Committees and Groups

Standing Committees and Action and Interest Groups

IASSIST has an Administrative Committee and six Standing Committees. In addition there are appointed committees and action and interest groups. The Administrative Committee will establish Committees and Groups as required.

Committees | Action Groups | Interest Groups

Committees

The Administrative Committee and the Standing Committees are responsible for the day-to-day running of the organization.

Administrative Committee

The Administrative Committee is the executive body of IASSIST. It implements policies, develops future directions, and coordinates activities for the organization.

2023-2025 Chair: Robin Rice, robin.rice [ at ] ed.ac.uk

Constitutional Review Committee

Responsible for receiving proposals for the enacting, amending, and repealing of the by-laws of IASSIST and for preparing revised articles and by-laws for members’ approval, as well as for undertaking an annual review of the constitution and by-laws and proposing amendments as it deems appropriate.

2023-2025 Chair: Tuomas J. Alaterä, tuomas.alatera [ at ] tuni.fi

Professional Development Committee

Responsible for promoting the development of professional skills of IASSIST members through education, training, information, networking and mentoring.

2023-2025 Chairs: Sarah Young, sarahy [ at ] andrew.cmu.edu and Wei Yin, wy2288 [ at ] columbia.edu

IASSIST Fellows

Provides support for data professionals from countries with emerging economies and underrepresented regions who are developing information infrastructures regarding the use and preservation of research data. Provides support for early career professionals new to data in the social sciences, who may not otherwise have the funding to travel.

2022-2024 Chairs: Florio Arguillas, foa2 [ at ] cornell.edu and Sarah Young sarahy [ at ] andrew.cmu.edu

Membership Committee

Coordinates activities meant to grow IASSIST membership and addresses needs of existing and future members. Also undertakes representation and liaison activities; connects with sister organizations that have similar goals; and helps to increase the visibility of IASSIST. This Committee’s membership includes the Membership Chair, Regional Secretaries, the Vice President, and other IASSIST members as needed.

2023-2025 Chair: Amanda Tickner, atickner [ at ] msu.edu

Elections Committee

Responsible for receiving nominations for the election of the Administrative Committee, the Regional Secretaries, and the officers of IASSIST, distributing ballots and electoral information according to regulation, tallying the ballots, reporting on the results of the tally, and for recommending alterations in procedures. This committee is chaired by the immediate Past President. Administrative Committee members at large not up for election assist the chair.

2023-2025 Chair: San Cannon, sancan99 [ at ] gmail.com

Communications Committee

Responsible for enabling productive and transparent communication among members and between the organisation and the broader community. Scope includes delivering publications such as the IASSIST Quarterly, developing and maintaining the organisation’s communications mechanisms; oversight of the membership discussion list; and moderating social networking spaces which use the IASSIST brand name. The Committee shall advise other committees and groups on the use of appropriate communication tools for online collaboration and solicit content from them for public channels. This Committee’s membership shall include the IQ Editor and the Web Editor as well as reviewers and web section editors.

2023-2025 Chair: Tuomas J. Alaterä, tuomas.alatera [ at ] tuni.fi
2023-2027 IQ Co-Editors: Michele Hayslett, Ofira Schwartz-Soicher
2023-2027 Web Editor: Zac Painter. zp5928 [ at ] princeton.edu
The IASSIST Web Team

Programme Committee & Local Arrangements

Responsible for deciding on an annual conference title as well as general thematic structure. The Program Chairs are responsible for the intellectual content of the conference, and choosing members of the multi-national Program Committee, deciding how it will function, and assigning responsibilities to its members. The Committee works along with the Local Arrangements Committee to set an agenda for putting together sessions, plenaries, workshops, and social events.

2023-2024 Program Co-Chairs: Sophia Lafferty-Hess, Zach MacDonald, Kristi Thompson

Action Groups

Action Groups are appointed by the Administrative Committee and undertake specific tasks, find solutions to specific problems, or develop and compile relevant materials for specific projects.

Currently there are no active action groups.

Interest Groups

Interest Groups share information on specific subjects with the larger IASSIST membership and serve as a forum of discussion between as well as during annual meetings.

Read more about IASSIST Interest Groups and how to establish one in the Interest Group Checklist.

Geospatial Interest Group

The central purpose of the IASSIST-Geo interest group is to create a network for members focused on issues of geospatial data as related to the social sciences. Expected outcomes include developing a connected and informed group, opportunities for professional development through training, shared professional tools, resources for all IASSIST members to make use of, both members and non-members of the IG, and an elevated awareness of social sciences and place.

2023-2024 Co-Chairs: Jennie Murack, murack [ at ] mit.edu and Amanda Tickner, atickner [ at ] msu.edu

The central purpose of the IASSIST Qualitative Social Science and Humanities Data Interest Group is to bring together researchers and those working in data infrastructure to share and create resources to support good management and use of qualitative data throughout the data lifecycle. We aim to connect an informed group of professionals working with qualitative data, raise awareness about key issues in qualitative research, provide opportunities for professional development, and create resources for all IASSIST members to better understand working with qualitative data.

2023-2024 Co-Chairs: Maureen Haaker, Cheryl Annette Thompson, Jessica Hagman and Hilary Bussell.
Contact the co-chairs: QSSHDIG [ at ] gmail.com

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Data Resources Interest Group

The work of the group will include maintaining the work done thus far and may expand over time to address other types of discrimination such as by indigenous group, migrant/refugee status, gender/transgender, sexuality, cultural/ethnic groups, religion, etc.

The Interest Group has gathered various resources on anti-racism.

2023-2024 C0-Chairs: Anja Perry, anja.perry [ at ] gesis.org and Abigail Goben, agoben [ at ] uic.edu

Data Acquisitions Interest Group

This groups’s mission is to build community and share experiences and insights on data acquisition and its challenges, such as licensing, storing, curating and providing access.