Section 9.3: Technical Publications Advisory Committee Operating Procedures
I. Roles and Accountability
The Technical Publications Advisory Committee (TPAC) ensures the quality and technical integrity of ASSP’s environmental, health and safety (EHS) publications.
II. Committee Membership
- Committee members shall be appointed by the vice president, professional development, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors. The committee shall not exceed 10 members.
- Members shall be representative of academia and industry to ensure a comprehensive review of proposed manuscripts.
- Committee members serve a three-year term and may not be reappointed. Appointments are structured to allow for staggered terms.
- The chair shall be designated by the vice president, professional development. The term of the chair is one year, renewable for a maximum of three consecutive years.
III. Committee Operations
A. Meetings
- Method: The committee will primarily meet virtually.
- Schedule: The schedule of meetings shall be drawn up by the committee chair and agreed to by the committee members.
- Quorum: A quorum exists when at least one-half of the members of the committee are present at a meeting, one of whom must be the committee chair. If a quorum is present, a majority vote of members present shall be decisive when a vote is taken.
- Committee Business: The committee may transact official business at meetings, conference calls and by electronic ballots.
- Minutes: Minutes will be prepared for each committee meeting.
B. Budgeting and Finance
The committee operates within the Society budget, including travel, meeting and staff support expenses. Committees are funded through specific budget actions of the Board of Directors.
Addendum I: Specific Committee Activities
TPAC evaluates and scores manuscript proposals and manuscripts submitted for publication based on review forms submitted to the committee. Proposals and manuscripts are approved when a majority of the committee votes to approve.
Reviews shall be based on sound, technical knowledge of the subject matter and shall result in one of the following recommendations:
- Publish the proposed work.
- Refrain from publication until further, specific information or rewriting is obtained from the potential author(s).
- Not publish the proposed work.
TPAC members are expected to return all evaluations to the staff liaison within the period specified. The staff liaison or TPAC chair will address any serious delays with the individual committee member.
The staff liaison compiles, anonymizes and shares TPAC comments with all authors and TPAC committee members.
Approved By | Date: Board of Directors | 1/2026
Replaces Edition Dated: 1/2023
Next Revision Due: 1/2029