Section Charter

Charter of the Lifetime Data Science Section

Charter written on May 17, 2018


ARTICLE I. NAME
The name of this organization is the Lifetime Data Science Section (hereafter called the “Section”) of the American Statistical Association (hereafter called the “Association”).


ARTICLE II. OBJECTIVES
The objective of the Section is to promote and support the development, application and appropriate use of statistical methods for design and analysis of lifetime data and time-to-event data, including analysis of time-to-event data with censoring, truncation and competing risks, counting processes, multi-state, multiple or clustered events, and longitudinal biomarker histories, and quality-of-life models, including: 

  1. Supporting the development of new methods
  2. Identifying new areas of application and appropriate use
  3. Fostering interdisciplinary research in areas such as biomedical research, finance, economics, imaging, engineering, genomics and genetics.

In pursuing these objectives, the Section will work closely and coordinate with other sections of the Association whenever appropriate.  In particular, the Section shares interests with other sections in the following areas:

  1. The analysis of observational and experimental data involving humans
  2. Evaluation of therapeutic interventions on chronic disease processes
  3. Dealing with diverse administrative data sources
  4. Modeling dynamic phenomenon in business, industry, sociology and other fields
  5. Publication of research developments and results
  6. Organization of educational programs for statisticians and researchers working in these areas


ARTICLE III. FUNCTIONS
In support of the Section’s objectives, the Section will perform the following functions: 

  1. To plan sessions on lifetime data science at the Annual Meeting of the Association.
  2. To stimulate the preparation of articles dealing with lifetime data science for publication under the auspices of the Association.
  3. To help organize and run conferences, workshops and other training opportunities in the field of lifetime data science.
  4. To sponsor and grant awards to trainees making exceptional oral or poster presentations at scientific meetings.
  5. To establish and foster relationships with related professional organizations (e.g., the International Biometrics Society), and with other sections of the Association (e.g. Biometrics, Biopharmaceutical Statistics, Statistics in Epidemiology).


ARTICLE IV. MEMBERSHIP
Members of the Association may join the Section by paying Section dues.


Section dues are set by the officers of the Section and may be altered annually in consultation with the Treasurer of the Association.

The membership year for each member of the Section shall coincide with that member’s membership year within the Association.


ARTICLE V. OFFICERS
Section officers must be members of the Section.


The officers of this Section shall consist of the Chair, Chair-Elect, Past Chair, Council of Sections Representative, Program Chair, Program Chair-Elect, Past Program Chair, Treasurer, Webmaster, and the Secretary. Elected positions shall consist of the Chair-Elect, Program Chair-Elect, Council of Sections Representative, Treasurer, and Secretary. The Newsletter Editor and Webmaster shall be appointed by the Chair. 

The term of the Chair-Elect shall be one year, and the Chair-Elect shall automatically succeed the Chair on January 1 of each year. The Chair shall automatically succeed the Past Chair on January 1 of each year.


The term of the Program Chair-Elect shall be one year, and the Program Chair-Elect shall automatically succeed the Program Chair on January 1 of each year. The Program Chair shall automatically succeed the Past Program Chair on January 1 of each year.

The terms of Representative(s) to the Council of Sections are prescribed in the Charter of the Council of Sections.

The Chair is responsible for the Section’s annual business meeting at the Joint Statistical Meeting. The Past Chair is the chair of the Nominations Committee.  The Treasurer is responsible for handling accounts and monies and shall present a Treasurer’s Report at the annual meeting. The Program Chair is responsible for the Section’s program at the Joint Statistical Meeting, and at Section sponsored conferences and educational events. The Secretary is responsible for taking minutes at Section business meetings including the annual business meeting, and for maintaining a roster of the Section members.

Other duties and responsibilities of the Officers, not inconsistent with this Charter, may be established by a Responsibilities and Procedures Manual, which may be adopted or modified from time to time by the Executive Committee.

No officer shall be eligible for immediate re-election or re-appointment to the same office except the Newsletter Editor and Webmaster. The Chair-Elect and the Program Chair-Elect shall automatically succeed the Chair and Program Chair, respectively, at the annual change of officers, which shall occur on January 1. The Newsletter Editor and Webmaster are not term-limited.

An individual may hold no more than one office within the Section at a given time.

