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Contents TopThe name and address of the chairman of each of these committees can be found on the Current Personnel page under the designated responsible officer.
* The Board action which created the committee has been “lost.” The Act cited is the earliest Board action that references the committee's work.
AAAS Representatives — Executive Vice President
There is one AAAS representative for the Biology Section and
another for Geology and Geography. These people must be members
of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
(AAAS), with which the Society is affiliated. They represent the
Society at section meetings and organize any cave related papers
presented at the annual meetings of the AAAS. (Act 41-076)
Alachua Sinks Preserve Committee — Administrative Vice
President
This committee is responsible for the administration of and
control over the Alachua Sinks, Florida, a preserve owned and
managed by the Society. (Act 26-205)
American Caving Accidents Editor — Executive Vice
President
This Committee publishes a compendium of caving accidents in the
U.S. complete with detailed analyses and commentary. The
publication depends upon reporting of all caving accidents to the
NSS Office. This includes accidents involving non-affiliated
cavers as well as NSS members. (Act 83-336)
Archivist — Operations Vice President
All Society committees, permanent or temporary, transmit their
inactive correspondence files and historical records to the
Archivist for permanent retention in the Society's archives.
Committee chairmen presort material and send that which will be
of permanent reference value, organized and filed by topics. (Act
25-456)
Audio-Visual Aids Committee — Operations Vice President
The purpose of the Audio-Visual Aids Committee is to solicit and
develop new audio-visual shows related to caves and caving, to
encourage the dissemination of information about caves and caving
through audio-visual aids, and maintain the shows. Audio-visual
library materials will be distributed by the NSS Office. Fees
will be charged for the use of library materials and will be
expected to cover the normal operating and maintenance costs of
the library. The Video Committee is a sub committee of the
Audio-Visual Aids Committee. (Act 97-396)
Audit Committee — Board of Governors
The Audit Committee is established according to the Audit
Committee Policy. (Act 15-770)
Awards Committee — President
The Awards Committee is responsible for administering the NSS
awards program. (Act 43-744)(see
Section 6)
Barton Hill Karst Preserve Committee — Administrative
Vice President
This committee is responsible for administration of and control
over the Barton Hill Karst, New York, a preserve owned and
managed by the Society. (Act 26-577)
Board Arrangements Committee — President
The purpose of this committee is to solicit bids for the spring
and fall Board of Governors meetings and present these bids to
the Board for their selection. (Act 83-205)
Bylaws Committee — President
The job of the Bylaws Committee is to review proposed changes to
the bylaws to insure they are consistent with the Constitution
and Articles of Incorporation and best accomplish the goals
desired by the proposer. (Act 08-204)
Cartographic Salon Committee — Administrative Vice
President
This committee organizes and conducts the annual Cartographic
Salon. They publicize the contest, solicit participation, judge
the entries, and arrange for display at the convention. The
objective is to recognize outstanding examples of the best in
cave mapping technique and art. *(Act 79-554)
Cave Ballad Contest Committee — Administrative Vice
President
This committee organizes and judges an annual Cave Ballad Contest
and presents the entries at the annual convention. The committee
may also produce records and cassettes and a cave ballad
songbook. (Act 47-392)
Cave Conservancies Committee
— Administrative Vice President
This committee is proactive in promoting the NSS to Conservancies
and other cave owners, as the major cave organization for
providing cave management information, expertise, and assistance.
The committee encourages all cave Conservancies and other persons
and groups responsibly managing caves to affiliate with the NSS.
(Act 50-584)
Cave Files Committee — Operations Vice President
The purpose of this Committee is to insure that data known to one
group and generation of cavers is collected, preserved, and made
available to other groups and generations. The cave files consist
of three important sections: (1) For each cave there is a data
card with the information coded according to a standard format.
