Welcome to the American Physiological Society’s committee application page. We appreciate your willingness to promote the Society’s mission to advance scientific discovery, understand life and improve health. We believe you will find serving on a committee a rewarding experience and a great opportunity to contribute to a vibrant community. Outlined below are important procedures and instructions for the application process.
Application Procedures
Committee applications will open May 15, 2024, with a deadline of August 15, 2024. The Committee on Committees (CoC)will then review the applications and send the finalists to the APS Council for a final decision at their fall 2024 meeting. Letters will go out to the selected candidates just after the Council meeting, informing them that their term will begin in the spring of 2025, after the American Physiology Summit.
Any APS member in good standing who wishes to join a Society-wide committee should apply via the online awards module. Please do not apply if you are currently serving on a committee. Also, APS members currently serving on a Society committee are required to spend at least one year off-service before beginning another term to allow opportunities for other members. Questions concerning the application process can be directed to Heddwen Brooks (hlbrooks@tulane.edu), Chair, CoC, or Sandra Spadoni (sspadoni@physiology.org), staff liaison. The CoC, in consultation with the sections, recommends standing committee chairperson and member appointments to Council from submitted member applications. For Council ex officio chair positions, applicants are interviewed and selected by the executive cabinet then approved by Council. Following is a description of the process for selection of new committee members. Please be sure to review the duties under each committee description and contact your CoC section representative for clarification with section vacancies.
NOTE: These forms are not used to apply for section positions. The membership of the Committee on Committees, Joint Program Committee, APS Fellows Committee, Section Advisory and Trainee Advisory Committees are comprised of representatives appointed by the Society’s Sections, therefore we do not accept applications for these committees. Should you know of someone who is interested in serving on one of these committees, please have them contact their section chair to learn about the application process.
Process & Timeline
- APS members are invited in the spring to submit applications for committee service, which includes soliciting endorsements from other APS members, regardless of their academic rank.
- Applicants are limited to applying to two committees in one application cycle or they will be disqualified.
- Applicants must submit a separate application for each committee.
- Please review the 2025 Committee Vacancies List in detail. Where there are already three (3) or more continuing section members on a committee, the CoC will not consider appointing more section members.
- A criteria rubric has been created by the CoC, and approved by the Executive Cabinet, to assist in better understanding the qualifications and scoring process.
- Trainee positions must be graduate or medical student, or postdoctoral fellow or medical resident.
- For the position of a committee chair:
- Applicants must be early-career (asst. professor, asst. researcher, etc.) or established professional (professor, researcher, dean, director, etc.) or senior physiologist (70+ years of age).
- b) Applicants are required to have previously served on the committee to which they are applying.
- Ex officio chair positions to Council are interviewed and selected by the Executive Cabinet then approved by Council.
- The CoC selects the final slate of candidates for committee vacancies.
- The CoC has the right, when necessary, to place a highly qualified individual on a committee that they had not applied for. For example, some committees may have few applications where vacancies may not be filled. The CoC will then consider a qualified individual from the overall applicant pool to fill that vacancy.
- The CoC chair presents the Committee's recommendations for appointment at the fall APS Council meeting. Committee terms start at the conclusion of the following year’s annual meeting.
- All candidates will be notified of their application status after the fall Council meeting. The CoC will ask each candidate not selected for committee appointment to remain under consideration for the following application cycle.
- Members of committees may only be appointed to one term on a committee, unless mandated by the bylaws. Council may make exceptions to this rule, such as when a committee member has been named chair of their respective committee.
- Members shall be limited to service on one committee, unless the bylaws or Council requires it, such as liaison or ex officio cross appointments.
*Members who cannot meet their committee service obligations due to extenuating circumstances (e.g., chronic illness, family emergency, funding issues), may request to resign from the committee. The CoC will give their application favorable consideration if they later reapply for service on the same committee. Committee chairs should notify the CoC when a committee member is inactive so they can be replaced.