Committee Roles

The vast majority of what we, the SILC, do is driven by the State Plan for Independent Living (SPIL); however, there are administrative duties that will fall outside the parameters of the SPIL for the Governance and Communication and Collaboration Committees.

Note: Committee members needn’t be Council members. And committee involvement can help encourage, orient and train citizens who are interested in applying to become full Council members.

Committee chairs are responsible, to the extent possible, for:

  • Ensuring accessibility for all participants;
  • Bagley-Keene compliance;
  • Implementing the SILC’s Diversity Plan;
  • Providing clear guidelines and expectations for committee members;
  • Establishing, maintaining protocol;
  • Staying on topic and including all meeting participants; and
  • Holding members accountable, to the extent possible.

Other ideas to consider:

  • Members’ roles and responsibilities;
  • Conflict of interest;
  • Leave of absence; and
  • Rules around nominations – when, campaigning, what’s appropriate, etc.

SILC Executive Committee | Committee Roster

  1. Monitor diversity in all committees and SILC activities
  2. Act on behalf of the SILC between quarterly meetings
      • Respond to emergencies
      • Complete time-sensitive business
      • Direct other committees to suggest broad-topic agenda items
      • Plan quarterly meeting agendas
  3. Coordinate activities of other committees
      • Approve the agenda for quarterly Council meetings
      • Encourage committees to meet at regular intervals (e.g., 3rd Friday of the month, etc.) and provide support as needed
      • Collect, share and review committee work and avoid duplication of effort
      • Direct committees to set and track goals and research quarterly meeting elements
      • Create ad hoc SPIL working group every three years
      • Make changes to and approve budget
  4. Oversee Executive Director’s annual workplan and evaluation
      • Develop and update workplan and evaluation templates and process as needed
      • Distribute and collect the evaluation instrument
  5. Includes in its membership the recently retired SILC Chairperson as an Ex-Officio, non-voting member
  6. Budget Management

SILC Governance Committee | Committee Roster

  1. Recruit new Council Members
    • Chart and members’ terms to ensure smooth transitions and continued sustainability of the Council
    • Ensure diversity of applicants (including ethnicity, age, geographic location, disability emphasis)
  2. Recruit new committee members
    • Oversee and ensure adequate and equitable committee populations
    • Encourage Council candidates to join a committee
    • Solicit names of potential Council Members from others in the IL community, with emphasis on underserved populations identified in the current SPIL
    • Provide Communication and Collaboration Committee with new committee members’ names, affiliations and contact information
  3. Train Council Members
    • Ensure adequate orientation for new members
    • Provide ongoing education and training for Council around roles and responsibilities, also current and emerging issues
  4. Oversee officer nominating process
    • Solicit recommendations from Council members for Chair and Vice-Chair positions
    • Create draft “ballot” for inclusion in in-person meeting book
    • Preside over formal election process at in-person meeting
  5. Oversee annual self-assessments of Council, committees and individual members
    • Review and update Members’ Roles and Responsibilities annually
    • Lead Council in an annual discussion to identify emerging issues, goals and anticipated outcomes for the coming year
    • Direct committees and individuals to set their own goals and timelines for coming year
    • Track Council’s and committees’ goals, timelines and anticipated outcomes, as well as actual outcomes as they become available
    • Create, disseminate, collect and compile results of annual self -assessments
    • Report on results at next in-person meeting
  6. Budget Management
    • Draft the annual budget with staff and submit to Executive Committee for review and approval
    • Communicate with SPIL Committee on a monthly basis to ensure that funding for SPIL VIIB projects is included, appropriate and on-target
    • Monitor and review budget and expenses on a monthly basis
    • Report on the budget to the Executive Committee at monthly meetings
    • Make recommendations to the full Council for carry-forward or unexpected additional revenue
  7. Other
    • Create and annually review a SILC Policy & Procedures Manual and disseminate to all Council and committee members
    • Identify emerging Council governance issues
    • At the direction of the Executive Committee, research relevant quarterly meeting elements, such as meeting locations and accessibility

SILC SPIL Committee | Committee Roster

  1. Monitor and oversee the current SPIL
    • Create summary of past SPIL and share with Communications & Collaboration Committee for use in PR Plan
    • Create a tracking instrument and follow status of and progress made toward goals and objectives, as well as of budget expenditures to date
    • Report on SPIL progress and status of objectives at each Executive Committee meeting
    • Report on SPIL progress and status of objectives at each quarterly meeting
    • Identify need for potential revision of objectives and present for discussion at next quarterly meeting
    • Evaluate each objective as completed and write a short report documenting activities or strategies, measurement tools, their efficacy, and outcomes
  2. Monitor and oversee work leading up to the next SPIL
    • Identify unmet objectives from current SPIL and reasons why they remain unmet
    • Work with Department of Rehabilitation staff to synthesize information from Needs Assessments
    • Populate and oversee the ad hoc SPIL Writing workgroup
  3. Other
    • Identify and recommend VIIB grantees to make presentations at quarterly meetings on their SILC-funded programs or projects
    • Set and monitor committee’s goals and timelines for coming year
    • Identify emerging SPIL issues

Removed piece about any other projects and activities

SILC Communication and Collaboration Committee | Committee Roster

  1. Develop and implement Public Relations Plan in coordination with staff
    • Work with staff to create and disseminate printed materials, internet media and other forms of communication to educate and raise awareness among the general public, and to promote the IL philosophy and the SILC
    • Work with staff to provide outreach to underserved populations, especially those identified in needs assessment reports
    • Work with staff to create and disseminate materials and avenues to promote the IL philosophy and the SILC
    • Work with staff to identify opportunities to or respond to the media around, or publicize the IL viewpoint on, relevant current issues and legislation
  2. Monitor proposed and existing public policies
    • Identify and monitor legislative bills of relevance to the disability community and the SPIL
    • Draft letters, with staff assistance and chair’s approval/signature, to legislators and other decision-makers that
      • educate, raise awareness around and promote the Independent Living philosophy, and
      • describe the potential impact that proposed, pending or existing policy may have on the disability community.
    • Draft letters, with staff assistance and chair’s approval/signature, advising the Governor of the impact that proposed, pending or existing policy may have on the disability community
    • Orient new legislators to the IL philosophy, the SILC and the current SPIL, and to the needs assessment report as it relates to their specific catchment area and constituency
  3. Educate potential community and agency partners and encourage collaborations
    • Identify, educate and network with other organizations, community and agency partners
    • Suggest collaborators for potential joint events and other partnering activities
  4. Other
    • Plan, coordinate and evaluate all related activities
    • Identify emerging policy or perception issues
    • Set and monitor committee’s goals and timelines for coming year
    • Work with staff to create any other appropriate SILC publications
    • At the direction of the Executive Committee, research relevant quarterly meeting elements, such as councils, boards and commissions with whom to potentially hold overlapping quarterly meetings