United States Public Health Service
Commissioned Officers Association
Greater New York Branch
(Greater NYCOA)
Audit Committee
Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
Document Approvals:
Printed Name
Title
Signature
Date[VE1]
LCDR Nancy Scheraga
5/3/17
Document History Record
Document History Record for:
Audit Committee
Standard Operating Procedures
Revision Number
Date of Revision
Effective Date
Description of Changes
01
Not Applicable
7/1/17
[VE2] Initial creation.
Purpose
The Greater NYCOA Audit Committee Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) provides operational and procedural guidance for the Greater NYCOA Audit Committee. This SOP provides guidance on matters not addressed by the Greater NYCOA Bylaws.
Scope
This SOP applies to all documents created that are related to all functions within the Greater NYCOA Audit Committee to establish policies, processes, records and acceptance criteria under the auspices of Greater NYCOA. This SOP does not apply to documents created by other organizations outside of the Greater NYCOA Audit Committee.
Definitions
Document No.: The unique identifier assigned to each document.
Revision No.: The numeric designation identifying the version of a controlled document. New documents are assigned “Rev. 00.” Subsequent, approved revisions of the same document are assigned sequential numbers, “Rev. 01,” “Rev.02,” etc.
Approval Date: The date that the Chair accepts the document into the Document Control System by applying the final approval signature.
Effective Date: The first date that the new or revised document may and must be used; and the previous revision, if there is one, may not and must not be used.
References
Greater NYCOA Bylaws
https://sites.google.com/site/newyorkcoa/bylaws
Greater NYCOA Website
https://sites.google.com/site/newyorkcoa/
Table of Contents
I. Audit Committee Responsibilities and Organization
Section 1: Audit Committee Responsibility
Section 2: Subcommittee Responsibility
Section 3: Leadership
Section 4: Audit Committee Involvement
Section 5: Ad-hoc Committees
Section 6: Letters of Appreciation
II. Audit Committee Procedures
Section 1: Meeting Time & Frequency
Section 2: Audit Committee Procedures
III. Minimum Standards for Audit Committee Participants
Section 1: Audit Committee Participants
IV. Transitioning
Section 1: Transition Procedure
V. Absenteeism Policy
Section 1: Absenteeism Policy
Section 2: Member Participation
Section 3: Inactive Members
VI. Member Recognition
Section 1: Audit Committee Participants
VII. Changes to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
[VE3] ARTICLE I
COMMITTEE RESPONSIBILITIES & ORGANIZATION
Section 1. The Audit Committee shall work with the Greater NYCOA Branch Executive Officers to provide a means of performing a retrospective financial review in accordance with the mission of Greater NYCOA.
Section 2. A Subcommittee is an established and recurring program within the Greater NYCOA Audit Committee. Often times, projects within the subcommittees are identified. A Project is defined as a short-term tasking or assignment that may or may not have a definitive termination date, depending upon the tasking and any applicable deadlines.
It is not anticipated that a Subcommittee would be required for this Committee. However, should the Greater NYCOA Branch Executive Officers or the Chair of the Audit Committee find a need to a Subcommittee, one may be formed.
Section 3. The Audit Committee consists of the Committee Chair and Participants
The Committee Chair is responsible for the following tasks:
1. Performing a retrospective review of the financial records of the previous fiscal year records.
2. Preparing a report for the Greater NYCOA Executive Officers.
3. Any discrepancies will be explained within the audit report.
The term duration for the Audit Committee Chair shall be one year.
Section 4. Audit Committee Involvement
Committee Participant: Committee Participants will fulfill the following expected roles and responsibilities:
1. Be willing and able to give the necessary time to attend meetings and perform any assigned duties.
2. Actively participate in discussion and be willing to listen to and respect others viewpoints.
3. Think in terms of the welfare of the group rather than personal interests.
4. Accept and follow through on assignments.
5. Maintain minimum standards for Committee Participants. (Article IV)
Committee Observer: A committee Observer is an Officer who merely wishes to maintain awareness of Committee issues but is under no obligation or requirement to participate, maintain a minimum level of attendance, or other responsibility.
Section 5. Ad-hoc/Special Projects Subcommittees are formed in response to the Greater NYCOA Audit Committee needs and as directed by the committee Chair.
Section 6. The Committee Chair shall disseminate Letters of Appreciation to committee participants for participation and volunteer support. The Letters of Appreciation should be issued using the template provided by the Greater NYCOA Branch Executive Officers.
ARTICLE II
COMMITTEE PROCEDURES
Section 1. The Audit Committee shall or shall not hold meetings. Meetings are held at the discretion of the Committee Chair. In lieu of meetings, business may be conducted by email correspondence.
