CHARTER OF THE BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC STATISTICS SECTION

(Revised 1992, 2001)

Article I. NAME

The name of this organization is the Business and Economic Statistics Section (hereafter called the Section) of the American Statistical Association (hereafter called the Association).

Article II. SCOPE AND PURPOSE

The principal fields of interest of the Business and Economic Statistics Section shall be the relation of statistical techniques and philosophy to:

1. General statistics of gross national product, flow of funds, input-output, national income and wealth; industrial and agricultural production; construction, transportation, communication and distribution; population, labor force, employment and unemployment; productivity, wages, costs and prices; money, credit, and fiscal developments; international trade and finance; and other economic factors.
2. Internal administrative statistics valuable in the conduct of business or in reaching decisions on business policy.
3. Statistical analysis of the relation between various business, economic, social, and other pertinent factors.
4. Criticism and reformulation of stated economic principles in the light of statistical analysis.
5. Improvement in the quality of statistical data used by business and government for policy purposes.
6. Forecasts of business and economic activity, commodity prices, costs, employment, income, and other economic variables.
7. Methods of surveying, collecting, and processing statistical data, and presentation of data and analytical results.
8. Statistics of consumer and market research and their relation to the production and distribution of goods and services.

Article III. FUNCTIONS

The functions of the Business and Economic Statistics Section will be:

1. To plan, in cooperation with the Association's Program Committee, appropriate sessions on business and economic statistics at the Annual Meeting of the Association.
2. To stimulate the preparation of articles dealing with business and economic statistics for publication under Association auspices.
3. To aid, by whatever special ways possible, the general development of the American Statistical Association, including expansion of the membership.
4. To produce separate publications, either as monographs or as periodic bulletins, as developments in the Section may demand, subject to any relevant procedures or conditions specified in the Association's Constitution and By-Laws and the Charter of the Council of Sections.
5. To assist in the development of sectional or area meetings as interests may suggest.
6. To establish and maintain liaison with related professional societies, and with other sections of the American Statistical Association.

Article IV. ORGANIZATION

A. Membership

Any full member of the Association may become a member of the Section by paying dues to the Section. The membership year for each member of the Section shall coincide with that member's membership year in the Association.

B. Officers and Representatives to the Council of Sections

The officers of the Section shall be the Chair, the Chair-elect, the Program Chair, the Program Chair-elect, the Publications Officer, and the Secretary/Treasurer. In addition, the Section shall elect a number of Representatives to the Association's Council of Sections, such number to be determined by the Charter of the Council of Sections. The Section Officers and the Representatives to the Council of Sections shall constitute the Executive Committee of the Section.

The Chair is the chief officer of the Section and shall preside at all meetings of the Section and the Executive Committee. The Chair, with the approval of the Executive Committee, may designate committees or individuals to carry out functions of the Section. The Chair shall coordinate the work of the officers and committees of the Section, and shall review the regular financial reports provided by the Association's central office.

The Chair-elect shall preside over meetings of the Section and the Executive Committee in the absence of the Chair. In consultation with the Chair, the Chair-elect shall prepare the budget of the Section for the year in which the Chair-elect will be Chair. The Chair-elect shall also serve as chair of the Committee to Nominate Fellows, established in part F. of this Article.

The Program Chair shall be responsible for developing and coordinating the Section's sessions and other program events at national and regional meetings of the Association. The Program Chair serves as a member of the Association's Program Committee.

The Program Chair-elect shall assist the Program Chair and serve as a member of the Association's Program Committee for the year in which the Program Chair-elect will be Program Chair.

The Publications Officer shall serve as the Section's representative on Association committees concerned with section publication matters. The Publications Officer shall coordinate activities within the Section related to publications sponsored by the Section. The Publications Officer shall solicit the views of the Section's members concerning the content and operation of the Association's journals and shall bring those views to the attention of the Editors. When requested by the Editors, the Publications Officer shall assist in soliciting, reading, and editing articles on business and economic statistics for publication in the Association's journals.

