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Call for BABAO Trustees

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The current call for trustees includes Grants Secretary (3 years), Outreach Officer (3 years), Representative from a Professional Organisation (3 years), and Membership Secretary (5 years)

We would like to invite our members to nominate themselves for four amazing positions within our Board of Trustees! Becoming a BABAO Trustee is an opportunity to become more engaged in the fields of biological anthropology and osteoarchaeology in the UK. Specifically, BABAO trustees should represent these fields, and work to steer and support our community.

Each trustee must complete an induction process, which includes completing accredited online training in: Role of a Management Committee; Equality and Diversity; and GDPR and Confidentiality. They will be given a hand-over document, written by their predecessor, which must be maintained and updated throughout their tenure. The trustees typically meet four times a year (within the UK), with at least one of these meetings being in-person, the rest are virtual. All trustee business uses our Google Drive. Trustee activities and behaviours must comply with our Standard Operating Procedures and policies (e.g. GDPR).

How do I nominate myself?

  • Open to all members of the association who paid their membership fees of the current year
  • Send an email to secretary@babao.org.uk with a 250 word statement outlining your interest and suitability for your chosen post by the 30th of June
  • All applications must be seconded by a BABAO member, sent via email to secretary@babao.org.uk

When are the roles starting?

  • The Grants Secretary will take up their position at the Annual General Meeting in September 2024.
  • The Outreach Officer and Representative from a Professional Organisation will take up their posts immediately.
  • The Membership Secretary will officially take over the role at the Annual General Meeting in September 2025, but for this position we would like to introduce a changeover period of one year during which the position will be shared with the current Membership Secretary.

What does the role entail?

Grants Secretary (3 years)

The Grants Secretary is responsible for administrative duties associated with the grant schemes offered by BABAO. There are currently five grant and award schemes that you will be overseeing: the Research Grants (academic and commercial), the Rapid Turnaround Microgrants, the Decolonising and Diversifying Osteology and Biological Anthropology (DDOBA) Grants, the Get Involved Grants, and the Don Brothwell and Holger Schutkowski Awards for BA and masters’ theses.

Throughout the year:

  • The representative attends the meetings of the Board of Trustees and reports at the AGM
  • Participate in the EDI sub-committee
  • Managing the processing, reviewing, and decision-making process of Awards and Get Involved Grant applications as and when they are submitted
  • Managing the processing, reviewing, and decision-making process of Microgrant applications as and when they are submitted
  • Handling queries from BABAO members regarding the grant schemes and liaising with the Board when necessary

Representative from a Professional Organisation (3 years)

Ensures that members from the professional organisation sector have a dedicated contact person within the Board of Trustees, who will raise their concerns and comments and represent their views.

  • The representative attends the meetings of the Board of Trustees and reports at the AGM
  • Participate in the EDI sub-committee
  • The representative is responsible for liaising with representatives from other relevant organisations, such as the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA), BAFA, RAI, and others, in order to communicate news and developments within the professional sector to the BABAO membership.

Outreach Officer (3 years)

The post holder is responsible for the development and implementation of public engagement. Main duties include:

  • Searching for, organising and advertising outreach events association members can take part in
  • Liaising with local and international BABAO members who wish to partake in outreach events
  • Purchasing and maintaining a collection of outreach materials, including animal bones, plastic casts of human skeletons, dental casts and printed guides on skeletal anatomy and osteological methods
  • Posting updates on outreach activities on traditional and social media
  • Promoting awareness of good practice and ethics within our disciplines when presenting at public communication events

Membership Secretary (5 years)

The membership secretary is responsible for:

  • Managing the BABAO membership records through registering new members, keeping members’ details up to date, verifying the student status of student members, and deleting records of cancelled/lapsed memberships
  • Managing the BABAO mailing list and members’ area of the BABAO website and ensuring members have access to them, as well as providing necessary information for the Student Representative to manage the BABAO Facebook pages
  • Helping members with any enquiries or problems relating to their membership
  • Ensuring all members pay the appropriate annual subscription through regularly checking bank and PayPal transaction records, keeping a record of cheques received, and following up on late payment of fees
  • Verifying membership status of members when required, e.g. for BABAO Grant applicants, or conference registration
  • Preparing membership reports for BABAO Trustees meetings, the AGM, and the Annual Review, and providing information on the membership to other Trustees when reasonably requested

If you have any questions, please get in touch with our Secretary, Hannah Liedl at secretary@babao.org.uk

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