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Effective Date: 5/12/75

Series: Departmental Management

Part 308: Committee Management

Chapter 4: Departmental Committees

Originating Office: Immediate Office of the Secretary

4.1 Authority. The authority to create, change or abolish a Departmental committee is vested in the Secretarial officers noted in 308 DM 1.4B.

4.2 Definition. As defined in 308 DM 1.2D, a Departmental committee is any committee (excluding ad hoc or informal committees) which is composed wholly of employees from two or more bureaus or offices of the Department.

4.3 Purpose and Functions. Departmental committees may be used by the authorized Secretarial official to coordinate similar, related or overlapping activities; to develop project plans and operating procedures; to conduct studies or surveys; to provide advice; or other such cooperative services.

4.4 Management. The official exercising authority is responsible for the assignment of purpose, selection of members, schedule of meetings, tenure of members, required reports, record-keeping, duration of committee, etc. He is also responsible for the appointment of a committee management officer to maintain the records and make the reports noted in 308 DM 4.8, and to make an annual review of the Departmental committees under his jurisdiction to determine the necessity for their continuation.

4.5 Membership and Expenses. The members of Departmental committees shall be employees of the Department. Service on Departmental committees shall be considered as part of an employee=s regular duties, and no employee will receive any additional compensation for such committee service over and above his regular compensation as an employee. Statements of Employment and Financial Interests (Form DI 212) will be required to be filed with the appropriate Counselor based on determination made by the authorizing official that the committee is subject to the Conflict of Interest Statutes and Regulations.

4.6 Selection of Members. Selection of a bureau or office employee as a member of a Departmental committee may be based on the employee=s particular expertise, or on his capability as a representative of his bureau or office. The authorizing official, in requesting a bureau or office to select or to make available the services of an employee, should indicate whether he is expected to be an expert or a bureau/office representative. If the employee is to represent his organization, he is expected to express its official position, to make agreements which are subject to further review within his organization, and to keep his supervising officials fully informed about committee activity.

4.7 Administrative Support. While the responsibility for the management of a Departmental committee rests with the authorized Secretarial official, the administrative support is generally provided by the bureau or office principally concerned with the committee=s activities.

4.8 Records and Reports. To provide a base for reports that may be required from time to time by the Office of the Secretary or outside agencies, the record-keeping items listed in 308 DM 3.13A(1) will be maintained for a Departmental committee by the committee management officer of the office of the authorized Secretarial official, or of the bureau or office providing administrative support.

4.9 Procedures - Establishment, Change, Abolishment. The establishment of a Departmental committee may be proposed by the authorized Secretarial official or by a bureau or office which has an interest in the creation of such a committee. Proposals for change or abolishment may originate from the same sources.

A. Proposals. Any proposal to establish, change, or abolish a Departmental committee shall be prepared for the approval of the authorizing Secretarial official (308 DM 1.4B).

(1) To establish a Departmental committee, a charter should be prepared containing the information noted in the list of items required for committee charters (308 DM 2.8A) and any other information which would be useful for proper consideration.

(2) A proposal to substantially change, or to withdraw from the membership of a committee should include only enough detail to explain the change requested or justify the withdrawal.

(3) A proposal to abolish a committee should also include recommendations for disposition of the committee=s records.

B. Implementation. After approval, the official or organization designated in the committee=s charter will carry out all management and administrative actions associated with the operation of the committee.

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5/12/75 #3516

Replaces 5/12/75 #1759