2024-2025 Meetings Model Committee

 

Charge

The Meetings Model Task Force recommends the creation of a new Meetings Committee with the following charges:

• Evaluate the new planning model and suggest any tweaks to the process
• Review post-meeting survey feedback on Midyear Meetings and the Annual Meeting for potential changes to meetings.  Also, periodically collect feedback from Section leaders and AAA staff on the meeting planning process. 
• Discuss whether the AAA needs any policies for ongoing online or hybrid meetings
• Serve as a sounding board for any new meeting initiatives proposed by the Section leaders or the AAA staff
• Mediate any problems or concerns raised by the AAA staff or Section leaders regarding planning for specific meetings
• Determine the amount of AAA shared services costs that are charged to meetings on an annual basis

Membership

• Ideally, there are nine members including a Chair with staggered 3-year terms.
• The Chair-Elect serves for one year, then serves as Chair for two years. Note: a Chair-Elect shall be appointed and serves for one year during 2025-2026, then serves as Chair for two years during 2026-2028.
• The sections with the largest meetings (e.g., Audit, ATA, FARS, MAS) should always have one committee member.
• The other committee members should rotate among the other sections.
• The AAA Management Team identifies Sections that will rotate onto the committee each year in accordance with the recommended committee composition and fairly rotating sections without a standing member. The leaders of these Sections and the AAA Management Team will work together to identify an appropriate volunteer.
• The Director–Focusing on Segments is the Board liaison.
• The Committee would not be a Standing Committee; this can be re-evaluated in the future.

Estimated Time Commitment

• The Committee meets as needed at the discretion of the Chair.

Responsibilities

• Fulfill the Committee charge as above.
• If the Chair has any questions about the charge or responsibilities of this Committee, s/he should contact the Chief Executive Officer, the President, or the Committee’s Board of Directors Liaison.
• The Chair must submit at least one report per year to the Board of Directors. This report should include accomplishments and suggested modifications and should be sent to the AAA President, the Committee's Board of Directors Liaison, and Governance Manager, Barbara Gutierrez (barbara.gutierrez@aaahq.org).

Members

Name / Affiliation	Contact	Section/Region	Term Length	Term Expires
Chair Lynn Jones Georgia State University	lcjones@gsu.edu	ATA	2	08/2026
Sean Hillison Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	shillis@vt.edu	ABO	3	08/2025
Scott Bronson The University of Kansas	sbronson@ku.edu	AUDITING	3	08/2025
Mina Pizzini Texas State University	wjp23@txstate.edu	MAS	3	08/2025
Alyssa Ong Pepperdine University	alyssa.ong@pepperdine.edu	FORENSIC	3	08/2026
Megan Burke Texas Woman's University	mburke5@twu.edu	GIWB	3	08/2027
Gary Peters University of Arkansas-Fayetteville	peters@uark.edu	LEADERSHIP	3	08/2027
Oktay Urcan University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	ourcan@illinois.edu	FARS	3	08/2027
Jay C. Thibodeau University of Central Florida Director-Focusing on Segments	Jay.thibodeau@ucf.edu		3	08/2027
Yvonne Hinson AAA Chief Executive Officer	Yvonne.Hinson@aaahq.org
AAA Professional Staff Liaison Erlinda Jones Senior Director, Meetings and Governance Ex-Officio Nonvoting Member	Erlinda@aaahq.org
Board of Directors Liaison Jay C. Thibodeau University of Central Florida Director-Focusing on Segments	Jay.thibodeau@ucf.edu		3	08/2027

Meetings Model Committee FAQ

The FAQ is provided to all AAA members to keep you current regarding the Meetings Model Committee’s (MMC) work on the AAA’s indirect cost allocation. A prefix of the quarter and year (e.g., Q1 2025) precedes the question to create an audit trail. The Q1 2025 questions were received after the January 30, 2025 allocation model and amounts were sent to members via AAA email.

Should you have any questions, please reach out to your MMC representative. If your Section does not have a representative please reach out to the MMC chair. Keep in mind this is a fluid process both in terms of membership (AAA Board and MMC) and the allocation process. For the MMC see https://aaahq.org/About/Directories/2024-2025-AAA-Committees-Task-Forces/Meetings-Model-Committee and for the AAA Board see https://aaahq.org/About/Directories/Boards/20242025-Board-of-Directors.

Q1 2025: How much is being allocated to the section meeting for indirect costs and how is that amount determined?

When the Meetings Model Committee began working on the allocation in FY 2023, the amount to be allocated to the section meetings for indirect costs was estimated to be $823,000. This estimate was supplied by the AAA management team as part of the AAA budget process, approved by the AAA board and included as part of the organization’s audit process.

While the Meetings Model Committee has been working on allocating the indirect costs, the AAA management team and staff have worked to reduce the indirect costs that need to be allocated to the sections. As a result of these efforts (see following question), the amount of indirect costs estimated from the current budget is $675,027. Thus, it is important to point out that the AAA’s focus on cost reductions since 2020 (including outsourcing decisions) has led to a reduction in the total amount of indirect costs to be allocated.

