WPSA POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Annual Awards
Annual Meetings
Annual Meetings - Program
Annual Reports
Financial Statements
Record Retention
Political Research Quarterly
Affirmative Action
Committees
Membership
Refund Policy
Advocacy
Amendment

Adopted March 14, 1997

Amended:

April 18, 2019 - March 6, 2019 - April 13, 2017 - September 3, 2015 - April 2, 2015 - March 28, 2013 - March 22, 2012 - October 3, 2011 - September 2, 2010 - April 1, 2010 - August 28, 2008 - March 20, 2008 - August 28, 2007 - March 8, 2007 - March 16, 2006 - March 11, 2004 - August 29, 2003 - March 27, 2003 - August 30, 2002 - March 15, 2001 - September 2, 2000 - September 3, 1999 - September 4, 1998 - March 21,1998

I. ANNUAL AWARDS

A. The following annual awards have been approved by the Association:

        1) Dissertation Award: For the best doctoral dissertation completed at a university within the regional groupings of the WPSA between July 1 and June 30 of the previous academic year.

        2) Pi Sigma Alpha Award: For the best paper presented at the previous WPSA annual meeting.

        3) Betty Nesvold Women and Politics Award: For the best paper on women and politics presented at the previous WPSA annual meeting.

        4) WPSA Best Paper Award on Latina/Latino Politics: For an outstanding paper on Latina/Latino politics and its relative aspects.

        5) Award by Committee on the Status of Blacks: For an outstanding paper discussing issues and problems that concern most Black Americans.

        6) Political Research Quarterly Best Article Award: For the best article published in the Political Research Quarterly during the calendar year preceding the annual meeting at which the award is to be presented.

        7) Charles Redd Center Award: For the best paper on the politics of the American West presented at the previous WPSA annual meeting.

        8) Environmental Political Theory Award: For the best paper in environmental political theory (EPT) presented at the previous WPSA meetings

        9) Don T. Nakanishi Award for Distinguished Scholarship and Service in Asian Pacific American Politics.

        10) The Clay Morgan Award: For the Best Book published in Environmental Political Theory during the previous three years.

B. The following guidelines are applicable to the awards given by the Association:

1) The committees to determine recipients of the Dissertation Award, the Charles Redd Center Award, the Pi Sigma Alpha Award, and the Environmental Political Theory Award shall be comprised of three members each. The President of the Association shall appoint all three members of each committee by January 15. Recommendations for appointments to the EPT Award Committee will be sent to the President at the conclusion of the annual EPT Workshop by members of that group. These award committees will review papers delivered two months later at the March WPSA meetings, and the papers selected will be announced as the award winners at the WPSA meetings the following year in March. The award committees shall adopt procedures to assure a fair evaluation of submissions from all fields.

2) Selection of winners of the Betty Nesvold Women and Politics Award, the Latina/Latino Politics Award, the Blacks and Politics Award, and the Asian Pacific American and Politics Award shall be the responsibility of the four relevant status committees. The award winners chosen will be announced at the WPSA meetings in March of the year following the initial presentation of the papers. The chair of the status committee shall chair the selection of the award.

a) The Chair of each award committee shall be responsible for securing all papers eligible for the award.

3) The award committee for the Political Research Quarterly Best Paper Award shall be comprised of three members. The President of the Association shall appoint the chair of the committee, and the editors of the Political Research Quarterly shall select the other two members by January 15.

4) All WPSA awards should carry a monetary prize, the exact sum of which shall be determined by the Executive Council. Currently the amounts for the Dissertation Award, the Betty Nesvold Women and Politics Award, the Latina/Latino Politics Award, the Blacks and Politics Award, the Charles Redd Center Award, the Environmental Political Theory Award, and the Asian Pacific American and Politics Award are $250 each. The amount for the Pi Sigma Alpha Award is $500, and the amount for the Political Research Quarterly Best Article Award is $1000. The WPSA Executive Council, however, retains the right to create awards that do not carry a monetary prize. The award prize may include the waiving of registration fees or other actions that recognize the achievements of the recipients.

