Committee on AMS Positions and Statements

Terms of Reference

Approved by the AMS Council on January 25, 2026

The Council Committee on AMS Positions and Statements (hereafter “the committee”) has three primary responsibilities:

  1. Contributing to the development and implementation of AMS’s overarching strategy on statements and positions,
  2. Management of existing AMS positions and statements, and
  3. Facilitation of the development and progression of new positions and statements (including deliberation at each stage of development)

The committee will have regularly scheduled meetings and additional meetings as needed for any position/statement under development. The regularly scheduled meetings will provide opportunities for the committee to discuss strategy, manage the Society’s statement portfolio, and ensure smooth progression of statements through the standard sequential process. The additional meetings will facilitate addressing time-sensitive issues (most notably, rapid responses), as needed. 

Deliberation by the committee will replace what has historically taken place during in-person meetings of the AMS Council and, more recently, on the Council community. This reflects both the need for deliberation to be more robust than it can be for the Council given competing obligations and that deliberation needs to occur more regularly than it can during the regular business of the Council. 

For transparency, and to promote full Council engagement, the agenda for each meeting of the committee will be shared in advance with councilors and commissioners through the Council community. In addition, the full Council (including all commissioners and non/voting or ex-officio members) shall be given the opportunity, through the online Council community, to provide input on each AMS position prior to deliberation by the committee. Note, however, that the time for feedback may be limited to a few hours in the case of time-sensitive issues (e.g., rapid responses). Note also the development of rapid responses may occur outside of CCAPS (i.e., through an alternative pathway for position development).

The committee will have the delegated authority of Council to initiate and advance AMS positions throughout the process of development, including through both the standard sequential process and in responding rapidly through those procedures. Because the committee will not include the full Council, the exercise of this authority by the committee is constrained and subject to higher standards than simple majority vote, as follows. 

Approval through the action of the committee for any step in the process of position development or adoption, requires, either: 1) agreement by 2/3rds of all voting members of the committee (including those who are absent or abstain), or 2) agreement of a majority of all voting members of the committee followed by approval through the Council’s consent agenda. The AMS Council also retains all authority to act on statements and positions through regular voting procedures.

The committee will be constituted as follows:

  1. All second year Councilors not serving on the executive committee (typically four)
  2. The first past president 
  3. The second past president
  4. A STAC Commissioner (non-voting)
  5. A Planning Commissioner (non-voting)
  6. A Professional Affairs Commissioner (non-voting)
  7. A Weather, Water, and Climate Enterprise Commissioner (non-voting)
  8. A Education and Engagement Commissioner (non-voting)
  9. A Publications Commissioner (non-voting)
  10. The Chair of the Culture and Inclusion Cabinet (non-voting)
  11. The Associate Executive Director for policy or their designee (non-voting)

As part of the process of consolidating the Board on Best Practices (BBP) with CCAPS, three members of the BBP will serve out the remainder of their terms (i.e., until January of 2027) on CCAPS as ex-officio members (non-voting).  

In the event any member of the committee listed above is unable or unwilling to serve, the committee shall have the authority to appoint a replacement whose role within AMS is broadly consistent with that of the person being replaced (e.g., a first or third year Councilor, an incoming or outgoing commissioner, etc.). The committee shall pay particular attention to the potential for constraints on service or willingness to serve to create bias in the makeup of the committee (i.e., that those who are willing and able to serve no longer reflect the breadth of views on positions held within the Society).

Note that all councilors and all commissioners are welcome (and encouraged) to attend any meeting of the committee (e.g., based on the positions that are expected to be discussed). 

The committee is charged with proposing new statements and positions; evaluating proposals made by others; and actively providing feedback to statement drafting teams throughout the process in accordance with both the guidelines for statement development and rapid responses. All proposed positions or statements will originate with, or be reviewed by, this committee. Effective January 2026, the work of the Board on Best Practices will be moved from the Commission on Professional Affairs to reside under the committee. The committee will create, maintain, and share with the full Council an overarching strategy for AMS positions. 

As a result, the full Council will be given regular opportunities through the Council committee to contribute to the development of individual positions and statements and to the overarching strategy.