If the office of Chair or Program Chair becomes vacant, the Chair-Elect and Program Chair-Elect shall become the Chair and Program Chair respectively, the terms extending through the following year.  Vacancies in other offices shall be filled by appointment by the Chair with the approval of the Executive Committee.

The term and manner of choosing each officer is summarized in the following table: 

Officers of the Lifetime Data Science Section 

Officer

How Chosen

Term Length

Max Num. Consecutive Terms

Committees

Chair

Rotates from Chair-Elect

1 year

1

Executive

Past Chair

Rotates from Chair

1 year

1

Executive, Nominating

Chair-Elect

Elected

1 year

1

Executive

Treasurer

Elected

3 years

1

Executive

Secretary

Elected

3 years

1

Executive

Past Program Chair

Rotates from Program Chair

1 year

1

Program, Nominating

Program Chair

Rotates from Program Chair-Elect

1 year

1

Program

Program Chair-Elect

Elected

1 year

1

Program

Council of Sections Representative

Elected

3 years

1

Executive

Newsletter Editor

Appointed by Chair

1 year

No Limit

 

Webmaster

Appointed by Chair

1 year

No Limit

 

 

ARTICLE VI. COMMITTEES

1. Types of Committees
The committees of the Section shall consist of the Executive Committee, the Nomination Committee, the Program Committee, and such other committees as the Executive Committee may from time to time establish.  

The Executive Committee shall consist of the current Chair, the Past Chair, the Chair-Elect, the Secretary, and the Treasurer. The Executive Committee will manage the affairs of the Section. All members of the Executive Committee may vote on official business.  The Executive Committee may invite others as non-voting members or ad-hoc participants.

The Nominating Committee shall consist of the Past Chair, the Past Program Chair, and one person designated by the Chair. The Past Chair shall serve as Chair of the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee shall be responsible for nominating a slate of officers for each annual election of the Section.

The Program Committee shall consist of the Program Chair, the Program Chair-Elect, the Past Program Chair, and such other member(s) as the Program Chair may appoint. The Program Committee is responsible for the Section’s educational program including the Joint Statistical Meeting, Section’s conferences, and other activities.

A quorum of 50% of voting members must be present at official meetings for all committees, and an opportunity for discussion of matters requiring vote must be allowed. Formal motions and financial disbursements must occur during official meetings of committees.


2. Membership
The term of membership, if not otherwise specified in this Charter, shall be three years. Initial terms for new committees shall be set by the Chair of the Section for one, two, or three years so that, as nearly as possible, one-third of the members shall be appointed each year. Each committee shall be governed by a chair appointed by the Chair of the Section, unless otherwise specified in this Charter. All Committees members shall be members of the Section.


3. Standing Committees
Each Standing Committee must submit an annual report to the Chair of the Section upon request of the Chair. 

a. Nominations Committee
Each year the Section shall hold an election of officers. Elections shall be conducted by the Association.

For each annual election, the Nominating Committee shall submit no later than September 1 to the Secretary and the Chair of the Section, nominations for each position to be filled. In addition, any Section member nominated by petition of 5 or more members of Section shall also appear on the annual ballot, provided that the petition is presented to the Secretary and Chair of the Section by September 1. 

b. Voting Rights
All enrolled members shall be eligible to participate in elections. Balloting shall be carried out by the Association for electing Section officers. The Past Chair shall coordinate with the Association’s office, provide required information, and represent the Section for purposes of elections. Ballots shall be sent to current section members.  Balloting shall occur according to Association’s procedures and standards.


ARTICLE VII. MEETINGS
The annual business meeting of the Section shall be held in connection with the annual Joint Statistical Meetings and shall be announced in advance, preferably in the program for that meeting. Business may also be conducted with the Section members by mail and/or email. A quorum of 50% of voting Section officers must be present at the official annual business meeting.



ARTICLE VIII. AMENDMENTS
Amendments to this charter may be proposed by the officers of the Section or by petition signed by at least 5% of the members of the Section and submitted to the Section Secretary and Chair by September 1. The proposed amendment shall be submitted to the Section members for vote at the time of the annual election of officers. If approved by a majority of the Section members voting, the amendment is approved. An approved amendment shall be effective immediately, unless otherwise specified in the amendment itself.