5) As part of the long-standing commitment of the Association to have the Political Research Quarterly reflect the intellectual strengths of the organization, WPSA paper award winners are provided with an enhanced opportunity to seek publication of the paper in PRQ. Papers receiving WPSA awards will be offered the opportunity of an expedited review. If, after the first review, an award winning paper does not meet the normal publication standards as determined by the editor(s), at least one opportunity to revise and resubmit will be provided to the author(s). There is no guarantee that papers will be published, but the editors will make every effort to work with authors to bring manuscripts to the level required by the normal peer review process. Papers must be submitted through the web-based submission system within six months of receipt of the award.

6) The committees that determine the awards for the best papers presented at the annual meeting of the WPSA may recognize only one winning paper each year. The PRQ award committee should also strive to recognize only one winning article each year. However, the PRQ award committee may recognize up to two co-winners if it decides that two articles are of equal significance. All award committees may issue statements of honorable mention.

7) The Betty E. Moulds Lifetime Service Award was created to recognize an individual who has made significant contributions to the operation and status of the Western Political Science Association (WPSA). To be eligible for the award, the candidate must:

- Be a member in good standing with the WPSA in recent years.
- Have contributed to WPSA in two or more of the following manners:

            1. Held a position of leadership in the association (Executive Director, President, Vice President, Treasurer, etc.)
            2. Served as a member of the WPSA Executive Council
            3. Served on WPSA committees or task forces
            4. Participated in WPSA activities beyond attending the annual meetings, such as pre- conference workshops

- Be present at WPSA Annual Meeting to receive the commendation unless extenuating circumstances do not allow their presence.

8) In any year, an award committee may decline to make an award.

9) Winners of all awards shall be announced at the annual meeting of the WPSA.

10) Announcements concerning the availability of the awards and deadlines for submission are to be published in the September issue of the PRQ and included within the Fall mailing to all members and departments within the WPSA.

11) The Executive Council shall from time to time review the awards given by the Association and assess the need for deletions or additions.

II. ANNUAL MEETINGS

A. The Council shall attempt to agree on sites two years in advance of each annual meeting.

B. Registration fees for those attending the annual meeting shall be separate from annual dues and the fee amount shall be determined by the Executive Director, President and the Program Chairperson.

C. The Local Arrangements Chairperson is responsible for serving as liaison to the annual meeting hotel, securing information regarding area resources, and assisting the Program Chair, the Executive Director and the Associate Director with a variety of administrative tasks to insure that the annual meeting runs smoothly for the members. He/she shall be responsible for scheduling all special events including the pre-meeting workshops and act as liaison with the hotel staff and workshop coordinators.

D. The Executive and Associate Directors are responsible for the budget, financial arrangements and accountings for the annual meeting; updating, maintaining and distributing procedural manual for building the program; training section chairs on the software for the program; compiling and maintaining the database for the building of the preliminary and final program both on the Web and in print; maintaining registration database and procedures; soliciting and contracting with various publishers to exhibit and advertise at the meeting; notifying members of their participation in the program, of meeting agendas and of hotel and other local arrangements (through mailings and web postings); providing program data to All Academic, Inc., to facilitate Web posting of meeting participants' papers.

E. Decisions concerning whether to schedule formal luncheons and dinners, and selection of distinguished speakers for such events, shall be made jointly by the President, the Program Chairperson, and the Local Arrangements Chairperson.

F. The Executive Director shall, in fall preceding each annual business meeting, request items for the agenda of that meeting. Proposed items will be placed on the agenda of the next business meeting under "New Business" in the order in which proposals endorsed by at least twenty-five (25) dues-paying members of the Western Political Science Association from three or more separate institutions shall be received by the Executive Director. Such proposals must be received by the Executive Director on or before December 10. The Executive Director shall notify the membership of the association of all properly endorsed agenda items in the mailing that includes or notes the preliminary program of the meeting each spring."

III. ANNUAL MEETINGS: PROGRAM

A. The Vice President shall be Program Chairperson and shall be responsible for implementing the following guidelines:

1) The Call for Papers and other information regarding the next annual meeting shall be included in the Final Program for the current meeting. The Call for Papers is to be submitted by the Program Chair by February 1st. Also, formal notice shall be mailed to all WPSA members, APSA members of the West and political science departments by May 30. This mailing shall include names of section chairpersons.

