Search for a new Secretary General

EACTS is soliciting proposals for the successor of the present Secretary General, Torkel Aberg. The post of Secretary General will be open as of next year (starting after the Vienna Meeting in 2003).

The Council and the Nominating Committee have agreed on the following procedure for the election of the next Secretary General:

1. Announcement of the vacancy and the conditions of the post (this announcement) with a call for applications in the Newsletter and on the EACTS website.
2. Evaluation of the applications by an ad hoc Evaluation Committee.
3. The final nomination is made by the Nominating Committee according to the Constitution.

Background

The Secretary General is
-     one of the Officers in the Council ensuring continuity and is also a member of the  Executive Committee.

-     He is elected for three years and may be re-elected twice.

-          He carries the main responsibility for the administrative aspects of the Council and the Association.

-          He is charged with overseeing and directing the work of the Organisational Secretariats, located in Windsor and Umeå.

By the constitution, the Secretary General is nominated by the Nominating Committee and elected at the General Assembly. There shall be an overlap of one year together with the outgoing Secretary General.

The Council and the Nominating Committee have listed the following “must” and “should” requirements for the Secretary General:

“Must” requirements:

• Be an Active member of the Association
• Can be either cardiac, cardio-thoracic or thoracic surgeon
• Have an excellent administrative and scientific background
• Be proficient in the English language
• Be willing to devote substantial proportion of his time to the task
• Be willing to perform most of the necessary communication by e-mail
• Be willing and able to travel extensively in Europe and abroad, as part of his administrative duties

“Should” requirements:

• Age preferably above 50 years
• Has reached a high position within his/her own department, being professionally independent. He should be (preferably but not necessarily) the head of the department

Resources
The Secretary General has access to the work force of the combined offices of the EACTS. If necessary, funds for a half time secretary will be put at the disposal of the Secretary General. Necessary equipment, travel funds etc. will be provided for.

Future Activities

The major projects outlined for the coming three to five years are the following:

1. Joint meeting/s with the ESTS
2. Develop the working modes of the Committees in order to spread the work around and thus improving upon participation and democracy
3. Establish a Quality Assurance Infrastructure encompassing accreditation and re-accreditation of surgeons as well as of departments.
4. Establish an Accreditation Institute, ECTSIA
5. Establishing and continued support of the European School of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery
6. Finalizing structure documents for thoracic, congenital and adult heart surgery
7. Establish good connections with the UEMS and support the European Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons
8. Develop internet capabilities in publishing, teaching and communication with colleagues around the world
9. Engage members in the work of the Association and further develop these tasks

The EACTS has currently a turnover of € 2,8m.

The Secretary General may be compared to the Chief Executive Officer of a business venture with the President being compared with the Chairman of the Board. He is the immediate supervisor of the two Executive Secretaries and their staff and is thus responsible for the smooth running of the Association.

The Secretary General is to have the best overview of the activities of the EACTS. Thus he is active in several areas such as making the Association representative for the majority of European Cardio-thoracic surgeons by developing routines and procedures to solicit members. He is also the integrator between the EACTS and our sister societies, ESTS and ESCVS as well as the US societies, STS and AATS. Furthermore he is the coordinator of the workforce consisting of retired surgeons willing to be of active help. He is the liaison officer in all committee work. One important part is to further develop the inner structure and routines of the association together with the Executive Secretaries. Another is to keep informed about younger colleagues wishing to become active in the work of the EACTS.

The President is the foremost member and spokesman of the Council. The Secretary General serves the President by knowledge about the tradition and routines of the Association, by ensuring that necessary administrative help is put at the President’s disposal, by preparing the meeting agendas together with him and by being available as a discussion brother. As the President stays for only one year, the preparation of the President’s year usually takes place during the vice Presidency year.

The Secretary General furthermore ensures that correct minutes are kept from all Council Meetings and that decisions are carried out.

The Secretary General is besides the President and together with the other Officers the main representative of the Association. This requires several travel duties. During the last years, this has meant two to three trans-Atlantic travels as well as eight to twelve European travels per year.

The Secretary General is a key figure in any medical association. To hold this post is also the culmination of the career of any clinical or academic surgeon.

Nomination Process

The post will be announced at the General Assembly in Monaco, the Newsletter, the EJCTS and on our web page www.eacts.org.

Deadline for application is 1st of February 2003.

A committee consisting of eleven people will scrutinize applicants. These will be members of the Nominating Committee, the President, Secretary General, Editor, Treasurer, Chairman of the Junior Committee and one additional Councillor, elected by the other ordinary Councillors.

The final decision about the nomination stays with the Nominating Committee.

Application

The Application should contain a curriculum vitae, a publication list and a list of administrative experiences. Any previous or present position in a medical association should be clearly described. It should also contain applicant’s ideas about the further development of the EACTS. The applications will be treated confidentially.  For any questions, please contact Torkel Aberg, tel. +46 90 785 36 76, Email: secretary@norrnod.se

Any member may also suggest another member as the next Secretary General. Such a suggestion should be sent to the address below. Upon such a proposal, the present Secretary General will write to the suggested member informing him about the proposal.

Please send applications to:

EACTS Executive Secretariat

Park Street - Windsor, Berkshire SL4 1LU, UK
Tel: +44 1753 832166 - Fax: +44 1753 620407
Email: info@eacts.co.uk