(2) There is a file folder for each cave which ideally contains a
completed cave report form and all additional materials clipped
from newspapers, grotto publications, and personal files. (3) A
map cabinet exists in which original and large size copies of
cave maps are stored. (Act 46-214)
Conservation Committee — Administrative Vice President
The primary purpose of the Conservation Committee is to direct
the cave conservation efforts of the Society. The committee
serves this purpose by acting as a communications network for the
Society's various efforts. The committee also maintains liaison
with individuals, corporations, and state and federal agencies
outside the Society and coordinates Society conservation efforts
with other conservation organizations having mutual goals. Much
of the Society's conservation efforts are handled by Conservation
Sub-committees and Conservation Task Forces. In general, the
Sub-committees deal with national and regional issues of a
continuing nature while the CTFs are created, as needed, to work
with specific local problems of a temporary nature. (Act 50-086)
Conservation Task Forces — Administrative Vice President
Conservation Task Forces (CTF) are dreated to focus on major
local level cave conservation issues (Act 50-238)
Contemporary Cave Use Committee —Administrative Vice
President
The purpose of this committee is to gather information by using
cave registers and other means to advance the knowledge and
understanding of cave use in North America. The committee shall
provide leadership, advice, and cave register devices to NSS
committees, NSS internal organizations, NSS members, and
researchers involving the distribution, mantainance, and
retrieval of information. It shall make available data and its
findings to the NSS, its members, and researchers in order to
facilitate cave management, cave conservation, cave safety, and
the management of the Society. (Act 88-493)
Convention Committee — Administrative Vice President
This committee organizes and runs the annual convention, usually
through many sub-committees. The convention site, and thus the
Chairman, is selected annually by the Board of Governors from
proposals submitted from various groups interested in hosting the
convention.
Convention Development Committee — Administrative Vice
President
This Committee solicits proposals up to three years in advance
from all internal organizations to sponsor the annual convention.
They present the bids to the Board of Governors and help the
chosen group organize the convention. The Committee will give any
prospective convention chairman, upon request for convention
information, a copy of the Planning Guide for Annual Conventions
of the NSS. Copies will be kept in file by the Convention
Planning Committee Chairman and updated by him whenever
necessary. (Act 56-690)
Corporate Report Committee — President
This committee is responsible for publishing the annual NSS
Corporate Report. (Act 83-705)
Donald R. Russell Nature Preserve Committee —
Administrative Vice President
This committee is responsible for the administration of and
control over Donald R. Russell Cave, Oklahoma, a preserve owned
and managed by the Society.
Educational Grants and Scholarship Committee —
Administrative Vice President
This committee is responsible for supporting and administering
educational grants and scholarships. (Act 57-704)
Environmental Education Committee — Administrative Vice
President
This committee works to develop an educational program on caves,
to be taught in schools (kindergarten through high school), based
on Project Underground. (Act 86-556)
Executive Committee
This committee comprises the Officers of the Society. (Act 01-287)
Executive Search Committee — Board of Governors
The purpose of the Executive Search Committee is to recruit
candidates for the annual election of President, Vice-Presidents,
and Secretary-Treasurer of the Society. They also maintain a list
of people thought to be qualified for such positions. (Act 12-551)(Bylaw
IV, Section A(3)(d).
Finance Committee — Secretary-Treasurer
This committee is charged with helping to prepare the budget.
(Act 16-045)
Fund Raising Committee — President
The Fund Raising Committee solicits donations to the General,
Save-the-Caves, Exploration, and Research Funds. collectively
known as the Primary Funds. The main focus of the Fund Raising
Committee will be to solicit contributions to the Primary Funds.
They also solicit unrestricted gifts to the Society and donations
to the various other funds. (Act 63-429)
Geocasching Committee — Administrative Vice President
The purpose of this committee is to address the potential and
recurring situation of placing geochches in sensitive and
potentially dangerous caves in addition to preventing cave
locations being posted on the Internet. (Act 26-750)
Grant Committee — President
This committee is responsible for submitting grant proposals to
appropriate foundations. (Act 63-450)
Graphic Arts Salon Committee — Administrative Vice
President
This committee organizes and conducts the annual Graphic Arts
Salon. They publicize the contest, solicit participation, judge
the entries, and arrange for display at the convention. The
objective is to recognize outstanding newsletter covers published
by NSS-affiliated organizations. The purpose of the salon as
organized is to recognize newsletter covers and not miscellaneous
cave art.
