Governance

All new education and research fund award agreements that are sponsored by individuals or groups external to the AAPM should comply with the following terms.

1. Written Agreement: All agreements shall be written agreements approved by authorized parties following the procedure designated below. The process of creating a written agreement should begin with the interested party (individual or group) working with the Development Committee chair or the chair’s designee.


2. Composition of Agreement: The proposed agreement should be comprised of the following:
   1. Agreement Name
   2. List of Terms
   3. Time Period of Agreement
      • Named awards (named in honor or memory of an individual) should have a time period and funding for a period of at least 5 years,
      • Endowed awards are in perpetuity; therefore, they should be supported by a corpus (sum of donations to the fund) that should earn sufficient funds to support the award in perpetuity. However, such award funds may receive guaranteed annual donations, which when added to annual earnings of the endowment (corpus), provide sufficient funds for the award each year, while the endowment is grown to the required amount, or
      • Un-named awards (to be named by AAPM) for any specified time period.
   4. Date and Sources of Approval, and
   5. Approval Signatures:
      • Donor(s), who are providing the funding required to support the fund,
      • Development Committee Chair, which certifies the agreement is ready to be reviewed for AAPM legal approval,
      • Impacted Committee Chairs (e.g. Education, Research, or Awards Committee), which certify that the agreement has received the impacted committees’ approvals, and
      • Executive Director, which certifies that the agreement has received legal approval and appropriate AAPM approval for enactment.
3. Terms of Agreement: The terms of the agreement should, as a minimum:
1. State its purpose (e.g. award, scholarship, lectureship, etc.),
2. State the financial aspects of the award (e.g. cash, travel expenses, tuitions, honoraria, etc.),
3. Identify which AAPM group(s) will be responsible for administering the award (e.g. announcements, selection of awardees, conducting activities, managing financial aspects, etc.),
4. Specify how the agreement will be funded, i.e. specifying a new or existing E & R fund and how those funds will be sustained over the time period of the agreement, and
5. Specify what responsibilities the AAPM has for post award communications and publicity and which AAPM group is responsible.
4. Financial Support of the Agreement: Each activity will require identification of the E & R funding source sufficient for the award. This normally requires creating a new E & R fund. The agreement should be funded using either:
   1. An endowed account, which should have an endowment (corpus) that can generate sufficient earnings (income) in perpetuity to support the agreement,
   2. An annuity account, which funds the agreement using annual earnings and a portion of the corpus (via AAPM investment fund or external annuity), or
   3. Some other financial arrangement suitable to the AAPM, e.g. earnings may come from an external source (e.g. trust fund), which stipulates the required income to the AAPM E & R fund.
5. Approval of Agreement: Prior to signature by the AAPM Executive Director, the agreement requires the following AAPM approvals:
   1. Agreements (1) having no more than $100,000 (donor funds plus any AAPM matching funds), $5,000 guaranteed annual funds (from trust fund, annuity, or other vehicle), or equivalent combination of the two and (2) requiring no more than $50,000 in AAPM matching funds may be reviewed and approved by EXCOM. Alternatively, EXCOM will review and make a recommendation to the Board of Directors regarding approval.
   2. For all other agreements, EXCOM will review and make a recommendation to the Board of Directors regarding approval.
6. AAPM Administration of Agreement
   1. Utilization of Fund: The agreement will contain a term that allows the utilization of the agreement funds to be redirected under some circumstances. [e.g. The AAPM and its BOD fully intend to direct the income from the fund for the purpose(s) outlined in the agreement’s terms. However, if the purpose(s) for which the fund’s income is spent should cease to exist, or if the purpose(s) for which the fund is established become illegal, impractical, or otherwise insupportable, the AAPM and its BOD reserve the right to direct the expendable portion of the fund to a purpose as close as possible to the donor’s original intent.]
   2. Investment and Management of Funds: The agreement should contain a term regarding investment and management of the funds. [e.g. The funds will be invested and managed consistent with guidelines outlined by the AAPM and its investment policies, e.g. AP 70; endowment funds will be pooled for investment purposes. No fee will be assessed against the assets of the fund to offset expenses associated with gift management and stewardship by the AAPM.]
   3. Legality of Agreement: There should be a statement declaring the legality of the agreement. [e.g. Entire Agreement- This Agreement adheres to the policies of the AAPM and the laws of the state of AAPM location. This Agreement may be amended, modified or otherwise changed only by a written instrument signed by all signatories. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous agreements or understandings, written or oral, concerning the subject matter contained in this Agreement.