BOARD OF DIRECTORS POSITIONS:

STANDING COMMITTEES:

ADMINISTRATIVE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

The Administrative & Development Director is responsible for maintaining e-mail account, timely filing of received e-mails, and assistance to Membership Committee.

CLE COMMITTEE

This committee is responsible for keeping members of the Association abreast of current developments in their fields of specialty by offering informative seminars and mini seminars and by collecting and making information available to the membership. Duties of this committee will encompass the following:

• Maintain an Annual CLE Schedule
• Organize seminar locations, speakers and meals as well as audio/visual needs.
• Coordinate member mailings and registration response with the Membership committee.
• Foster and maintain contact with the New York institutions which offer paralegal programs and serves as an information clearinghouse for students.
• Inform students about NYCPA’s mentor program and connect student members with possible internship opportunities secured by the association with local firms for their benefit.
• Encourage and educate the NYCPA membership about PACE.
• Keep current with ongoing national PACE activities
• Supervises PACE scholarship nominations and award presentations.

This committee chairperson will be assisted by Paralegal School Liaison Coordinator, Professional Development Coordinator and PACE Coordinator to ensure the efficient execution of all of its duties/functions.

COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE

This committee is in charge of putting together the quarterly association newsletter - The NYC Paralegal Times and NYCPA Bi-Weekly Newsletter. Duties of this committee encompass the following:

• Locate articles of interest to paralegals including local and national news
• Announce programs and other announcements of the Association
• Seek advertisers for the newsletter and work closely with the printing company to ensure that the newsletter is printed and delivered on time for distribution to the membership
• Publish the electronic bi-weekly newsletter that is distributed to members via email
• Work with the Website coordinator to update the newsletter portions of the website
• Work with the website committee to design and keep the official NYCPA website updated
• Coordinate membership and potential membership materials/mailings with the executive board
• Responsible for assisting other committee chairpersons with the design and creation of official NYCPA materials and documents
• Reviews and edits the annual membership directory for accuracy
• This committee chairperson will be assisted by the Director of Communications Coordinator and E-Newsletter Coordinator to ensure the efficient execution of all of its duties/functions

ESAPA COMMITTEE

This committee represents NYCPA as a member of the Empire State Alliance of Paralegal Associations (ESAPA), comprised of paralegal associations from across New York State. ESAPA meets three times per year – winter, spring and fall – in locations across New York State.

This committee also reaches out to other paralegal associations within the state of New York to determine how we can work to together to meet the needs of paralegals The duties of this committee encompass:

• Attend meetings held by ESAPA throughout the year
• Provide updates to the NYCPA Board of Directors as well as its membership re efforts being undertaken by ESAPA on their behalf

Act as liaison between the NYCPA and other paralegal associations throughout the state.

This committee chairperson will be assisted by the State Outreach Coordinator to ensure the efficient execution of all of its duties/functions.

EVENTS COMMITTEE

This committee is responsible to plan, coordinate, and schedule events for the association and to plan, coordinate, schedule and implement fund-raising and sponsorships for the association. Duties of this committee will encompass the following:

• Maintain a yearly event calendar for the NYCPA
• Develop relationships with and maintain database of venues, hotels, restaurants, caterers and other such contacts for NYCPA events
• Develop and maintain relationships with law firms, legal departments, legal staffing agencies, news media, professional associations and schools
• Contact appropriate news media to publicize NYCPA events
• Identify and coordinate all speakers for membership meetings
• Coordinate Board of Directors outreach programs as needed
• Consult with all NYCPA committees that are planning an event such as a social, meeting, conference or convention.

This committee chairperson will be assisted by PR Coordinator, Speaker’s Coordinator , and Media Coordinator to ensure the efficient execution of all of its duties/functions as well as Research Volunteer, Events Volunteer and Press Outreach Volunteer.

FINANCE COMMITTEE

This committee reviews expenses proposed to be incurred on behalf of the Association and to submit approved expenditures to the Executive Board of Directors to authorize all disbursements. It also works with law firms, legal staffing agencies and legal departments to advertise paralegal openings for the benefit of members. This committee is also responsible for generating revenue from sponsors and ad placements on the official website and newsletter. The duties of this committee encompass the following:

• Review expenses to be incurred on behalf of association
• Authorize all disbursements
• Present proposed non-budgeted expenditures at a general membership meeting for approval by a majority of the Voting Members present.
• Prepare a budget for each fiscal year to be approved by the Board of Directors and adopted by the membership.
• Coordinate with Job Target contact, placement of job listings from law firms, legal departments and legal staffing agencies to be advertised to our members.
• coordinate, schedule and implement fundraising and sponsorships for the association

This committee chairperson will be assisted by Sales Coordinator, Marketing Coordinator and Job Bank Coordinator to ensure the efficient execution of all of its duties/functions.

