Conference Co-Sponsorship Policy | AIChE

Conference Co-Sponsorship Policy

Co-sponsorship of meetings with other organizations

Introduction

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers encourages the pursuit of joint activities in areas of mutual interest with other national and international societies and organizations. This section of the manual is intended to protect the Institute while facilitating cooperation by providing some guidelines for reviewing requests for co-sponsorship or inviting co-sponsorships.

These guidelines apply to any unit of the Institute, including Divisions, Forums and Local Sections entering into agreements for co-sponsored events as requested by other entities and for agreements where the Institute invites a co-sponsorship. They are intended as guidelines and not as absolute rules. These guidelines will be applied by the Executive Board of the Program Committee (EBPC)* of AIChE in the consideration of requests for approval of co-sponsorships involving the Institute, its technical divisions and forums, and its local sections.

Policy objectives
  • To define the way in which the AIChE (including Divisions, Forums and Local Sections) lends its name to co-sponsor meetings of other societies.
  • To encourage the pro-active solicitation of co-sponsorship.
  • To use co-sponsorships as a vehicle to increase attendance at AIChE meetings, and
  • To widen the AIChE's visibility by co-sponsoring meetings of other organizations.

Definitions

Co-sponsorship.

  • Financial co-sponsorship, is where the Institute or one or more of its technical divisions or local sections in collaboration with other organizations jointly arranges the event, contributes to its programming and has a financial stake in the meeting.
  • Non-Financial co-sponsorship is where the Institute or one or more of its technical divisions or local sections allows other organizations to use its name and symbols as a co-sponsor but has no formal involvement in the programming or arranging of the event and no financial responsibilities.
  • Invited co-sponsorship – where the Institute or one or more of its technical divisions or local sections pursues the co-sponsorship of an outside organization which may or may not be governed by a specific agreement.

Requests for Co-sponsorship

All requests for co-sponsorships must be sent to the Director of Technical Programming (programming@aiche.org) for AIChE.  Requests should be accompanied by an explanation addressing adherence or exceptions to the general guidelines for AIChE co-sponsorship of meetings .

All requests for co-sponsorship should at a minimum contain the following:

(See Attachment A - Request for Co-Sponsorship Form)

  • The dates, location, purpose and official title of the event.
  • The names and address of the external organization and the key contact in each organization.
  • A statement regarding the financial status--for-profit or not-for-profit--of the other co-sponsoring organizations.

Requirements for Co-sponsorship

Co-sponsored events should meet the following criteria:

  1. Co-sponsorship of an event must advance the goals of the Institute or one of its entities.
  2. The principal objective of any co-sponsored event should be the dissemination of technical information and topics appropriate to the Institute and its entities. Ancillary profit-making operations such as expositions and meeting reprints, etc., are permitted only in support of the principal objective.
  3. The Institute, a technical division, or a local section should not co-sponsor an event where the co-sponsor is a commercial profit-making organization unless there is a clear benefit to the Institute or its membership.
  4. Co-sponsorship of an event in direct conflict with dates of an AIChE technical programming (i.e. national, regional, local, and/or divisional meetings) should first have a consultation from all affected groups with the final approval by EBPC.
  5. AIChE members should be granted a favorable registration rate (preferably equal to the sponsoring society’s member rate).

When the Institute is the co-sponsor

When the AIChE is the non-financial co-sponsor, the EBPC is delegated and is authorized to approve the request. If AIChE has a financial stake in a conference, EBPC should be consulted, but the final decision rests ultimately with the Executive Director and/or the Board of Directors.

  • New Requests:  The Director of Technical Programming should review any new requests and make a recommendation to EBPC (or its delegated subcommittee) for approval or disapproval after completion of the following:
    • The Technical Programming Director has examined the proposed program for compliance with the requirements for co-sponsorship.
    • The Technical Programming Director has reviewed the list of requirements for consideration of AIChE co-sponsorship of meetings contained in section A3.3.4.
    • All appropriate technical division(s) and AIChE entities have been contacted and consulted regarding the recommendation to consider co-sponsorship and have expressed themselves with a willingness to take an active part in arranging the event if the request is for a cooperative co-sponsorship.
  • Repeated Requests:  When an outside organization requests the AIChE to co-sponsor an event, and:
    • the request is for co-sponsorship of a corresponding meeting that has been previously approved by the EBPC   (and there are no significant changes),
    • and the event has been executed satisfactorily in the past

then the Technical Programming Director of AIChE is delegated and authorized to approve the request. Such repeat requests, must be communicated to the Chair of EBPC, and appropriate technical divisions.

When a Technical Division, Forum or Other Similar Entity is the Co-sponsor

  1. When a technical division or forum is the co-sponsor, the proposal should be submitted to AIChE’s Director of Technical Programming (programming@aiche.org) for concurrence.  Any announcement or publication of such an event must bear the specific name of the particular technical division or entity only.
  2. The Technical Programming Director will consult with the appropriate membership division(s) and EBPC if necessary. Written evidence that the program meets the requirements for co-sponsorship must be given.

When a Local Section is the Co-sponsor

  • When a local section co-sponsors a regional meeting they should comply as much as possible with the requirements for co-sponsorship for AIChE meetings listed in section A3.3.4.  All co-sponsorships of conferences or special meetings should be reported by the local section chair to the Director of Technical Programming (programming@aiche.org) for approval.  It will be normal practice that if the meeting has been previously approved and no substantial changes have been made, then prior approval is not required but the local section should still report the co-sponsorship to the AIChE Director of Technical Programming.

For conferences or special meetings that do not require any substantial new financial commitment the request will be quickly reviewed and posted (if appropriate).  In co-sponsorships that have a substantial new financial commitment (e.g. larger than 20% of the local sections annual operating budget), then a more substantive review may be conducted.

  • The AIChE Director of Technical Programming will consult with appropriate Volunteer Member Activities (VMA) staff prior to submitting the request to the EBPC for approval.

When an AIChE Entity invites a Co-sponsor

  1. When the AIChE or a division, forum, or local section invites a co-sponsorship, the request should first be submitted to the Director of Technical Programming for concurrence by EBPC.
  2. The outside organization should meet the objectives of this policy as well as all applicable criteria as put forth in section "Requirements for Co-sponsorship.”
  3. The co-sponsorship may or may not be governed by a specific agreement.

*Note: When EBPC is mentioned it is meant to be the officers or subcommittee of EBPC acting on behalf of the entire EBPC, however, the officers may consult the entire EBPC if they believe that a more extensive review of the potential co-sponsorship is required.

Session allocations to programming groups

Session allocations to programming Groups (base allocation and supplemental allocation) have been used in the past in planning Annual Meetings when available presentation rooms were a constraint.  Currently there are no limits imposed on the programming Groups for the number of sessions or Topical Conferences planned for the Annual or National Meetings.  A change of this policy may be instituted by EBPC following consultation with the NPC.