Great Expectations Nature Preserve Committee —
Administrative Vice President
The Committee is responsible for effectively managing the
preserve according to the Great Expectations Cave Management
Plan. (Act 26-736)
Government Liaison Committee — President
This committee will act as liaison with federal and state
agencies to administer and create memorandums of understanding.
(Act 61-669)
Internal Organizations Committee — Operations Vice
President
The Internal Organizations Committee is responsible for
chartering new internal organizations and maintaining a current
file on all active IOs. Each IO is required to submit an annual
report to this Committee. Those which fail to do so are
eventually deactivated. Additionally the IO Committee works
closely with the Congress of Grottos and serves as the
Credentials Committee for that body.
International
Congress of Speleology – 2009 -- President
The NSS will host the 2009 ICS in conjunction with the 2009 NSS
Convention. This committee will be responsible for organizing
both events. (Acts 56-767 and 65-768)
International Exploration Committee — Executive Vice
President
The primary purpose of the International Exploration Committee is
to administer the Expedition Support Fund grant program. The
Expedition Support Fund was established to assist Society
sponsored speleological expeditions by contributions raised for
this specific purpose. (Act 60-455)
International Secretary — President
The International Secretary serves as coordinator between the NSS
and the International Union of Speleology (UIS) and other
individuals and organizations in foreign countries. The
International Secretary also administers the grants to support
international speleological participation (see Appendix I).
Junior Speleological Society Committee — Administrative
Vice President
This committee is to provide administrative and program support
for youth educational activities at Society National Conventions.
(Act 56-596)
John Guilday Cave Preserve Committee —Administrative Vice
President
This committee is responsible for administration of and control
over the John Guilday Cave Preserve, West Virginia, a Society
owned preserve including four caves.
Kingston Saltpeter Nature Preserve Committee —
Administrative Vice President
This committee is responsible for administration of and control
over Kingston Saltpeter Cave, Georgia, a cave leased by the
Society.
Land Owner Relations Committee — Administrative Vice
President
The committee is responsible for working on private sector
landowner relations at the national level. The committee is also
responsible for working with regions and grottos tohelp them with
programs to develop and maintain good relations with landowners
in their areas. (Act 86-703)
Legal Committee — President
The purpose of the Legal Committee is to serve as a legal advisor
to the Executive Committee and Board of Governors. Various
members of the committee work with grottos or regions to enact
laws protecting caves or limiting liability of cave owners. The
committee is not expected to serve as legal counsel to the
Society. *(Act 24-691)
Library Committee — Operations Vice President
The purpose of the Library Committee is to operate the NSS
Library located at the NSS Office in Huntsville. The Library
receives over 200 publications a year from around the world and
from grottos and other internal organizations. The Library also
contains one of the largest collections of speleological books in
the world. (Act 68-564)
Limited Access Cave Data Base Committee — Administrative
Vice President
This committee will attempt to ascertain the extent to which
caves in the U.S. are closed or have access limitatons that
reduce visitation. (Act 46-664)
Logistics Committee — President
The purpose of the Logistics Committee is to support the
President during Board of Governors meetings and conventions. The
committee will provide written direction and support on how to
host a Board of Governors meeting and describe the facility
requirements. The committee will act as liaison between the
meeting host and the Board of Governors.
Mammoth
Cave Restoration Committee — Administrative Vice
Preident
This committee will administer and manage the Cooperative
Agreement between Mammoth Cave National Park and the National
Speleological Society. (Act 50-602)
Market Analysis Committee — Operations Vice President
The Market Analysis Committee conducts market research for
proposed non-periodical publications to be published and sold by
the NSS. (Act 83-628)
Membership Committee — President
The Membership Committee will create and implement effective
membership and renewal strategies. (Act
28-743)
Members Manual Committee — Executive Vice President
The purpose of this committee is to produce an annual Members
Manual containing information about the Society; reports on
current projects and accomplishments; a fist of active internal
organizations, officers, and directors; and a membership list.
