **
Works with the Council members and the PSA president to set the agenda for Council meetings
Attends meetings of PSA committees during the annual meeting. **
Maintains and updates committee and officer handbooks. ** and ***
Web Page
Maintains and updates the PSA Web site and all Web pages. ***
PSA Office and Governance
Sets up and arranges the PSA Office, including email, fax, phone, and mailing (including Bulk Mail Permit). ***
Produces mass mailings (both email and snail mail) for association activities, including the annual meeting, dues renewals, new member drives, elections and marketing of the association. ***
Maintains the constitution and by-laws and provides interpretations of policies and other governance issues when necessary.
Follows the rules and procedures in the PSA Constitution.
Updates the history of the PSA through writing a brief history of each year’s events and activities.
*Can be done by or partially done by the PSA Treasurer
** Can be done by or partially done by the PSA Secretary
***Can be done by or partially done by the office manager or student assistant