Q1 2025: What indirect costs related to section meetings are included in the amount being allocated?

The indirect costs being allocated to section meetings include the following items:

• Salaries (including benefits) calculated annually based on the percentage of time spent supporting section meetings. This includes Meetings, Membership, Finance and IT staff who support section meetings.
• Registration System
• Telecommunications
• Insurance
• HQ Building/Maintenance
• Submission System
• Zoom licensing
• Supplies

The AAA staff has worked to reduce these indirect costs. These efforts include moving to a no-cost outsourcing for the site search process for section meetings, expanding the use of the Association Management System to reduce staff time needed for section meetings, and deciding to not fill a Meeting Manager position. As our members have come to know, the AAA staff routinely performs at an extraordinarily high level at our section meetings.

Q1 2025: How did the Meetings Model Committee decide on the cost drivers to include in the model?

The Committee met with Erlinda Jones, Senior Director, Meetings and Governance for the AAA, to discuss factors that affect the complexity of section meetings and the work required of the AAA staff to support the section meetings. Some of the key factors that were identified are the number of days the meeting lasts, the number of attendees, and the number of concurrent sessions. Committee members developed and ran a variety of models that included these factors. After comparing the results of these models (and the Committee found that there was a great deal of similarity in the results of the various models), the Committee recommended that a model based on the number of days and number of attendees be adopted. The rationale for choosing the model with these two factors was that the committee wanted to maintain simplicity but also recognize key differences in the structure of meetings. After much deliberation, the Committee felt that the model which included the number of days and attendees best achieved these objectives.

Q1 2025: What are the specific components of the adopted model and how were they estimated?

Estimating the chosen model with the current budget numbers and the section meeting information from the past year resulted in the following model:

Amount allocated = 13,397 (fixed) + 9,586/Day + 57.64/Attendee

Model Adj R2 = 0.679

To run the regression that results in this model, the following procedures were followed:

Data from the 15 section meetings that took place between June 2023 and May 2024 were gathered to estimate the model.

Estimate of the Amount Allocated for model estimation was calculated by taking the budget estimate of indirect costs ($675,027) and dividing by the staff hours devoted to prior section meeting (total staff hours for these meetings were 3,190)

Days were calculated based on the 2023-2024 Meeting structure. Days and fractional days were calculated by the AAA staff based on the following:

• 1 day = 8+ hours
• .75 day = 6-7 hours
• .5 day = 4-5 hours
• .25 day = 2-3 hours

Attendees is based on the 2023-2024 meeting attendance for each section meeting.

Q1 2025: Is this the only time that this total cost allocation is being assigned to the section’s MYM for these three years (or is the total expected to be charged Y3 and after)?

The intention of the original task force, the Meetings Model Committee and the Board is to charge an annual fee going forward that covers the percent of overhead allocated to any particular meeting. Therefore, this process will extend past the initial three years.

Q1 2025: Please clarify as to exactly what our allocation will be for 2026 and 2027. If this cost allocation is an 100% annual charge that will be extended beyond three years, would future allocations change?

Each year’s allocation is calculated as a function of prior year’s actual.  Thus, we cannot project what allocations will be in 2026 or 2027.

Q1 2025: There are 13 section meetings, plus the Spark meeting.  What is the total cost pool for the three years and what is the allocation key to a meeting? 

The costs are calculated on an annual basis, and you can see the costs for the current year in the model (i.e., the allocation total). The Spark meeting is calculated separately as those costs are requested separately. The overhead costs have gone down from the original amount and are expected to decrease even more, when the sale of the AAA building occurs.

Q1 2025: Would indirect costs have been the same had the meeting taken place at a hotel as before? This is to know whether the university hosting us makes a difference, or simply shifts the costs from hotel to AAA.

The indirect costs remain the same and are not affected by the venue type/location.  Only the direct costs are impacted by those factors.  Specifically, the direct costs may decrease based on venue type/location which reduces the total annual costs for the section.

Q1 2025: Which expenses do the general membership fees cover? Is some portion of the membership fee inflows allocated towards the indirect meeting costs?

General membership fees cover the costs of membership related expenses, not meetings’ overhead expenses. Membership covers the costs of section and general communications, membership overhead costs, Center expenses, membership IT related costs, general administrative expenses, etc. Meetings overhead expenses have been covered by the revenue received from EBSCO in the past but now the AAA is allocating out to sections much of the revenue that used to cover meetings overhead. If the sections are getting the revenue from EBSCO that used to cover meetings overhead then the sections need to start covering their overhead for meetings. By allocating the publication revenue for a section and the indirect costs associated with a section’s meetings, the leadership of the section should have more complete information about their operations and should aid in their decision making. The other concern of the Board in setting up the task force in Spring 2020 was that members who are not attending meetings were covering the costs of members who were attending meetings whic

h felt unfair. The Board felt that meetings should stand on their own financially.

Q1 2025: How many full-paying members has AAA had in each of the past three years?  