(Act 84-324)
McFails Cave Committee — Administrative Vice President
This committee is responsible for administration of and control
over McFails Cave, New York, a Society owned cave. (Act 26-118)
National Cave Management Symposium Coordinator —
President
The person in this position assists the National Cave Management
Symposium Steering Committee and the organizations hosting each
individual symposium.
National Cave Rescue Commission
— Administrative Vice President
The Rescue Commission (NCRC) serves as an advisory, training,
developmental, and coordinating agency to work with cavers,
government agencies, and rescue teams. The Commission provides
training programs and will assist in solving specific cave rescue
problems. They will also develop or evaluate cave rescue plans
and resources. (Act 91-370)
NSS/BCI Liaison Committee — President
This committee is established per the Memorandul of Understanding
between the NSS and Bat Conservation International. (Act 50-761 and Appendix
AK)
NSS Cave and Karst Acquisition Committee — Administrative
Vice President
This committee will develop criteria to determine if a cave or
karst land is suitable for ownership by the NSS, an internal NSS
organization, or another responsible cave interested group. The
committee also determines whether acquisition assistance from the
NSS is needed. (Act 26-578)
NSS Nature Preserves Committee — Administrative Vice
President
The NSS Nature Preserves Committee manages all cave and karst
lands owned by the NSS. All cave management committees
established to run NSS owned and managed karst properties and NSS
Nature Preserves report to this committee. (Act 26-577)
NSS Commercial Cave Liaison Committee — President
This committee is established for the purpose of informing the
National Caves Association of the talent and resources of the
NSS. (Act 86-320)
NSS Information Technologies Committee — Operations Vice
President
This committee is responsible for the NSS office and NSS web site
computer infrastructure. (Act 66-684)
NSS Equipment Committee — Secretary-Treasurer
This committee is established to compile and maintain information
on personal property owned by the NSS. (Act 58-562)
NSS Information Technology Committee—Operations Vice
President
This committee is responsible for the NSS office and NSS web site
computer infrastructure. (Act 66-684)
NSS Journal Editor — Executive Vice President
The job of the Journal Editor is to coordinate the production of
the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, a quarterly
scientific journal on cave and karst research. (Act 81-570)
NSS/KWI Liaison Committee — President
This committee is established per the memorandum of understanding
between the NSS and the Karst Waters Institute. (Act 61-676)
NSS/NCKRI Liaison Committee — President
This committee acts as liaison between the NSS and the National
Cave and Karst Research Institute. (Act 41-696)
NSS News Editor — Executive Vice President
The job of the News Editor is to coordinate the production of the
NSS News, a monthly news and feature magazine.
NSS Planning Committee — President
This committee is established to lead and facilitate the
development and maintaining of a comprehensive stratigic plan for
the future of the NSS (Act 09-594)
NSS/TNC Liaison Committee
— President
The committee works to maintain the relationship between the
Society and The Nature Conservancy.
Nominating Committee
— President
The job of the Nominating Committee is to solicit candidates for
election to the Board of Governors. The committee also conducts
the annual Board election. (Act 02-403)
Office Automation Committee — Operations Vice President
This committee is responsible for maintenance of the software
suporting the NSS office functions. (Act 25-565)
On-Line Library Committee — Operations Vice President
The purpose of this committee is to make the NSS Library more
accessable to NSS members by providing Internet access to library
materials. (Act 68-571)
Outdoor Group Liaison Committee — President
The purpose of this committee is to provide information to
outdoor businesses and activities that include caving in their
programs to insure that they consider the safety of the
participants, respect for the landowner, and the conservation of
the caves.
Photo Archives Committee — Operations Vice President
This committee is to maintain, protect, and catalog all
photographs owned or copyrighted by the NSS. The ultimate goal is
the establishment of a permanent historical record of American
caves. (Act 78-220)
Photo Salon Committee — Administrative Vice President
This Committee organizes and publicizes the annual Photo Salon.
