Health Services Officer Professional Advisory Committee

BASPAG ByLaws

Article I

Mission

The Basic and Applied Science Advisory Group (BASPAG) of the Health Services Professional Advisory Committee (HS PAC) shall provide advice and consultation to the Surgeon General through the HS PAC and Chief Health Service Officer on issues relating to the professional practice and personnel activities of Commissioned Health Services Officers working in Basic and Applied Science (BAS) Disciplines.

Article II

Objectives

The BASPAG serves in a resource and advisory capacity in the development, coordination, and evaluation of activities related to the basic applied science professional discipline among Health Services Officers in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) with the specific objectives:

To identify and facilitate the resolution of issues as they relate to the needs of the BAS Disciplines.
To identify personnel needs of the USPHS and to assist in meeting those needs through activities such as recruitment, retention, training, utilization, and proper recognition of BAS Officers.
To develop position papers, statistical reports and/or guidelines where appropriate, in order to advise and comment on both personnel and professional development issues involving the Basic and Applied Science disciplines.
To promote continuing education and acquisition of advanced degrees (e.g. MPH, PhD) in order to provide opportunities for employment in all Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Operating Divisions and other health related programs (e.g. other Non-DHHS Federal agencies - US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Defense (DOD), Bureau of Prisons (BOP), National Park Service (NPS), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) etc., state agencies and international organizations).
To review and provide recommendations concerning proposed or needed changes to appointment standards and billet descriptions in order to broaden the opportunities for BAS Officers.
To assist in the development of orientation materials for newly-commissioned BAS Officers and provide advice/recommendations concerning orientation programs.
To encourage individual membership and involvement with professional organizations and societies, and provide a vehicle for networking.
To promote cooperation and communication among and between other public health professional disciplines.

Article III

Non - Voting Membership

Eligibility: Members shall be Commissioned Corps BAS Officers in the Health Services Category.
Other Considerations:
- Organizational representation: Participation shall be promoted from each of the DHHS Operating Divisions to provide the range of experiences and perspectives necessary to address issues before the BASPAG. Efforts will be made to have the broadest representation possible among all other Agencies where Commissioned Corps BAS Officers from the Health Services Category are employed.
- Geographic consideration: Participation shall be promoted from members whose regular duty station is geographically removed from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Members will be actively solicited and provisions such as teleconferencing will be made so that Commissioned Corps BAS Officers stationed outside the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area can participate in meetings.
- Diversity among officers of different cultures, race, ethnicity and gender shall be respected and participation welcomed. Efforts will be made to ensure that participants in the BASPAG represent the ethnic and gender diversity of its officers
Individuals are welcome to serve as volunteers on BASPAG subcommittees at the discretion of the BASPAG Chair. Volunteers have no voting rights.
Meetings are open to all Health Services Officers.

Voting Membership

Size: The BASPAG shall have 10 voting members. This is an effort to maximize quorum during meetings in order to enhance the voting process. If a member has two or more unexcused absences, his/her voting member status and privileges may be revoked. An official email or letter will be distributed to those officers who do not comply; and the Executive Committee will ask to them step down, giving the opportunity to other officers to join. Any Voting Member replacement(s) will be appointed by the Chair for the remainder of that officer’s term, and will be approved a majority vote of the Voting Membership.
Participation: The BASPAG voting members shall meet either in person or via teleconference on a quarterly basis, at minimum. The Chair may call more frequent meetings as necessary. If a voting member has two or more unexcused absences, his/her voting member status and privileges may be revoked. Should the Executive Committee decide that status and privileges require revocation, an official email or letter will be distributed to those officers who do not comply, requesting that the concerned officer step down, thereby giving other officers an opportunity to serve as voting members. Any voting member replacement will be appointed by the Chair for the remainder of that officer’s term, and will be approved by a majority vote of the Voting Membership.
Meetings: The BASPAG voting membership shall meet either in person or via teleconference on a quarterly basis, at minimum. The Chair may call more frequent meetings as necessary. Each time a BASPAG member cannot be present to participate, he/she must appoint an alternate who shall represent that officer and be given proxy voting rights. Failure to attend or appoint an alternate for two consecutive meetings is grounds for dismissal from the membership. A replacement will be appointed by the Chair for the remainder of that officer’s term.
Terms: Each of the elected members shall serve a term of two years on staggered rotations.

Article IV

Leadership

The BASPAG Executive Committee shall be composed of the Chairperson (Chair), a Chairperson-Elect (Chair-Elect), and Executive Secretary. The Executive Committee shall facilitate the execution of the vision, mission, and objectives developed by the BASPAG membership. Each officer shall be elected by the members of the BASPAG prior to the end of the calendar year, for a term of office, as defined in the bylaws, beginning on January 1. Only BASPAG voting members shall be eligible for nomination to the Executive Committee.

