Involvement
To make the most of your SIOP membership, find a way to get involved.
Committee Volunteers. SIOP committees chairs are appointed by the President. Committee chairs direct the members of their committees. Only Fellows and Full Members of the Society can chair committees, but Associate Members and International Affiliates are welcomed as committee members. From State Affairs to Conference Program, there is a SIOP committee for everyone. Call or e-mail the committee chairs or the Administrative Office for more information. (A list of committee chairs and contact information can be found under Governance.)
To become a Committee Volunteer, please sign up online here.
Excerpt from How to Break In To The In Group
Allen I. Kraut
From TIP, April, 1992
Volume 29, No. 4
It turns out that the way to get in and stay in is pretty straightforward. It usually starts with the SIOP members deciding they would like to take part, or join in, by nominating themselves to join one of the committees. (Yes, that is all it takes.)So that is Step 1. This virtually guarantees you will be part of the in group, because we place everyone who asks.
Next, the trick is to do a good job on your committee, so you will get invited back and are recognized as a contributor. After a while, people (meaning the chairs and fellow committee members) will take notice of you.
Over time, you may be invited to chair a committee yourself. These jobs rotate every two years or so, and appointments are made by the SIOP president, who is usually looking for people he or she knows or hears about, and in whom he or she has confidence that theyll do a good job and will bring a useful perspective to the SIOP Executive Committee.
(Incidentally, the voting for elected positions starts with nomination ballots, which all SIOP Members are asked to complete in the fall. Three of the top nominees for each elected position comprise the choices offered to the membership during the winter.)
My observations over the last decade or so, while I have been on or chaired several committees, is that every president puts his or her own spin on who is asked to chair committees (just as chairs have a lot to say about who serves on their committees). Their bases for choice may vary somewhat, but all seem to be heavily influenced by a few criteria. They select people whom they see as having a history of working for SIOP and its committees, contributing well, being respected by their peers, and being interested.
So getting invited in boils down to who knows you (not just who you know) and the reputation youve earned for wanting to serve SIOP. And a big piece of that reputation starts with the individual SIOP member saying I want to take part! The walls that keep people out of SIOPs in groups are mainly of their own construction. This is our Society, it is still reasonably small, and there is plenty of room for all of us to be in.
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