CTMSS Standing Committees:
Standing Committees, also called operating committees, are formed by the BOD to address matters that demand ongoing attention and are of vital concern to the organization and the BOD. For example, the Legal, Business, and Ethics Committee exists to tackle matters in those three areas and report to the BOD. Members of a standing committee are chosen only from the general membership of the organization. The duration of a standing committee is typically unlimited.
Standing Committees Roles and Responsibilities:
Membership and Outreach Committee:
Per the bylaws, the Membership and Outreach Committee shall be responsible for promoting the value of membership in the Corporation and expanding the membership of the Corporation. It will also serve as the communication liaison between the Society, the members and the general public.
As far as membership, the duties of this committee include the expansion of membership, which shall include all TMS providers and others who are involved with administering, selling, manufacturing, testing, servicing, or otherwise using TMS devices. In addition, this committee shall be responsible for reviewing applications for new membership and for reviewing membership of existing members.
The Membership and Outreach Committee shall make recommendations, as is necessary, to the Board, for acceptance and termination of membership.
Duties of this committee shall include developing and maintaining outreach to patients, family members, members of the organization, medical professionals who are not TMS prescribers, and the general public via the website, press releases, social media, and the newsletter. The website is under the umbrella of this committee.
Clinical Standards Committee:
The duties of this committee shall be to develop and maintain the clinical standards of treating patients with TMS. These guidelines shall cover patient selection, use of protocols, and the level of training and supervision required for administration of treatment. As other indications arise, the committee shall develop and maintain further standards consistent with the previous standards.
Research Committee:
The duties of this committee shall be to review current and past applicable research in order to keep the Society members informed of the data via the website and/or newsletter of the corporation.
The committee can encourage members to share and pool their clinical outcome data in order to submit ideas to institutions for research to help the goals of the Society. The committee is responsible for promoting and coordinating the research poster section at the Annual Meeting.
Insurance Committee:
The duties of this committee shall be to liaise with public and private payors, to create policies relevant to treatment guidelines, and to provide members with materials that will assist in the pre-authorization and appeals processes.
Legal, Business, and Ethics Committee:
Per the bylaws, the Legal, Business, & Ethics Committee manages all legal, business, and ethical issues related to the Corporation.
The duties of this committee shall be to inform and educate the Society members on legal, business, and ethical issues. This information can be made available through coordination with Outreach Committee in the newsletter or on the website.
The committee reviews grievances and recommends responses. In addition, the Legal, Business, & Ethics Committee shall periodically review the Bylaws, Policies and Procedures, Conflict of Interest forms, and other official documents, and make recommendations to the Board for any proposed changes.
This committee shall be responsible for reviewing all Board of Director and committee chairs and co-chairs’ conflicts of interest, except for the LBE Committee, whose co-chairs should be reviewed by the Society Secretary.
Annual Meeting Committee:
The Annual Meeting Committee shall plan and host the corporation’s Annual Meeting.
Education Committee:
The Education Committee shall fulfill the mission of Society by collaborating, planning and executing educational activities and materials, including but not limited to the Grand Rounds program.
Training Committee:
The TMS Training Committee shall be responsible for overseeing in-person and online training courses. By the 3rd Board meeting of each board year, the TMS Training Committee will present the slate of proposed PULSES course locations and dates for the following calendar year. For example, the plan for 2025 would be prepared to present to the Board of Directors and Executive Committee before the February 2024 Committee Meetings.
Board Oversight of EC:
The Executive Committee (EC) is uniquely authorized by the Society’s Bylaws to act on behalf of the Board of Directors and the Society as a whole. The actions of the EC shall be reported in the minutes of their meetings, and these minutes shall be circulated to the Directors soon after each meeting to make the Board aware of these actions in a timely fashion. As well, at the periodic meetings of the Board, the Society President shall review the EC’s actions since the prior meeting of the Board, and the Board shall vote on affirming these interim actions.
Nominating Committee:
The Nominating Committee shall be responsible for presenting to the Voting Members, at least thirty (30) days prior to the Annual Meeting of the Members, a slate of nominees for election as directors to fill the class of directors whose term is expiring that year.
The Nominating Committee shall consist of at least two (2) Voting Members of the Corporation, one of whom shall have been a Voting Member of the Corporation for at least two (2) full years. At the February 2022 Board meeting, the Board approved that the Nominations Committee include the Membership Committee Co-Chair, Legal, Business and Ethics Committee Co-Chair and Immediate Past-President. If, in the nominating process, the Committee should have questions or for any reason should reach a stalemate, the committee shall immediately approach the Board of Directors for assistance in resolving the question or stalemate. In the event no willing candidates for an elective office are obtained via nominations received from the members, the Committee shall solicit candidates at its own discretion.
