Terms of Reference

The Awards and Recognition Committee is an operational committee of the ACFP.

PURPOSE

The ACFP Awards and Recognition Committee recognizes, celebrates, and supports family physicians, family medicine residents, and medical students in excellence in leadership, education, advocacy, and research. The Committee will help promote the ACFP Awards Program and will play a strong role in scanning viable candidates for national recognition through the College of Family Physicians’ Honours and Awards program.

OVERALL RESPONSIBILITIES

The Awards and Recognition Committee will:

• Raise awareness and promote the ACFP awards and recognition program
• Review and consider nominations received for awards and seek, as required, additional information from nominator(s)
• Provide periodic reports of activities and the selected recipients once the review and been completed
• Work collaboratively as a team to bring forward strategies to improve overall selection processes and provide recommendations for the following year
• Mine for potential candidates and facilitate applications for national recognition
• Read, understand, and adhere to the ACFP Volunteer Code of Conduct and the Roles and Expectations of Committee Members found in the Volunteer Information Manual.

MEMBERSHIP

Membership will have regional representation to ensure that recognition needs of the ACFP’s membership across the province are met. Committee Members must be ACFP Members in good standing. The Awards and Recognition Committee will consist of a minimum of six (6) members and a maximum of ten (10) members who will serve a 3-year term with an opportunity for renewal for a second 3-year term. The renewal for the second term is not subject to the ACFP’s Nominations process. Whether the renewable term will be offered to a Committee member is determined by the Chair, Executive Director, and Staff Liaison assigned to the Committee.

Membership will include:

• Chair
• Board Member Representative
• At least one rural representative with others, where possible, being from the North, South, Central, Edmonton or Calgary regions.

Committee Chairs are selected by the existing Committee Members, recommended to the Governance Advisory Committee, and approved by the Board. If a Chair cannot be chosen or elected by the Committee, nominations will be sought through the regular nomination process. Operational Committee Chairs and Members are presented to the ACFP Membership for their information at the AMM and posted on the ACFP website.

To give all Operational Committee Members an opportunity to lead, Committee Chair terms will be for a maximum of three consecutive years based on the July 1 to June 30 term cycle. A Committee Member’s term supersedes their term as a Committee Chair. For example, if a Member is serving in their second 3-year term and they have only one year left, then their term as Chair ends when their Committee Member term ends in one year. If a Committee Member is starting a new 3-year term, for example, and they become Chair, they can choose to serve a maximum of three years, renewing annually their commitment as Chair through the Committee Staff Liaison. If a Chair decides to step down at any time, they simply advise the Committee Staff Liaison of their intent and together they work the current Committee Members to recruit for their replacement.

In addition to the membership outlined in these Terms of Reference, it should be noted that the Executive Director of the ACFP is an ex-officio member of all ACFP Committees without voting privileges.

MEMBER EXPECTATIONS

The actions of each member shall serve the best interests of the Committee, the ACFP Board, and the wider membership. It is expected that each member:

• Know and support the organization’s vision, mission, and belief statement
• Know the Committee’s scope of work and Terms of Reference and assist is developing future goals and strategic direction for the Committee as required
• Positively promote the work of the Committee and the ACFP through interactions with the ACFP membership and external colleagues and stakeholders
• Adhere to the ACFP Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy and declare to the Committee if at any time you think you might have a potential conflict
• At the point of onboarding, ask as many questions as necessary of the Staff Liaison and Chair to bring yourself up-to-date with the work of the Committee and the ACFP as quickly as possible
• Help to make members, especially new people feel welcome
• Assist in recruiting new members
• Complete your three-year term of office

Meetings and Communications

Guidelines to facilitate decision-making and communication:

• Attend meetings as scheduled to discuss nomination applications and the nominations process. If unable to attend, advise the Staff Liaison as soon as possible in advance of the meeting. If unable to attend, provide your feedback to the Staff Liaison or Chair on any matters to be discussed at the meeting
• Prepare for meetings by reviewing the meeting agenda and applicable documents, including draft meeting minutes
• Contribute to the meeting discussions and participate in decisions made; encourage others to do the same
• Be kind and considerate of other members’ ideas even if you do not share the same opinion
• Engage in and be responsive to email communication, dialogue, and committee actions required between formal meetings; respond to requests within 48 hours or as otherwise directed by the sender
• Perform agreed upon tasks as decided in committee meetings in a timely fashion
• Report progress of tasks as requested
• Complete meeting or program evaluations and/or ACFP surveys as required

REPORTING RELATIONSHIP

As an Operational Committee, the Awards and Recognition Committee is accountable to the Executive Director. The Committee will make recommendations to the ACFP Staff for the implementation of existing programs and initiatives, as well as to the ACFP Board through the Executive Director for extension or development of new programs or initiatives with budget or resource implications.

ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT

Administrative and operational support for meetings and ongoing communications will be provided by the ACFP. A senior staff liaison will be assigned to the committee who will be responsible for formulating agendas; collecting and presenting information regarding the areas of discussion; passing on discussion, recommendations and input from the committee to appropriate parties; and will facilitate the work of the Committee between meetings. More specific duties include:

• Promote Awards and Recognition through the ACFP’s and CFPC’s communications channels
• Manage the nominations
• Collect, collate, and deliver the nomination packages to committee for review
• Work with committee and develop awards selection schedule
• Schedule and manage media and communications campaign while adhering to the CFPC’s FPOY media schedule
• Coordinate, manage, and expedite the ACFP awards
• Coordinate and manage the Awards Presentation at the ACFP’s FMS

MEETINGS

Meetings will be called by the Chair and facilitated by the Staff Liaison. It is expected that the Awards and Recognition Committee will meet via teleconference 3-4 times per year, mainly between February and April; and have ongoing communication via email between meetings. More time may be involved to work on evaluations and to provide a short list of candidates for national considerations.