2022/23 – 6058; 2023/24 – 6148; 2024/25 – 5642

Q1 2025: Total actual costs for a Midyear meeting of one section were approximately $38,600. AAA allocated overhead was $11,133.67. Does the committee believe this makes sense from a business and operations standpoint?

Per a previous FAQ, “Meetings overhead expenses have been covered by EBSCO in the past but now the AAA is allocating out to sections much of the revenue that used to cover meetings overhead. If the sections are getting the revenue from EBSCO that used to cover meetings overhead then the sections need to start covering their overhead for meetings.” Most sections are not being allocated costs without a revenue offset. Sections without an academic journal do not receive a share of the EBSCO revenue.

Q1 2025: This cost allocation is being charged when the sections haven't been provided quarterly financial statements for some time now, and we have no idea as to our actual current financial status. At this time, we don't know whether our section could absorb a loss, if it occurs, for a MYM. This general lack of information is a huge hindrance for understanding our general financial status.

As has been stated in multiple President’s Quarterly Roundtables and the last communication from the CEO about finance, we are trying very hard to get finance cleaned up from a past CFO who did everything on cash basis and a former outsources firm that did not do a very good job. We now have Wolf & Co doing financials and they are working quickly to get it all cleaned up. Sections have received financials before even the AAA has received their own general fund financials. Sections received FY24 Q4 financials on 2/2/2025 and FY25 Q1 financials on 3/14/25. While we understand the frustration, we are all feeling it and are trying to get this right and resolved. Sections with journals received a subsidy to ensure they were not worse off than before the allocation.

Q1 2025: If our section decides not to hold a meeting, will the indirect costs be allocated to other sections?

Yes, indirect costs are allocated to only those meetings that actually occurred. The allocation will occur based on the model.

Q1 2025: If our section decides to streamline our mid-year meeting from 2.5 days to 1.5 days, does that save us any costs?

Yes, but the savings is likely to be nominal. As a result, we ask that sections “press pause” and not make any immediate reactions/changes based on this process. For example, the ATA MYM had 2.5 days in the recent model allocation. If that were reduced to 1.5 days of conference, the savings is $9,586.12, and only $3,195.37 based on the 1/3 allocation for 2024-2025.

Q1 2025: We would like a detailed breakdown of the $675,015.84 total overhead costs being allocated to section meetings. More detail is preferred (e.g., not just salary – but whose salary and how much of it).

FY25 Breakdown is 11.82% of AAA Salaries ($385,000) and Admin O/H Costs is 14.29% ($290,027). Rounding when the model was calculated brought the amount to the $675,015.84 in the model sheet. The amount in the approved budget is $675,027. NOTE: Salaries are confidential and detail is not provided. Further, detailed information is not available for the O/H Costs.

Q1 2025: At the November 2023 council meeting, a section council representative voiced concern that the Bootcamps should not get this allocation as these meetings do not require nearly as much AAA support as other/regular meetings. These meetings are supported by accounting firms. AAA staff typically do not attend the Bootcamps. What is the rationale for allocating overhead to the bootcamps, why was this changed from the November 2023 council meeting, and who authorized this change?

At the November 2023 Council Meeting, the basic work of the MMC was presented to allow for the Council members to provide feedback. There was a voicing of concern at the November 2023 council meeting about both bootcamps and smaller meetings. But the comment implies that because of the Council feedback, the charge of the MMC was changed. The feedback of the Council was considered, but it wasn’t the Council’s role to change the charge of the MMC. Instead that was the decision of the Board. In the Board meeting following the Council meeting, the Board decided to continue to allocate 100% of the indirect costs and to include all meetings and to use the phase in of ⅓, ⅔, 100%. The Board also decided not to pursue a different model for specialty meetings at that time. Obviously, all those parameters/considerations could be revisited at any time that the Board chooses, but at that time, the Board encouraged the MMC to continue with the current direction.

AAA staff time at meetings is currently being charged separately. This is represented by the $1,100 meeting manager fee. This fee will go away once the allocation hits 50% or higher.

Q1 2025: To avoid the cost allocation, can a Section hire its own employee/coordinator to run a meeting or Bootcamp?

Legally, Sections/Bootcamps would have to disband and unaffiliate from AAA. The Section/Bootcamp would not be able to identify/advertise itself as a part of AAA. Further, when also factoring in the costs of employee benefits (which are extremely expensive) this type of “direct hire” likely would not create a cost savings. It should also be noted that if a Section disbanded that has a journal, they would not be able to take that journal with them. Sections are not separate legal entities, and all journals are owned by the AAA legal organization.

Q1 2025: Allocation Revisited

After its March 2025 meeting, the AAA Board made a few requests of the MMC. The MMC met 03.31.25 and is recommending a 1/3 allocation for the 2025 and 2026 fiscal years to the Board. If the Board approves then the 2/3 allocation for FY2026 is being paused. The MMC is revisiting allocations with and without the Audit Educator’s Bootcamp, MAS Teaching Case Conference, AAH Section Midyear Meeting, and AIS Bootcamp; and will meet in April 2025 to discuss and make another recommendation to the Board.