TO:AST State Assembly Presidents

TO:AST State Assembly Presidents

FROM:Nancy Hartwell

State Assembly Staff Liaison

RE:Delegates and Alternates – 2014 AST Annual National Conference

According to the AST National Bylaws your state assembly is eligible to seat six (6) delegates and six (6) alternates at the 2014 AST National Annual Conference to be held in Denver, Colorado, May 26-30, 2014. Click on the link below this letter for the interactive Delegate & Alternate Form which must be received by the AST deadline date of March 31, 2014. Following are instructions for submitting your delegates and alternates names.

Both the State and National Bylaws specify that delegates are to be “elected by the stateassembly.”We strongly recommend state assemblies elect alternates at the same time. This will help the Chair of the delegation make a delegate change at the conference. The only time a President or Chair can switch from a delegate to an alternate is when there’s a delegate no show at conference and the state has previously designated alternates and the alternates are in attendance.

Article VIII, Section 4, of the Bylaws of the Association of Surgical Technologists designates the numbers of delegates and alternates to each state assembly. In order to qualify as a delegate or alternate:

An individual must be current with certification through the National Board of Surgical Technology & Surgical Assisting (NBSTSA).

The individual must be current in their AST membership dues through June, 2014.

States need to insure that their delegates are appropriately certified, active members, and have actually registered for the full conference and are expected to attend business sessions 1 and 2, the candidates forum, and voting. Keep in mind membership status can on occasion lapse between the time the person is designated as a delegate and the annual conference.

If you are unsure of a delegate or alternate membership status, please refer to the monthly reports you receive for your state or contact .

The Credentials Committee and the Board of Directors request that conference attendees dress appropriately for all functions of AST. Let us show ourselves, as well as others, that AST is indeed a professional association and that its members reflect that professionalism.

FUNDING DELEGATES and ALTERNATES

To encourage state assembly members to attend conference and serve as a delegate or as an alternate, offer to fund the state assembly member. This takes a real commitment on the state assembly’s behalf and all of the state assembly members. This will also create morale among the members, knowing their state assembly supports him/her. Funding delegates and alternates can be done partially or fully, decided by the state assembly.

When funding the member partially, there are many options to choose from; you can offer to pay for their registration fee, air fare or ground transportation, hotel, or food, or offer to pay for the entire conference, covering all expenses in connection to the event but the amount of funding may vary considerably from state to state depending on the state assembly’s available resources.

When funding delegates and alternates, use a checks and balances system. This will prevent the member from using state assembly funds for unauthorized expenses. One option to have is for the delegate or alternate to return receipts to the state assembly treasurer for food, lodging, and transportation and to be reimbursed after conference. Another way is to give a per diem for food and lodging, however, still requiring proof of purchases.

AFTER CONFERENCE

It is always a good idea to require your delegates and alternates to give a report to the state assembly after they return from conference. In the report, everything that happened in the House of Delegates should be shared with your state assembly members.

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