110-001        ABC’s Organizational Affiliates: Criteria, Application Procedures, and Approval Process

Benefits of the Affiliates Program

ABC’s formal affiliations with other organizations or academic entities (e.g., specialized centers or academic programs apart from the normal departmental structure of the university) enable the organizations’ members to benefit from supported interchange with each other, whether in the form of research collaborations, attendance at each other’s conferences, or simply learning about the mission and work of a related organization. The affiliated organizations, as a whole, benefit by publicizing and learning from their connections with respected communication-related organizations.

Each affiliation will be somewhat unique, but all such alliances will include:

1. A notice to the two memberships that the organization now has a new affiliate.

2. Information about the affiliate on each other’s websites.

3. Posting of announcements of each other’s conferences and/or distribution of promotional materials (e.g., brochures, calls for papers) at each other’s conferences. (Note: Affiliates may not use logos or wording to indicate mutual sponsorship of each other’s conferences or other activities unless collaborative sponsorship of the activity has been specifically agreed upon.)

4. Member pricing at each other’s annual conferences or other selected educational events.

The terms of affiliation may also include such benefits as sharing of resources, specific opportunities for collaboration, designated slots on each other’s conference programs, advertisements in each other’s newsletter and/or journals, and/or periodic opportunities for representatives of the two organizations to meet.

Criteria for Affiliation

The following are the criteria to be an affiliate of ABC:

1. Demonstrated interest in an area of or related to business communication.

2. Demonstrated interest in and knowledge about ABC (e.g., discussions with officers, attendance at ABC meetings).

3. Exhibited evidence of high standards in terms of scholarship, teaching, and/or workplace practice.

4. Documented formal organizational structure, with documentation regarding governance (e.g., Bylaws), names, and titles of current officers, and mission statement.

5. Demonstrated stability.

Application Procedure

Any organization seeking affiliation must have been in existence a minimum of three years prior to application. An organization seeking affiliation should submit to the ABC Executive Director:

1. Its articles of incorporation (if an independent nonprofit organization) or verification of its identity within the structure of a university (if an academic center or program).

2. The mission statement of the organization.

3. Its governing documents.

4. A list of the names and titles of its current officers.

5. A one-page rationale explaining why the organization wishes to become an ABC affiliate and why such an affiliation would be of mutual benefit.

Approval Process

The ABC Executive Committee will review the proposal. If they support the affiliation, they will work with the leadership of the potential affiliate to draft a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) specifying the terms of the affiliation. Once the two parties have drafted the MOU, the Executive Committee will forward the application, the MOU, and the Committee’s recommendation to the ABC Board of Directors for their consideration and vote.

If the Board approves the affiliation, the executive directors or highest-ranking leaders of both organizations will sign and date the MOU, which will be kept at ABC headquarters.

Review of Affiliations

Every three years, each ABC affiliate will submit to the ABC Executive Committee, via the Executive Director, a one-page update on the organization (e.g., current leadership and membership and any notable achievements, such as conferences or publications) and a brief assessment of the affiliation with ABC over the preceding two years. At that time, the leadership of the two organizations may decide to revise the terms of affiliation, which will be subject to Board approval.