2) Section chairpersons shall be members of the WPSA.

         3) Proposals for panels should be submitted to section chairpersons for review via an online participation form by the second Friday in September. Section chairs may begin building their panels after the September deadline and shall keep to the schedule as listed in the Procedural Manual provided to them annually. The President, Program Chair and the Associate Director will establish these dates annually. Such dates shall take into consideration the following:

            - posting of the preliminary program in mid-November;
            - making all AV requests by mid-November; "
            - scheduling panels in early December;
            - posting days and times of panels by mid-December; and
            - providing All Academic with the WPSA program by January 5.

4) By mid-January the Executive Director shall notify WPSA members of the Website availability of the preliminary program. Participants will be informed via e-mail when the program is posted.

5) In no case shall a panel be closed before the deadline for submission.

6) Proposals to present papers must be submitted on the WEB and e-mails are required of all participants. They should be brief, yet contain enough information so that the section and panel chairpersons can make an adequate review.

7) The Program Chairperson and section chairpersons shall attempt to secure substantial representation in the annual program of members of the WPSA, and residents and institutions of the WPSA region.

B. Program participants shall be required to register in order to participate in the program and to pre-register in order to have their names appear in the final printed program.

C. The program of the WPSA shall involve no continuing commitment to any organization, group, or committee other than the membership of the WPSA. However, organizations, groups, and committees may be invited by the Program Chairperson in consultation with the President to have concurrent meetings that are not part of the regular panel program.

D. Participants are allowed to present only one single-authored paper at the meeting. A second participation is allowed in the role of co-author or roundtable participant. Serving as a panel discussant or chair is encouraged and does not count as a second participation. These limits shall not prevent anyone from also participating in the official business of the meeting.

E. Each individual giving a paper at an annual meeting will be expected to submit timely electronic copy for web posting as per instructions to program participants.

IV. ANNUAL REPORTS

A. At each annual meeting the outgoing President shall submit a full year summary of the actions of the Executive Council.

B. The Treasurer shall, in consultation with the Executive Director, submit a full financial statement to the membership, through the Executive Council, at each annual meeting.

V. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, BUDGETS, INVESTMENTS, AND RELATED MATTERS

A. No committee or other agency of the WPSA may solicit funds from outside persons or organizations without the express consent of the Executive Council.

B. Upon request of committee chairpersons, the President is authorized to allocate funds for their use up to a limit for all committees established in the approved budget.

C. Within the limits of funds available, it is the policy of WPSA to reimburse the President, the Vice President, and the Executive Director, and the Associate Director for travel and expenses incurred in attending site visits and the annual meeting. When funds are limited, the Executive Director should have highest priority.

D. In addition, it is WPSA policy, when necessary, to provide the President, Vice President, and the Local Arrangements Chairperson for the next annual meeting reimbursement for travel, but not other expenses, to assist them in attending the meeting of the Executive Council at the annual meeting of the APSA. The Executive Director and Associate Director shall be reimbursed for both travel and expenses to attend APSA.

E. Investment Policy. The objective of the WPSA Investment Policy is to provide guidelines for the management of the Western Political Science Association's financial assets. There shall be three funds: Operating, Reserve, and Endowment. The Operating Fund is to be a fund for recurring administrative and program expenditures. Fund allocation should equal WPSA annual budget plus 5%. Fund should be liquid i.e. cash, money market accounts, or short term certificates of deposit. The Reserve Fund is to be a fund to insure continued Association operations in the event of financial contingencies such as a significant loss of convention and/or membership revenue, and to enable the Association membership/subscription dues to be kept relatively low (as compared to other academic associations) to promote the broadest possible membership. The fund consists of the financial assets less the Operating Fund and the Endowment. The investment strategy should be designed to preserve the principal and net an annual return consistent with principal preservation. The choice of investment instruments is left to the Executive Director to be made in consultation with the President, Treasurer, and Investment Policy Committee in accordance with the financial objective set by the Executive Council. If expert advice is deemed necessary, the aforementioned officials may retain an investment manager. The Endowment Fund is to be a fund composed of the monies that are given to the Association for designated purposes such as awards or special activities. The investment strategy will be the same as for the Reserve Fund.

