ARRL policy is made by its Board of Directors. The 15 voting members of the Board are the Directors who are elected by the ARRL members in their respective divisions. The Board meets in January and July, usually in the Hartford area. ARRL members also elect Vice Directors who may attend the meetings. ARRL Directors and Vice Directors are volunteers who work hard to represent the ARRL in their divisions, to represent the members who elect them on policy issues and to conduct the committee work that is so important to good decision-making.

The Board is led by a team of volunteer officers who are elected by the Directors. Senior staff and the ARRL General Counsel also attend, and the Presidents of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) and the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) usually are invited either to attend or to send a representative.

This month’s Board Meeting activities will begin on Thursday, July 19 with meetings of two standing committees, the Administration & Finance (A&F) Committee and the Programs & Services Committee. Each is made up of five Directors and a Vice Director, with the Treasurer serving as an additional member of the A&F Committee.

The A&F Committee studies, advises and makes recommendations concerning administration and financial matters of the League, including recommending the annual budget to the Board, making recommendations in regard to staff management and monitoring investment of ARRL funds. The Committee is chaired by New England Division Director Tom Frenaye, K1KI.

The Programs and Services Committee -- chaired by Delta Division Director David Norris, K5UZ -- studies, advises and makes recommendations regarding the League’s volunteer programs and services to members, including operating activities and the Field Organization. At its meeting the committee will be preparing recommendations to the Board on several recognition awards and will be reviewing recommendations from ARRL Advisory Committees.

“The Programs and Services Committee has embarked on an ambitious agenda,” Norris said. “For 2012, we are determined to make a marked improvement on membership services, such as the recently added DXCC Field Card Checking for 160 meters and deleted entities, which was accomplished at a teleconference meeting this spring. Some of the issues on our agenda for this meeting include additional Field Card Checker appointments by Division Directors, a review of the Field Day rules, Online DXCC and Logbook of The World (LoTW) improvements, assistance to local ARRL affiliated clubs and improvements and assistance to ARES and the National Traffic System (NTS), as well as several motions and proposals from our various advisory committees.”

The Board Meeting itself begins on Friday morning, July 20 and is expected to run through Saturday afternoon. A link to the meeting agenda is available below.

Find a detailed description of how the Board works in the ARRL Articles of Association and Bylaws.