Duties of the officers are as follows:

Chair: The BASPAG Chair facilitates, organizes, and maintains order in meetings of the Group and meetings of the Executive Committee. The Chair is expected to attend the HS-PAC meetings and serve as the BASPAG liaison to the HS-PAC. The Chair may choose to delegate another Executive Committee member to participate as BASPAG liaison to any internal or external professional advisory group or committee. The Chair shall cast a vote only in the event of a tie within the Group. The Chair shall appoint replacement Officers to fill vacancies within the Voting Membership.
Term of the Chair: The Chair shall serve a one year term.
Chair-Elect: The role of the Chair –Elect includes serving as Chair in his/her absent, and serving as the official liaison to professional advisory groups and/or committees and other groups as assigned by the Chair. As part of his/her regular duties the Chair - Elect shall vote for motions and other decisions presented to the group. In the absence of the Chair, the Chair-Elect shall exercise all the rights, including voting, and responsibilities that are granted to the Chair by the BASPAG Bylaws.
Term of the Chair-Elect: The Chair-Elect shall serve a one year term, and then assumes the role of Chair in the following year.
Secretary: The responsibilities of the Executive Secretary include: informing the BASPAG membership (via listserv or email) of physical meeting locations and conference line information, establishment of an agenda in collaboration with the Chair and distribution of the agenda to members, preparation and distribution of minutes (a copy of approved minutes to the Chief HSO and HS-PAC Chair), and maintenance of reports, attendance, and official documents.
Term of the Secretary: The Secretary shall serve a one year term, with an option to extend for one year only if approved by Executive Committee.

Article V

Operations and Procedures

The BASPAG operations and procedures shall include the following:

Operational Year: Calendar year January 1 - December 31
Frequency of Meeting: At least once per quarter. The Chair may call additional meetings as needed. BASPAG subcommittees may meet more often, as needed.
Agenda: A meeting agenda and appropriate background material will be made available to BASPAG members.
Recording and Reporting: Minutes of each BASPAG meeting will be recorded and approved by the BASPAG. The BASPAG Secretary will maintain a permanent file of official minutes and reports.
Voting: For official BASPAG meetings, fifty percent of the voting membership must be present in person or via teleconference to establish a quorum.
Operating subcommittees: The BASPAG may have operating subcommittees to accomplish its objectives. These subcommittees will be organized and conduct business in a manner consistent with the BASPAG. The Chair of the BASPAG will appoint a Chair of each subcommittee who must be a voting member of the BASPAG. The operating subcommittees may include but are not limited to:
The Chair of the BASPAG will appoint a Subcommittee Chair who must be a BASPAG Voting member. The term of the Subcommittee Chair shall be for one year. The operating subcommittees may include but are not limited to:
1. Mentoring - Committee Charge: The Mentoring subcommittee has the responsibility of aiding officers in finding mentors and/or mentees. The committee works closely with other committees within the Professional Advisory Groups (PAGs) and HSO committees to ensure the development of BASPAG Officers are met.
2. deployment roles and skill sets (currently inactive)
3. Recruitment and Retention - Committee Charge: To stay informed of recruitment and retention needs for Health Services (HS) Basic and Applied Science officers by seeking guidance from BASPAG, the HS PAC and the Office of Commissioned Corps Operation Division of Recruitment. To function as a resource and advisory role to recruit, promote and retain all HS basic and applied science officers. To identify recruitment and retention strategies and encourage involvement of all BASPAG voting and non-voting members. To seek and foster active participation of all BAS Officers. This committee provides assistance to officers that request support in entry, assignment transitions, change in status, etc.
4. Professional Development - Committee Charge: The Professional Development Committee is responsible for aiding officers with their professional development. This is done through providing officers with information on professional development opportunities they can participate in.
5. Membership - Committee Charge: The Membership subcommittee maintains the BASPAG roster and member database, processes voting member applications, conducts periodic membership awareness drives to provide opportunities for new officers to join the BASPAG, and send updates to the PAG webpage through the Communications subcommittee.
6. Awards - Committee Charge: The Awards committee provides information to BASPAG members on PHS and non-PHS awards that officers are eligible to apply for and provide advice on the PHS Awards process. The Awards committee is also responsible for accepting nominations for the BASPAG Officer of the Year and other awards.
7. Communications - Committee Charge: The Communications Committee is responsible for developing quarterly electronic BASPAG newsletters; send updates to the PAG webpage and any other electronic media and/or marketing material as advised by the BASPAG Chair. This information serves as vessels of information for BASPAG members for such topics as mentoring, promotion, and career development.
Membership: A Membership Committee shall be assembled each year to receive nominations for voting membership, evaluate the nominations, and appoint new voting members. The Chair, Chair-Elect, and Secretary will be elected by the voting membership.
1. Solicitation: Annually, the BASPAG shall solicit applicants for voting membership through the HS PAC or BASPAG listserv, and other appropriate means.
2. Mechanism for Nomination: Prospective BASPAG nominees may self-nominate or may be nominated by another BASPAG or HS PAC member. Preference of membership shall be given to officers who have proven to be active non-voting participants in BASPAG committees and official meetings. In addition, all active duty voting members shall meet the Office of Force Readiness and Deployment (OFRD) Basic Readiness qualifications.
  Prospective nominees shall provide to the BASPAG Membership Committee the following information:
  1. a current Curriculum Vitae, and
  2. a letter of interest / intent.
  The Membership Committee shall provide a list of the selected nominees to the BASPAG Chair. All application packets, regardless of nomination mechanism, must be postmarked on or before October 30 of the term year.

Article VI

ByLaws Update and Approval

The BASPAG shall review its bylaws every three years and recommend revisions to update its bylaws as needed. Any revisions to the bylaws must be reviewed and approved by the HS-PAC. If in question, the BASPAG bylaws will be superseded by, and not conflict with the HS-PAC charter and bylaws. Amendments will be proposed by a simple majority vote of the BASPAG members present, and must be approved by a majority vote of the Executive and Voting Committee members. Issues requiring a vote, but not reaching a quorum (50% of the Voting members) shall be brought to the HS-PAC for resolution.

Last updated on April 2012

Page Last Modified on 11/2/2021

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Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service

BASPAG ByLaws

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