The Secretary/Treasurer shall be responsible for the minutes of all meetings of the Section and the Executive Committee. The Secretary/Treasurer shall also assist the Chair-elect in preparing the annual budget, shall monitor the Section's dues collections and expenditures, and shall prepare an annual report on the financial condition of the Section.

The Representatives to the Council of Sections shall serve as members of the Executive Committee and shall represent the interests of the Section and its members on matters that come before the Council of Sections.

C. Terms of Office

The term of office for Section officers shall be one year, except for the Secretary/Treasurer, whose term shall be two years, and the Publications Officer, whose term shall be three years. No officer shall be eligible for immediate re-election to the same office except the Secretary/Treasurer. The Chair-elect and the Program Chair-elect shall automatically succeed the Chair and the Program Chair, respectively, at the annual change of officers, which shall occur on January 1.

The term of office for the Representatives to the Council of Sections shall be as specified in the Charter of the Council of Sections. No such Representative shall be eligible for immediate re-election to the same office.

If the office of Chair becomes vacant, the Chair-elect shall become the Chair, the term extending through the following year. Other vacancies shall be filled by appointment by the Chair, with the approval of the Executive Committee.

D. Method of Nomination and Election

Each year the Section's Committee on Nominations shall submit, to the Secretary of the Association and the Section Chair, at least two candidates for each position to be filled. All candidates shall be Section members. The Association's general deadline for submission of nominations shall apply. These nominees are to be included in the Association's annual mail ballot for Association and section elections. All balloting procedures for Section elections shall conform to those used in balloting for Association officers.

Additional nominations may be made by submitting a petition, signed by at least 25 members of the Section, to the Section Chair and the Secretary of the Association. Such a petition must be submitted within 45 days after the mailing date of the publication announcing the names of the candidates submitted by the Committee on Nominations.

E. Committee on Nominations

The Committee on Nominations of the Section shall consist of three members of the Section appointed by the Chair to serve until the next Annual Business Meeting of the Section. Not more than one member of the Committee on Nominations shall be a member of the Executive Committee.

The Committee on Nominations shall make the nominations for the officers of the Section and for the positions of Representatives to the Council of Sections as provided for in Article IV.D above.

F. Committee to Nominate Fellows

The Committee to Nominate Fellows shall consist of three members of the Section, including the Chair-elect, who shall serve as chair of the committee. Each year the Committee shall identify members of the Section who would be suitable nominees for the honor of Fellow of the American Statistical Association (as described in the By-Laws of the Association) and shall coordinate preparation and submission of any such nominations.

G. Other Committees and Functions

The Section Chair may establish such other committees and functions as are deemed necessary to carry out the work of the Section. The Section Chair shall appoint members and chairs of any such committees and individuals to carry out functions, and specify their terms. All committee chairs shall be members of the Section.

H. Conduct of Business

The Annual Business Meeting of the Section shall be held in connection with the Annual Meeting of the Association and shall be announced in the printed program of that meeting. Between Annual Business Meetings the Chair and Executive Committee shall manage the business of the Section.

I. Setting of Section Dues

The Executive Committee may propose a change in Section dues at the Annual Business Meeting of the Section. Such proposed changes shall be approved or rejected by majority vote of the members present.

Article V. AMENDMENTS

Amendments to this Charter may be proposed by the Executive Committee of the Section, or by a petition signed by at least 25 members of the Section and submitted to the Executive Committee. Proposed amendments shall be submitted to the members of the Section for mail vote at the time of the next annual election of officers. If approved by a majority of the members of the Section voting, any amendments shall take effect immediately. A copy of the amendments shall be filed with the Secretary of the Association.

Note: This file was created as an html file fro1m the file Chrtrbe.wpd supplied by William Bell on August 20, 1998. The file Chrtrbe.wpd has been replaced by CharterBESection.pdf, and should be considered the official charter of the section and is linked to from this page.

Brian C. Monsell reformatted this page in January 2001, but in no way changed the content until the revisions approved by the Execuative Committee in August 2001 were ratified by the membership.