Committee

Current Committee

Chair: Dr Julie Roberts
Vice Chair: Linda Ainscough
Secretary: Dr Rachael Carew
Membership Secretary: Amy Rattenbury
Treasurer: Dr Helen Langstaff

Commercial Officer: Linda Ainscough
Communications / Outreach Officer: Dr Jan Bikker
International Liaison Officer: Dr Sarah Ellingham
Academic R&D Officer: Paige Tynan
Student Officer: S. Conner Welty

Committee Roles and Responsibilities

Chair

To schedule and chair Committee meetings and the AGM, ensuring that they are run efficiently and effectively.
To be the named contact and spokesperson for the Association.
To provide clear leadership and direction for the Association.
To work with the Committee to ensure that the functions and aims of the Association are delivered in line with the Constitution.
To ensure that the necessary skills are represented on the committee and that the officers of the Committee carry out their duties.
To assist in the development of partnerships with other boards and organisations that are relevant to the objectives of the Association.

Vice Chair
Position to be assumed by one of the committee members listed below (with the exception of the Student Officer) in addition to their primary role

To support the Chair in their role.
To assume the responsibilities of the Chair in the event that the Chair is unable to perform their duties.

Treasurer

To administer all financial affairs of the Association including:

receipt of monies relating to membership and all other payments.
payment of all accounts.
ensuring that all monies received are banked.
ensuring that all receipts and payments concur with bank deposits and withdrawals.

To maintain records of all financial transactions (income and expenditure).
To lead the annual budget process and ensure an appropriate annual budget is provided to the committee for approval. This will include managing any surpluses or deficits and production of balance sheets for each Committee meeting.
To provide advice to the committee in their management of Association finances.
To support any required auditing processes.
To act as signatory on Association accounts.
To assist The Association in becoming a Registered Charity and maintaining relevant financial reports, including providing annual reports to the Charity Commission.

Secretary

To notify Association / Committee members of the times and dates of all Association meetings no later than two calendar months before the date of the meeting.
In collaboration with the Committee, to prepare and disseminate the agendas for Committee meetings and for the AGM.
To manage the minutes of the Committee meetings and AGM and ensure that minutes are distributed to members shortly after each meeting.
To maintain the records of the committee and ensure that they are made available when required by authorised persons, e.g. other committee members or members of the judiciary if documents are required for reference in court. These records may include founding documents, lists of committee members, committee meeting minutes, financial reports, and other official records.
To provide an up-to-date copy of the Constitution and Code of Practice at all meetings.
To monitor tenure of Committee members and renewal of Committee members.
To work with the Chair to ensure the election of Committee members is undertaken according to the Constitution.
To assist the Treasurer with Charity Status and annual reporting.

Membership Secretary

To be the contact point for membership enquiries and applications.
To maintain a current record of all members.
To keep a record of all members contact details and the fees they have paid.
To liaise with the treasurer regarding payment of fees.
To issue reminders for fees when appropriate.
To notify Association members of the times and dates of all Association meetings no later than two calendar months before the date of the meeting.
In conjunction with other Committee Officers, to promote and increase the number of Members of the Association.
To act as the data protection officer for The Association and advise on General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

International Liaison Officer

To maintain and develop partnerships with international boards and organisations which are engaged in similar or related activities to the Association. These might include (but are not limited to) NGOs, forensic institutes and professional associations such as FASE or AAFS.
To facilitate the exchange of information between the Association and international colleagues.
Promotion of BAFA and RAI certification process in international fora.
To disseminate information relating to international developments and activities in the field of Forensic Anthropology to the The Association.

Academic R&D Officer

To develop relationships with staff and students in academic institutions who are engaged in teaching and conducting research in Forensic Anthropology and related subjects.
To encourage members of those departments to join the Association, attend conferences and participate in CPD events.
Where appropriate, to encourage members of university departments to disseminate information relating to their current research and to direct members of the Association towards published research in their areas of expertise.
To work with the Student Officer and student representatives to promote the activities of the Association in Universities / student societies.
To work with the Commercial Officer to develop collaboration between academic institutions and commercial organisations in relation to research projects that would be applicable to forensic casework.

Communication / Outreach Officer

To ensure that the current BAFA website is up to date and to regularly post communications relating to CPD events, field schools, job vacancies, internships and interesting news items relevant to Forensic Anthropology.
To act as a focal point for Committee Officers, receiving, collating and disseminating information that they provided to Association Members.
To produce regular electronic news bulletins to be sent to Association Members via email or posted on the BAFA website.
To liaise with the wider membership to identify topics for CPD events.
Together with other Committee members, organise CPD events.
To facilitate feedback from Association members to the Committee on all areas relating to the Association, e.g. Certification, mentorship, CPD events.
To liaise with the web designer in the creation of registration details for BAFA events.

Commercial Officer

To raise awareness amongst Association members of the role of the Forensic Service Providers (FSPs) within the UK Criminal Justice System (such as the Forensic Science Regulator)
To provide the Communications Officer with information received through Home Office communications and commercial fora such as the Association of Forensic Service Providers (AFSP), including relevant commercial information affecting the wider discipline of forensic science.
To inform Association members of research questions being generated by casework:

To work with the Academic R&D Officer and the International Liaison Officer to develop casework informed projects, such as research project ideas and CPD events
To discuss with student representatives
To organise annual meetings a minimum of twice annually

To work with the Academic R&D Officer to develop collaboration between commercial organisations and academic institutions in relation to research projects that would be directly applicable to forensic casework.
Together with other Committee members, to contribute to CPD events with non-sub-judice case studies.

Student Officer

To represent student views to Committee members.
To act as a conduit for exchange of information between student and non-student members.
To raise awareness of specific issues relating to students within the Association.
To work with Academic R&D Officer to promote membership of BAFA to appropriate students at universities.
To liaise with other student members and student representatives.

Committee

Current Committee

Committee Roles and Responsibilities

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