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

This committee encourages, promotes, and maintains membership in the Association, as well as to process and to maintain the membership records of the Association. The Committee shall also devise and recommend proposed changes in membership regulations to the Board of Directors and promote membership participation. The duties of this committee encompass the following:

• maintain accurate and up-to-date directory/list of members within the association
• coordinate outreach efforts to gain new members
• act as liaison and mentor to filed inquires by new members
• organize events/materials in recognition and support of new members
• Coordinate growth efforts for various membership types for the association
• Coordinate efforts to maximize membership retention for the association
• Monitor and expand on current NYCPA member benefits
• Seek out and add additional NYCPA member benefits
• Publicize existing benefits to current members and market to potential members

This committee chairperson, who, pursuant to the NYCPA Bylaws, is also the Vice President, will be assisted by Active Members Coordinator, Associate Members Coordinator, Student Members Coordinator, Sustaining Members Coordinator, Sponsor Members Coordinator, Retention Coordinator, and Benefits Coordinator to ensure the efficient execution of all of its duties/functions.

MENTOR COMMITTEE

The Mentor Program matches experienced paralegals with students, new paralegals, and those changing practice areas. We provide guidance regarding:

• Current information on the paralegal profession
• Career objectives
• Educational goals
• Resume review and interviewing tips
• Practice area related paralegal duties
• Tips for obtaining a paralegal position
• Member benefits

NFPA NATIONAL AFFAIRS

This committee is co-chaired by the NFPA Primary Representative and the NFPA Secondary Representative. The committee reviews, discusses and comments on materials received from the National Federation of Paralegal Associations, Inc. (NFPA) and other member associations. The committee is responsible for disseminating information from NFPA and other sources to the Board of Directors and the membership. The Committee members assist the NFPA Primary and Secondary Representatives in preparing the NFPA’s Policy Meeting by providing input and recommendations on agenda and discussion topics for those meetings.

PRO BONO COMMITTEE

This committee works on contacting various not-for-profit agencies to determine a need for our membership to participate in pro bono activities. The duties of this committee encompass the following:

• In charge of notifying and recruiting members of the association to volunteer in various pro bono activities.
• Work closely with the various organizations to make the necessary arrangements to involve membership.
• Coordinate at least two (2) community service projects to be sponsored by the NYCPA with maximum member participation
• This committee chairperson will be assisted by the Community Service Coordinator to ensure the efficient execution of all of its duties/functions.

SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE

This Committee is responsible for awarding one or more scholarships to a student who fulfills the requirements set forth by the Board of Directors. The committee sends out scholarship applications to all the colleges/universities in New York that offer paralegal programs and then chooses an outstanding student from the submitted applications.

WEBSITE/IT COMMITTEE

This committee is responsible for development and maintenance of NYCPA website. The duties of this committee encompass the following:

• Work with the programmer to keep NYCPA website current
• Responsible for timely payments to the website’s host.
• Explore ways to enhance the efficiency and aesthetics of the website
• Work closely with other committees to maintain events calendar, update Board member’s profiles

AD HOC COMMITTEES:

Bylaws Committee

The Bylaws Committee periodically reviews the Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws of NYCPA and makes recommendations for changes to the Board of Directors to be voted on by the members. The duties of this committee will encompass the following:

• Review Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws of the NYCPA on a periodic basis
• Make recommendations for changes to be voted on by the membership of the NYCPA

JOB BANK COMMITTEE

This committee works with law firms, legal departments and legal staffing agencies to identify paralegal job openings and disseminates this information to our membership via the official job bank areas in the members only areas of the website and within the newsletter.

NOMINATION COMMITTEE

The committee annually solicits nominations from the membership for the elected offices of NYCPA. The committee presents to the membership a slate of nominees for elective offices to be voted on at the annual membership meeting in May.

POLICY AND PROCEDURES MANUAL COMMITTEE

This committee is established to prepare and deliver the Policy and Procedures Manual (PPM) for the Board of Directors review and acceptance. After the PPM is approved, this committee will periodically review and interpret the Association’s Policies and Procedures Manual and make recommendations for changes to the Board of Directors to be voted.