The Committee shall submit to the members of the Corporation the names of all eligible members who have expressed a willingness to run for director positions. The Nominating Committee shall also be responsible for soliciting candidates for officer positions, and for submitting a slate of nominees for election as officers prior to the Board’s annual meeting.
No member of the Nominating Committee shall be a candidate for any elective position as an officer or director of the Corporation. The members of the Nominating Committee need not be directors.
Committee Objectives:
CTMSS Standing Committees will establish objectives to include specific projects and activities to benefit the CTMSS membership. As appropriate, the CTMSS Executive Committee and/or Board may direct or suggest that individual CTMSS Standing Committees study and make recommendations on certain projects, programs, or policy positions. CTMSS standing committees should report quarterly to the CTMSS Board on their respective activities and work programs.
On no occasion will a Standing Committee endorse a program/project or adopt a policy position on behalf of the Society. In such instances, CTMSS Standing Committees will communicate with the Executive Committee in between Board meetings and seek the Executive Committee’s advice and direction.
Committee Membership:
Membership on CTMSS Standing Committees is limited to individuals who are active CTMSS members in good standing.
Term and Attendance:
Committee members are appointed for a specified term, not to exceed 2 years. Committee membership is conditioned upon attendance at seventy-five percent of the committee meetings and activities in each calendar year.
CTMSS is appreciative of the voluntary work of Society members who serve on our committees. It is the Society’s desire that members have sufficient time to devote 1 hour monthly or bimonthly and any other time needed to perform the tasks of the committee. If a member misses 25% or more during a 12-month period or three (3) consecutive meetings, as unexcused absences determined by the co-chairs, then the co-chairs of that committee may remove and replace them. If the absenteeism of the committee is sufficiently high that it is difficult to obtain a quorum, the co-chairs may replace absentee committee members with new committee members beginning with the member with the most absences.
Meetings:
Each committee can determine how frequently the committee should meet. A minimum of four committee meetings will be held each calendar year.
Size of Committees:
In general, standing committees should consist of no more than 12 active members, but this number may be increased at the discretion of the committee’s co-chairs.
Composition of Committees:
Standing Committees are formed with consideration to:
- Potential members' individual fields of expertise, related experience, and size and type of governmental unit;
- The committee's technical area of interest; and
- The committee members' overall geographic balance.
Appointment of Standing Committee Members:
The following process will be completed before appointment to a standing committee:
- The executive director and staff will develop an application form for completion by individuals interested in serving on a CTMSS standing committee. The form will solicit pertinent information regarding the individual's background and expertise. In addition, the form will make clear to the candidate the degree of commitment required to serve on a standing committee.
- Staff will provide the committee member applications to the committee cochairs. The cochairs will review and approve. Applications will be passed by staff to each committee’s cochairs for review and approval.
- To the extent possible, committee membership shall be diverse and represent constituents from large and small entities, academic and clinical.
Interim Terms:
Should a committee chair opening occur, the Executive Committee shall appoint a replacement to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term. To the extent possible, preference should be given to current members of the committee.
Should a committee membership opening occur, the co-chairs of that committee shall appoint a replacement to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.
Should an individual temporarily be unable to serve in their role (e.g., due to a time-limited illness), a temporary replacement may be appointed; this shall be done by the co-chairs if the individual is serving on a Committee, or by the EC if it is co-chair or a representative from the Society to another body (e.g., ACROSS Representative.)
Quorum:
Official actions by a committee require a quorum of more than fifty percent of voting members to be present and voting. Should a quorum not exist, the committee may file a report summarizing committee recommendations, but the report should indicate that a quorum did not exist and official action was not concluded. Ex Officio members do not count toward a quorum.
Staff Support:
CTMSS staff members responsible for standing committees are to provide logistical, editorial, and technical support, and general secretarial services. Committee members are to continue to have primary responsibility for developing and completing programs and projects of benefit to the CTMSS membership.
Ex-Officio Members:
The CTMSS President may serve as a Voting Member of standing committees in an ex-officio capacity, and as such is excluded from the determination of quorum. After the expiration of the President’s term, they will be eligible for appointment to any standing committee.
Breakdown of Terms for Chairs:
In order to minimize confusion, both chairs will be called co-chairs and will have equal responsibilities. Co-chairs will take turns chairing the meetings. For following terms and to have continuity in the committee leadership, whomever has the longest tenure would be reappointed for ONE year while the new cochair will be appointed for TWO years. If both co-chairs were appointed at the same time, then whomever was on the committee longest gets the 1-year term with the ability to be reappointed for 2 years after that. Regardless of who gets 1- or 2-year terms, the next tenure reappointment would be for 2 years.