Mid South Area Office Professionals
Charter and By Laws
Revised September 2007

A. Mission and Goal:

  1. The mission of the Mid South Area Council for Office Professionals (MSACOP) is to provide a resource for the Area Director’s Office and all levels of management for matters relating to office professionals.
  2. The goal of the Council is to enhance office professionals through training, networking, mentoring, and recognition of office support employees. It is the desire of the Council to work with all levels of management to assure that office support staff are highly skilled and motivated professionals and to assure that the clerical and administrative needs of the Mid South Area and ARS are met.

B. Objectives:

The objectives of the Council include:

  1. Welcome and provide basic information to all new program assistants, secretaries, and office automation clerks.
  2. Encourage effective communication among the office support staff.
  3. Continue mentoring and networking among office support staff for efficient working relationships which can provide assistance and back-up between various offices, as needed.
  4. Keep office support staff informed of new procedures, forms, and systems via web-site and local information meetings.
  5. Identify and advise the Area Director’s office and all levels of management of matters concerning the office support profession.
  6. Identify ways and means to maintain a professional image for the office professional and recommend and promote recognition for office professionals.

C. Scope of Coverage

The Council will serve as the representative for office support staff in the Mid South Area. This includes employees in the Secretarial Series, GS-318; Office Automation Series, GS-326; Office Automation Assistant Series, GS-322; and Miscellaneous Clerk and Assistance Series, GS-303.

D. Council Membership

To be eligible for membership, the following criteria must be met: 1) permanent, full-time employee with at least two year’s experience with ARS in one of the series listed under “Scope of Coverage”; 2) willingness to promote mission and goals of the council and devote time necessary to serve on committees; and 3) must have full support and approval of supervisor. Cuirrent Council members must have non-voting status for one year to be eligible for reappointment to the Council.

When vacancies occur, an advertisement will be prepared by Area Office representative and sent to all office professionals. Applications will be reviewed and selection made by the Executive Committee which consists of the following: Senior Chair, Junior Chair, Recorder, Sponsor, Area Office Representative, Technical Advisor, and out-going Senior Chair.

The Council will be comprised of no more than 9 rotating voting members, 2 permanent voting members (Webmaster and Area Director’s Assistant), 4 non-voting members (past Senior Chair, National Technical Advisor, Sponsor, and Sponsor’s Assistant). Each rotating member will serve a three-year term beginning June 1st, after which they will rotate off and another representative is selected.

The Council will have a Senior Chair and a Junior Chair, elected by the Council at the Annual MSACOP Meeting and immediately assume their roles. The Senior Chair shall be a third year Council member and the Junior Chair shall be a second year Council member. The Junior Chair will automatically become Senior Chair the following year. After serving a term as Senior Chair, that member shall remain on the Council for one additional year as an Ex-Officio Member. Also, after serving a term as Technical Advisor, that member will remain on the Council for one additional year as an Ex-Officio Member.

The Associate Area Director serves as Sponsor for the MSACOP.

The Recorder will serve a one-year term.

Additional members may be added for specific technical expertise, as needed.

E. Roles and Responsibilities of Council Members

Senior Chair will:

  1. Organize conference calls, meetings, and issue agendas.
  2. Preside at all conference calls and meetings.
  3. Advise and work with management on implementing policies and programs.
  4. Appoint chairpersons of subcommittees.

Junior Chair will:

  1. Assist Senior Chair in all duties.
  2. Assume appropriate duties in absence of Senior Chair.
  3. Serve as first line of contact for subcommittees’ problems.
  4. Develop correspondence and obtain appropriate approvals prior to dissemination.
  5. Prepare annual reports of accomplishments and goals to the National Council.

Recorder will:

  1. Record minutes and attendance of all conference calls and meetings.
  2. Maintain an accurate roster and e-mail list of Council membership.
  3. Notify Chair if unable to participate in teleconferences then designate/provide Sr. Chair with the name of an agreeable substitute.
  4. E-mail Sr. Chair draft minutes within 5 working days of meeting/teleconference.
  5. After Sr. Chair’s approval, distribute highlights and action items of meetings/teleconference.
  6. Maintain the yearly MSACOP records.
  7. Prepare and distribute correspondence as appropriate.
  8. Provide a copy of the records to the incoming Recorder.
  9. Provide original Charter with signatures and minutes of meetings to Area Office for filing.

Webmaster will:

  1. Keep MSACOP website updated and functioning.
  2. Serve as liaison with Area IT personnel.


Chairpersons will:

  1. Independently perform all duties of their assigned committee.
  2. Report any problems in a timely manner to the Junior Chair.
  3. Prepare a quarterly activity report for submission to the Senior and Junior Chairs. Reports will be submitted by the first working day of each month.

All members will:

  1. Support and actively participate in the activities of the Council.
  2. Serve as advisors to office professionals in the Mid South Area.
  3. Collect and report information on significant activities and questions.
  4. Keep ARS office support staff aware of information and activities of the Council.
  5. Inform Area Director, Associate Area Director, Deputy Director, Center Directors, Research Leaders, and LAO’s of accomplishments and recommendations of annual meeting.

F. Operating Procedures

  1. Conference calls will be held bimonthly and more frequently when necessary.
  2. The Council will meet once a year.
  3. Minutes of each conference call will be taken by the Recorder; accomplishments will be summarized at the completion of each call by the Recorder. Minutes will be approved by the MSACOP Sponsor and Senior Chair before dissemination to Council.
  4. An annual report will be provided to ARS management and the National Advisory Council for Office Professionals (NACOP).
  5. All decisions will be by simple majority vote of the Council members present. For official voting purposes, a quorum of 7 members must vote.
  6. Highlights and action items will be distributed to ARS management and the NACOP.
In addition, the Council will adhere to the following principles:
  1. All members will be expected to participate in meetings and conference calls.
  2. Confidentiality of all discussions will be maintained.
  3. Appropriate subcommittees will be established.

The charter has been signed by all council members and the original can be found filed in the MSA Office.

Questions or comments concerning the MSA Council for Office Professionals may be directed to: Lucienne Savell, webmaster.

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Last Modified: September 19, 2007