NSS members are invited to submit photos to the Committee
following announcement of the annual competetion in the NSS
News. Judging takes place two or three weeks prior to the
convention and awards are presented at the convention in several
categories. A gallery is set up at the convention for
conventioneers to view the entries. (Act 79-554)
Public Relations Committee — President
This committee is directed to expand the awareness of the
existence of the NSS and its activities and goals to the general
public. This committee will coordinate and support corporate
marketing and public relations efforts of the NSS and its
committees on a national level. (Act 86-361)
Recording Secretary — President
The Recording Secretary takes notes at meetings of the Board of
Governors and prepares the official minutes of the meeting. (Act 05-290)
Research Advisory Committee — Executive Vice President
This Committee coordinates the research activity of the Society.
They administer the research grants given by the Society, choose
the winner of the annual Ralph W. Stone Research Grant, designate
official NSS Projects and Study Groups, provide advice to members
concerning scientific efforts, answer speleological inquiries
from others, and review proposals for research in Society owned
caves. (Act 88-080)
Resource Preservation Committee — Administrative Vice President
Safety and Techniques Committee — Administrative Vice
President
The goal of the Safety and Techniques Committee is "Safety
Through Knowledge." Activities of the Committee include
analyzing and reporting accidents and near accidents, equipment
study and testing, and development of safe caving techniques.
(Act 91-330)
Salon Coordinator — Administrative Vice President
The job of the Salon Coordinator is to coordinate all of the NSS
salons at the convention and to promote caving art.
Schoharie Caverns Preserve Committee — Administrative
Vice President
This committee is responsible for administration of and control
over the Schoharie Caverns Preserve, New York, a Society owned
preserve. (Act 26-511)
Secretary to the Board — President
The Secretary to the Board is responsible for maintaining and
distributing information relating to the current policies of the
NSS. This includes editing and publishing the Board of
Governors Manual, publicizing policies through the NSS
News, maintaining board continuity, and the like. He is also
an ex-officio member of the Bylaws Committee and the Minutes and
Arrangements Committee.
Shelta Cave Committee — Administrative Vice President
This committee is responsible for administration of and control
over Shelta Cave, Alabama, a Society owned cave. (Act 26-236)
Special Publications Committee — Executive Vice President
The Special Publications Committee arranges for publication of
all works of the NSS not specifically covered by a separate
committee. This Committee will review manuscripts and related
materials for Society members and attempt to obtain publication
of those works which it feels will further the goals of the NSS.
(Act 83-329)
Speleo Digest Committee — Executive Vice President
This Committee oversees publication of the Speleo Digest,
an annual selection of material from local grotto newsletters of
the publication year. The material is selected on the basis of
entertainment or permanent reference value. (Act 82-366)
Speleo Museum Committee — Operations Vice President
The Museum of Speleology is to collect objects directly related
to caving and speleology. Areas of interest include vertical
gear, lighting devices and other equipment, grotto and region
patches, and other memorabilia.
Tytoona Nature Preserve Management Committee —
Administrative Vice President
This committee is responsible for enforcing both NSS and Tytoona
Nature Preserve access guidelines per Appendix F
(Management Plan for Tytoona Cave Preserve). (Act 26-697)
U. S. Exploration Committee — Executive Vice President
The primary purpose of the U. S. Exploration Committee is to
administer the Sara Corrie Memorial Fund grant program (Act 60-483) (See Appendix
AG).
Vandalism Deterrence Reward Commission — Administrative
Vice-President
This commission, consisting of five members, administers the Cave
Vandalism Deterrence Reward offered by the Society. The
Commission determines the amount of the reward, based on the
offense and the success of the prosecution; cooperates with other
organizations or persons wishing to offer rewards in conjunction
with the Society; and publicizes the reward in the NSS News.
(Act 50-395) (See Appendix W.)
Warren Nature Preserve Committee — Administrative Vice
President
This committee is responsible for the administration of and
control over Warren Cave, Florida, a preserve owned and managed
by the Society. (Act 26-487)
Wells Nature Preserve Management Committee —
Administrative Vice President
This committee is responsible for implementing the Wells Cave
Management Plan and property activities. (Act 26-733)
Youth Groups Liaison Committee — Administrative Vice
President
This committee is responsible for acting as liaison between the
NSS and youth groups that may include caving in their programs.
(Act 86-231)
2-7-07
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