Dear ASCRS Committee Members,

At our recent meeting, the Executive Council approved reducing terms of office from three years to two years for committee leaders and members on most committees. The rationale for reducing term lengths by one year is to reduce the number of unmatched committee applicants that ASCRS has each year, while also ensuring that committees continue to have the number of members with the right experience needed to accomplish the important work of our committees. It’s our goal to offer as many members as possible the opportunity to participate on ASCRS committees. The proposal that was offered by the members of the Committee Term Task Force will create 20% more turnover and therefore more opportunity for member engagement.

At present, a member could serve up to two contiguous three-year terms or six years in total. A member who continues to a committee leadership position would serve an additional three years as vice chair, then three years as chair for a total of 12 years. Under the new model approved by the Executive Council, the total potential commitment is reduced to eight years for a member in the chair position. A very small number of committees with multi-year work products, and or as necessitated by the learning curve, will continue with three-year terms.

Implementation of the New Committee Terms
The implementation process will extend over several years, and include the following guidelines applicable to all committees migrating to two-year terms:

• All members who have served at least five years on the committee as of June 2023 will be removed from the committee.
• Starting with appointments effective June 2024, consistent with the table below, nearly all committee members will have two-year terms (i.e., two-year first term and a two-year second term).
• Committee chairs will be given the opportunity to request, subject to approval of the Committee on Committees Chair and the President, the opportunity to extend the term of one or more committee members beyond the typical end date, to complete an existing project/initiative.
• Committee members will have the opportunity to reapply to their committee, following four years of service (two terms), after a two-year break. Committee members who are ending their service as the result of the term reduction can apply for consideration for appointment to other committees in the next appointment cycle- no waiting.
• Committee term length will be incorporated in the descriptions of each committee and included on the website and communicated during the call for committee volunteers.

The following table displays the new terms.