HOW WE OPERATE

A little on our processes and procedures is presented here. For more detailed information, please contact the board director.

All committee members for Board activities are appointed by the Chair of the National Research Council based on their qualification for service. The only exception to this would be for federal employees on roundtables, who are appointed by virtue of their position rather than personal resume.

A project timeline refers to the length of time between project start and delivery of final product. The actual work may extend before and after these milestones, to include project development and dissemination of results.

The Federal Advisory Committee Act, or FACA, governs any committee formed to advise the federal government. The NRC is exempt from FACA except for Section 15 of that law. Applied under this section, this law governs the interactions between sponsors and the Academies, and especially describes the public release of information concerning the study activities and results. The law is not applied when there is no advice given to the government, such as workshop summaries or roundtable discussions.

The NRC report review process consists, at a minimum, of editing for consistency and readability. In the case of consensus reports, a team of internal editors and external reviewers examine reports for clarity, accuracy, logical consistency, substantiation, and relevance to stated objectives.