Site Selection Committee

The PSA Constitution determines the members of the Site Selection Committee. The membership always consists of the PSA President, President-Elect, and Executive Director. The Executive Director usually serves as acting chair in order to facilitate the work of the committee.

The Site Selection Committee organizes and coordinates information about potential sites for the Association's annual meeting and reports to Council for site selection decisions.

1. Procedures for taking committee action. The Secretary/Treasurer informs the President and President-Elect if there is business to conduct. Decisions are usually made on a majority vote; consensus is, however, the goal.
   All decisions regarding site selection must adhere to the PSA's site selection policy:
   "The Pacific Sociological Association affirms its strong commitment to the full participation of all members of all races, ethnic backgrounds, socioeconomic positions, genders, ages, sexualities, nationalities, religions, and physical abilities in all of the activities of the organization. The PSA (whenever possible) will endeavor to hold its annual meeting in locations where its members are not subject to discrimination on the basis of any of these or other social factors. The PSA is also committed to actively educating and informing the general public of the bases for these commitments."
2. Specific duties of the chair of the committee.
   The Secretary/Treasurer, serving as Chair, will inform members of possible cities by region (North, Central, South) where the annual meeting might be held and of possible hotels and their costs, as well as transportation costs (airline fares if known) to the potential meeting sites. The Secretary/Treasurer will initiate communication about the committee's business. As Chair, the Secretary/Treasurer will keep an archive of the committee's business, decisions, and communication and will pass the archive on to the next Secretary/Treasurer. The Secretary/Treasure will also write a brief annual report regarding the committee's activities, if any, for publication in the Association's newsletter.
3. Calendar of committee activities.
   1. The Secretary/Treasurer establishes the agenda for the committee. The agenda usually consists of discussing and selecting a possible city in which the annual meeting can be held. The discussion and selection usually occurs two to three years before the date of the annual meeting for any particular city being considered. The PSA Constitution mandates that the annual meeting will be held in the South, Central, and North regions of the PSA once every three years on a rotating basis. Recently, the committee has leaned toward rotating the annual PSA meeting between San Diego in the South, San Francisco in the Central region, and either Portland or Seattle in the North. Surveys of members have consistently shown these cities to be the most favored.
   2. The Secretary/Treasurer informs Council of the Site Selection Committee's recommendations and decisions, usually at the annual meeting. Council can always rule against the Site Selection Committee's decision, providing that no hotel contact has been signed that obligates the Association.
   3. The Secretary/Treasurer serves as the acting chair of the committee. By having the Secretary/Treasurer serve as acting chair, the work of the committee is facilitated, since it is the Secretary/Treasurer who usually conducts on-site visits and negotiates with potential hotels.
   4. The committee usually does not meet face-to-face, but can meet at the annual meeting if it has business to conduct. Communication occurs by phone, letter, or email when necessary.
   5. The Secretary/Treasurer writes the annual report of the committee's activities. The report consists of informing members of the committee's decisions and rationale for those decisions.
4. Procedures for establishing, maintaining, and passing on the committee archive to the next chair.
   The Secretary/Treasurer passes the archive of the committee on to the next Secretary/Treasurer, along with all the other files of the PSA. The Secretary/Treasurer maintains the archive, which includes all correspondence between members of the committee, Council, and others pertinent to the business of the committee.
5. Procedures for soliciting input from committee members between meeting dates.
   The Secretary/Treasurer, serving as acting chair, initiates and solicits input form the other two members of the committee when necessary. The work, of the committee generally occurs between November and the date of the annual meeting. Communication is by phone, letter or email.
6. Comments relating specifically to this committee.
   This committee is unique in that it is neither appointed or elected. Its membership is mandated by the PSA Constitution. In addition, there may be some years in which it has no business to conduct.

Committee Members:

• Beth Schneider (13) UCSB, President 2012
• Valeria Jenness (14) UC Irvine, President 2013
• Amy Wharton (15) WSU Vancouver, President 2014
• Charles Hohm, Executive Director, liaison from Council

Past Committee Reports

We are in the process of making all committee reports accessible through the web. 
In the meantime, for information on past meeting programs, please contact the PSA Executive Office.