VI. RECORD RETENTION

WPSA records will be retained according to the following schedule:

Permanent:

         Documentation of non-profit status
         Agendas of Executive Council and Membership
         Business meetings
         Annual financial reports
         Annual listing of association officers
         Annual listing award winners
         Annual membership reports Annual programs
         Annual tax returns
         Bylaws Minutes of Executive Council and Membership
         Business meetings
         Policies and Procedures

Three years:

         Employee tax records
         Financial records and bank statements: association business
         Financial records and bank statements: Convention business
         General correspondence
         Hotel contracts
         Insurance policies
         Memoranda of Understanding
         Quarterly tax returns

VII. POLITICAL RESEARCH QUARTERLY

A. Effective September 15, 2006, the 2006 Memorandum of Understanding Between the Western Political Science Association and the University of Utah shall be the document governing relationships between the WPSA, the PRQ, and the owner and publisher of the PRQ, the University of Utah.

B. The editor of the PRQ shall be appointed by the WPSA Executive Council for a term of four years, with possible two-year renewals. An Editor Selection Committee shall be designated by the Executive Council of the WPSA to screen and interview candidates and to recommend finalists to the Council. The Managing Editor of the PRQ (or his/her designee) is to be included as an ex-officio, non-voting member of the selection committee.

C The Editor of the PRQ shall appoint an Editorial Board of sufficient size, diversity, and scholarly standing to be consistent with the general mission of the journal. He or she may also appoint qualified scholars to assist in the editorial process. The titles of such appointments will be determined by the Editor to reflect an appropriate level of responsibility.

D. Dues shall constitute the charge for combined PRQ subscription and WPSA membership. The cost of dues shall be determined by the Executive Council of the Association.

VIII. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

A. The Association supports the participation of women, Blacks, Latinas/Latinos, Asian Pacific Americans, and other minorities in all phases of Association activities. These include:

1) Membership on the Editorial Policy Board of the Political Research Quarterly;

2) Participation on panels at the annual meeting;

3) Participation as officers and on committees of the Association.

B. In addition, the WPSA recommends that political science departments take affirmative action to increase the number of women, Blacks, Latinas/Latinos, Asian Pacific Americans, and other minorities in each academic rank in which women, Blacks, Chicanos, Asian Pacific Americans, and other minorities are under-represented relative to the proportion of scholars in those labor pools.

C. The WPSA recommends that to assure an adequate representation of women, Blacks, Latinas/Latinas, and other minorities in academic positions, political science departments take affirmation action to increase the number of women, Blacks, Latinas/Latinos, Asian Pacific Americans, and other minority graduate students by admitting qualified persons in proportions at least equal to the proportion of those groups among those who applied; e.g., if half of the applicants are women, then half of those admitted should be women.

D. The WPSA is prepared to sponsor surveys of the participation of women, Blacks, Latinas/Latinos, Asian Pacific Americans, and other minority groups among political scientists and graduate students in the West. On the basis of the data from the census conducted by the Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession, the Executive Council shall distribute to the membership and other interested parties information about departmental responses to the affirmative action resolutions on women as adopted by the Association.

IX. COMMITTEES

A. The WPSA Bylaws provide the following rules governing committee member qualifications, the existence of standing committees, and the standard length of committee service:

1) Qualifications For Service on Committees. Members of the various Committees of the Association shall be limited to Members of the Association whose memberships are in good standing.

2) Standing Committees. The Association shall have the following standing committees:

            (a) Committee on Nominations;
            (b) Committees on Awards;
            (c) Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession;
            (d) Committee on the Status of Latinos/as in the Profession;
            (e) Committee on the Status of Blacks in the Profession;
            (f) Committee on the Status of Asian Pacific Americans in the Profession;
            (g) Committee on Information Technology;
            (h) Investment Policy Committee; and
            (i) WPSA Wage Committee.

