Nominations are being accepted through April 13 for service on the LSA's open and appointed committees. This is an excellent opportunity for you to expand your professional networks, enhance your administrative portfolio, and make a difference in areas about which you care deeply.

There are committees focused on:

• the LSA and its activities (Honorary Members Committee, Program Committee, Awards Committee);

• the field of linguistics as a whole (Ethics, Gender Equity in Linguistics, Ethnic Diversity in Linguistics, LGBTQ+Issues in Linguistics);

• the wider public (Public Policy, Language in the School Curriculum).

A complete list of the LSA's committees is available online. Note that LSA committees are of different types with regard to how they are populated: open and appointed.

Open Committees

Open committees are, as the name suggests, open to service by any current LSA member. A potential member need only advise the committee's chair or the LSA's Director of Membership and Meetings of their interest in order to serve on the committee. The LSA's open committees are:

• Committee on AP Linguistics
• Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation (CELP)
• Ethics Committee
• Committee on Ethnic Diversity in Linguistics (CEDL)
• Language in the School Curriculum Committee (LiSC)
• Committee on LGBTQ+ [Z] Issues in Linguistics (COZIL)
• Linguistics in Higher Education Committee (LiHeC)
• Public Relations Committee
• Committee on Public Policy (CoPP)
• Committee on Scholarly Communication in Linguistics (CoSCiL)
• Committee on Student Issues and Concerns (COSIAC)
• Committee on the Status of Women in Linguistics (COSWL - this committee is now known as the Committee on Gender Equity in Linguistics - COGEL)

Appointed Committees

Some committees are appointed partly or entirely by the President of the LSA, based on the recommendations of the committee's chair, other relevant LSA leaders, and self- or other-nominations from the LSA membership. The LSA's appointed committees are:

• Advisory to Programs Committee
• Audit Committee
• Awards Committee
• Bloomfield Book Award Committee
• Committee of Editors of Linguistics Journals (CELxJ)
• Honorary Members Committee
• Committee on Linguistic Institutes and Fellowships (CLIF)
• Nominating Committee
• Committee on Publications
• Program Committee

To nominate yourself or another LSA member for service on an appointed committee, please complete this survey no later than Monday, April13.  You will be asked to provide: 

• the nominee's name, affiliation, and e-mail address;

• the committee(s) for which the individual is being nominated;

• a brief statement explaining why the nominee would be a suitable member of the committee(s) in question.

If the nomination is for someone other than yourself, please ascertain the individual's membership status and willingness to serve before submitting the nomination. Students, women, and members of groups underrepresented in the LSA (relative to their demographic presence in the U.S. as a whole) are especially encouraged to apply.

Nominations for appointed committees will be forwarded to committee chairs, who will recommend new committee members to the LSA's Committee on Committee and Delegate appointments. Appointees will be notified in May, after the LSA's Executive Committee meeting, and will officially take office in January 2021, at the conclusion of the San Francisco Annual Meeting.