ATA Governing Policy for Divisions

AMERICAN TRANSLATORS ASSOCIATION GOVERNING POLICY FOR DIVISIONS

Last revised by the ATA Board on July 30, 2011

The administrative structure of Divisions was originally established in the 1980s and 1990s in a time when access to information and networking depended on printed materials and face-to-face meetings. With the evolution of technology, members of the translation and interpreting community—both ATA members and nonmembers—have access to a limitless number of virtual networks; and as the cost of digital information approaches zero, information becomes a much less scarce commodity. Divisions within ATA have grown into valuable networks that provide a wide range of benefits to members and represent one of the most important reasons for membership in the Association. As global, knowledge-based collaboration continues to grow in importance, ATA intends to build a collaborative framework that supports the new opportunities of greater inclusion and transparency in all phases of the knowledge-creation—and value-creation—process.

The framework outlined in this standard governing policy applies to all Divisions and replaces the current, individual division bylaws. The document is deliberately limited to the essential functions of Divisions to remove any obstacles to the pursuit of innovation.

§1 Purpose

*The new “Governing Policy for Divisions” will formally took effect at the previous ATA Conference in Boston, MA and replace the existing KLD Bylaws. Four divisions including the KLD were asked to participate in a pilot project with regard to forming a Leadership Council in early 2011. For more information on the Governing Policy for Divisions, please refer to “New Policy and Governance Structure for ATA Divisions” by Dorothee Racette in The ATA Chronicle in August 2011.