What is the Scholastic Council?

(Note: The Executive Board affirmed the creation of the Scholastic Council on August 15, 2000.)

The Scholastic Council is a five-person body, with three primary duties:

1. The Scholastic Council represents the interests of the scholastic community to the Executive Board and also conveys the interests of the Executive Board to their constituency. The scholastic community includes Scholastic and Youth members, their parents, and scholastic affiliates and organizers, State Scholastic Coordinators, and institutions of higher learning.

2. The Scholastic Council serves as a body to oversee, organize, and prioritize scholastic projects for the Scholastic Committee and the USCF.

3. The Scholastic Council has consultative authority over national scholastic events, and the scholastic objectives and policy set by USCF.

Construction. To accomplish these duties, the Scholastic Council shall be constructed as follows:

1. Members of the Scholastic Council are elected by a simple plurality by the Scholastic Committee and State Scholastic Coordinators present at the designated Scholastic Annual Meeting held coincident with the US Open and USCF national meetings. Three of the members will have three year terms, and two have two year terms. In the initial election, the top three vote totals will be for three-year terms.

2. Officers will be determined by election or by consensus of the committee.

3. The chairperson of the Scholastic Council acts as Chairperson of the Scholastic Committee.

4.The chairperson of the Scholastic Council is a scholastic advisor to the Executive Board, to be present at all open meetings of the Executive Board.

Meetings: The Scholastic Council meets at the US Open and at least two other times each year to be determined by the Scholastic Council.

Consultative Authority. To best and efficiently use the expertise and representation provided by the Scholastic Council, decisions regarding national scholastic events, USCF scholastic objectives ( including management objectives for the Scholastic Director or other USCF personnel involved in scholastics) or scholastic policies or scholastic regulations, and the hiring of the Scholastic Director or other USCF scholastic personnel shall use the following process.

1. A list of alternatives is provided by the Scholastic Council or by a sub-committee of the Scholastic Committee appointed by the Scholastic Council. The final list shall be prioritized and shall typically be no greater than three and no less than two if available.

2. A committee consisting of a member of the Scholastic Council, the Executive Director, and the Scholastic Liaison of the Executive Board selects a final alternative and presents that alternative to the Executive Board for approval. ( Example: alternatives may be a person for hiring, or a possible tournament bid for a tournament, etc.) Unless the Executive Board becomes aware of overlooked or undervalued information ( not changed information) the Executive Board shall accept that alternative for approval. ( Example: A restructuring of a bid would constitute changed information, not overlooked information.) If an appeal is made in respect to an event bid, the Executive Director determines the validity of the appeal, and if considered valid, the bid will be re-submitted to the Scholastic Council for reconsideration. Each of the groups comprising the committee may send a designated person to act on their behalf.

3. The Scholastic Council and Scholastic Director in consultation with the Executive Director will oversee the organization and running of all national scholastic events. In the event that any national scholastic event lacks an organizer or that USCF is the organizer of a national scholastic event, the Scholastic Council and/or a person designated by the Scholastic Council, in conjunction with the Scholastic Director and the Executive Director shall oversee the organization of the event on behalf of USCF.

4. The Scholastic Council shall recommend to the Executive Board the members of the Scholastic Committee.

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