Terms of the committees shall be as follows: members of the Committees on Awards shall serve one year terms; members of the Status Committees and the Investment Policy Committee shall serve three year terms; members of the Committee on Nominations and the Committee on Information Technology shall serve two years terms; the members of the WPSA Wage Committee will consist of the WPSA Treasurer, the immediate Past President of the Association, the Current President, and the Next President. [Article IX, Sections 1 and 2]

B. The Committee on Nominations will include at least one member of the WPSA Executive Council, serving ex-officio on the committee, as a liaison. Any other committees desiring such a liaison may request one. The WPSA President will appoint any such liaisons.

C. The terms of committee members will be renewable with the mutual consent of the members and the appointing authority.

D. As best as possible, committee member terms should be staggered so that approximately one-third of the members of the Status Committees and half the members of committee with two-year terms are appointed each year.

E. The WPSA President appoints the chairs of all WPSA committees. The term for committee chairs is normally one year. However, the president may reappoint the same individual to serve as a committee chair for additional terms. Committee chair appointments will be made by January 15 of each year.

F. Status Committees. WPSA has a long standing commitment to diversity in scholarship and within the scholarly community. To this end the Association has three Status Committees which are intended to promote scholarship and teaching within the relevant areas of studies and to advance the interests of the research communities which are served by the status committees. These committees are:

1) Committee on the Status of Blacks within the Profession

The Committee on the Status of Blacks in the Profession develops and promotes activities concerning the professional development of Blacks within the discipline. The committee's role is to encourage communication among scholars in the field. To this end, the committee will assist in the promotion of teaching and scholarship in the field in the following ways:

            -By selecting the annual winner of the WPSA award for an outstanding paper discussing issues and problems that concern most Black Americans. The Chair of the Status Committee will chair this award selection and be responsible for receiving nominations from WPSA section chairs, panel chairs and members, status committee members, and others as well as soliciting additional nominations.
            -By proposing and organizing relevant workshops at meetings of the WPSA
            -By suggesting special panels or roundtables to section chairs of the annual meeting
            -By bringing issues regarding interests of members of the community to the attention of the Executive Council of the Association. This may include suggestions as to ways in which the Association may further develop the teaching and research community.

         2) Committee on the Status of Latinos/as within the Profession

The Committee on the Status of Latinos/as in the Profession develops and promotes activities concerning the professional development of Latinos/as within the discipline. The committee's role is to encourage communication among scholars in the field. To this end, the committee will assist in the promotion of teaching and scholarship in the field in the following ways:

            -By selecting the annual winner of the WPSA award on Latina/Latino Politics to honor an outstanding paper on Latina/Latino politics and its relative aspects. The Chair of the Status Committee will chair this award selection and be responsible for receiving nominations from WPSA section chairs, panel chairs and members, status committee members, and others as well as soliciting additional nominations.
            -By proposing and organizing Latino/a Politics Workshops at meetings of the WPSA
            -By suggesting special panels or roundtables to section chairs of the annual meeting
            -By bringing issues regarding interests of members of the community to the attention of the Executive Council of the Association. This may include suggestions as to ways in which the Association may further develop the teaching and research community.

3) Committee on the Status of Women within the Profession

The Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession develops and promotes activities concerning the professional development of Women within the discipline. The committee's role is to encourage communication among scholars in the field. To this end, the committee will assist in the promotion of teaching and scholarship in the field in the following ways:

            -By selecting the annual winner of the WPSA Betty Nesvold Women and Politics Award for the best paper on women and politics presented at the previous WPSA annual meeting. The Chair of the Status Committee will chair this award selection and be responsible for receiving nominations from WPSA section chairs, panel chairs and members, status committee members, and others as well as soliciting additional nominations.
            -By proposing and organizing relevant workshops at meetings of the WPSA
            -By suggesting special panels or roundtables to section chairs of the annual meeting
            -By bringing issues regarding interests of members of the community to the attention of the Executive Council of the Association. This may include suggestions as to ways in which the Association may further develop the teaching and research community.