Section 2. Audit Committee Subcommittees may be developed at the discretion of the Committee Chair, on an as needed basis.
ARTICLE III
MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR COMMITTEE/WORKGROUP PARTICIPANTS
Section 1. Committee Participant: Committee Participant minimum standards include:
A. Attending at least half of the eligible meetings since joining the Committee
B. Active participation in at least one Project or Subcommittee annually
C. Active participation in meeting discussions and providing input to the Committee Chair solicitations
ARTICLE IV
TRANSITIONING
Section 1. Chair-Elect Preparation: Incoming Committee Chair and outgoing Committee Chair should schedule a meeting to discuss the transitioning of the position. In collaboration with the outgoing Committee Chair, the incoming Committee Chair will utilize the orientation guidelines and practices regarding absenteeism and member recognition to assist them in their preparation as the Committee Chair. Transitioning will also include orientation to Committee documents.
ARTICLE V
ABSENTEEISM POLICY
Section 1. Absenteeism Policy: Committee Participants should inform the Committee Chair if they will be unavailable to make a Committee meeting. To maintain their status, Committee Participants need to attend at least half of the eligible meetings since joining the Committee.
Section 2. Member Participation: Committee Participants who miss more than half the meetings, or are unresponsive to email correspondence, shall be considered “inactive” and not be eligible for inclusion on the roster and for the Committee’s end-of-year Letter of Appreciation. The Committee Chair shall keep attendance of all meetings and notify any member of any concerns. These guidelines are intended to encourage active participation.. However, it is recognized that there may be individual cases which warrant special consideration (e.g., weekly scheduling conflict), where an Officer is not able to make that percentage but substantially contributes to the Committee. Therefore, the Committee Chair reserves the right to utilize appropriate discretion in determining whether or not an individual Officer should be recognized as a Committee Participant.[VE4]
Section 3. Notifying Inactive Members: Those Committee Participants who fall below the 50% attendance mark or do not provide timely and acceptable contributions to committee activities will be sent an e-mail by the Committee Chair informing them of such and that they will be removed from the roster and may not be eligible for the end-of-year Letter of Appreciation. Those Officers who choose to disassociate from a Committee, not respond, or continue to fail to attend meetings will not achieve the minimum recognition as outlined above.
ARTICLE VI
MEMBER RECOGNITION
Section 1. Committee Participants: Committee members who maintain the minimum standards for Committee Participants (Article VI) will be acknowledged through the following methods:
A. A written letter signed by the Committee Chair (Co-Chairs) and Branch President suitable for inclusion in the Officer's OPF.
Specific detail on the individual officer’s contributions should be maintained along with the impact of their contributions on the overall outcome when applicable. Each member is responsible for tracking these activities, and providing these records to their respective Committee Chair/Co-Chair for inclusion in the recognition letter. A letter shall be granted to every officer who demonstrates at least a 50% attendance record (in addition to the other criteria) since joining the Committee.
B. Approval to list membership role with Greater NYCOA Committee on official
Curriculum Vitae as “Committee Participant.”
C. Committee Participants shall be differentiated from Committee Observers in attendance rosters and in correspondence for the purposes of acknowledging their contributions. The Committee Participant roster will be communicated to the Greater NYCOA Branch Executive Officers at least twice a year.
ARTICLE VII
CHANGES TO THE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES (SOP)
Section 1. This SOP may be altered, amended or changed, by a majority vote of those committee members present when such matters are submitted to the membership for vote. In taking a vote, the Committee Chair will establish the general procedures for voting. Proposals may be submitted by any individual committee member, who shall then submit it in writing to the Committee Chair. The Committee Chair and Chair-Elect shall review this SOP every year at the beginning of their elective terms, submitting corrections and amendments to the committee members for a vote at the first meeting of the fiscal year (if applicable).
Appendix. Recognition Letter Template
[DATE]
[Officer Name
Address
Address]
Dear [Officer Rank and Last Name],
On behalf of the Greater New York Commissioned Officers Association (NYCOA) of the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS), I wish to recognize and commend you for your [exemplary leadership and] outstanding service for the [Committee Name].
Specifically, [insert specific examples and impacts].
We are proud and honored to have you as a dedicated and active member of NYCOA, and we look forward to many more years of working alongside you.
Very respectfully,
____________________
(Committee Chair/Co-Chair)
(Title)
[VE1]Please fill in boxes. You can use digital signatures if needed.
[VE2]Please fill in boxes. See suggested content.
[VE3]Removed. Can include in article II if you wish. Reason we removed is becase there was confusion with the mission of NYCOA vs. mission of each committee.
[VE4]This doesn’t seem to apply since the committee is time-limited to a 3 month period. See suggested edits.