As we count down to the Scientific Assembly, ACEP is also preparing for the 2021 Council Meeting. Not familiar with the ACEP Council and how it governs ACEP strategy and policy? Here’s a quick overview.

The Council is composed of emergency physicians who represent ACEP’s chapters (one voting councillor per chapter, plus one additional councillor for every 100 chapter members), sections (one voting councillor per section), and the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association (eight voting councillors), plus one councillor each for the Association of Academic Chairs of Emergency Medicine, the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors, the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, and the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians.

Council Purview

The Council has several duties. It elects ACEP’s Board of Directors, Council officers, and the President-Elect of the College (see page 12 to meet some of this year’s candidates). The Council shares responsibility with the Board for initiating policy. In addition to serving as a sounding board and communication network for the Board, the Council also identifies issues for study and evaluation.

Resolutions

ACEP received more resolutions for the 2021 Council Meeting than ever before. Resolutions are formal motions that, if adopted by the Council, will become official Council policy. They provide a path for nonvoting members to weigh in on issues affecting emergency medicine even if they aren’t voting councillors. All ACEP members have the right to submit resolutions, but they must be submitted in writing by at least two members at least 90 days prior to the Council Meeting. ACEP chapters, sections, committees, and the Board can also submit resolutions.

Council Meeting

Every year, the Council meets for two days prior to the ACEP Scientific Assembly. Due to the positive response from last year’s virtual meeting, ACEP is keeping the asynchronous resolution testimony process that allows all members, not just councillors, to comment on resolutions. The comment period will open no later than Sept. 23, when all resolutions must be released to the Council.

The majority of the work is done in reference committee hearings, which are open to all members, not just councillors. The resolutions are divided between the reference committees so that every committee does not have to deliberate on every resolution. The reference committees, whose members are appointed by the Council Speaker, host hearings where councillors and ACEP members can deliberate about the resolutions. The reference committees may amend resolutions, consolidate kindred resolutions by constructing substitutes, and recommend the usual parliamentary procedures to the Council: adopt, adopt as amended, refer (to the Board, the Council Steering Committee, or the Bylaws Interpretation Committee), or not adopt. This year’s meeting will feature four reference committees that will focus on 1) governance and membership issues, 2) advocacy and public policy issues, 3) emergency medicine practice issues, and 4) workforce and scope of practice issues.

After the reference committee hearings, the Council reconvenes, and the reference committees provide oral reports and recommendations from their hearings. Discussion ensues, and eventually each resolution is voted on by the Council. Resolutions adopted by the Council are influential in shaping ACEP policy.

ACEP elections also occur during the ACEP Council Meeting. Nominations for the open ACEP Board of Directors and Council officer positions are accepted in early spring, and the slate of candidates is approved by the Nominating Committee. At the Council Meeting, each candidate presents their platform and ideas to the councillors. A Candidate Forum is also held where councillors can ask questions of the candidates. Councillors submit their votes at the end of the second day of the Council Meeting, and those elected are announced that day as soon as votes are tallied.