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Committee Tenure Committees usually have three-year tenures, although ad hoc groups may be named for shorter terms. At the end of its designated tenure, a committee may be terminated, extended, or reconstituted. Extension means continuation of the committee with the same chair and the same, or very nearly the same, membership. Extension may involve continuation for one or two years, depending on the length of time appropriate for the nature of the charge or the completion of responsibilities. Reconstitution means continuation of the committee for another three-year term with the appointment of some new members. In most cases, a new chair is appointed, and under Council policy, no committee chair may serve more than two consecutive terms.
Chairs of reconstituted committees are urged to retain some members of the original committee for the sake of continuity and to invite some new members for the sake of adding new perspectives and opening participation to other Council members. Note that all members of the original committee are sent notes of gratitude from NCTE Headquarters at the end of their term. The incoming chair then proceeds to reinvite some of those members and to seek out new members as well.
Reconstitution may occur under three circumstances. First, a committee may have worked for one or more three-year terms on a project for which no end is in sight (e.g., the selection committee for the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children chooses an award recipient every three years). Second, a committee may have finished one "installment" of its charge (e.g., the preparation of a brochure) but have another installment yet to come. Finally, a committee may have broken down, either through inadequate communication among its members or insufficient participation.
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