Membership Agreement: Affiliate Members

AMICAL is a consortium of international colleges and universities outside of the United States either offering a program of education on the American model or supporting such programs. The institutions recognize their similarity of mission and the need to develop information resources strategically in order to manage growth and increasing expectations cost-effectively. Accordingly these institutions have agreed to create the American International Consortium of Academic Libraries (AMICAL) in order to implement collaborative projects in information resources and learning technologies that support curricular development, teaching, and learning on our campuses.

Mission

AMICAL is an international consortium of American-model, liberal arts institutions of higher learning. Our mission is to advance learning, teaching and research through the collaborative development of library and information services and curricular resources at member institutions. AMICAL is committed to sharing information and technologies across national and linguistic borders, using English as the primary language for consortial work.

Membership Responsibilities

As an affiliate member, each institution agrees to the following:

1. To share resources and expertise;
2. To appoint an on-campus person to represent the institution; this person agrees to receive the consortium’s e-mail announcements and to disseminate AMICAL-related information, as appropriate, within the institution;
3. To fund the attendance at annual conferences of at least one staff member from the library, information/instructional technology department, or the faculty.
4. To pay annual dues and any other financial obligations in a timely manner;
5. To respect the integrity and private nature of any information disseminated through AMICAL surveys, documents, and communications;
6. To be an active participant in the consortium;
7. To sign the Affiliate Membership Agreement.

Membership Criteria

Eligibility for invitation for affiliate membership in AMICAL includes the following:

1. The institution offers a Bachelor’s (or higher level) degree program;
2. The institution supports within its programs a liberal arts curriculum;
3. The institution is presently seeking accreditation by a North American accrediting agency;
4. The institution is located outside the United States and is formally licensed to operate in its home country.

Membership Categories

In anticipation of furthering cooperative efforts, AMICAL has established three categories of membership; full, affiliate, and consortial (see Operational Guidelines). Signatories of this document are affiliate members.

Areas of AMICAL collaboration

1. Promoting the active cooperation of librarians, faculty and information/instructional technology professionals in developing tools for student learning.
2. Furthering our institutional missions by creating and sharing tools for benchmarking and best practices.
3. Providing a forum for the exchange of information on curriculum, library, and information/instructional technology development amongst member institutions.
4. Maximizing access to resources through library and IT cooperation, including collective negotiation of services, mutually beneficial programs, etc.
5. Creating opportunities for shared staff and faculty development.
6. Pursuing areas of mutual interest – database licensing, interlibrary loan arrangements, etc.

Host Institution

One member institution of AMICAL will serve as the host institution for AMICAL. This institution will serve as the organization’s financial agent and as its primary mailing address. The host institution is authorized to enter into contractual agreements on behalf of the consortium whenever it is requested to do so by the AMICAL governing body, the Council of Members.

Maintenance of Local Operations:

Each AMICAL member agrees to maintain its library and information technology operations at levels appropriate for the size, scope and mission of the institution. Membership in AMICAL shall not be viewed as an opportunity by a member institution to reduce appropriate institutional support.

Financial Obligations:

1. Payment of annual dues (and honoring of cost-bearing commitments above) is required for membership; dues will be determined using a formula recognizing the differences in resources within AMICAL’s membership.
2. Institutional financial participation for the implementation of projects will be solicited only from those institutions that choose to participate in them. The allocation of such costs will be approved by the elected Coordinating Committee.
3. Any additional funding required for consortial operations must be approved by the collective membership.

Independence of Members

Membership in AMICAL does not put any restrictions on the right of member institutions to enter into any other agreements or relationships with other institutions, agencies, vendors, or entities. Programs and activities of AMICAL are subordinate to and may not contradict any local policies and practices of member institutions.

Operational Guidelines

The ongoing operations of AMICAL shall be governed by its Operational Guidelines document.

Signed by:	___________________________	____________________
	President	Please print name
	___________________________	____________________
	Head Librarian	Please print name
Institution:	___________________________________________________
Date:	______________

The document is to be signed by the President and the person responsible for overseeing the Library — in this way, it is clear who will be the lead person on each campus, after the President has committed the institution.

This document drafted 13 June 2007; adopted by AMICAL 21 June 2007.