Appendix 1 - NASEM Roundtables Policies and Procedures.docx

Roundtables: Policy and Procedures

A Roundtable (or Forum) is a core and continuing activity that provides a means for representatives of government, industry, private businesses, academia and other stakeholder groups to gather periodically in a neutral setting to identify and discuss issues of mutual concern on a continuing basis.

Initial Approval and Ongoing Re-Approval Prospectuses for new roundtables/forums are reviewed and approved by the Governing Board Executive Committee (GBEC). Thereafter, all roundtables/forums are reviewed and reauthorized to continue accepting funds on an ongoing basis by the Governing Board via the periodic review of the core and continuing activities of each division/major program unit. Roundtables/forums are supervised by one or more oversight boards/committees or divisions/major program units.

Membership and Appointment Roundtable members who are not serving in an ex officio capacity are appointed to a roundtable by or on behalf of the National Research Council (NRC) Chair, generally for three-year terms and for no more than two consecutive three-year terms according to a plan of rotation.

Government officials often are appointed to roundtables/forums on an ex officio basis at the recommendation of their agency or organization, and the length of their service will match the length of their term in office. Note that non-governmental membership appointments to roundtables/forums also may be considered ex officio if they are by virtue of the individual's office in a professional society, corporation, or other independent organization.

A note on ex officio membership: A member ex officio of a roundtable/forum is one who is a member automatically by virtue of holding a particular office. Membership ex officio is established without regard to who the individual office holder is at any given time. The initial establishment of an ex officio membership requires the approval of the NRC Chair, as in the case of a regular member, except that the justification rests in the responsibilities of the office rather than the personal qualifications of the incumbent. Therefore, once an ex officio membership has been established and approved by the NRC Chair, the particular individual who will hold it does not require separate approval; the new incumbent will be added to the roster upon notification. (Note: The Committee Appointments Manager in the NRC Executive Office must be notified of changes so that the correct name of the member will be included in membership records.)

Conflict of Interest In contrast to the institutional requirements for members appointed to ad hoc committees or to other types of standing bodies of the National Academies, roundtable/forum members are not subject to any institutional restrictions with respect to conflicts of interest.

Because roundtables/forums are not subject to institutional conflict of interest requirements, a roundtable/forum may not be used to provide advice or recommendations nor may it be used in the development of a report. For this purpose, the term "report" includes any document in paper or electronic format intended for distribution outside the institution, other than: (1) an individually authored document which meets the requirements described below, (2) a proposal for funding being submitted to potential funding agencies, or (3) routine administrative, non-substantive correspondence (e.g., letters of invitation to meetings). The term "report" includes study reports, interim reports, letter reports, white papers, statements, assessments, and any other documents, letters, or statements in any format that convey substantive views or information.

Federal Advisory Committee Act, Section 15 Section 15 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act states that a federal agency may not use any advice or recommendation provided by the institution that was developed by use of a committee created by the Academy under an agreement with an agency unless certain procedural requirements are met. Since roundtables/forums may not be used to provide advice or recommendations or in the development of any report, Section 15 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act is not applicable to these activities.

Roundtable Meetings The members of a roundtable/forum determine the agendas for the meetings of the roundtable/forum within the general scope of activity for the group as approved by the institution via the GBEC process. The chair of the roundtable/forum presides at meetings of the roundtable/forum. (In some cases, a vice-chair or co-chair may also be appointed.)

Roundtable/forum meetings are open to the public and announced in advance, except that a meeting, or some portion of it, may be closed to the public if –

1. the Office of General Counsel determines that the meeting or some portion of it will disclose matters described in section 552(b) of Title 5, United States Code, or

2. the meeting does not include any nonmembers other than staff and is solely for the purpose of dealing with administrative matters and planning the work of the roundtable/forum.

Individually Authored Documents Subject to the availability of funds, roundtables/forums may commission the preparation of individually authored documents, including documents emanating from the work of a cluster or collaborative established by a roundtable/forum, to explore and stimulate discussion of a topic or issue for use by the roundtable/forum and dissemination to interested members of the public. An individually authored document commissioned by a roundtable/forum must meet the following requirements:

· The authors of the document must be identified by name and affiliation.

· The document must be subject to scrutiny by an editorial process designed to assure the absence of inappropriate content. This review is the responsibility of the division/major program unit under whose auspices the roundtable/forum is operating.

· The document must be released in a distinctive form that clearly distinguishes it from a report of the institution.

· The document must prominently display the following disclaimer concerning responsibility for the content. Normally this must appear on the front cover. If a logo is applied to the document, the disclaimer must appear on the same page as the logo.

"The views expressed in this document are those of the author(s), and are intended to help inform and stimulate discussion. The document is not a report of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and has not been subjected to its review procedures."

Workshops Subject to the availability of funds, roundtables/forums may use workshops to inform their meetings and discussions. These activities are subject to separate GBEC approval, must be workshops that result in Type B or Type C workshop proceedings, and must comply with the policy and procedures applicable to all National Academies workshops. See Workshops: Policy and Procedures.

Consensus Studies Roundtable/forum discussions may lead to proposals for specific studies to be undertaken by units of the National Academies resulting in institutional reports. Such studies, if undertaken, will be conducted independently from the roundtable/forum and in accordance with all institutional policies and procedures governing such study activities.

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