Communications Committee

Approved by SCAS Board of Directors Dec 9, 2021

Name: Communications Committee

Purpose: The Communications Committee works to advance the Society’s mission and goals by overseeing the implementation of communications in French and English to society members and the general public.

Objectives:

1. To develop and implement a strategic communications work plan each year for SCAS.

2. To oversee and advise in the preparation and dissemination of society newsletters each year.

3. To oversee and advise on the management and curation of the society website.

4. To review and/or facilitate communication requests by SCAS committees and the SCAS Board.

5. To oversee and manage special communications projects (e.g., seminar series, workshops).

6. To build capacity within our community for effective science communication (e.g., professional development resources).

Budget: No dedicated budget will be required to support committee meetings, but there will be associated budget line-items required for:

● newsletter production

● email platform fees

● website maintenance and service fees

● ad hoc special events

A paid employee(s) of SCAS will also run the day-to-day society communications, with oversight from the Communications Committee. Approximately 10-15 hrs/week of salary hours should be allocated to Society communications administration and management (social media platform management, website content curation, emails to the membership, etc.).

Background: An essential function of SCAS will be to communicate to the membership about society activities, governance/policy directives, and membership benefits/opportunities. Additionally, SCAS has an obligation for broader communication to, and engagement with, the public. As such, a Communications Committee would oversee the form and delivery of society communications, as well as develop special communications’ projects (e.g., outreach activities, online seminars). Core activities of the Communications Committee will be to gather and review content to be included in the bi-annual newsletter, society website, and when warranted, social media platforms. The Communications Committee could also assist the Board in crafting announcements to the membership as well as the media/general public. Overall, the Communications committee could serve as the filter and polisher of Society communications to ensure communication best practices are followed and maintained.

Frequency of Meetings: Considering the integral role of the Communications Committee to the new Society, it is advised that this committee meet at minimum 4 times per year, to ensure that milestones and deliverables stated in the annual work plan are on target and fulfilled. It is anticipated that ad hoc meetings will need to occur from time to time, related to special Society activities including the annual conference. When warranted, the Communications Committee may also be tasked with reviewing/vetting membership- and public-facing Society content upon request.

Duties of Members: The committee make-up shall include:

● 1 Chair

● 2 Regular Members (at minimum)

● 1 Student Member (at minimum)

Duties of the Chair

● Arrange committee meetings

●  Set the meeting agenda (with consensus from the whole committee)

● Lead the annual work plan development and implementation

● Liaise with other Society committees and the Board

● Serve on the Society Steering or Executive Committee

● Delegate actions to other committee members when warranted

● Liaise with SCAS staff on all communications matters Duties of All Committee Members

● Regularly attend meetings

● Contribute to the development of the annual Communications work plan

● Assist with the implementation of work plan milestones and deliverables

● Review communication materials and content on an ad hoc basis, providing feedback to other SCAS committees, the Board, and/or SCAS staff in a timely manner

Planned Deliverables:

For the first year, the Communications Committee will:

● Develop a work plan of all the activities/deliverables and their timelines (Jan. to Dec. 2022)

Priority activities included in the first work plan will be:

● Develop a strategic communications plan for new society roll-out (including how to advertise/market the newly formed society)

● Draft a standard operating procedure (SOP) for social media best practices

● Draft a SOP for website content pages and format

● Draft a newsletter template (regular content sections, features, etc.)

Deliverables and Target Dates:

● Draft work plan for Board review and approval at the 2022 CCFF-SCL Conference (February 15, 2022)

●  Draft strategic communications plan for new society roll-out (April 30, 2022)

● Draft SOP for social media best practices (April 30, 2022)

● Draft SOP for website content curation and format (April 30, 2022)

● Draft of newsletter template (May 30, 2022)