4) Committee on the Status of Asian Pacific Americans within the Profession The Committee on the Status of Asian Pacific Americans in the Profession develops and promotes activities concerning the professional development of Asian Pacific Americans within the discipline. The committee's role is to encourage communication among scholars in the field. To this end, the committee will assist in the promotion of teaching and scholarship in the field in the following ways:

            -By selecting the annual winner of the WPSA award for an outstanding paper discussing issues and problems that concern Asian Pacific Americans. The Chair of the Status Committee will chair this award selection and be responsible for receiving nominations from WPSA section chairs, panel chairs and members, status committee members, and others as well as soliciting additional nominations.
            -By proposing and organizing relevant workshops at meetings of the WPSA
            -By suggesting special panels or roundtables to section chairs of the annual meeting
            -By bringing issues regarding interests of members of the community to the attention of the Executive Council of the Association. This may include suggestions as to ways in which the Association may further develop the teaching and research community.

X. MEMBERSHIP

A. WPSA Privacy Policy

1) Collection of Personal Information When you sign up as a member of the Western Political Science Association, or you register for the Association's annual meeting, the Association collects personally identifiable information, such as your e-mail address, name, date of birth, home or work address, telephone number, and credit card number. The membership form also asks for you to provide some demographic information, including your gender, ethnicity, scholarly interests, and highest degree obtain. While it is helpful to the Association to know this demographic information, you are not required to provide it to become a member.

2) Statement of Privacy The Western Political Science Association is committed to protecting your privacy. As part of this commitment, we do not share personally identifiable information provided through the membership and registration forms with outside organizations or individuals, except for trusted partners who are conducting work expressly on the Association's behalf, such as the publishers of our journals. All such third parties are prohibited from using your personal information except to provide these services to the Western Political Science Association, and they are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information. The Association collects and uses your personal information to perform its business and to better serve its membership. The demographic information is gathered to better understand the Association's membership base. On occasion, the Association may share the results of its demographics analyses with external organizations and individuals. In doing so, the Association does not share any personally identifiable information. The only information that the Association makes public is that it lists the university affiliation and email addresses of conference participants on its online program. Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally identifiable information or personally sensitive data through the Western Political Science Association blog and social media sites, this information is accessible to others outside the Association. The Western Political Science Association will disclose your personal information, without notice, only if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

            (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on Western Political Science Association;
            (b) protect and defend the rights or property of Western Political Science Association; and,
            (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of Western Political Science Association, or the public.

3) Security of your Personal Information The Western Political Science Association secures your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. The Association secures the personally identifiable information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. When personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other Web sites, it is protected through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.

4) Contact Information The Western Political Science Association welcomes your comments regarding this Privacy Policy. If you believe that the Association has not adhered to this Policy, please contact the Executive Director of the Western Political Science Association. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine and remedy the problem.

B. WPSA Refund Policy
Like many academic associations, including the American Political Science Association, the Western Political Science Association does not offer refunds for cancelled membership nor conference registration.

XI. ADVOCACY

A. WPSA POLICY FOR PARTICIPATING IN ADVOCACY AND PUBLIC AWARENESS EFFORTS

1) Restrictions

The Western Political Science Association is a non-partisan, non-profit organization, which was created with the purpose of promoting the study and teaching of government and politics, fostering research, and facilitating the discussion of public affairs. As such, the Association does not support political parties or candidates, nor does it lobby. However, the Association may make advocacy and public awareness efforts in areas that are related to scholarship, research, education, academic freedom, freedom of expression, political science as a discipline, the social sciences in general, and on other issues that are related to its purposes or directly affects its membership in their professional capacity. The Association may not take advocacy positions that are inconsistent with WPSA Bylaws or with the laws governing non-profit organizations in the state of California.

2) Process

The Membership and the WPSA Executive Council may vote to support advocacy and public awareness efforts following the rules governing voting as spelled out in the WPSA Bylaws. If the Association President determines that there is not sufficient time to conduct such a vote by the Membership or Executive Council, then the WPSA Policy Committee is given the power to authorize support for advocacy and public awareness efforts. These efforts include the signing of petitions, the issuing of statements, and the use of other reasonable forms of communication. The Committee may not take positions that are inconsistent with the limitations described in Section I above.

3) The WPSA Policy Committee Membership

The WPSA Policy Committee shall consist of the current President, the immediate Past President, and the Vice President (Program Chair). The Executive Director will serve as a non-voting ex-officio member.